[ { "title": "292. Song—Farewell to the Highlands", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FAREWELL to the Highlands, farewell to the North,", "The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth;", "Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,", "The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.", "", "", "Chorus.—My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,", "My heart’s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;", "Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,", "My heart’s in the Highlands, wherever I go.", "", "", "Farewell to the mountains, high-cover’d with snow,", "Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;", "Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,", "Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.", " My heart’s in the Highlands, &c." ], "linecount": "13" }, { "title": "177. Elegy on the Death of Sir James Hunter Blair", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE LAMP of day, with-ill presaging glare,", " Dim, cloudy, sank beneath the western wave;", "Th’ inconstant blast howl’d thro’ the dark’ning air,", " And hollow whistled in the rocky cave.", "", "", "Lone as I wander’d by each cliff and dell,", " Once the lov’d haunts of Scotia’s royal train; 1", "Or mus’d where limpid streams, once hallow’d well, 2", " Or mould’ring ruins mark the sacred fane. 3", "", "", "Th’ increasing blast roar’d round the beetling rocks,", " The clouds swift-wing’d flew o’er the starry sky,", "The groaning trees untimely shed their locks,", " And shooting meteors caught the startled eye.", "", "", "The paly moon rose in the livid east.", " And ’mong the cliffs disclos’d a stately form", "In weeds of woe, that frantic beat her breast,", " And mix’d her wailings with the raving storm", "", "", "Wild to my heart the filial pulses glow,", " ’Twas Caledonia’s trophied shield I view’d:", "Her form majestic droop’d in pensive woe,", " The lightning of her eye in tears imbued.", "", "", "Revers’d that spear, redoubtable in war,", " Reclined that banner, erst in fields unfurl’d,", "That like a deathful meteor gleam’d afar,", " And brav’d the mighty monarchs of the world.", "", "", "“My patriot son fills an untimely grave!”", " With accents wild and lifted arms—she cried;", "“Low lies the hand oft was stretch’d to save,", " Low lies the heart that swell’d with honest pride.", "", "", "“A weeping country joins a widow’s tear;", " The helpless poor mix with the orphan’s cry;", "The drooping arts surround their patron’s bier;", " And grateful science heaves the heartfelt sigh!", "", "", "“I saw my sons resume their ancient fire;", " I saw fair Freedom’s blossoms richly blow:", "But ah! how hope is born but to expire!", " Relentless fate has laid their guardian low.", "", "", "“My patriot falls: but shall he lie unsung,", " While empty greatness saves a worthless name?", "No; every muse shall join her tuneful tongue,", " And future ages hear his growing fame.", "", "", "“And I will join a mother’s tender cares,", " Thro’ future times to make his virtues last;", "That distant years may boast of other Blairs!”—", " She said, and vanish’d with the sweeping blast.", "", "", " Note 1. The King’s Park at Holyrood House.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. St. Anthony’s well.—R. B. [back]", "Note 3. St. Anthony’s Chapel.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "47" }, { "title": "306. Election Ballad at close of Contest for representing the Dumfries Burghs, 1790", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FINTRY, my stay in wordly strife,", "Friend o’ my muse, friend o’ my life,", " Are ye as idle’s I am?", "Come then, wi’ uncouth kintra fleg,", "O’er Pegasus I’ll fling my leg,", " And ye shall see me try him.", "", "", "But where shall I go rin a ride,", "That I may splatter nane beside?", " I wad na be uncivil:", "In manhood’s various paths and ways", "There’s aye some doytin’ body strays,", " And I ride like the devil.", "", "", "Thus I break aff wi’ a’ my birr,", "And down yon dark, deep alley spur,", " Where Theologics daunder:", "Alas! curst wi’ eternal fogs,", "And damn’d in everlasting bogs,", " As sure’s the creed I’ll blunder!", "", "", "I’ll stain a band, or jaup a gown,", "Or rin my reckless, guilty crown", " Against the haly door:", "Sair do I rue my luckless fate,", "When, as the Muse an’ Deil wad hae’t,", " I rade that road before.", "", "", "Suppose I take a spurt, and mix", "Amang the wilds o’ Politics—", " Electors and elected,", "Where dogs at Court (sad sons of bitches!)", "Septennially a madness touches,", " Till all the land’s infected.", "", "", "All hail! Drumlanrig’s haughty Grace,", "Discarded remnant of a race", " Once godlike-great in story;", "Thy forbears’ virtues all contrasted,", "The very name of Douglas blasted,", " Thine that inverted glory!", "", "", "Hate, envy, oft the Douglas bore,", "But thou hast superadded more,", " And sunk them in contempt;", "Follies and crimes have stain’d the name,", "But, Queensberry, thine the virgin claim,", " From aught that’s good exempt!", "", "", "I’ll sing the zeal Drumlanrig bears,", "Who left the all-important cares", " Of princes, and their darlings:", "And, bent on winning borough touns,", "Came shaking hands wi’ wabster-loons,", " And kissing barefit carlins.", "", "", "Combustion thro’ our boroughs rode,", "Whistling his roaring pack abroad", " Of mad unmuzzled lions;", "As Queensberry blue and buff unfurl’d,", "And Westerha’ and Hopetoun hurled", " To every Whig defiance.", "", "", "But cautious Queensberry left the war,", "Th’ unmanner’d dust might soil his star,", " Besides, he hated bleeding:", "But left behind him heroes bright,", "Heroes in C&æsarean fight,", " Or Ciceronian pleading.", "", "", "O for a throat like huge Mons-Meg,", "To muster o’er each ardent Whig", " Beneath Drumlanrig’s banners;", "Heroes and heroines commix,", "All in the field of politics,", " To win immortal honours.", "", "", "M’Murdo and his lovely spouse,", "(Th’ enamour’d laurels kiss her brows!)", " Led on the Loves and Graces:", "She won each gaping burgess’ heart,", "While he, sub rosa, played his part", " Amang their wives and lasses.", "", "", "Craigdarroch led a light-arm’d core,", "Tropes, metaphors, and figures pour,", " Like Hecla streaming thunder:", "Glenriddel, skill’d in rusty coins,", "Blew up each Tory’s dark designs,", " And bared the treason under.", "", "", "In either wing two champions fought;", "Redoubted Staig, who set at nought", " The wildest savage Tory;", "And Welsh who ne’er yet flinch’d his ground,", "High-wav’d his magnum-bonum round", " With Cyclopeian fury.", "", "", "Miller brought up th’ artillery ranks,", "The many-pounders of the Banks,", " Resistless desolation!", "While Maxwelton, that baron bold,", "’Mid Lawson’s port entrench’d his hold,", " And threaten’d worse damnation.", "", "", "To these what Tory hosts oppos’d", "With these what Tory warriors clos’d", " Surpasses my descriving;", "Squadrons, extended long and large,", "With furious speed rush to the charge,", " Like furious devils driving.", "", "", "What verse can sing, what prose narrate,", "The butcher deeds of bloody Fate,", " Amid this mighty tulyie!", "Grim Horror girn’d, pale Terror roar’d,", "As Murder at his thrapple shor’d,", " And Hell mix’d in the brulyie.", "", "", "As Highland craigs by thunder cleft,", "When lightnings fire the stormy lift,", " Hurl down with crashing rattle;", "As flames among a hundred woods,", "As headlong foam from a hundred floods,", " Such is the rage of Battle.", "", "", "The stubborn Tories dare to die;", "As soon the rooted oaks would fly", " Before th’ approaching fellers:", "The Whigs come on like Ocean’s roar,", "When all his wintry billows pour", " Against the Buchan Bullers.", "", "", "Lo, from the shades of Death’s deep night,", "Departed Whigs enjoy the fight,", " And think on former daring:", "The muffled murtherer of Charles", "The Magna Charter flag unfurls,", " All deadly gules its bearing.", "", "", "Nor wanting ghosts of Tory fame;", "Bold Scrimgeour follows gallant Graham;", " Auld Covenanters shiver—", "Forgive! forgive! much-wrong’d Montrose!", "Now Death and Hell engulph thy foes,", " Thou liv’st on high for ever.", "", "", "Still o’er the field the combat burns,", "The Tories, Whigs, give way by turns;", " But Fate the word has spoken:", "For woman’s wit and strength o’man,", "Alas! can do but what they can;", " The Tory ranks are broken.", "", "", "O that my een were flowing burns!", "My voice, a lioness that mourns", " Her darling cubs’ undoing!", "That I might greet, that I might cry,", "While Tories fall, while Tories fly,", " And furious Whigs pursuing!", "", "", "What Whig but melts for good Sir James,", "Dear to his country, by the names,", " Friend, Patron, Benefactor!", "Not Pulteney’s wealth can Pulteney save;", "And Hopetoun falls, the generous, brave;", " And Stewart, bold as Hector.", "", "", "Thou, Pitt, shalt rue this overthrow,", "And Thurlow growl a curse of woe,", " And Melville melt in wailing:", "Now Fox and Sheridan rejoice,", "And Burke shall sing, “O Prince, arise!", " Thy power is all-prevailing!”", "", "", "For your poor friend, the Bard, afar", "He only hears and sees the war,", " A cool spectator purely!", "So, when the storm the forest rends,", "The robin in the hedge descends,", " And sober chirps securely.", "", "", "Now, for my friends’ and brethren’s sakes,", "And for my dear-lov’d Land o’ Cakes,", " I pray with holy fire:", "Lord, send a rough-shod troop o’ Hell", "O’er a’ wad Scotland buy or sell,", " To grind them in the mire!" ], "linecount": "162" }, { "title": "Tam O'Shanter", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "A Tale", "", "\"Of Brownyis and of Bogilis full is this Buke.\"", " —Gawin Douglas.", "", "When chapman billies leave the street,", "And drouthy neebors neebors meet,", "As market-days are wearing late,", "An' folk begin to tak' the gate;", "While we sit bousing at the nappy,", "An' getting fou and unco happy,", "We think na on the lang Scots miles,", "The mosses, waters, slaps, and stiles,", "That lie between us and our hame,", "Whare sits our sulky, sullen dame,", "Gathering her brows like gathering storm,", "Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.", "", "This truth fand honest Tam o'Shanter,", "As he frae Ayr ae night did canter,", "(Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a town surpasses,", "For honest men and bonie lasses).", "", "O Tam! hadst thou but been sae wise,", "As ta'en thy ain wife Kate's advice!", "She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,", "A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum,", "That frae November till October,", "Ae market-day thou was nae sober;", "That ilka melder, wi' the miller,", "Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;", "That ev'ry naig was ca'd a shoe on,", "The smith and thee gat roarin fou on;", "That at the Lord's house, ev'n on Sunday,", "Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean till Monday.", "She prophesied that, late or soon,", "Thou would be found deep drowned in Doon;", "Or catched wi' warlocks in the mirk,", "By Alloway's auld haunted kirk.", "", "Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,", "To think how mony counsels sweet,", "How mony lengthened sage advices,", "The husband frae the wife despises!", "", "But to our tale: Ae market-night,", "Tam had got planted unco right;", "Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,", "Wi' reaming swats, that drank divinely;", "And at his elbow, Souter Johnny,", "His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony;", "Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither;", "They had been fou for weeks thegither.", "The night drave on wi' sangs an' clatter;", "And aye the ale was growing better:", "The landlady and Tam grew gracious,", "Wi' favours, secret, sweet, and precious:", "The Souter tauld his queerest stories;", "The landlord's laugh was ready chorus:", "The storm without might rair and rustle,", "Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.", "", "Care, mad to see a man sae happy,", "E'en drowned himself amang the nappy;", "As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure,", "The minutes winged their way wi' pleasure:", "Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,", "O'er a' the ills o' life victorious!", "", "But pleasures are like poppies spread,", "You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed;", "Or like the snow falls in the river,", "A moment white—then melts for ever;", "Or like the borealis race,", "That flit ere you can point their place;", "Or like the rainbow's lovely form", "Evanishing amid the storm.