---
title: "Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Poem"
year: "1793"
location: "Dumfries"
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/whistle-and-ill-come-to-you-my-lad/"
---

# Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad

## Poem
*Chorus*  
O Whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
Tho’ father an’ mother an’ a’ should gae mad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad.

But warily tent when ye come to court me,  
And come nae unless the back-yett be a-jee;  
Syne up the back-stile, and let naebody see,  
And come as ye were na comin’ to me,  
And come as ye were na comin’ to me.

*Chorus*  
O Whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
Tho’ father an’ mother an’ a’ should gae mad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad.

At kirk, or at market, whene’er ye meet me,  
Gang by me as tho’ that ye car’d na a flie;  
But steal me a blink o’ your bonie black e’e,  
Yet look as ye were na lookin’ to me,  
Yet look as ye were na lookin’ to me.

*Chorus*  
O Whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
Tho’ father an’ mother an’ a’ should gae mad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad.

Aye vow and protest that ye care na for me,  
And whiles ye may lightly my beauty a-wee;  
But court na anither, tho’ jokin’ ye be,  
For fear that she wile your fancy frae me,  
For fear that she wile your fancy frae me.

*Chorus*  
O Whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad,  
Tho’ father an’ mother an’ a’ should gae mad,  
O whistle, an’ I’ll come to ye, my lad.

---

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/whistle-and-ill-come-to-you-my-lad/