From The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2, by Allan Cunningham (London: John Taylor, 1825), page 338:


SWEET TIBBIE DUNBAR.

O wilt thou come wi' me,
Sweet Tibbie Dunbar?
O wilt thou nae hae me,
Sweet Tibbie Dunbar?
Wilt thou ride on a horse,
Or be drawn in a car,
Or walk by thy lover,
Sweet Tibbie Dunbar?

I mind nae thy daddie,
Sae high and sae lordly—
I mind nae thy kindred,
Wha bear them sae proudly:
Say only thou'lt take me
For better for waur,
And come in thy coatie,
Sweet Tibbie Dunbar!

O see yon green mountain,
Beneath yon bright star?
O see yon moon shining,
On turret and scaur?
Oh haste thee, and mount thee,
For we maun fly far;—
It is time to be going,
Sweet Tibbie Dunbar.

O far have I ridden, love,
All for to see thee;
And much have I bidden, love,
All to be near thee;—
For he that loves truly
Maun dree and maun daur,
So come now or never,
Sweet Tibbie Dunbar!

Burns wrote the first verse of this pleasant little song to a pretty west-country air called "Johnie Macgill," and sent it to the Museum. I have not heard who the heroine was, nor has the song succeeded in becoming a favourite, yet there is much ease and some gaiety and nature about it. The person who composed the air was a Girvan fiddler; his name was Johnie Macgill, and he gave it his own name. The idea and some of the words of the song are old.