Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

MY AIN KIND DEARIE, O!

WHEN o'er the hill the eastern star,

Tells bughtin'-time is near, my jo;

And owsen frae the furrowed field
Return sae dowf2 and weary, O,
Down by the burn, where scented birks
Wi' dew are hanging clear, my jo,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig3,

My ain kind dearie, O!

In mirkest glen, at midnight hour,
I'd rove and ne'er be eerie, O!
If through that glen I gaed to thee,
My ain kind dearie, O!

Although the night were ne'er sae wild,
And I were ne'er sae weary, O,

I'd meet the on the lea-rig,

My ain kind dearie, O!

The hunter lo'es the morning sun,
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher seeks the glen,
Along the burn to steer, my jo;
Gi'e me the hour o' gloamin' grey,

It mak's my heart sae cheery, O,
To meet thee on the lea-rig,

My ain kind dearie, O!*

*The third stanza was added to this song by Burns at the suggestion of Thomson, for whose collection the song was written.

[blocks in formation]

I farm.

2 long lane.

LAST MAY A BRAW WOOER.

LAST May a braw wooer cam' doun the lang glen,
And sair wi' his love he did deave me;

I said there was naething I hated like men-
The deuce gae wi'm, to believe me, believe me;
The deuce gae wi'm, to believe me!

He spak' o' the darts in my bonnie black e'en,
And vowed for my love he was dying;
I said he might die when he liked, for Jean :
The Lord forgi'e me for lying, for lying;
The Lord forgi'e me for lying!

A weel-stocked mailen1, himsel' for the laird,
And marriage aff-hand, were his proffers:

I never loot on that I kenn'd it, or cared,

But thought I might ha'e waur offers, waur offers;
But thought I might ha'e waur offers.

But what wad ye think?-in a fortnight or less,
The deil tak' his taste to gae near her!

He up the lang loan2 to my black cousin Bess
Guess ye how, the jaud! I could bear her, could

bear her,

Guess ye how, the jaud! I could bear her.

But a' the niest week as I fretted wi' care,
I gaed to the tryste1 o' Dalgarnock,
And wha but my fine fickle lover was there!
I glow'red as I'd seen a warlock, a warlock;
I glow'red as I'd seen a warlock.

But ower my left shoulder I ga'e him a blink,
Lest neibours might say I was saucy;

My wooer he capered as he'd been in drink,
And vowed I was his dear lassie, dear lassie;
And vowed I was his dear lassie.

I cattle fair.

2 stared.

3 kind.

I spier'd for my cousin, fu' couthy3 and sweet,
Gin she had recovered her hearin',
And how my auld shoon4 suited her shauchled 5 feet, 4.e. old lover.

But, heavens! how he fell a swearin', a swearin'!
But, heavens! how he fell a swearin'!

He begged, for Guidsake! I wad be his wife,
Or else I would kill him wi' sorrow:

So e'en to preserve the poor body in life,

I think I maun wed him to-morrow, to-morrow;

I think I maun wed him to-morrow.

5 out of shape.

AE FOND KISS.

AE fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, alas! for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
Who shall say that fortune grieves him
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy;
But to see her, was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never loved sae kindly,
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Never met, or never parted,

We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest !
Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest !
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure?
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;

Ae farewell, alas! for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.*

* This song is said to have been inspired by Clarinda. Scott declared the second stanza to contain the essence of a thousand love-tales.

THE AUTHOR OF "THE HAR'ST RIG." 241

THE

AUTHOR OF "THE HAR'ST RIG."

Fl. 1786.

Almost nothing is known of the writer of what remains the best poetic picture of a Lothian harvest-field, with its characteristic humours and circumstance, in the end of the eighteenth century. The poem bears to have been "written in Autumn, 1786, by a farmer in the vicinity of Edinburgh. In its first edition, in 1794, it was printed along with a similar piece of rural description, "The Farmer's Ha'," which, according to the preface, was written by an Aberdeen student, and first published

[ocr errors]

about the year 1774. The author, it is expressly stated, had no connexion with the publication. "The Farmer's Ha'" would appear to have afforded William Beattie the suggestion for his Winter's Night." From allusions in "The Har'st Rig" to "The Farmer's Ha'," and from the obvious leanings of the author to the Highland character, it seems just possible that the Aberdeen student and the Lothian farmer were the same person.

Several editions of "The Har'st Rig" have been printed, and it was freely quoted as an authority on the Scots vernacular by Jamieson in his Dictionary.

« AnteriorContinuar »