I LOVE MY LOVE IN SECRET
Robert Burns took a fragment of this old Scots song and finished it off to become this published version. Burns was an avid collector of traditional Scottish music and verse, which he frequently improved in this way.
“My Sandy O, my Sandy O, My bonie, bonie Sandy O;
Tho' the love that I owe To thee I dare na show,
Yet I love my love in secret, my Sandy O.
My Sandy gied to me a ring, Was a' beset wi' diamonds fine;
But I gied him a far better thing, I gied my heart in pledge o' his ring.
My Sandy brak a piece o' gowd, While down his cheeks the saut tears row'd;
He took a hauf, and gied it to me, And I'll keep it till the hour I die.”
https://soundcloud.com/words-of-burns/i-love-my-love-in-secret