AE FOND KISS - Rune Barslund

During 1787-1788 the world-famous Scottish poet Robert Burns had a relationship with a beautiful woman called Agnes Maclehose, known to her friends as 'Nancy.' Agnes, at the time when meeting Burns, was separated from her husband. It is widely thought that Robert and Agnes’ relationship was only platonic because Agnes was married, and they only ever shared one kiss even though Burns was keen to consummate the relationship. They wrote many passionate love letters and poetry to one another using the pseudonyms Sylvander and Clarinda to keep their relationship secret.

In 1791 Robert and Agnes saw each other for the last time on December the 6th. Although Burns had now been married to another woman for several years, he was still fond of Agnes and wrote the poem Ae Fond Kiss for her after their final meeting. He sent it to her on December the 27th, just before she sailed to Jamaica to be with her estranged husband. Ae Fond Kiss became one of Burns’ most famous poems and was set to the tune of Rory Dalls Port. Nowadays, it is usually sung to a tune made or arranged by John Michael Diack (1869-1946), who said it was based on an old Scottish Air.

Despite having outlived Robert by 45 years, Agnes always treasured the memories of their time together. Under the date, 6th of December 1831, she wrote in her journal: "This day I can never forget. Parted with Burns, in the year 1791, never more to meet in this world. Oh, may we meet in Heaven!”

This arrangement can be found in my book "Celtic Music for Free-Bass Accordion", which provides you with original arrangements of 11 popular songs and slow airs from Ireland and Scotland, as well as four of my own compositions. Some arrangements solely feature the free-bass system while others combine both free-bass and Stradella bass. This gives the player more options for varying the sound and developing the arrangement. The book also includes background stories for each piece as well as tips and tricks on Celtic ornamentation and extended chords. Pack your accordion and journey across the Celtic Isles with this book as your guide 🪗📖

The book can be bought from these webshops:
👉 https://folkshop.dk/shop/11-books/685...

👉 https://zzmusic.uk/accordionshop/book...

Each verse, as notated in the book, can be found at the following time codes:
00:05 Verse 1
00:34 Verse 2
01:02 Verse 3
01:31 Verse 4

🎶 If you want to hear more of my music, you can check out these websites:
www.inver.dk
www.andreasrune.dk
You can also find my old band Kasír on Spotify as well as here on YouTube.