—", "Nae man can tether time or tide;", "The hour approaches Tam maun ride;", "That hour, o' night's black arch the key-stane,", "That dreary hour he mounts his beast in;", "And sic a night he tak's the road in,", "As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in.", "", "The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last;", "The rattling showers rose on the blast;", "The speedy gleams the darkness swallowed;", "Loud, deep, and lang the thunder bellowed:", "That night, a child might understand,", "The De'il had business on his hand.", "", "Weel mounted on his grey mare, Meg,", "A better never lifted leg,", "Tam skelpit on thro' dub and mire,", "Despising wind, and rain, and fire;", "Whiles holding fast his gude blue bonnet;", "Whiles crooning o'er some auld Scots sonnet;", "Whiles glow'rin round wi' prudent cares,", "Lest bogles catch him unawares;", "Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh,", "Whare ghaists and houlets nightly cry.", "", "By this time he was cross the ford,", "Whare in the snaw the chapman smoored;", "And past the birks and meikle stane,", "Whare drunken Charlie brak's neck-bane;", "And thro' the whins, and by the cairn,", "Whare hunters fand the murdered bairn;", "And near the thorn, aboon the well,", "Whare Mungo's mither hanged hersel'.", "Before him Doon pours all his floods;", "The doubling storm roars thro' the woods;", "The lightnings flash from pole to pole;", "Near and more near the thunders roll;", "When, glimmering thro' the groaning trees,", "Kirk-Alloway seemed in a bleeze;", "Thro' ilka bore the beams were glancing;", "And loud resounded mirth and dancing.", "", "Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!", "What dangers thou canst mak' us scorn!", "Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil;", "Wi' usquabae, we'll face the devil!", "The swats sae reamed in Tammie's noddle,", "Fair play, he cared na deils a boddle.", "But Maggie stood right sair astonished,", "Till, by the heel and hand admonished,", "She ventured forward on the light;", "And, wow! Tam saw an unco sight!", "Warlocks and witches in a dance;", "Nae cotillion, brent new frae France,", "But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels,", "Put life and mettle in their heels.", "A winnock-bunker in the east,", "There sat auld Nick, in shape o' beast;", "A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,", "To gie them music was his charge:", "He screwed the pipes and gart them skirl,", "Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.—", "Coffins stood round, like open presses,", "That shawed the Dead in their last dresses;", "And by some devilish cantraip sleight", "Each in its cauld hand held a light,", "By which heroic Tam was able", "To note upon the haly table,", "A murderer's banes in gibbet-airns;", "Twa span-lang, wee, unchristened bairns;", "A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,", "Wi' his last gasp his gab did gape;", "Five tomahawks, wi' blude red-rusted;", "Five scimitars, wi' murder crusted;", "A garter, which a babe had strangled;", "A knife, a father's throat had mangled,", "Whom his ain son o' life bereft,", "The grey hairs yet stack to the heft;", "Wi' mair of horrible and awfu',", "Which even to name wad be unlawfu'.", "", "As Tammie glowered, amazed and curious,", "The mirth and fun grew fast and furious:", "The Piper loud and louder blew;", "The dancers quick and quicker flew;", "They reeled, they set, they crossed, they cleekit,", "Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,", "And coost her duddies to the wark,", "And linket at it in her sark!", "", "Now Tam, O Tam! had they been queans,", "A' plump and strapping in their teens;", "Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flainen,", "Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linen!—", "Thir breeks o' mine, my only pair,", "That ance were plush, o' gude blue hair,", "I wad hae gi'en them off my hurdies,", "For ae blink o' the bonie burdies!", "", "But withered beldams, auld and droll,", "Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,", "Lowping and flinging on a crummock,", "I wonder didna turn thy stomach.", "", "But Tam kenned what was what fu' brawlie:", "`There was ae winsome wench and waulie',", "That night enlisted in the core", "(Lang after kenned on Carrick shore;", "For mony a beast to dead she shot,", "And perished mony a bonie boat,", "And shook baith meikle corn and bear,", "And kept the country-side in fear);", "Her cutty sark, o' Paisley harn,", "That while a lassie she had worn,", "In longitude tho' sorely scanty,", "It was her best, and she was vauntie.", "Ah! little kenned thy reverend grannie,", "That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,", "Wi' twa pund Scots ('twas a' her riches),", "Wad ever graced a dance of witches!", "", "But here my Muse her wing maun cour,", "Sic flights are far beyond her power;", "To sing how Nannie lap and flang,", "(A souple jade she was and strang),", "And how Tam stood, like ane bewitched,", "And thought his very een enriched;", "Even Satan glowered, and fidged fu' fain,", "And hotched and blew wi' might and main:", "Till first ae caper, syne anither,", "Tam tint his reason a' thegither,", "And roars out, \"Weel done, Cutty-sark!\"", "And in an instant all was dark:", "And scarcely had he Maggie rallied,", "When out the hellish legion sallied.", "", "As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,", "When plundering herds assail their byke;", "As open pussie's mortal foes,", "When, pop! she starts before their nose;", "As eager runs the market-crowd,", "When \"Catch the thief!\" resounds aloud;", "So Maggie runs, the witches follow,", "Wi' mony an eldritch screech and hollow.", "", "Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin!", "In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin!", "In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!", "Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!", "Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,", "And win the key-stane of the brig;", "There at them thou thy tail may toss,", "A running stream they dare na cross.", "But ere the key-stane she could make,", "The fient a tail she had to shake!", "For Nannie, far before the rest,", "Hard upon noble Maggie prest,", "And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;", "But little wist she Maggie's mettle—", "Ae spring brought off her master hale,", "But left behind her ain grey tail:", "The carlin claught her by the rump,", "And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.", "", "Now, wha this tale o' truth shall read,", "Ilk man and mother's son, take heed:", "Whene'er to drink you are inclined,", "Or cutty-sarks run in your mind,", "Think, ye may buy the joys o'er dear,", "Remember Tam o'Shanter's mare." ], "linecount": "227" }, { "title": "92. Suppressed Stanzas of “The Vision”", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WITH secret throes I marked that earth,", "That cottage, witness of my birth;", "And near I saw, bold issuing forth", " In youthful pride,", "A Lindsay race of noble worth,", " Famed far and wide.", "", "", "Where, hid behind a spreading wood,", "An ancient Pict-built mansion stood,", "I spied, among an angel brood,", " A female pair;", "Sweet shone their high maternal blood,", " And father’s air. 1", "", "", "An ancient tower 2 to memory brought", "How Dettingen’s bold hero fought;", "Still, far from sinking into nought,", " It owns a lord", "Who far in western climates fought,", " With trusty sword.", "", "", "Among the rest I well could spy", "One gallant, graceful, martial boy,", "The soldier sparkled in his eye,", " A diamond water.", "I blest that noble badge with joy,", " That owned me frater. 3", "", "", "After 20th stanza of the text (at “Dispensing good”):—Near by arose a mansion fine 4", "The seat of many a muse divine;", "Not rustic muses such as mine,", " With holly crown’d,", "But th’ ancient, tuneful, laurell’d Nine,", " From classic ground.", "", "", "I mourn’d the card that Fortune dealt,", "To see where bonie Whitefoords dwelt; 5", "But other prospects made me melt,", " That village near; 6", "There Nature, Friendship, Love, I felt,", " Fond-mingling, dear!", "", "", "Hail! Nature’s pang, more strong than death!", "Warm Friendship’s glow, like kindling wrath!", "Love, dearer than the parting breath", " Of dying friend!", "Not ev’n with life’s wild devious path,", " Your force shall end!", "", "", "The Power that gave the soft alarms", "In blooming Whitefoord’s rosy charms,", "Still threats the tiny, feather’d arms,", " The barbed dart,", "While lovely Wilhelmina warms", " The coldest heart. 7", "", "", "After 21st stanza of the text (at “That, to adore”):—Where Lugar leaves his moorland plaid, 8", "Where lately Want was idly laid,", "I markèd busy, bustling Trade,", " In fervid flame,", "Beneath a Patroness’ aid,", " Of noble name.", "", "", "Wild, countless hills I could survey,", "And countless flocks as wild as they;", "But other scenes did charms display,", " That better please,", "Where polish’d manners dwell with Gray,", " In rural ease. 9", "", "", "Where Cessnock pours with gurgling sound; 10", "And Irwine, marking out the bound,", "Enamour’d of the scenes around,", " Slow runs his race,", "A name I doubly honour’d found, 11", " With knightly grace.", "", "", "Brydon’s brave ward, 12 I saw him stand,", "Fame humbly offering her hand,", "And near, his kinsman’s rustic band, 13", " With one accord,", "Lamenting their late blessed land", " Must change its lord.", "", "", "The owner of a pleasant spot,", "Near and sandy wilds, I last did note; 14", "A heart too warm, a pulse too hot", " At times, o’erran:", "But large in ev’ry feature wrote,", " Appear’d the Man.", "", "", " Note 1. Sundrum.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. Stair.—R. B. [back]", "Note 3. Captain James Montgomerie, Master of St. James’ Lodge, Tarbolton, to which the author has the honour to belong.—R. B. [back]", "Note 4. Auchinleck.—R. B. [back]", "Note 5. Ballochmyle. [back]", "Note 6. Mauchline. [back]", "Note 7. Miss Wilhelmina Alexander. [back]", "Note 8. Cumnock.—R. B. [back]", "Note 9. Mr. Farquhar Gray.—R. B. [back]", "Note 10. Auchinskieth.—R. B. [back]", "Note 11. Caprington.—R. B. [back]", "Note 12. Colonel Fullerton.—R. B. [back]", "Note 13. Dr. Fullerton.—R. B. [back]", "Note 14. Orangefield.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "92" }, { "title": "293. The Whistle: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "I SING of a Whistle, a Whistle of worth,", "I sing of a Whistle, the pride of the North.", "Was brought to the court of our good Scottish King,", "And long with this Whistle all Scotland shall ring.", "", "", "Old Loda, still rueing the arm of Fingal,", "The god of the bottle sends down from his hall—", "“The Whistle’s your challenge, to Scotland get o’er,", "And drink them to hell, Sir! or ne’er see me more!”", "", "", "Old poets have sung, and old chronicles tell,", "What champions ventur’d, what champions fell:", "The son of great Loda was conqueror still,", "And blew on the Whistle their requiem shrill.", "", "", "Till Robert, the lord of the Cairn and the Scaur,", "Unmatch’d at the bottle, unconquer’d in war,", "He drank his poor god-ship as deep as the sea;", "No tide of the Baltic e’er drunker than he.", "", "", "Thus Robert, victorious, the trophy has gain’d;", "Which now in his house has for ages remain’d;", "Till three noble chieftains, and all of his blood,", "The jovial contest again have renew’d.", "", "", "Three joyous good fellows, with hearts clear of flaw", "Craigdarroch, so famous for with, worth, and law;", "And trusty Glenriddel, so skill’d in old coins;", "And gallant Sir Robert, deep-read in old wines.", "", "", "Craigdarroch began, with a tongue smooth as oil,", "Desiring Downrightly to yield up the spoil;", "Or else he would muster the heads of the clan,", "And once more, in claret, try which was the man.", "", "", "“By the gods of the ancients!” Downrightly replies,", "“Before I surrender so glorious a prize,", "I’ll conjure the ghost of the great Rorie More,", "And bumper his horn with him twenty times o’er.”", "", "", "Sir Robert, a soldier, no speech would pretend,", "But he ne’er turn’d his back on his foe, or his friend;", "Said, “Toss down the Whistle, the prize of the field,”", "And, knee-deep in claret, he’d die ere he’d yield.", "", "", "To the board of Glenriddel our heroes repair,", "So noted for drowning of sorrow and care;", "But, for wine and for welcome, not more known to fame,", "Than the sense, wit, and taste, of a sweet lovely dame.", "", "", "A bard was selected to witness the fray,", "And tell future ages the feats of the day;", "A Bard who detested all sadness and spleen,", "And wish’d