A Portrait of Robert Burns Robert Burns

1795 · Song

Comin’ Thro’ the Rye

Tune ·  Comin Thro’ the Rye

O, Jenny’s a’ weet, poor body,Jenny’s seldom dry:She draigl’t a’ her petticoatie,Comin thro’ the rye!4

Chorus

Comin thro’ the rye, poor body,Comin thro’ the rye,She draigl’t a’ her petticoatie,Comin thro’ the rye!8
Gin a body meet a bodyComin thro’ the rye,Gin a body kiss a body,Need a body cry?12
Gin a body meet a bodyComin thro’ the glen,Gin a body kiss a body,Need the warl’ ken?16
Gin a body meet a bodyComin thro’ the grain;Gin a body kiss a body,The thing’s a body’s ain.20
Year
1795
Form
Song
Location
Dumfries
Tune
Comin Thro’ the Rye
Source
James Johnson, The Scots Musical Museum, vol. V (Edinburgh, 1796); the version that “passed through the hands of Burns”.