Alexander Laing

Jean of Aberdeen

YE ’ve seen the blooming rosy brier,
  On stately Dee’s wild woody knowes;
Ye ’ve seen the op’ning lily fair,
  In streamy Don’s gay broomy howes;
An’ ilka bonnie flower that grows
  Amang their banks and braes sae green,—
These borrow a’ their finest hues
  Frae lovely Jean of Aberdeen.

Ye ’ve seen the dew-eyed bloomy haw,
  When morning gilds the welkin high;
Ye ’ve heard the breeze o’ summer blaw,
  When e’ening steals alang the sky.
But brighter far is Jeanie’s eye
  When we ’re amang the braes alane,
An’ softer is the bosom-sigh
  Of lovely Jean of Aberdeen.

Though I had a’ the valleys gay
  Around the airy Bennochie,
An’ a’ the fleecy flocks that stray
  Amang the lofty hills o’ Dee;
While Mem’ry lifts her melting ee,
  An’ Hope unfolds her fairy scene,
My heart wi’ them I ’d freely gi’e
  To lovely Jean of Aberdeen.