"Ae Fond Kiss" is a Scots song written by Robert Burns in 1791. It is Burns's most recorded love song.
History
After the publication of his collected poems, the Kilmarnock volume, Burns regularly travelled and stayed at Edinburgh. While there he established a platonic relationship with Mrs Agnes Maclehose and they began a regular correspondence using the pseudonyms "Clarinda" and "Sylvander". Burns wrote "Ae fond kiss" after their final meeting and sent it to Maclehose on 27 December 1791 before she departed Edinburgh for Jamaica to be with her estranged husband.
The letter is held by National Library of Scotland as part of the Watson Autograph collection of manuscripts.
Burns's original setting of three verses in eight lines was set to the tune of "Rory Dall's Port". The musical score was published in the collection of Scottish folks songs known as the Scots Musical Museum. (The melody playable on the link here is not "Rory Dall's Port", but perhaps is now more associated with the words than the original.)
Lyrics
Glossary (pronounced or ) = one = every = pet form of Agnes = so
Recordings Steve Harley – on Uncovered (2020) Fairground Attraction – on Ay Fond Kiss (1990)
References