First printed in The Edinburgh Magazine, January 1808.
As I cam in by our gate-end, went
As day was waxin weary,
O wha cam tripping down the street who
But pretty Peg, my dearie!
5 Her air sae sweet, and shape complete,
Wi’ nae proportion wanting, no
The Queen of Love could never move
Wi’ motion mair enchanting. more
With linked hands we took the sands
10 Adown yon winding river;
And, oh! that hour, and broomy bower,
Can I forget it ever! —
This appears first in the Edinburgh Magazine along with a copy of Adam Armour’s Prayer. A second version, from a manuscript copy, features in the same magazine in January 1818. It is this latter, shorter version that is accepted as the improved lyric taken by Burns from a traditional song.