that Parnassus a vineyard had been.", "", "", "The dinner being over, the claret they ply,", "And ev’ry new cork is a new spring of joy;", "In the bands of old friendship and kindred so set,", "And the bands grew the tighter the more they were wet.", "", "", "Gay Pleasure ran riot as bumpers ran o’er:", "Bright Phoebus ne’er witness’d so joyous a core,", "And vow’d that to leave them he was quite forlorn,", "Till Cynthia hinted he’d see them next morn.", "", "", "Six bottles a-piece had well wore out the night,", "When gallant Sir Robert, to finish the fight,", "Turn’d o’er in one bumper a bottle of red,", "And swore ’twas the way that their ancestor did.", "", "", "Then worthy Glenriddel, so cautious and sage,", "No longer the warfare ungodly would wage;", "A high Ruling Elder to wallow in wine;", "He left the foul business to folks less divine.", "", "", "The gallant Sir Robert fought hard to the end;", "But who can with Fate and quart bumpers contend!", "Though Fate said, a hero should perish in light;", "So uprose bright Phoebus-and down fell the knight.", "", "", "Next uprose our Bard, like a prophet in drink:—", "“Craigdarroch, thou’lt soar when creation shall sink!", "But if thou would flourish immortal in rhyme,", "Come—one bottle more—and have at the sublime!", "", "", "“Thy line, that have struggled for freedom with Bruce,", "Shall heroes and patriots ever produce:", "So thine be the laurel, and mine be the bay;", "The field thou hast won, by yon bright god of day!”" ], "linecount": "72" }, { "title": "278. On the late Captain Grose’s Peregrinations", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "HEAR, Land o’ Cakes, and brither Scots,", "Frae Maidenkirk to Johnie Groat’s;—", "If there’s a hole in a’ your coats,", " I rede you tent it:", "A chield’s amang you takin notes,", " And, faith, he’ll prent it:", "", "", "If in your bounds ye chance to light", "Upon a fine, fat fodgel wight,", "O’ stature short, but genius bright,", " That’s he, mark weel;", "And wow! he has an unco sleight", " O’ cauk and keel.", "", "", "By some auld, houlet-haunted biggin,", "Or kirk deserted by its riggin,", "It’s ten to ane ye’ll find him snug in", " Some eldritch part,", "Wi’ deils, they say, L—d save’s! colleaguin", " At some black art.", "", "", "Ilk ghaist that haunts auld ha’ or chaumer,", "Ye gipsy-gang that deal in glamour,", "And you, deep-read in hell’s black grammar,", " Warlocks and witches,", "Ye’ll quake at his conjuring hammer,", " Ye midnight bitches.", "", "", "It’s tauld he was a sodger bred,", "And ane wad rather fa’n than fled;", "But now he’s quat the spurtle-blade,", " And dog-skin wallet,", "And taen the—Antiquarian trade,", " I think they call it.", "", "", "He has a fouth o’ auld nick-nackets:", "Rusty airn caps and jinglin jackets,", "Wad haud the Lothians three in tackets,", " A towmont gude;", "And parritch-pats and auld saut-backets,", " Before the flood.", "", "", "Of Eve’s first fire he has a cinder;", "Auld Tubalcain’s fire-shool and fender;", "That which distinguished the gender", " O’ Balaam’s ass:", "A broomstick o’ the witch of Endor,", " Weel shod wi’ brass.", "", "", "Forbye, he’ll shape you aff fu’ gleg", "The cut of Adam’s philibeg;", "The knife that nickit Abel’s craig", " He’ll prove you fully,", "It was a faulding jocteleg,", " Or lang-kail gullie.", "", "", "But wad ye see him in his glee,", "For meikle glee and fun has he,", "Then set him down, and twa or three", " Gude fellows wi’ him:", "And port, O port! shine thou a wee,", " And THEN ye’ll see him!", "", "", "Now, by the Pow’rs o’ verse and prose!", "Thou art a dainty chield, O Grose!—", "Whae’er o’ thee shall ill suppose,", " They sair misca’ thee;", "I’d take the rascal by the nose,", " Wad say, “Shame fa’ thee!”" ], "linecount": "60" }, { "title": "128. The Farewell", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FAREWELL, old Scotia’s bleak domains,", "Far dearer than the torrid plains,", " Where rich ananas blow!", "Farewell, a mother’s blessing dear!", "A borther’s sigh! a sister’s tear!", " My Jean’s heart-rending throe!", "Farewell, my Bess! tho’ thou’rt bereft", " Of my paternal care.", "A faithful brother I have left,", " My part in him thou’lt share!", " Adieu, too, to you too,", " My Smith, my bosom frien’;", " When kindly you mind me,", " O then befriend my Jean!", "", "", "What bursting anguish tears my heart;", "From thee, my Jeany, must I part!", " Thou, weeping, answ’rest—“No!”", "Alas! misfortune stares my face,", "And points to ruin and disgrace,", " I for thy sake must go!", "Thee, Hamilton, and Aiken dear,", " A grateful, warm adieu:", "I, with a much-indebted tear,", " Shall still remember you!", " All hail then, the gale then,", " Wafts me from thee, dear shore!", " It rustles, and whistles", " I’ll never see thee more!" ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "494. Song—Farewell thou stream that winding flows", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FAREWELL, thou stream that winding flows", " Around Eliza’s dwelling;", "O mem’ry! spare the cruel thoes", " Within my bosom swelling.", "Condemn’d to drag a hopeless chain", " And yet in secret languish;", "To feel a fire in every vein,", " Nor dare disclose my anguish.", "", "", "Love’s veriest wretch, unseen, unknown,", " I fain my griefs would cover;", "The bursting sigh, th’ unweeting groan,", " Betray the hapless lover.", "I know thou doom’st me to despair,", " Nor wilt, nor canst relieve me;", "But, O Eliza, hear one prayer—", " For pity’s sake forgive me!", "", "", "The music of thy voice I heard,", " Nor wist while it enslav’d me;", "I saw thine eyes, yet nothing fear’d,", " Till fears no more had sav’d me:", "Th’ unwary sailor thus, aghast", " The wheeling torrent viewing,", "’Mid circling horrors sinks at last,", " In overwhelming ruin." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "437. Song—Thine am I, my faithful Fair", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THINE am I, my faithful Fair,", " Thine, my lovely Nancy;", "Ev’ry pulse along my veins,", " Ev’ry roving fancy.", "To thy bosom lay my heart,", " There to throb and languish;", "Tho’ despair had wrung its core,", " That would heal its anguish.", "", "", "Take away those rosy lips,", " Rich with balmy treasure;", "Turn away thine eyes of love,", " Lest I die with pleasure!", "What is life when wanting Love?", " Night without a morning:", "Love’s the cloudless summer sun,", " Nature gay adorning." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "519. Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 2", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FY, let us a’ to Kirkcudbright,", " For there will be bickerin’ there;", "For Murray’s light horse are to muster,", " And O how the heroes will swear!", "And there will be Murray, Commander,", " And Gordon, the battle to win;", "Like brothers they’ll stand by each other,", " Sae knit in alliance and kin.", "", "", "And there will be black-nebbit Johnie,", " The tongue o’ the trump to them a’;", "An he get na Hell for his haddin’,", " The Deil gets na justice ava.", "And there will be Kempleton’s birkie,", " A boy no sae black at the bane;", "But as to his fine Nabob fortune,", " We’ll e’en let the subject alane.", "", "", "And there will be Wigton’s new Sheriff;", " Dame Justice fu’ brawly has sped,", "She’s gotten the heart of a Bushby,", " But, Lord! what’s become o’ the head?", "And there will be Cardoness, Esquire,", " Sae mighty in Cardoness’ eyes;", "A wight that will weather damnation,", " The Devil the prey will despise.", "", "", "And there will be Douglasses doughty,", " New christening towns far and near;", "Abjuring their democrat doings,", " By kissin’ the —— o’ a Peer:", "And there will be folk frae Saint Mary’s", " A house o’ great merit and note;", "The deil ane but honours them highly—", " The deil ane will gie them his vote!", "", "", "And there will be Kenmure sae gen’rous,", " Whose honour is proof to the storm,", "To save them from stark reprobation,", " He lent them his name in the Firm.", "And there will be lads o’ the gospel,", " Muirhead wha’s as gude as he’s true;", "And there will be Buittle’s Apostle,", " Wha’s mair o’ the black than the blue.", "", "", "And there will be Logan M’Dowall,", " Sculdudd’ry an’ he will be there,", "And also the Wild Scot o’ Galloway,", " Sogering, gunpowder Blair.", "But we winna mention Redcastle,", " The body, e’en let him escape!", "He’d venture the gallows for siller,", " An ’twere na the cost o’ the rape.", "", "", "But where is the Doggerbank hero,", " That made “Hogan Mogan” to skulk?", "Poor Keith’s gane to hell to be fuel,", " The auld rotten wreck of a Hulk.", "And where is our King’s Lord Lieutenant,", " Sae fam’d for his gratefu’ return?", "The birkie is gettin’ his Questions", " To say in Saint Stephen’s the morn.", "", "", "But mark ye! there’s trusty Kerroughtree,", " Whose honor was ever his law;", "If the Virtues were pack’d in a parcel,", " His worth might be sample for a’;", "And strang an’ respectfu’s his backing,", " The maist o’ the lairds wi’ him stand;", "Nae gipsy-like nominal barons,", " Wha’s property’s paper—not land.", "", "", "And there, frae the Niddisdale borders,", " The Maxwells will gather in droves,", "Teugh Jockie, staunch Geordie, an’ Wellwood,", " That griens for the fishes and loaves;", "And there will be Heron, the Major,", " Wha’ll ne’er be forgot in the Greys;", "Our flatt’ry we’ll keep for some other,", " HIM, only it’s justice to praise.", "", "", "And there will be maiden Kilkerran,", " And also Barskimming’s gude Knight,", "And there will be roarin Birtwhistle,", " Yet luckily roars i’ the right.", "And there’ll be Stamp Office Johnie,", " (Tak tent how ye purchase a dram!)", "And there will be gay Cassencarry,", " And there’ll be gleg Colonel Tam.", "", "", "And there’ll be wealthy young Richard,", " Dame Fortune should hing by the neck,", "For prodigal, thriftless bestowing—", " His merit had won him respect.", "And there will be rich brother Nabobs,", " (Tho’ Nabobs, yet men not the worst,)", "And there will be Collieston’s whiskers,", " And Quintin—a lad o’ the first.", "", "", "Then hey! the chaste Interest o’ Broughton", " And hey! for the blessin’s ’twill bring;", "It may send Balmaghie to the Commons,", " In Sodom ’twould make him a king;", "And hey! for the sanctified Murray,", " Our land wha wi’ chapels has stor’d;", "He founder’d his horse among harlots,", " But gied the auld naig to the Lord." ], "linecount": "96" }, { "title": "403. The Soldier’s Return: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHEN wild war’s deadly blast was blawn,", " And gentle peace returning,", "Wi’ mony a sweet babe fatherless,", " And mony a widow mourning;", "I left the lines and tented field,", " Where lang I’d been a lodger,", "My humble knapsack a’ my wealth,", " A poor and honest sodger.", "", "", "A leal, light heart was in my breast,", " My hand unstain’d wi’ plunder;", "And for fair Scotia hame again,", " I cheery on did wander:", "I thought upon the banks o’ Coil,", " I thought upon my Nancy,", "I thought upon the witching smile", " That caught my youthful fancy.", "", "", "At length I reach’d the bonie glen,", " Where early life I sported;", "I pass’d the mill and trysting thorn,", " Where Nancy aft I courted:", "Wha spied I but my ain dear maid,", " Down by her mother’s dwelling!", "And turn’d me round to hide the flood", " That in my een was swelling.", "", "", "Wi’ alter’d voice, quoth I, “Sweet lass,", " Sweet as yon hawthorn’s blossom,", "O! happy, happy may he be,", " That’s dearest to thy bosom:", "My purse is light, I’ve far to gang,", " And fain would be thy lodger;", "I’ve serv’d my king and country lang—", " Take pity on a sodger.”", "", "", "Sae wistfully she gaz’d on me,", " And lovelier was than ever;", "Quo’ she, “A sodger ance I lo’ed,", " Forget him shall I never:", "Our humble cot, and hamely fare,", " Ye freely shall partake it;", "That gallant badge-the dear cockade,", " Ye’re welcome for the sake o’t.”", "", "", "She gaz’d—she redden’d like a rose—", " Syne pale like only lily;", "She sank within my arms, and cried,", " “Art thou my ain dear Willie?”", "“By him who made yon sun and sky!", " By whom true love’s regarded,", "I am the man; and thus may still", " True lovers be rewarded.", "", "", "“The wars are o’er, and I’m come hame,", " And find thee still true-hearted;", "Tho’ poor in gear, we’re rich in love,", " And mair we’se ne’er be parted.”", "Quo’ she, “My grandsire left me gowd,", " A mailen plenish’d fairly;", "And come, my faithfu’ sodger lad,", " Thou’rt welcome to it dearly!”", "", "", "For gold the merchant ploughs the main,", " The farmer ploughs the manor;", "But glory is the sodger’s prize,", " The sodger’s wealth is honor:", "The brave poor sodger ne’er despise,", " Nor count him as a stranger;", "Remember he’s his country’s stay,", " In day and hour of danger." