The Slave’s Lament in Scots

Robert Burns’ compassion for victims of the eighteenth century slave trade is made clear by this well-known song. Burns’ original was written in English but for Scots Hoose, Iona Fyfe offers a new translation of The Slave’s Lament in Scots.

The Slave’s Lament in Scots
by Robert Burns

It wis in sweet Senegal that ma faes did me enthral,
For the launs o Virginia,-ginia, O:
Taen frae that shore sae fair, and maun never see it mair;
And alas! I am weary, weary O:
Taen frae that shore sae fair, and maun never see it mair;
And alas! I am weary, weary O.

Aw on that lichtsome coast is nae bitter snaw and froast,
Like the launs o Virginia,-ginia, O:
There burns for ever rowe, and there flooers for ever growe,
And alas! I am weary, weary O:
There burns for ever rowe, and there flooers for ever growe,
And alas! I am weary, weary O:

The sair fecht I maun bear, while the cruel skelp I fear,
In the launs o Virginia,-ginia, O;
And I think on freens maist dear, wi the bitter, bitter tear,
And alas! I am weary, weary O:
And I think on freens maist dear, wi the bitter, bitter tear,
And alas! I am weary, weary O:

The Slave’s Lament in Scots