Now Westlin' Winds

The poem is addressed to 'Peggy' a nickname for Margaret Thomson, of Kirkoswald, a childhood sweetheart, about whom Burns said 'a charming Filette who lived next door to the school overset my Trigonometry, and set me off in a tangent from the sphere of my studies'. He edited it for later loves like Jean Armour in his Commonplace Book (replacing her surname for 'Charmer' in lines 8 and 40, and Jeanie for 'Peggy' in line 25). The themes of man's cruelty or indifference to nature's beauty reflects themes in other poem's such as To a Mouse. The loved one is compared to the beautiful relationships within the natural world. == Lyrics ==

Modern version lyrics (Dick Gaughan) == Musical settings ==

Burn's originally proposed a tune called "I had a horse, I had nae mair" when the poem was published in the 'Kilmarnock edition', Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect in 1786, but later changed it to be sung to 'Port Gordan', and then to 'Come kiss me, come clap me' in James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum. and is due a Swedish premiere in February 2026. Paige Turley sang ''Now Westlin' Winds'' at BBC Scotland's Burns Night 2026 with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra. == See also ==

• Dick Gaughan recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ7oYCx6tBw • Karine Polwart recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmlNmuEl310&t=1227s • Jean Redpath recording (to tune 'I had a horse, I had nae mair'): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IE7GdFaUuY • Iona Fyfe and Michael Biggins recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0gw-zyWUDg More information on performances and recordings: https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/nowwestlinwinds.html More information on the song's history as part of Scottish folk music More information on Burns writings in the National Library of Scotland == References ==