---
title: "Handsome Nell"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Song"
year: "1771 - 1779"
tune: "I am a man unmarried"
location: "Mount Oliphant"
source: "Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/poems/handsome-nell/"
---

# Handsome Nell

## Song
Once I lov’d a bonie lass,  
Ay, and I love her still;  
And whilst that virtue warms my breast,  
I’ll love my handsome Nell.

As bonie lasses I hae seen,  
And mony full as braw;  
But, for a modest gracefu’ mein,  
The like I never saw.

A bonie lass, I will confess,  
Is pleasant to the e’e;  
But, without some better qualities,  
She’s no a lass for me.

But Nelly’s looks are blythe and sweet,  
And what is best of a’,  
Her reputation is complete,  
And fair without a flaw.

She dresses aye sae clean and neat,  
Both decent and genteel;  
And then there’s something in her gait  
Gars ony dress look weel.

A gaudy dress and gentle air  
May slightly touch the heart;  
But it’s innocence and modesty  
That polishes the dart.

’Tis this in Nelly pleases me,  
’Tis this enchants my soul;  
For absolutely in my breast  
She reigns without control.

## Footnotes
1. The first of my performances.—R. B.

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt)  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/poems/handsome-nell/