LEITH RACES.

IN July month, ae bonnie morn,
Whan Nature's rokelay1 green
Was spread owre ilka rig o' corn,

To charm our rovin' een;
Glow'ring about, I saw a quean
The fairest 'neath the lift:
Her een were o' the siller sheen;

Her skin, like snawy drift,
Sae white that day.

I a short cloak.

Quo' she, "I ferly unco sair2,
That ye sould musand gae,
Ye wha ha'e sung o' Hallowfair,

Her winter's pranks, and play;
When on Leith sands the racers rare
Wi' jockey louns are met,
Their orrow 3 pennies there to ware,

And drown themsel's in debt

Fu' deep that day."

1 road.

2 dwell.

"And wha are ye, my winsome dear,
That tak's the gate1 sae early?
Whare do ye win2, gin ane may speer,
For I right meikle ferly

That sic braw buskit laughin' lass
Thir bonnie blinks should gi'e,

And loup, like Hebe, owre the grass,

As wanton and as free

Frae dule this day?"

3 fresh.

4 pleasant.

5 test, sample.

6 bashful.

7 miss.

"I dwall amang the cauler3 springs
That weet the Land o' Cakes,
And aften tune my canty4 strings

At bridals and late-wakes.

They ca' me Mirth :-I ne'er was kenned
To grumble or look sour;

But blithe wad be a lift to lend,

Gif ye wad sey5 my power

And pith this day."

"A bargain be't; and, by my fegs!
Gif ye will be my mate,

Wi' you I'll screw the cheery pegs;

Ye shanna find me blate":

We'll reel and ramble through the sands,
And jeer wi' a' we meet;

Nor hip the daft and gleesome bands

That fill Edina's street

Sae thrang this day."

Ere servant-maid had wont to rise

To seethe the breakfast kettle,
Ilk dame her brawest ribbons tries,
To put her on her mettle,
Wi' wiles some silly chiel to trap,
(And troth he's fain to get her ;)
But she'll craw kniefly in his crap1,
Whan, wow! he canna flit her

Frae hame that day.

1 "crow briskly in his stomach," i.e. be gaily recalled to his discredit.

Now, mony a scawed and bare-arsed loun

2 pimply.

4 age.

6 price.

Their eild, their weight, their hight5, their grist, 3 name.

That rin for plates or purses

Fu' fleet this day."

To whisky plooks that brunt for ouks?
On town-guard sodgers' faces,

Their barber bauld his whittle crooks,

And scrapes them for the races.

Their stumps, erst used to filibegs,

Are dight in spatterdashes,

Whase barkent hides scarce fend their legs

Frae weet and weary plashes

O' dirt that day.

7 pimples that burned for weeks.

1 bayonets twist.

2 jolly.

3 indiscreet.

4 baker.

5 whack and beat.

6 petty levy.

7 diligent.

8 endure.

9 making merry.

10 confused

crowds.

11 empty bellies.

"Come, hafe a care," the Captain cries,
"On guns your bagnets thraw1;
Now mind your manual exercise,

And marsh down raw by raw."
And, as they march, he'll glower about,
Tent a' their cuts and scars;

'Mang them fell mony a gaucy2 snout
Has gusht in birth-day wars
Wi' bluid that day.

Her nainsel' maun be carefu' now,
Nor maun she be mislear'd3,
Sin' baxter 4 lads ha'e sealed a vow
To skelp and clout5 the guard.
I'm sure Auld Reekie kens o' nane
That would be sorry at it,

Though they should dearly pay the kane",
And get their tails weel sautit,
And sair, thir days.

The tinkler billies i' the Bow*

Are now less eident clinkin';

As lang's their pith or siller dow8,

They're daffin', and they're drinkin'.
Bedown Leith Walk what burrachs 10 reel
O'ilka trade and station,

That gar their wives and childer feel
Toom wames", for their libation

O' drink thir days!

* The West Bow was the particular quarter of the Edinburgh metal-workers.

The browster wives thegither harl1
A' trash that they can fa' on ;
They tak' the grounds o' ilka barrel,

To profit by the lawin'2:

For weel wat they, a skin leal het
For drinkin' needs nae hire:

At drumly gear they tak' nae pet;
Foul water slokens fire

And drouth thir days.

I draw.

2 reckoning.

They say, ill ale has been the dead

O' mony a buirdly 3 loun;

Then dinna gape like gleds, wi' greed,

To sweel hale bickers 5 doun.
Gin Lord send mony ane the morn,

They'll ban fu' sair the time
That e'er they toutit aff the horn
Which wambles7 through their wame
Wi' pain that day.

3 stalwart.

4 kites.

5 swill whole cupfuls.

6 tipped out.

7 undulates.

The Buchan bodies through the beach
Their bunch of Findrams cry;
And skirl out bauld, in Norlan' speech,
"Guid speldings;-fa will buy?"
And, by my saul, they're nae wrang gear
To gust a stirrah's mou';

Weel staw'd to wi' them, he'll never speer

The price o' being fu'

Wi' drink that day.

8 speldings, dry smoked haddocks.

9 to taste a young fellow's.

10 stalled, surfeited.