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "540. Inscription to Chloris", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "’TIS Friendship’s pledge, my young, fair Friend,", " Nor thou the gift refuse,", "Nor with unwilling ear attend", " The moralising Muse.", "", "", "Since thou, in all thy youth and charms,", " Must bid the world adieu,", "(A world ’gainst Peace in constant arms)", " To join the Friendly Few.", "", "", "Since, thy gay morn of life o’ercast,", " Chill came the tempest’s lour;", "(And ne’er Misfortune’s eastern blast", " Did nip a fairer flower.)", "", "", "Since life’s gay scenes must charm no more,", " Still much is left behind,", "Still nobler wealth hast thou in store—", " The comforts of the mind!", "", "", "Thine is the self-approving glow,", " Of conscious Honour’s part;", "And (dearest gift of Heaven below)", " Thine Friendship’s truest heart.", "", "", "The joys refin’d of Sense and Taste,", " With every Muse to rove:", "And doubly were the Poet blest,", " These joys could he improve.R.B." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "155. Epistle to Mrs. Scott of Wauchope House", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "GUDEWIFE,I MIND it weel in early date,", "When I was bardless, young, and blate,", " An’ first could thresh the barn,", "Or haud a yokin’ at the pleugh;", "An, tho’ forfoughten sair eneugh,", " Yet unco proud to learn:", "When first amang the yellow corn", " A man I reckon’d was,", "An’ wi’ the lave ilk merry morn", " Could rank my rig and lass,", " Still shearing, and clearing", " The tither stooked raw,", " Wi’ claivers, an’ haivers,", " Wearing the day awa.", "", "", "E’en then, a wish, (I mind its pow’r),", "A wish that to my latest hour", " Shall strongly heave my breast,", "That I for poor auld Scotland’s sake", "Some usefu’ plan or book could make,", " Or sing a sang at least.", "The rough burr-thistle, spreading wide", " Amang the bearded bear,", "I turn’d the weeder-clips aside,", " An’ spar’d the symbol dear:", " No nation, no station,", " My envy e’er could raise;", " A Scot still, but blot still,", " I knew nae higher praise.", "", "", "But still the elements o’ sang,", "In formless jumble, right an’ wrang,", " Wild floated in my brain;", "’Till on that har’st I said before,", "May partner in the merry core,", " She rous’d the forming strain;", "I see her yet, the sonsie quean,", " That lighted up my jingle,", "Her witching smile, her pawky een", " That gart my heart-strings tingle;", " I firèd, inspired,", " At every kindling keek,", " But bashing, and dashing,", " I fearèd aye to speak.", "", "", "Health to the sex! ilk guid chiel says:", "Wi’ merry dance in winter days,", " An’ we to share in common;", "The gust o’ joy, the balm of woe,", "The saul o’ life, the heaven below,", " Is rapture-giving woman.", "Ye surly sumphs, who hate the name,", " Be mindfu’ o’ your mither;", "She, honest woman, may think shame", " That ye’re connected with her:", " Ye’re wae men, ye’re nae men", " That slight the lovely dears;", " To shame ye, disclaim ye,", " Ilk honest birkie swears.", "", "", "For you, no bred to barn and byre,", "Wha sweetly tune the Scottish lyre,", " Thanks to you for your line:", "The marled plaid ye kindly spare,", "By me should gratefully be ware;", " ’Twad please me to the nine.", "I’d be mair vauntie o’ my hap,", " Douce hingin owre my curple,", "Than ony ermine ever lap,", " Or proud imperial purple.", " Farewell then, lang hale then,", " An’ plenty be your fa;", " May losses and crosses", " Ne’er at your hallan ca’!R. BURNS.March, 1787" ], "linecount": "70" }, { "title": "195. Song—A Rose-bud by my Early Walk", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "A ROSE-BUD by my early walk,", "Adown a corn-enclosed bawk,", "Sae gently bent its thorny stalk,", " All on a dewy morning.", "Ere twice the shades o’ dawn are fled,", "In a’ its crimson glory spread,", "And drooping rich the dewy head,", " It scents the early morning.", "", "", "Within the bush her covert nest", "A little linnet fondly prest;", "The dew sat chilly on her breast,", " Sae early in the morning.", "She soon shall see her tender brood,", "The pride, the pleasure o’ the wood,", "Amang the fresh green leaves bedew’d,", " Awake the early morning.", "", "", "So thou, dear bird, young Jeany fair,", "On trembling string or vocal air,", "Shall sweetly pay the tender care", " That tents thy early morning.", "So thou, sweet Rose-bud, young and gay,", "Shalt beauteous blaze upon the day,", "And bless the parent’s evening ray", " That watch’d thy early morning." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "45. My Girl she’s Airy: A Fragment", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "MY girl she’s airy, she’s buxom and gay;", "Her breath is as sweet as the blossoms in May;", " A touch of her lips it ravishes quite:", "She’s always good natur’d, good humour’d, and free;", "She dances, she glances, she smiles upon me;", " I never am happy when out of her sight." ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "19. A Prayer in the Prospect of Death", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O THOU unknown, Almighty Cause", " Of all my hope and fear!", "In whose dread presence, ere an hour,", " Perhaps I must appear!", "", "", "If I have wander’d in those paths", " Of life I ought to shun,", "As something, loudly, in my breast,", " Remonstrates I have done;", "", "", "Thou know’st that Thou hast formed me", " With passions wild and strong;", "And list’ning to their witching voice", " Has often led me wrong.", "", "", "Where human weakness has come short,", " Or frailty stept aside,", "Do Thou, All-Good-for such Thou art—", " In shades of darkness hide.", "", "", "Where with intention I have err’d,", " No other plea I have,", "But, Thou art good; and Goodness still", " Delighteth to forgive." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "398. Lord Gregory: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O MIRK, mirk is this midnight hour,", " And loud the tempest’s roar;", "A waefu’ wanderer seeks thy tower,", " Lord Gregory, ope thy door.", "An exile frae her father’s ha’,", " And a’ for loving thee;", "At least some pity on me shaw,", " If love it may na be.", "", "", "Lord Gregory, mind’st thou not the grove", " By bonie Irwine side,", "Where first I own’d that virgin love", " I lang, lang had denied.", "How aften didst thou pledge and vow", " Thou wad for aye be mine!", "And my fond heart, itsel’ sae true,", " It ne’er mistrusted thine.", "", "", "Hard is thy heart, Lord Gregory,", " And flinty is thy breast:", "Thou bolt of Heaven that flashest by,", " O, wilt thou bring me rest!", "Ye mustering thunders from above,", " Your willing victim see;", "But spare and pardon my fause Love,", " His wrangs to Heaven and me." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "39. Ballad on the American War", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHEN Guilford good our pilot stood", " An’ did our hellim thraw, man,", "Ae night, at tea, began a plea,", " Within America, man:", "Then up they gat the maskin-pat,", " And in the sea did jaw, man;", "An’ did nae less, in full congress,", " Than quite refuse our law, man.", "", "", "Then thro’ the lakes Montgomery takes,", " I wat he was na slaw, man;", "Down Lowrie’s Burn he took a turn,", " And Carleton did ca’, man:", "But yet, whatreck, he, at Quebec,", " Montgomery-like did fa’, man,", "Wi’ sword in hand, before his band,", " Amang his en’mies a’, man.", "", "", "Poor Tammy Gage within a cage", " Was kept at Boston-ha’, man;", "Till Willie Howe took o’er the knowe", " For Philadelphia, man;", "Wi’ sword an’ gun he thought a sin", " Guid Christian bluid to draw, man;", "But at New York, wi’ knife an’ fork,", " Sir-Loin he hacked sma’, man.", "", "", "Burgoyne gaed up, like spur an’ whip,", " Till Fraser brave did fa’, man;", "Then lost his way, ae misty day,", " In Saratoga shaw, man.", "Cornwallis fought as lang’s he dought,", " An’ did the Buckskins claw, man;", "But Clinton’s glaive frae rust to save,", " He hung it to the wa’, man.", "", "", "Then Montague, an’ Guilford too,", " Began to fear, a fa’, man;", "And Sackville dour, wha stood the stour,", " The German chief to thraw, man:", "For Paddy Burke, like ony Turk,", " Nae mercy had at a’, man;", "An’ Charlie Fox threw by the box,", " An’ lows’d his tinkler jaw, man.", "", "", "Then Rockingham took up the game,", " Till death did on him ca’, man;", "When Shelburne meek held up his cheek,", " Conform to gospel law, man:", "Saint Stephen’s boys, wi’ jarring noise,", " They did his measures thraw, man;", "For North an’ Fox united stocks,", " An’ bore him to the wa’, man.", "", "", "Then clubs an’ hearts were Charlie’s cartes,", " He swept the stakes awa’, man,", "Till the diamond’s ace, of Indian race,", " Led him a sair faux pas, man:", "The Saxon lads, wi’ loud placads,", " On Chatham’s boy did ca’, man;", "An’ Scotland drew her pipe an’ blew,", " “Up, Willie, waur them a’, man!”", "", "", "Behind the throne then Granville’s gone,", " A secret word or twa, man;", "While slee Dundas arous’d the class", " Be-north the Roman wa’, man:", "An’ Chatham’s wraith, in heav’nly graith,", " (Inspired bardies saw, man),", "Wi’ kindling eyes, cry’d, “Willie, rise!", " Would I hae fear’d them a’, man?”", "", "", "But, word an’ blow, North, Fox, and Co.", " Gowff’d Willie like a ba’, man;", "Till Suthron raise, an’ coost their claise", " Behind him in a raw, man:", "An’ Caledon threw by the drone,", " An’ did her whittle draw, man;", "An’ swoor fu’ rude, thro’ dirt an’ bluid,", " To mak it guid in law, man." ], "linecount": "72" }, { "title": "26. John Barleycorn: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THERE was three kings into the east,", " Three kings both great and high,", "And they hae sworn a solemn oath", " John Barleycorn should die.", "", "", "They took a plough and plough’d him down,", " Put clods upon his head,", "And they hae sworn a solemn oath", " John Barleycorn was dead.", "", "", "But the cheerful Spring came kindly on,", " And show’rs began to fall;", "John Barleycorn got up again,", " And sore surpris’d them all.", "", "", "The sultry suns of Summer came,", " And he grew thick and strong;", "His head weel arm’d wi’ pointed spears,", " That no one should him wrong.", "", "", "The sober Autumn enter’d mild,", " When he grew wan and pale;", "His bending joints and drooping head", " Show’d he began to fail.", "", "", "His colour sicken’d more and more,", " He faded into age;", "And then his enemies began", " To show their deadly rage.", "", "", "They’ve taen a weapon, long and sharp,", " And cut him by the knee;", "Then tied him fast upon a cart,", " Like a rogue for forgerie.", "", "", "They laid him down upon his back,", " And cudgell’d him full sore;", "They hung him up before the storm,", " And turned him o’er and o’er.", "", "", "They filled up a darksome pit", " With water to the brim;", "They heaved in John Barleycorn,", " There let him sink or swim.", "", "", "They laid him out upon the floor,", " To work him farther woe;", "And still, as signs of life appear’d,", " They toss’d him to and fro.", "", "", "They wasted, o’er a scorching flame,", " The marrow of his bones;", "But a miller us’d him worst of all,", " For he crush’d him between two stones.", "", "", "And they hae taen his very heart’s blood,", " And drank it round and round;", "And still the more and more they drank,", " Their joy did more abound.", "", "", "John Barleycorn was a hero bold,", " Of noble enterprise;", "For if you do but taste his blood,", " ’Twill make your courage rise.", "", "", "’Twill make a man forget his woe;", " ’Twill heighten all his joy;", "’Twill make the widow’s heart to sing,", " Tho’ the tear were in her eye.", "", "", "Then let us toast John Barleycorn,", " Each man a glass in hand;", "And may his great posterity", " Ne’er fail in old Scotland!" ], "linecount": "60" }, { "title": "391. A Tippling Ballad—When Princes and Prelates, etc.", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHEN Princes and Prelates,", " And hot-headed zealots,", "A’ Europe had set in a low, a low,", " The poor man lies down,", " Nor envies a crown,", "And comforts himself as he dow, as he dow,", "And comforts himself as he dow.", "", "", " The black-headed eagle,", " As keen as a beagle,", "He hunted o’er height and o’er howe,", " In the braes o’ Gemappe,", " He fell in a trap,", "E’en let him come out as he dow, dow, dow,", "E’en let him come out as he dow.", "· · · · · · · But truce with commotions,", " And new-fangled notions,", "A