Some of songs of Robert Burns
have been set to music by the great composers. The most notable
is "O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast" The tune was
composed by Felix Mendelsohn, but add to that Robert Schumann,
Haydn, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Bruch and Benjamin Britten
plus many more and you begin to see the contribution that
Burns has made to music.
O wert thou in the cauld blast,
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee;
Or did Misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a', to share it a'.
Or were I in the wildest waste,
Sae black and bare, sae black and bare,
The desert were a Paradise,
If thou wert there, if thou wert there;
Or were I Monarch o' the globe,
Wi' thee to reign, wi' thee to reign,
The brightest jewel in my Crown
Wad be my Queen, wad be my Queen.
