Kellyburn Braes by Robert Burns

Kellyburn Braes is the scottish version of a traditional ballad that has spread widely in England, Ireland, Scotland and America with fairly similar text versions, albeit with melodies declined in a different way.

THE DEVIL AND THE PLOWMAN (english version)
Lilli burlero
THE FARMER’S CURSED WIFE (american version)
KILLYBURN BRAE (Irish version)
KELLYBURN BRAES (Scottish version)

There lived a carl (1) in Kellyburn Braes,
Hey and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme; (2)
And he had a wife was the plague o’ his days,
And the thyme it is wither’d and rue is in prime
Ae day as the carl gaed up the lang-glen,
He met with the devil, says, how do you fen?
I’ve got a bad wife, Sir, that’s a’ my complaint,
For, savin your presence, to her ye’re a saint,
It’s neither your stot nor your staig I shall crave,
But gie me your wife, man, for her I must have,
O, welcome most kindly! the blythe carl said;
But if ye can match her – ye’re waur than ye’re ca’d,
The devil has got the auld wife on his back,
And like a poor pedlar he’s carried his pack,
He’s carried her hame to his ain hallan-door, (3)
Syne bade her gae in, for a bitch, and a whore,
Then straight he makes fifty, the pick o’ his band,
Turn out on her guard in the clap of a hand,
The carlin gaed thro’ them like ony wud bear,
Whae’er she gat hands on, cam near her nae mair,
A reekit wee devil looks over the wa’,
O help, Master, help! or she’ll ruin us a’,
The devil he swore by the edge o’ his knife, (4)
He pitied the man that was ty’d to a wife,
The Devil he swore by the kirk and the bell,
He was not in wedlock, thank Heav’n, but in hell,
Then Satan has travell’d again wi’ his pack,
And to her auld husband he’s carried her back,
I hae been a Devil the feck  o’ my life,
But ne’er was in hell till I met wi’ a wife

NOTE
1) Carl: old fellow
2)it is a typical nursery rhyme on the magic herbs present in many ballads The officinal herbs in the medieval garden were the main ingredients of the filters of love or amulets cast out devils to undo curses and evil spells.
3) hallan: Partition between cottage door and fireplace
4) For the Celts iron is the blood of the earth and has always had a magical meaning, a metal brings good fortune for its strength; the power of iron or its magic was such that it succeeded in destroying evil or distancing spirits and making them return to their world.

Thair wis an auld carle on Kellyburn Braes
ritefal, ritefal, tittie fal day)
Thair wis an auld carle on Kellyburn Braes
He mairriet a wife an he rued the day
(wi ma rite falal, tittie falal, ritefal, ritefal, tittie falay)
Ae day the auld fairmer wis haudin the plou
Whan up jumps Auld Nick(1) an says “Hou dae ye do?”
Says the Deil tae the fairmer,
“A’ve come for yer wife,
For A hear she’s the bane an the curse o yer life”
At this the auld fairmer he dances a reel(2)
Cryin, “Tak her, O, tak her, O, tak her tae Hell”
The Deil he humphit her up oan his back
Whan thae landit in Hell, lat her doun wi a crack
Thair wis seiven wee deivils wis hingin in chains
She picked up a stick an she scattert thair brains
The ither wee deivils aa stertit tae bawl
“O, tak her back, daddie, she’ll murder us aa”
Sae the Deil he humphs her again oan his back
Whan he got tae the tap(3), flung her doun wi a crack
He says, “A’ve been the Deivil for maist o ma life
But a ne’er wis in Hell til A met wi yer wife”
Nou, it’s true at the weemin is worse than the men
For thae gang doun tae Hell an get flung out again

NOTE
1) nickname for the devil
2) typical dance tune in 4/4 of the Celtic areaa
3) Evidently hell is under the ground and to return to the surface the devil must go up