bumper, I trust you’ll allow;", " Here’s George our good king,", " And Charlotte his queen,", "And lang may they ring as they dow, dow, dow,", "And lang may they ring as they dow." ], "linecount": "21" }, { "title": "88. The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "YE Irish lords, ye knights an’ squires,", "Wha represent our brughs an’ shires,", "An’ doucely manage our affairs", " In parliament,", "To you a simple poet’s pray’rs", " Are humbly sent.", "", "", "Alas! my roupit Muse is hearse!", "Your Honours’ hearts wi’ grief ’twad pierce,", "To see her sittin on her arse", " Low i’ the dust,", "And scriechinh out prosaic verse,", " An like to brust!", "", "", "Tell them wha hae the chief direction,", "Scotland an’ me’s in great affliction,", "E’er sin’ they laid that curst restriction", " On aqua-vit&æ;", "An’ rouse them up to strong conviction,", " An’ move their pity.", "", "", "Stand forth an’ tell yon Premier youth", "The honest, open, naked truth:", "Tell him o’ mine an’ Scotland’s drouth,", " His servants humble:", "The muckle deevil blaw you south", " If ye dissemble!", "", "", "Does ony great man glunch an’ gloom?", "Speak out, an’ never fash your thumb!", "Let posts an’ pensions sink or soom", " Wi’ them wha grant them;", "If honestly they canna come,", " Far better want them.", "", "", "In gath’rin votes you were na slack;", "Now stand as tightly by your tack:", "Ne’er claw your lug, an’ fidge your back,", " An’ hum an’ haw;", "But raise your arm, an’ tell your crack", " Before them a’.", "", "", "Paint Scotland greetin owre her thrissle;", "Her mutchkin stowp as toom’s a whissle;", "An’ d—mn’d excisemen in a bussle,", " Seizin a stell,", "Triumphant crushin’t like a mussel,", " Or limpet shell!", "", "", "Then, on the tither hand present her—", "A blackguard smuggler right behint her,", "An’ cheek-for-chow, a chuffie vintner", " Colleaguing join,", "Picking her pouch as bare as winter", " Of a’ kind coin.", "", "", "Is there, that bears the name o’ Scot,", "But feels his heart’s bluid rising hot,", "To see his poor auld mither’s pot", " Thus dung in staves,", "An’ plunder’d o’ her hindmost groat", " By gallows knaves?", "", "", "Alas! I’m but a nameless wight,", "Trode i’ the mire out o’ sight?", "But could I like Montgomeries fight,", " Or gab like Boswell, 2", "There’s some sark-necks I wad draw tight,", " An’ tie some hose well.", "", "", "God bless your Honours! can ye see’t—", "The kind, auld cantie carlin greet,", "An’ no get warmly to your feet,", " An’ gar them hear it,", "An’ tell them wi’a patriot-heat", " Ye winna bear it?", "", "", "Some o’ you nicely ken the laws,", "To round the period an’ pause,", "An’ with rhetoric clause on clause", " To mak harangues;", "Then echo thro’ Saint Stephen’s wa’s", " Auld Scotland’s wrangs.", "", "", "Dempster, 3 a true blue Scot I’se warran’;", "Thee, aith-detesting, chaste Kilkerran; 4", "An’ that glib-gabbit Highland baron,", " The Laird o’ Graham; 5", "An’ ane, a chap that’s damn’d aulfarran’,", " Dundas his name: 6", "", "", "Erskine, a spunkie Norland billie; 7", "True Campbells, Frederick and Ilay; 8", "An’ Livistone, the bauld Sir Willie; 9", " An’ mony ithers,", "Whom auld Demosthenes or Tully", " Might own for brithers.", "", "", "See sodger Hugh, 10 my watchman stented,", "If poets e’er are represented;", "I ken if that your sword were wanted,", " Ye’d lend a hand;", "But when there’s ought to say anent it,", " Ye’re at a stand.", "", "", "Arouse, my boys! exert your mettle,", "To get auld Scotland back her kettle;", "Or faith! I’ll wad my new pleugh-pettle,", " Ye’ll see’t or lang,", "She’ll teach you, wi’ a reekin whittle,", " Anither sang.", "", "", "This while she’s been in crankous mood,", "Her lost Militia fir’d her bluid;", "(Deil na they never mair do guid,", " Play’d her that pliskie!)", "An’ now she’s like to rin red-wud", " About her whisky.", "", "", "An’ Lord! if ance they pit her till’t,", "Her tartan petticoat she’ll kilt,", "An’durk an’ pistol at her belt,", " She’ll tak the streets,", "An’ rin her whittle to the hilt,", " I’ the first she meets!", "", "", "For God sake, sirs! then speak her fair,", "An’ straik her cannie wi’ the hair,", "An’ to the muckle house repair,", " Wi’ instant speed,", "An’ strive, wi’ a’ your wit an’ lear,", " To get remead.", "", "", "Yon ill-tongu’d tinkler, Charlie Fox,", "May taunt you wi’ his jeers and mocks;", "But gie him’t het, my hearty cocks!", " E’en cowe the cadie!", "An’ send him to his dicing box", " An’ sportin’ lady.", "", "", "Tell you guid bluid o’ auld Boconnock’s, 11", "I’ll be his debt twa mashlum bonnocks,", "An’ drink his health in auld Nance Tinnock’s 12", " Nine times a-week,", "If he some scheme, like tea an’ winnocks,", " Was kindly seek.", "", "", "Could he some commutation broach,", "I’ll pledge my aith in guid braid Scotch,", "He needna fear their foul reproach", " Nor erudition,", "Yon mixtie-maxtie, queer hotch-potch,", " The Coalition.", "", "", "Auld Scotland has a raucle tongue;", "She’s just a devil wi’ a rung;", "An’ if she promise auld or young", " To tak their part,", "Tho’ by the neck she should be strung,", " She’ll no desert.", "", "", "And now, ye chosen Five-and-Forty,", "May still you mither’s heart support ye;", "Then, tho’a minister grow dorty,", " An’ kick your place,", "Ye’ll snap your gingers, poor an’ hearty,", " Before his face.", "", "", "God bless your Honours, a’ your days,", "Wi’ sowps o’ kail and brats o’ claise,", "In spite o’ a’ the thievish kaes,", " That haunt St. Jamie’s!", "Your humble poet sings an’ prays,", " While Rab his name is.", "", "", "POSTSCRIPTLET half-starv’d slaves in warmer skies", "See future wines, rich-clust’ring, rise;", "Their lot auld Scotland ne’re envies,", " But, blythe and frisky,", "She eyes her freeborn, martial boys", " Tak aff their whisky.", "", "", "What tho’ their Phoebus kinder warms,", "While fragrance blooms and beauty charms,", "When wretches range, in famish’d swarms,", " The scented groves;", "Or, hounded forth, dishonour arms", " In hungry droves!", "", "", "Their gun’s a burden on their shouther;", "They downa bide the stink o’ powther;", "Their bauldest thought’s a hank’ring swither", " To stan’ or rin,", "Till skelp—a shot—they’re aff, a’throw’ther,", " To save their skin.", "", "", "But bring a Scotchman frae his hill,", "Clap in his cheek a Highland gill,", "Say, such is royal George’s will,", " An’ there’s the foe!", "He has nae thought but how to kill", " Twa at a blow.", "", "", "Nae cauld, faint-hearted doubtings tease him;", "Death comes, wi’ fearless eye he sees him;", "Wi’bluidy hand a welcome gies him;", " An’ when he fa’s,", "His latest draught o’ breathin lea’es him", " In faint huzzas.", "", "", "Sages their solemn een may steek,", "An’ raise a philosophic reek,", "An’ physically causes seek,", " In clime an’ season;", "But tell me whisky’s name in Greek", " I’ll tell the reason.", "", "", "Scotland, my auld, respected mither!", "Tho’ whiles ye moistify your leather,", "Till, whare ye sit on craps o’ heather,", " Ye tine your dam;", "Freedom an’ whisky gang thegither!", " Take aff your dram!", "", "", " Note 1. This was written before the Act anent the Scotch distilleries, of session 1786, for which Scotland and the author return their most grateful thanks.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. James Boswell of Auchinleck, the biographer of Johnson. [back]", "Note 3. George Dempster of Dunnichen. [back]", "Note 4. Sir Adam Ferguson of Kilkerran, Bart. [back]", "Note 5. The Marquis of Graham, eldest son of the Duke of Montrose. [back]", "Note 6. Right Hon. Henry Dundas, M. P. [back]", "Note 7. Probably Thomas, afterward Lord Erskine. [back]", "Note 8. Lord Frederick Campbell, second brother of the Duke of Argyll, and Ilay Campbell, Lord Advocate for Scotland, afterward President of the Court of Session. [back]", "Note 9. Sir Wm. Augustus Cunningham, Baronet, of Livingstone. [back]", "Note 10. Col. Hugh Montgomery, afterward Earl of Eglinton. [back]", "Note 11. Pitt, whose grandfather was of Boconnock in Cornwall. [back]", "Note 12. A worthy old hostess of the author’s in Mauchline, where he sometimes studies politics over a glass of gude auld Scotch Drink.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "204" }, { "title": "273. Song—Tam Glen", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "MY heart is a-breaking, dear Tittie,", " Some counsel unto me come len’,", "To anger them a’ is a pity,", " But what will I do wi’ Tam Glen?", "", "", "I’m thinking, wi’ sic a braw fellow,", " In poortith I might mak a fen;", "What care I in riches to wallow,", " If I maunna marry Tam Glen!", "", "", "There’s Lowrie the Laird o’ Dumeller—", " “Gude day to you, brute!” he comes ben:", "He brags and he blaws o’ his siller,", " But when will he dance like Tam Glen!", "", "", "My minnie does constantly deave me,", " And bids me beware o’ young men;", "They flatter, she says, to deceive me,", " But wha can think sae o’ Tam Glen!", "", "", "My daddie says, gin I’ll forsake him,", " He’d gie me gude hunder marks ten;", "But, if it’s ordain’d I maun take him,", " O wha will I get but Tam Glen!", "", "", "Yestreen at the Valentine’s dealing,", " My heart to my mou’ gied a sten’;", "For thrice I drew ane without failing,", " And thrice it was written “Tam Glen”!", "", "", "The last Halloween I was waukin", " My droukit sark-sleeve, as ye ken,", "His likeness came up the house staukin,", " And the very grey breeks o’ Tam Glen!", "", "", "Come, counsel, dear Tittie, don’t tarry;", " I’ll gie ye my bonie black hen,", "Gif ye will advise me to marry", " The lad I lo’e dearly, Tam Glen." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "395. Sonnet on the Author’s Birthday", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "SING on, sweet thrush, upon the leafless bough,", " Sing on, sweet bird, I listen to thy strain,", " See aged Winter, ’mid his surly reign,", "At thy blythe carol, clears his furrowed brow.", "", "", "So in lone Poverty’s dominion drear,", " Sits meek Content with light, unanxious heart;", " Welcomes the rapid moments, bids them part,", "Nor asks if they bring ought to hope or fear.", "", "", "I thank thee, Author of this opening day!", " Thou whose bright sun now gilds yon orient skies!", " Riches denied, thy boon was purer joys—", "What wealth could never give nor take away!", "", "", "Yet come, thou child of poverty and care,", "The mite high heav’n bestow’d, that mite with thee I’ll share." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "56. Epistle to Davie, A Brother Poet", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHILE winds frae aff Ben-Lomond blaw,", "An’ bar the doors wi’ driving snaw,", " An’ hing us owre the ingle,", "I set me down to pass the time,", "An’ spin a verse or twa o’ rhyme,", " In hamely, westlin jingle.", "While frosty winds blaw in the drift,", " Ben to the chimla lug,", "I grudge a wee the great-folk’s gift,", " That live sae bien an’ snug:", " I tent less, and want less", " Their roomy fire-side;", " But hanker, and canker,", " To see their cursed pride.", "", "", "It’s hardly in a body’s pow’r", "To keep, at times, frae being sour,", " To see how things are shar’d;", "How best o’ chiels are whiles in want,", "While coofs on countless thousands rant,", " And ken na how to wair’t;", "But, Davie, lad, ne’er fash your head,", " Tho’ we hae little gear;", "We’re fit to win our daily bread,", " As lang’s we’re hale and fier:", " “Mair spier na, nor fear na,” 1", " Auld age ne’er mind a feg;", " The last o’t, the warst o’t", " Is only but to beg.", "", "", "To lie in kilns and barns at e’en,", "When banes are craz’d, and bluid is thin,", " Is doubtless, great distress!", "Yet then content could make us blest;", "Ev’n then, sometimes, we’d snatch a taste", " Of truest happiness.", "The honest heart that’s free frae a’", " Intended fraud or guile,", "However Fortune kick the ba’,", " Has aye some cause to smile;", " An’ mind still, you’ll find still,", " A comfort this nae sma’;", " Nae mair then we’ll care then,", " Nae farther can we fa’.", "", "", "What tho’, like commoners of air,", "We wander out, we know not where,", " But either house or hal’,", "Yet nature’s charms, the hills and woods,", "The sweeping vales, and foaming floods,", " Are free alike to all.", "In days when daisies deck the ground,", " And blackbirds whistle clear,", "With honest joy our hearts will bound,", " To see the coming year:", " On braes when we please, then,", " We’ll sit an’ sowth a tune;", " Syne rhyme till’t we’ll time till’t,", " An’ sing’t when we hae done.", "", "", "It’s no in titles nor in rank;", "It’s no in wealth like Lon’on bank,", " To purchase peace and rest:", "It’s no in makin’ muckle, mair;", "It’s