Kellyburn Braes by Robert Burns
A carl gies his troublesome wife tae the Devil, wha carries her hame and sets fifty o his band tae guard her. She attacks them, and the Devil carries her back tae her husband, sayin he had ne'er been in hell till he met a wife.
By Robert Burns · Genre: Ballad, Humor, Supernatural · 830 words
First lines
There lived a carl in Kellyburn Braes, / Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi' thyme; / And he had a wife was the plague of his days, / And the thyme it is wither'd, and rue is in prime.
Ae day as the carl gaed up the lang glen, / Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi' thyme; / He met with the Devil, says, "How do you fen? " / And the thyme it is wither'd, and rue is in prime.
Genres
- Ballad — Four-line stanzas wi a repeated refrain tell hoo the Devil taks a wife awa and brings her back.
- Humor — The wife overcomes the Devil's guards, and his last complaint maks wedlock seem waur than hell.
- Supernatural — The Devil meets the carl, carries his wife hame, and sets a band o deevils tae guard her.
Tags
wedlock · deevils · hell · ballad · comic verse
What this Textopian page supports
Kellyburn Braes is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: Date unknown
- Genres: Ballad, Humor, Supernatural
- Length: 830 words
- Structure: 1 section, 14 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Kellyburn Braes by Robert Burns
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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