Lyric Poem · War & Remembrance
Ye Jacobites by Name
by Robert Burns
YE Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear,
Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear,
Ye Jacobites by name,
Your fautes I will proclaim,
Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear.
What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law?
What is Right and what is Wrang by the law?
What is Right, and what is Wrang?
A short sword, and a lang,
A weak arm and a strang, for to draw.
What makes heroic strife, famed afar, famed afar?
What makes heroic strife famed afar?
What makes heroic strife?
To whet th’ assassin’s knife,
Or hunt a Parent’s life, wi’ bluidy war?
Then let your schemes alone, in the state, in the state,
Then let your schemes alone in the state.
Then let your schemes alone,
Adore the rising sun,
And leave a man undone, to his fate.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Ye Jacobites by Name” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/ye-jacobites-by-name
Quick facts
- Poem
- Ye Jacobites by Name
- Poet
- Robert Burns
- Length
- 20 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- War & Remembrance
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 20 lines · 4 quintains
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Robert Burns1759–1796
- Source record
- PoetryDBYe Jacobites by Name by robert-burns, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 0fdf81c68bbcac8c…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Keep reading
Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead
Alfred, Lord Tennyson · 1847
16 lines · lyric
The Revenge - A Ballad of the Fleet
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
40 lines · lyric
Hymn To Aristogeiton And Harmodius
Edgar Allan Poe
16 lines · lyric