"Sweet Afton" is a lyrical poem describing the Afton Water in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshi ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It was written by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who ha ...

in 1791 and set to music by

Jonathan E. Spilman Jonathan Edwards Spilman (15 April 1812 – 23 May 1896) was a Kentucky lawyer, minister, and composer. Jonathan Spilman was born in Greenville, Kentucky to Benjamin Spilman and Nancy (Rice) Spilman, and graduated from Illinois College in 1835. W ...

in 1837, under the title ''Flow gently, sweet Afton''. This poem was originally published by Burns in the Scots Musical Museum as a song, still sung today as published (see external links below). "Sweet Afton" contains a number of monosyllables, which contribute to a gentle, soothing rhythm. It can be seen as a hymn for peace. The poem is in the metre 11 - 11 - 11- 11. The University of South Carolina uses this song as the melody for their alma mater, "

We Hail Thee Carolina "We Hail Thee Carolina" is the alma mater of the University of South Carolina. It was adopted by the university in 1912 and is sung by alumni and students at Gamecock athletic events. The alma mater is also used to conclude each football game, ...

". The song is sung by Mary Bennett (played by Marsha Hunt) in the 1940 version of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

''. It is also mentioned in Chapter IX of MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''Andersonville'' (1955). In the Andy Griffith Show episode “Mayberry Goes Hollywood” (1961) a citizen of Mayberry sings “Sweet Afton” to serenade a visiting Hollywood film producer. In the town of New Cumnock in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headq ...

there is a bridge across Afton Water on the A76 upon which there is a plaque commemorating Robert Burns and this great poem. The Afton of New Cumnock gives its name to the Glen of Afton, which has connections with

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at ...

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sco ...

(1568), and Robert Burns. The Wallace seal attached to the Lubeck Letter of 1297 gives substance to the theory that Wallace's father was from Kyle Regis (this area) and a rock formation "up the glen" is named Castle William, supposedly after the Scottish patriot's fortification.

References

External links

*Digitised copy o
Afton water
in James Johnson's

Scots Musical Museum The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish folk songs and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected ...

, printed between 1787 and 1803, from

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in th ...

. JPEG, PDF, XML versions. Poetry by Robert Burns Scots-language works 1791 poems 1791 in Scotland Songs based on poems {{poem-stub