no in books, it’s no in lear,", " To make us truly blest:", "If happiness hae not her seat", " An’ centre in the breast,", "We may be wise, or rich, or great,", " But never can be blest;", " Nae treasures, nor pleasures", " Could make us happy lang;", " The heart aye’s the part aye", " That makes us right or wrang.", "", "", "Think ye, that sic as you and I,", "Wha drudge an’ drive thro’ wet and dry,", " Wi’ never ceasing toil;", "Think ye, are we less blest than they,", "Wha scarcely tent us in their way,", " As hardly worth their while?", "Alas! how aft in haughty mood,", " God’s creatures they oppress!", "Or else, neglecting a’ that’s guid,", " They riot in excess!", " Baith careless and fearless", " Of either heaven or hell;", " Esteeming and deeming", " It’s a’ an idle tale!", "", "", "Then let us cheerfu’ acquiesce,", "Nor make our scanty pleasures less,", " By pining at our state:", "And, even should misfortunes come,", "I, here wha sit, hae met wi’ some—", " An’s thankfu’ for them yet.", "They gie the wit of age to youth;", " They let us ken oursel’;", "They make us see the naked truth,", " The real guid and ill:", " Tho’ losses an’ crosses", " Be lessons right severe,", " There’s wit there, ye’ll get there,", " Ye’ll find nae other where.", "", "", "But tent me, Davie, ace o’ hearts!", "(To say aught less wad wrang the cartes,", " And flatt’ry I detest)", "This life has joys for you and I;", "An’ joys that riches ne’er could buy,", " An’ joys the very best.", "There’s a’ the pleasures o’ the heart,", " The lover an’ the frien’;", "Ye hae your Meg, your dearest part,", " And I my darling Jean!", " It warms me, it charms me,", " To mention but her name:", " It heats me, it beets me,", " An’ sets me a’ on flame!", "", "", "O all ye Pow’rs who rule above!", "O Thou whose very self art love!", " Thou know’st my words sincere!", "The life-blood streaming thro’ my heart,", "Or my more dear immortal part,", " Is not more fondly dear!", "When heart-corroding care and grief", " Deprive my soul of rest,", "Her dear idea brings relief,", " And solace to my breast.", " Thou Being, All-seeing,", " O hear my fervent pray’r;", " Still take her, and make her", " Thy most peculiar care!", "", "", "All hail! ye tender feelings dear!", "The smile of love, the friendly tear,", " The sympathetic glow!", "Long since, this world’s thorny ways", "Had number’d out my weary days,", " Had it not been for you!", "Fate still has blest me with a friend,", " In ev’ry care and ill;", "And oft a more endearing band—", " A tie more tender still.", " It lightens, it brightens", " The tenebrific scene,", " To meet with, and greet with", " My Davie, or my Jean!", "", "", "O, how that name inspires my style!", "The words come skelpin, rank an’ file,", " Amaist before I ken!", "The ready measure rins as fine,", "As Phoebus an’ the famous Nine", " Were glowrin owre my pen.", "My spaviet Pegasus will limp,", " Till ance he’s fairly het;", "And then he’ll hilch, and stilt, an’ jimp,", " And rin an unco fit:", " But least then the beast then", " Should rue this hasty ride,", " I’ll light now, and dight now", " His sweaty, wizen’d hide.", "", "", " Note 1. Ramsay.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "155" }, { "title": "91. The Vision", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE SUN had clos’d the winter day,", "The curless quat their roarin play,", "And hunger’d maukin taen her way,", " To kail-yards green,", "While faithless snaws ilk step betray", " Whare she has been.", "", "", "The thresher’s weary flingin-tree,", "The lee-lang day had tired me;", "And when the day had clos’d his e’e,", " Far i’ the west,", "Ben i’ the spence, right pensivelie,", " I gaed to rest.", "", "", "There, lanely by the ingle-cheek,", "I sat and ey’d the spewing reek,", "That fill’d, wi’ hoast-provoking smeek,", " The auld clay biggin;", "An’ heard the restless rattons squeak", " About the riggin.", "", "", "All in this mottie, misty clime,", "I backward mus’d on wasted time,", "How I had spent my youthfu’ prime,", " An’ done nae thing,", "But stringing blethers up in rhyme,", " For fools to sing.", "", "", "Had I to guid advice but harkit,", "I might, by this, hae led a market,", "Or strutted in a bank and clarkit", " My cash-account;", "While here, half-mad, half-fed, half-sarkit.", " Is a’ th’ amount.", "", "", "I started, mutt’ring, “blockhead! coof!”", "And heav’d on high my waukit loof,", "To swear by a’ yon starry roof,", " Or some rash aith,", "That I henceforth wad be rhyme-proof", " Till my last breath—", "", "", "When click! the string the snick did draw;", "An’ jee! the door gaed to the wa’;", "An’ by my ingle-lowe I saw,", " Now bleezin bright,", "A tight, outlandish hizzie, braw,", " Come full in sight.", "", "", "Ye need na doubt, I held my whisht;", "The infant aith, half-form’d, was crusht", "I glowr’d as eerie’s I’d been dusht", " In some wild glen;", "When sweet, like honest Worth, she blusht,", " An’ steppèd ben.", "", "", "Green, slender, leaf-clad holly-boughs", "Were twisted, gracefu’, round her brows;", "I took her for some Scottish Muse,", " By that same token;", "And come to stop those reckless vows,", " Would soon been broken.", "", "", "A “hair-brain’d, sentimental trace”", "Was strongly markèd in her face;", "A wildly-witty, rustic grace", " Shone full upon her;", "Her eye, ev’n turn’d on empty space,", " Beam’d keen with honour.", "", "", "Down flow’d her robe, a tartan sheen,", "Till half a leg was scrimply seen;", "An’ such a leg! my bonie Jean", " Could only peer it;", "Sae straught, sae taper, tight an’ clean—", " Nane else came near it.", "", "", "Her mantle large, of greenish hue,", "My gazing wonder chiefly drew:", "Deep lights and shades, bold-mingling, threw", " A lustre grand;", "And seem’d, to my astonish’d view,", " A well-known land.", "", "", "Here, rivers in the sea were lost;", "There, mountains to the skies were toss’t:", "Here, tumbling billows mark’d the coast,", " With surging foam;", "There, distant shone Art’s lofty boast,", " The lordly dome.", "", "", "Here, Doon pour’d down his far-fetch’d floods;", "There, well-fed Irwine stately thuds:", "Auld hermit Ayr staw thro’ his woods,", " On to the shore;", "And many a lesser torrent scuds,", " With seeming roar.", "", "", "Low, in a sandy valley spread,", "An ancient borough rear’d her head;", "Still, as in Scottish story read,", " She boasts a race", "To ev’ry nobler virtue bred,", " And polish’d grace. 2", "", "", "By stately tow’r, or palace fair,", "Or ruins pendent in the air,", "Bold stems of heroes, here and there,", " I could discern;", "Some seem’d to muse, some seem’d to dare,", " With feature stern.", "", "", "My heart did glowing transport feel,", "To see a race heroic 3 wheel,", "And brandish round the deep-dyed steel,", " In sturdy blows;", "While, back-recoiling, seem’d to reel", " Their Suthron foes.", "", "", "His Country’s Saviour, 4 mark him well!", "Bold Richardton’s heroic swell,; 5", "The chief, on Sark who glorious fell, 6", " In high command;", "And he whom ruthless fates expel", "His native land.", "", "", "There, where a sceptr’d Pictish shade", "Stalk’d round his ashes lowly laid, 7", "I mark’d a martial race, pourtray’d", "In colours strong:", "Bold, soldier-featur’d, undismay’d,", "They strode along.", "", "", "Thro’ many a wild, romantic grove, 8", "Near many a hermit-fancied cove", "(Fit haunts for friendship or for love,", "In musing mood),", "An aged Judge, I saw him rove,", "Dispensing good.", "", "", "With deep-struck, reverential awe,", "The learned Sire and Son I saw: 9", "To Nature’s God, and Nature’s law,", "They gave their lore;", "This, all its source and end to draw,", "That, to adore.", "", "", "Brydon’s brave ward 10 I well could spy,", "Beneath old Scotia’s smiling eye:", "Who call’d on Fame, low standing by,", " To hand him on,", "Where many a patriot-name on high,", " And hero shone.", "", "", "DUAN SECONDWith musing-deep, astonish’d stare,", "I view’d the heavenly-seeming Fair;", "A whispering throb did witness bear", " Of kindred sweet,", "When with an elder sister’s air", " She did me greet.", "", "", "“All hail! my own inspired bard!", "In me thy native Muse regard;", "Nor longer mourn thy fate is hard,", " Thus poorly low;", "I come to give thee such reward,", " As we bestow!", "", "", "“Know, the great genius of this land", "Has many a light aerial band,", "Who, all beneath his high command,", " Harmoniously,", "As arts or arms they understand,", " Their labours ply.", "", "", "“They Scotia’s race among them share:", "Some fire the soldier on to dare;", "Some rouse the patriot up to bare", " Corruption’s heart:", "Some teach the bard—a darling care—", " The tuneful art.", "", "", "“’Mong swelling floods of reeking gore,", "They, ardent, kindling spirits pour;", "Or, ’mid the venal senate’s roar,", " They, sightless, stand,", "To mend the honest patriot-lore,", " And grace the hand.", "", "", "“And when the bard, or hoary sage,", "Charm or instruct the future age,", "They bind the wild poetric rage", " In energy,", "Or point the inconclusive page", " Full on the eye.", "", "", "“Hence, Fullarton, the brave and young;", "Hence, Dempster’s zeal-inspired tongue;", "Hence, sweet, harmonious Beattie sung", " His ’Minstrel lays’;", "Or tore, with noble ardour stung,", " The sceptic’s bays.", "", "", "“To lower orders are assign’d", "The humbler ranks of human-kind,", "The rustic bard, the lab’ring hind,", " The artisan;", "All choose, as various they’re inclin’d,", " The various man.", "", "", "“When yellow waves the heavy grain,", "The threat’ning storm some strongly rein;", "Some teach to meliorate the plain", " With tillage-skill;", "And some instruct the shepherd-train,", " Blythe o’er the hill.", "", "", "“Some hint the lover’s harmless wile;", "Some grace the maiden’s artless smile;", "Some soothe the lab’rer’s weary toil", " For humble gains,", "And make his cottage-scenes beguile", " His cares and pains.", "", "", "“Some, bounded to a district-space", "Explore at large man’s infant race,", "To mark the embryotic trace", " Of rustic bard;", "And careful note each opening grace,", " A guide and guard.", "", "", "“Of these am I—Coila my name:", "And this district as mine I claim,", "Where once the Campbells, chiefs of fame,", " Held ruling power:", "I mark’d thy embryo-tuneful flame,", " Thy natal hour.", "", "", "“With future hope I oft would gaze", "Fond, on thy little early ways,", "Thy rudely, caroll’d, chiming phrase,", " In uncouth rhymes;", "Fir’d at the simple, artless lays", " Of other times.", "", "", "“I saw thee seek the sounding shore,", "Delighted with the dashing roar;", " Or when the North his fleecy store", "Drove thro’ the sky,", "I saw grim Nature’s visage hoar", " Struck thy young eye.", "", "", "“Or when the deep green-mantled earth", "Warm cherish’d ev’ry floweret’s birth,", "And joy and music pouring forth", " In ev’ry grove;", "I saw thee eye the general mirth", " With boundless love.", "", "", "“When ripen’d fields and azure skies", "Call’d forth the reapers’ rustling noise,", "I saw thee leave their ev’ning joys,", " And lonely stalk,", "To vent thy bosom’s swelling rise,", " In pensive walk.", "", "", "“When youthful love, warm-blushing, strong,", "Keen-shivering, shot thy nerves along,", "Those accents grateful to thy tongue,", " Th’ adorèd Name,", "I taught thee how to pour in song,", " To soothe thy flame.", "", "", "“I saw thy pulse’s maddening play,", "Wild send thee Pleasure’s devious way,", "Misled by Fancy’s meteor-ray,", " By passion driven;", "But yet the light that led astray", " Was light from Heaven.", "", "", "“I taught thy manners-painting strains,", "The loves, the ways of simple swains,", "Till now, o’er all my wide domains", " Thy fame extends;", "And some, the pride of Coila’s plains,", " Become thy friends.", "", "", "“Thou canst not learn, nor I can show,", "To paint with Thomson’s landscape glow;", "Or wake the bosom-melting throe,", " With Shenstone’s art;", "Or pour, with Gray, the moving flow", " Warm on the heart.", "", "", "“Yet, all beneath th’ unrivall’d rose,", "T e lowly daisy sweetly blows;", "Tho’ large the forest’s monarch throws", " His army shade,", "Yet green the juicy hawthorn grows,", " Adown the glade.", "", "", "“Then never murmur nor repine;", "Strive in thy humble sphere to shine;", "And trust me, not Potosi’s mine,", " Nor king’s regard,", "Can give a bliss o’ermatching thine,", " A rustic bard.", "", "", "“To give my counsels all in one,", "Thy tuneful flame still careful fan:", "Preserve the dignity of Man,", " With soul erect;", "And trust the Universal Plan", " Will all protect.", "", "", "“And wear thou this”—she solemn said,", "And bound the holly round my head:", "The polish’d leaves and berries red", " Did rustling play;", "And, like a passing thought, she fled", " In light away. [To Mrs. Stewart of Stair Burns presented a manuscript copy of the Vision. That copy embraces about twenty stanzas at the end of Duan First, which he cancelled when he came to print the price in his Kilmarnock volume. Seven of these he restored in printing his second edition, as noted on p. 174. The following are the verses which he left unpublished.]", "", "", " Note 1. Duan, a term of Ossian’s for the different divisions of a digressive poem. See his Cath-Loda, vol. 2 of M’Pherson’s translation.