MY AIN KIND DEARIE, O (aka The Lea Rig)
(Robert Burns)

When o'er the hill the eastern star 
Tells bughtintime is near, my jo;
And owsen frae the furrow'd field 
Return sae dowf and weary O;
Down by the burn, where scented birks 
Wi' dew are hangin' clear, my jo;
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig, 


In mirkest glen at midnight hour 
I'd rove, and ne'er be eerie O;
If thro' that glen I gaed to thee, 
My ain kind dearie O!
Although the night were ne'er sae wild, 
And I were ne'er sae weary O,
I'd meet thee on the lea-rig, 
My ain kind dearie, O!.

The hunter lo'es the morning sun,
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher seeks the glen, 
Along the burn to steer, my jo;
Gi'e me the hour o' gloamin' gray,
It mak's my heart sae cheerie O,
To meet thee on the lea-rig, 
My ain kind dearie, O.

..............................................................................
James Oswald published the old melody in his 'Caledonian Pocket Companion; its
author is not known. It was more anciently called 'The Lea Rig' from a song
beginning:

"I'll rowe thee o'er the lea-rig,
My ain kind dearie, O;
I'll rowe thee o'er the lea-rig,
My ain kind dearie, O;
Although the night were ne'er sae wat,
And I were ne'er sae wearie, O,
I'll rowe thee o'er the lea-rig,
My ain kind dearie, O."

The words here given to the air were written by Burns in October 1792. It will be 
seen that he availed himself of the fifth and sixth lines of the old song in his
second stanza. In his letter to Mr Thomson, sending two stanzas of the new song,
he says, "Let me tell you that you are too fastidious in your ideas of songs and
ballads. I owe that your criticisms are just; the songs you specify in your list 
have, all but one, the faults you remark in them; but who shall mend the matter?
Who shall rise up and say - Go to, I will make a better? For instance, on reading 
over 'The Lea-Rig,' I immediately set about trying my hand on it, and, after all,
I could make nothing more of it than the following, which, heaven knows, is poor
enough."

G Farquhar Graham, "The Popular Songs and Melodies of Scotland" (1893)