Scotch dopers: "There grows a bonnie briar bush" Explain

Cafe Society
1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/robertburns/works/there_grows_a_bonnie_brier_bush/

There grows a bonnie brier bush in our kail-yard,
. . .

*We’ll court nae mair below the buss in our kail-yard, . . .
We’ll awa to Athole’s green, and there we’ll no be seen,
Where the trees and the branches will be our safeguard.

Will ye go to the dancin’ in Carlyle’s ha’; . . .
Whare Sandy and Nancy I’m sure, will ding them a’,
I winna gang to the dance in Carlyle ha’.

What will I do for a lad, when Sandy gangs awa? . . .
I will awa to Edinburgh, and win a penny fee,
And see an onie bonnie lad will fancy me.

He’s coming frae the north that’s to fancy me, . . .
A feather in his bonnet, and a ribbon at his knee;
He’s a bonnie bonnie laddie, an yon be he.*

Can someone explain this to me? What is “ding” them a mean? Penny fee? Buss? Athole’s Green? Is Carlyle Hall an extant place for dancing still? Is Sandy a boy?

2

It’s “Scottish”. “Scotch” is a drink, or a type of egg. :slight_smile:

I’m no Burns scholar, and his dialect is much different from mine, so not much help. Sandy is indeed a boy though, it’s a common diminutive of Alexander. A “Penny fee” is wages.

3

Here is a translation of There Grows a Bonnie Brier-Bush from Scots dialect to standard English.

4

My brother, David Alexander, has been called “Sandy” all his life.

5

So has Sandy Koufax.