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. The seven stanzas following this were first printed in the Edinburgh edition, 1787. Other stanzas, never published by Burns himself, are given on p. 180. [back]", "Note 3. The Wallaces.—R. B. [back]", "Note 4. William Wallace.—R. B. [back]", "Note 5. Adam Wallace of Richardton, cousin to the immortal preserver of Scottish independence.—R. B. [back]", "Note 6. Wallace, laird of Craigie, who was second in command under Douglas, Earl of Ormond, at the famous battle on the banks of Sark, fought anno 1448. That glorious victory was principally owing to the judicious conduct and intrepid valour of the gallant laird of Craigie, who died of his wounds after the action.—R. B. [back]", "Note 7. Coilus, King of the Picts, from whom the district of Kyle is said to take its name, lies buried, as tradition says, near the family seat of the Montgomeries of Coilsfield, where his burial-place is still shown.—R. B. [back]", "Note 8. Barskimming, the seat of the Lord Justice-Clerk.—R. B. [back]", "Note 9. Catrine, the seat of the late Doctor and present Professor Stewart.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "285" }, { "title": "38. Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O YE whose cheek the tear of pity stains,", " Draw near with pious rev’rence, and attend!", "Here lie the loving husband’s dear remains,", " The tender father, and the gen’rous friend;", "The pitying heart that felt for human woe,", " The dauntless heart that fear’d no human pride;", "The friend of man-to vice alone a foe;", " For “ev’n his failings lean’d to virtue’s side.” 1", "", "", " Note 1. Goldsmith.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "9" }, { "title": "305. Song—Gudewife, count the lawin", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "GANE is the day, and mirk’s the night,", "But we’ll ne’er stray for faut o’ light;", "Gude ale and bratdy’s stars and moon,", "And blue-red wine’s the risin’ sun.", "", "", "Chorus.—Then gudewife, count the lawin,", "The lawin, the lawin,", "Then gudewife, count the lawin,", " And bring a coggie mair.", "", "", "There’s wealth and ease for gentlemen,", "And simple folk maun fecht and fen’;", "But here we’re a’ in ae accord,", "For ilka man that’s drunk’s a lord.", " Then gudewife, &c.", "", "", "My coggie is a haly pool", "That heals the wounds o’ care and dool;", "And Pleasure is a wanton trout,", "An ye drink it a’, ye’ll find him out.", " Then gudewife, &c." ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "203. Sylvander to Clarinda", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHEN dear Clarinda, 1 matchless fair,", " First struck Sylvander’s raptur’d view,", "He gaz’d, he listened to despair,", " Alas! ’twas all he dared to do.", "", "", "Love, from Clarinda’s heavenly eyes,", " Transfixed his bosom thro’ and thro’;", "But still in Friendships’ guarded guise,", " For more the demon fear’d to do.", "", "", "That heart, already more than lost,", " The imp beleaguer’d all perdue;", "For frowning Honour kept his post—", " To meet that frown, he shrunk to do.", "", "", "His pangs the Bard refused to own,", " Tho’ half he wish’d Clarinda knew;", "But Anguish wrung the unweeting groan—", " Who blames what frantic Pain must do?", "", "", "That heart, where motley follies blend,", " Was sternly still to Honour true:", "To prove Clarinda’s fondest friend,", " Was what a lover sure might do.", "", "", "The Muse his ready quill employed,", " No nearer bliss he could pursue;", "That bliss Clarinda cold deny’d—", " “Send word by Charles how you do!”", "", "", "The chill behest disarm’d his muse,", " Till passion all impatient grew:", "He wrote, and hinted for excuse,", " ’Twas, ’cause “he’d nothing else to do.”", "", "", "But by those hopes I have above!", " And by those faults I dearly rue!", "The deed, the boldest mark of love,", " For thee that deed I dare uo do!", "", "", "O could the Fates but name the price", " Would bless me with your charms and you!", "With frantic joy I’d pay it thrice,", " If human art and power could do!", "", "", "Then take, Clarinda, friendship’s hand,", " (Friendship, at least, I may avow;)", "And lay no more your chill command,—", " I’ll write whatever I’ve to do.SYLVANDER.", "", "", " Note 1. A grass-widow, Mrs. M’Lehose. [back]" ], "linecount": "41" }, { "title": "466. Ode for General Washington’s Birthday", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "NO Spartan tube, no Attic shell,", " No lyre Æolian I awake;", "’Tis liberty’s bold note I swell,", " Thy harp, Columbia, let me take!", "See gathering thousands, while I sing,", "A broken chain exulting bring,", " And dash it in a tyrant’s face,", "And dare him to his very beard,", "And tell him he no more is feared—", " No more the despot of Columbia’s race!", "A tyrant’s proudest insults brav’d,", "They shout—a People freed! They hail an Empire saved.", "", "", "Where is man’s god-like form?", " Where is that brow erect and bold—", " That eye that can unmov’d behold", "The wildest rage, the loudest storm", "That e’er created fury dared to raise?", "Avaunt! thou caitiff, servile, base,", "That tremblest at a despot’s nod,", "Yet, crouching under the iron rod,", " Canst laud the hand that struck th’ insulting blow!", "Art thou of man’s Imperial line?", "Dost boast that countenance divine?", " Each skulking feature answers, No!", "But come, ye sons of Liberty,", "Columbia’s offspring, brave as free,", "In danger’s hour still flaming in the van,", "Ye know, and dare maintain, the Royalty of Man!", "", "", "Alfred! on thy starry throne,", " Surrounded by the tuneful choir,", " The bards that erst have struck the patriot lyre,", " And rous’d the freeborn Briton’s soul of fire,", "No more thy England own!", "Dare injured nations form the great design,", " To make detested tyrants bleed?", " Thy England execrates the glorious deed!", " Beneath her hostile banners waving,", " Every pang of honour braving,", "England in thunder calls, “The tyrant’s cause is mine!”", "That hour accurst how did the fiends rejoice", "And hell, thro’ all her confines, raise the exulting voice,", "That hour which saw the generous English name", "Linkt with such damned deeds of everlasting shame!", "", "", "Thee, Caledonia! thy wild heaths among,", "Fam’d for the martial deed, the heaven-taught song,", " To thee I turn with swimming eyes;", "Where is that soul of Freedom fled?", "Immingled with the mighty dead,", " Beneath that hallow’d turf where Wallace lies", "Hear it not, WALLACE! in thy bed of death.", " Ye babbling winds! in silence sweep,", " Disturb not ye the hero’s sleep,", "Nor give the coward secret breath!", "Is this the ancient Caledonian form,", "Firm as the rock, resistless as the storm?", "Show me that eye which shot immortal hate,", " Blasting the despot’s proudest bearing;", "Show me that arm which, nerv’d with thundering fate,", " Crush’d Usurpation’s boldest daring!—", "Dark-quench’d as yonder sinking star,", "No more that glance lightens afar;", "That palsied arm no more whirls on the waste of war." ], "linecount": "62" }, { "title": "511. Song—O aye my wife she dang me", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "Chorus—O aye my wife she dang me,", " An’ aft my wife she bang’d me,", "If ye gie a woman a’ her will,", " Gude faith! she’ll soon o’er-gang ye.", "", "", "ON peace an’ rest my mind was bent,", " And, fool I was! I married;", "But never honest man’s intent", " Sane cursedly miscarried.", " O aye my wife, &c.", "", "", "Some sairie comfort at the last,", " When a’ thir days are done, man,", "My pains o’ hell on earth is past,", " I’m sure o’ bliss aboon, man,", " O aye my wife, &c." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "421. Epitaph on a Lap-dog", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "IN wood and wild, ye warbling throng,", " Your heavy loss deplore;", "Now, half extinct your powers of song,", " Sweet Echo is no more.", "", "", "Ye jarring, screeching things around,", " Scream your discordant joys;", "Now, half your din of tuneless sound", " With Echo silent lies." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "447. Song—A red, red Rose", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O MY Luve’s like a red, red rose,", " That’s newly sprung in June:", "O my Luve’s like the melodie,", " That’s sweetly play’d in tune.", "", "", "As fair art thou, my bonie lass,", " So deep in luve am I;", "And I will luve thee still, my dear,", " Till a’ the seas gang dry.", "", "", "Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,", " And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;", "And I will luve thee still, my dear,", " While the sands o’ life shall run.", "", "", "And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!", " And fare-thee-weel, a while!", "And I will come again, my Luve,", " Tho’ ’twere ten thousand mile!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "57. Holy Willie’s Prayer", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O THOU, who in the heavens does dwell,", "Who, as it pleases best Thysel’,", "Sends ane to heaven an’ ten to hell,", " A’ for Thy glory,", "And no for ony gude or ill", " They’ve done afore Thee!", "", "", "I bless and praise Thy matchless might,", "When thousands Thou hast left in night,", "That I am here afore Thy sight,", " For gifts an’ grace", "A burning and a shining light", " To a’ this place.", "", "", "What was I, or my generation,", "That I should get sic exaltation,", "I wha deserve most just damnation", " For broken laws,", "Five thousand years ere my creation,", " Thro’ Adam’s cause?", "", "", "When frae my mither’s womb I fell,", "Thou might hae plunged me in hell,", "To gnash my gums, to weep and wail,", " In burnin lakes,", "Where damned devils roar and yell,", " Chain’d to their stakes.", "", "", "Yet I am here a chosen sample,", "To show thy grace is great and ample;", "I’m here a pillar o’ Thy temple,", " Strong as a rock,", "A guide, a buckler, and example,", " To a’ Thy flock.", "", "", "O L—d, Thou kens what zeal I bear,", "When drinkers drink, an’ swearers swear,", "An’ singin there, an’ dancin here,", " Wi’ great and sma’;", "For I am keepit by Thy fear", " Free frae them a’.", "", "", "But yet, O L—d! confess I must,", "At times I’m fash’d wi’ fleshly lust:", "An’ sometimes, too, in wardly trust,", " Vile self gets in:", "But Thou remembers we are dust,", " Defil’d wi’ sin.", "", "", "O L—d! yestreen, Thou kens, wi’ Meg—", "Thy pardon I sincerely beg,", "O! may’t ne’er be a livin plague", " To my dishonour,", "An’ I’ll ne’er lift a lawless leg", " Again upon her.", "", "", "Besides, I farther maun allow,", "Wi’ Leezie’s lass, three times I trow—", "But L—d, that Friday I was fou,", " When I cam near her;", "Or else, Thou kens, Thy servant true", " Wad never steer her.", "", "", "Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn", "Buffet Thy servant e’en and morn,", "Lest he owre proud and high shou’d turn,", " That he’s sae gifted:", "If sae, Thy han’ maun e’en be borne,", " Until Thou lift it.", "", "", "L—d, bless Thy chosen in this place,", "For here Thou hast a chosen race:", "But G—d confound their stubborn face,", " An’ blast their name,", "Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace", " An’ public shame.", "", "", "L—d, mind Gaw’n Hamilton’s deserts;", "He drinks, an’ swears, an’ plays at cartes,", "Yet has sae mony takin arts,", " Wi’ great and sma’,", "Frae G—d’s ain priest the people’s hearts", " He steals awa.", "", "", "An’ when we chasten’d him therefor,", "Thou kens how he bred sic a splore,", "An’ set the warld in a roar", " O’ laughing at us;—", "Curse Thou his basket and his store,", " Kail an’ potatoes.", "", "", "L—d, hear my earnest cry and pray’r,", "Against that Presbyt’ry o’ Ayr;", "Thy strong right hand, L—d, make it bare", " Upo’ their heads;", "L—d visit them, an’ dinna spare,", " For their misdeeds.", "", "", "O L—d, my G—d! that glib-tongu’d Aiken,", "My vera heart and flesh are quakin,", "To think how we stood sweatin’, shakin,", " An’ p—’d wi’ dread,", "While he, wi’ hingin lip an’ snakin,", " Held up his head.", "", "", "L—d, in Thy day o’ vengeance try