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The Banks O' Doon
"The
Banks
O'
Doon"
is a
Scots
song
written by
Robert Burns
in
1791
, sometimes known as
"Ye Banks and Braes"
. Burns set the
lyrics
to an
air
called
The Caledonian
Hunt's
Delight
. Its
melodic
schema was also used for
Phule Phule Dhole Dhole
, a song by
Bengali poet
Rabindranath Tagore
.
The song was inspired by the story of
Margaret Kennedy
, who was
seduced
then abandoned by
Andrew McDouall
, son of a
wealthy
family and sometime
Member of Parliament
for
Wigtonshire
.
Kennedy
sued
for a
declarator
of marriage, but
died
prior to adjudication of the case. Although the
Consistorial court
found the marriage claim valid, the
Court of Session
decided the marriage claim failed, but found McDouall to be
the father
of Kennedy's daughter and
ordered
that he pay £3,000 to Kennedy's estate and provide for the
child
.
Lyrics
Burns wrote three
versions
of the song, all published in 1791.
First
Version
Second Version
Third Version