Highland Mary
Preserved but no longer current.
The most shadowy of Robert Burns's sweethearts, but the one to whom he addressed some of his finest poetry, including "My Highland Lassie, O," "High- land Mary" ("Ye banks and braes and streams around the castle o' Montgomery"), "Thou Ling'ring Star," and — perhaps — "Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary?
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Highland Mary” mean?
The most shadowy of Robert Burns's sweethearts, but the one to whom he addressed some of his finest poetry, including "My Highland Lassie, O," "High- land Mary" ("Ye banks and braes and streams around the castle o' Montgomery"), "Thou Ling'ring Star," and — perhaps — "Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary?
Is “Highland Mary” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.