To the Weavers Gin Ye Go by Robert Burns
A young woman says that she was once carefree, but a bonie westlin weaver lad has changed her happiness into longing. Sent by her mother to town to warp a plaiden web, she finds the work painful because the weaver, sitting at his loom, has caught her heart “in every knot and thrum.” As she turns her warpin-wheel, every movement and knock makes her heart ache. The weaver later escorts her through the glen beneath the sinking moon. She refuses to reveal what passed between them, yet fears that the whole kintra will soon know. Her repeated warning urges fair maids never to go to the weaver’s at night.
By Robert Burns · First published 1792 · Genre: Scottish Folk Song, Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry · 333 words
First lines
My heart was ance as blithe and free / As simmer days were lang; / But a bonie, westlin weaver lad / Has gart me change my sang.
Chorus. -To the weaver's gin ye go, fair maids, / To the weaver's gin ye go; / I rede you right, gang ne'er at night, / To the weaver's gin ye go.
Similar titles
- Wha Is That At My Bower Door by Robert Burns
- The Lad They Ca Jumpin John by Robert Burns
- The Rantin Dog The Daddie Ot by Robert Burns
- Duncan Davison by Robert Burns
- Merry Hae I Been Teethin A Heckle by Robert Burns
- Hey The Dusty Miller by Robert Burns
Genres
- Scottish Folk Song — The work is a stanzaic lyric with a recurring chorus, Scots dialect, rural setting, and courtship subject characteristic of traditional Scottish song.
- Lyric Poetry — It presents a speaker's personal emotional response to romantic desire through compact, musical verses and repeated refrain.
- Love Poetry — The central subject is the speaker's attraction to a young weaver and the emotional and sexual consequences of their encounter.
- Pastoral Poetry — Its west-country setting, glen, moonlight, village life, and idealized working young man place romance within a rural Scottish landscape.
Tags
Scottish vernacular poetry · Scots language · love song · folk ballad · pastoral courtship · rural Scotland · eighteenth-century Scotland · young woman narrator · weaver · textile labor · loom imagery · warping wheel
What this Textopian page supports
To the Weavers Gin Ye Go is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1792 CE.
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: 1792 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Scottish Folk Song, Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Pastoral Poetry, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 333 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for To the Weavers Gin Ye Go by Robert Burns
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph