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Contains some strong language

Act Sederunt of the Session



In Edinburgh town they've made a law,
In Edinburgh at the Court o' Session
That standing pr-cks are fauteors a',
And guilty of a high transgression.

Act Sederunt o' the Session,
Decreet o' the Court o' Session,
That standing pr-cks are fauteors a',
And guilty of a high transgression. 

And they've provided dungeons deep.
Ilk lass has ane in her possession;
Untill the wretches wail and weep,
They there shall lie for their transgression.

Act Sederunt o' the Session,
Decreet o' the Court o' Session,
The rogues in pouring tears shall weep,
By act Sederunt o' the Session.

Listen

Paul Young

About this work

This is a poem by Robert Burns. It is read here by Paul Young.

More about this poem

This bawdy song, set to the tune of, ‘O’er the muir amang the heather’, was sent along with Bonie Mary, to Robert Cleghorn in 1784.

Burns wrote to his friend, ‘Well! The Law is good for something, since we can make a Baudy-song out of it’.

The Act of Sederunt is a term specific to Scots Law, and refers to ‘an ordinance for regulating the forms of procedure before the Court of Session, passed by the judges in virtue of a power conferred by an Act of the Scotch Parliament, 1540’.

In this instance it is taken to be loosely synonymous with the judgement of a law court.

Ralph McLean

Themes for this poem

politics

Locations for this poem

Edinburgh

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