him,", "L—d, visit them wha did employ him,", "And pass not in Thy mercy by ’em,", " Nor hear their pray’r,", "But for Thy people’s sake, destroy ’em,", " An’ dinna spare.", "", "", "But, L—d, remember me an’ mine", "Wi’ mercies temp’ral an’ divine,", "That I for grace an’ gear may shine,", " Excell’d by nane,", "And a’ the glory shall be thine,", " Amen, Amen!" ], "linecount": "102" }, { "title": "310. Tam o’ Shanter: A Tale", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHEN chapman billies leave the street,", "And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;", "As market days are wearing late,", "And folk begin to tak the gate,", "While we sit bousing at the nappy,", "An’ getting fou and unco happy,", "We think na on the lang Scots miles,", "The mosses, waters, slaps and stiles,", "That lie between us and our hame,", "Where sits our sulky, sullen dame,", "Gathering her brows like gathering storm,", "Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.", "", "", " This truth fand honest TAM O’ SHANTER,", "As he frae Ayr ae night did canter:", "(Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses,", "For honest men and bonie lasses).", "", "", " O Tam! had’st thou but been sae wise,", "As taen thy ain wife Kate’s advice!", "She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,", "A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;", "That frae November till October,", "Ae market-day thou was na sober;", "That ilka melder wi’ the Miller,", "Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;", "That ev’ry naig was ca’d a shoe on", "The Smith and thee gat roarin’ fou on;", "That at the L—d’s house, ev’n on Sunday,", "Thou drank wi’ Kirkton Jean till Monday,", "She prophesied that late or soon,", "Thou wad be found, deep drown’d in Doon,", "Or catch’d wi’ warlocks in the mirk,", "By Alloway’s auld, haunted kirk.", "", "", " Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,", "To think how mony counsels sweet,", "How mony lengthen’d, sage advices,", "The husband frae the wife despises!", "", "", " But to our tale:—Ae market night,", "Tam had got planted unco right,", "Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,", "Wi reaming sAats, that drank divinely;", "And at his elbow, Souter Johnie,", "His ancient, trusty, drougthy crony:", "Tam lo’ed him like a very brither;", "They had been fou for weeks thegither.", "The night drave on wi’ sangs an’ clatter;", "And aye the ale was growing better:", "The Landlady and Tam grew gracious,", "Wi’ favours secret, sweet, and precious:", "The Souter tauld his queerest stories;", "The Landlord’s laugh was ready chorus:", "The storm without might rair and rustle,", "Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.", "", "", " Care, mad to see a man sae happy,", "E’en drown’d himsel amang the nappy.", "As bees flee hame wi’ lades o’ treasure,", "The minutes wing’d their way wi’ pleasure:", "Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,", "O’er a’ the ills o’ life victorious!", "", "", " But pleasures are like poppies spread,", "You seize the flow’r, its bloom is shed;", "Or like the snow falls in the river,", "A moment white—then melts for ever;", "Or like the Borealis race,", "That flit ere you can point their place;", "Or like the Rainbow’s lovely form", "Evanishing amid the storm.—", "Nae man can tether Time nor Tide,", "The hour approaches Tam maun ride;", "That hour, o’ night’s black arch the key-stane,", "That dreary hour he mounts his beast in;", "And sic a night he taks the road in,", "As ne’er poor sinner was abroad in.", "", "", " The wind blew as ’twad blawn its last;", "The rattling showers rose on the blast;", "The speedy gleams the darkness swallow’d;", "Loud, deep, and lang, the thunder bellow’d:", "That night, a child might understand,", "The deil had business on his hand.", "", "", " Weel-mounted on his grey mare, Meg,", "A better never lifted leg,", "Tam skelpit on thro’ dub and mire,", "Despising wind, and rain, and fire;", "Whiles holding fast his gude blue bonnet,", "Whiles crooning o’er some auld Scots sonnet,", "Whiles glow’rin round wi’ prudent cares,", "Lest bogles catch him unawares;", "Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh,", "Where ghaists and houlets nightly cry.", "", "", " By this time he was cross the ford,", "Where in the snaw the chapman smoor’d;", "And past the birks and meikle stane,", "Where drunken Charlie brak’s neck-bane;", "And thro’ the whins, and by the cairn,", "Where hunters fand the murder’d bairn;", "And near the thorn, aboon the well,", "Where Mungo’s mither hang’d hersel’.", "Before him Doon pours all his floods,", "The doubling storm roars thro’ the woods,", "The lightnings flash from pole to pole,", "Near and more near the thunders roll,", "When, glimmering thro’ the groaning trees,", "Kirk-Alloway seem’d in a bleeze,", "Thro’ ilka bore the beams were glancing,", "And loud resounded mirth and dancing.", "", "", " Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!", "What dangers thou canst make us scorn!", "Wi’ tippenny, we fear nae evil;", "Wi’ usquabae, we’ll face the devil!", "The swats sae ream’d in Tammie’s noddle,", "Fair play, he car’d na deils a boddle,", "But Maggie stood, right sair astonish’d,", "Till, by the heel and hand admonish’d,", "She ventur’d forward on the light;", "And, wow! Tam saw an unco sight!", "", "", " Warlocks and witches in a dance:", "Nae cotillon, brent new frae France,", "But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels,", "Put life and mettle in their heels.", "A winnock-bunker in the east,", "There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast;", "A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,", "To gie them music was his charge:", "He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl,", "Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl.—", "Coffins stood round, like open presses,", "That shaw’d the Dead in their last dresses;", "And (by some devilish cantraip sleight)", "Each in its cauld hand held a light.", "By which heroic Tam was able", "To note upon the haly table,", "A murderer’s banes, in gibbet-airns;", "Twa span-lang, wee, unchristened bairns;", "A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,", "Wi’ his last gasp his gabudid gape;", "Five tomahawks, wi’ blude red-rusted:", "Five scimitars, wi’ murder crusted;", "A garter which a babe had strangled:", "A knife, a father’s throat had mangled.", "Whom his ain son of life bereft,", "The grey-hairs yet stack to the heft;", "Wi’ mair of horrible and awfu’,", "Which even to name wad be unlawfu’.", "", "", " As Tammie glowr’d, amaz’d, and curious,", "The mirth and fun grew fast and furious;", "The Piper loud and louder blew,", "The dancers quick and quicker flew,", "The reel’d, they set, they cross’d, they cleekit,", "Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,", "And coost her duddies to the wark,", "And linkit at it in her sark!", "", "", " Now Tam, O Tam! had they been queans,", "A’ plump and strapping in their teens!", "Their sarks, instead o’ creeshie flainen,", "Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linen!—", "Thir breeks o’ mine, my only pair,", "That ance were plush o’ guid blue hair,", "I wad hae gien them off my hurdies,", "For ae blink o’ the bonie burdies!", "But wither’d beldams, auld and droll,", "Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,", "Louping an’ flinging on a crummock.", "I wonder did na turn thy stomach.", "", "", " But Tam kent what was what fu’ brawlie:", "There was ae winsome wench and waulie", "That night enlisted in the core,", "Lang after ken’d on Carrick shore;", "(For mony a beast to dead she shot,", "And perish’d mony a bonie boat,", "And shook baith meikle corn and bear,", "And kept the country-side in fear);", "Her cutty sark, o’ Paisley harn,", "That while a lassie she had worn,", "In longitude tho’ sorely scanty,", "It was her best, and she was vauntie.", "Ah! little ken’d thy reverend grannie,", "That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,", "Wi twa pund Scots (’twas a’ her riches),", "Wad ever grac’d a dance of witches!", "", "", " But here my Muse her wing maun cour,", "Sic flights are far beyond her power;", "To sing how Nannie lap and flang,", "(A souple jade she was and strang),", "And how Tam stood, like ane bewithc’d,", "And thought his very een enrich’d:", "Even Satan glowr’d, and fidg’d fu’ fain,", "And hotch’d and blew wi’ might and main:", "Till first ae caper, syne anither,", "Tam tint his reason a thegither,", "And roars out, “Weel done, Cutty-sark!”", "And in an instant all was dark:", "And scarcely had he Maggie rallied.", "When out the hellish legion sallied.", "", "", " As bees bizz out wi’ angry fyke,", "When plundering herds assail their byke;", "As open pussie’s mortal foes,", "When, pop! she starts before their nose;", "As eager runs the market-crowd,", "When “Catch the thief!” resounds aloud;", "So Maggie runs, the witches follow,", "Wi’ mony an eldritch skreich and hollow.", "", "", " Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou’ll get thy fairin!", "In hell, they’ll roast thee like a herrin!", "In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!", "Kate soon will be a woefu’ woman!", "Now, do thy speedy-utmost, Meg,", "And win the key-stone o’ the brig;", "There, at them thou thy tail may toss,", "A running stream they dare na cross.", "But ere the keystane she could make,", "The fient a tail she had to shake!", "For Nannie, far before the rest,", "Hard upon noble Maggie prest,", "And flew at Tam wi’ furious ettle;", "But little wist she Maggie’s mettle!", "Ae spring brought off her master hale,", "But left behind her ain grey tail:", "The carlin claught her by the rump,", "And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.", "", "", " Now, wha this tale o’ truth shall read,", "Ilk man and mother’s son, take heed:", "Whene’er to Drink you are inclin’d,", "Or Cutty-sarks rin in your mind,", "Think ye may buy the joys o’er dear;", "Remember Tam o’ Shanter’s mare." ], "linecount": "224" }, { "title": "347. Song—Ye Jacobites by Name", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "YE Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear,", "Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear,", " Ye Jacobites by name,", " Your fautes I will proclaim,", "Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear.", "", "", "What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law?", "What is Right and what is Wrang by the law?", " What is Right, and what is Wrang?", " A short sword, and a lang,", "A weak arm and a strang, for to draw.", "", "", "What makes heroic strife, famed afar, famed afar?", "What makes heroic strife famed afar?", " What makes heroic strife?", " To whet th’ assassin’s knife,", "Or hunt a Parent’s life, wi’ bluidy war?", "", "", "Then let your schemes alone, in the state, in the state,", "Then let your schemes alone in the state.", " Then let your schemes alone,", " Adore the rising sun,", "And leave a man undone, to his fate." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "438. Impromptu on Mrs. Riddell’s Birthday", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "OLD Winter, with his frosty beard,", "Thus once to Jove his prayer preferred:", "“What have I done of all the year,", "To bear this hated doom severe?", "My cheerless suns no pleasure know;", "Night’s horrid car drags, dreary slow;", "My dismal months no joys are crowning,", "But spleeny English hanging, drowning.", "", "", "“Now Jove, for once be mighty civil.", "To counterbalance all this evil;", "Give me, and I’ve no more to say,", "Give me Maria’s natal day!", "That brilliant gift shall so enrich me,", "Spring, Summer, Autumn, cannot match me.”", "“’Tis done!” says Jove; so ends my story,", "And Winter once rejoiced in glory." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "93. The Rantin Dog, the Daddie o’t", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O WHA my babie-clouts will buy?", "O wha will tent me when I cry?", "Wha will kiss me where I lie?", " The rantin’ dog, the daddie o’t.", "", "", "O wha will own he did the faut?", "O wha will buy the groanin maut?", "O wha will tell me how to ca’t?", " The rantin’ dog, the daddie o’t.", "", "", "When I mount the creepie-chair,", "Wha will sit beside me there?", "Gie me Rob, I’ll seek nae mair,", " The rantin’ dog, the daddie o’t.", "", "", "Wha will crack to me my lane?", "Wha will mak me fidgin’ fain?", "Wha will kiss me o’er again?", " The rantin’ dog, the daddie o’t." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "478. Epigram on a Suicide", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "EARTH’D up, here lies an imp o’ hell,", " Planted by Satan’s dibble;", "Poor silly wretch, he’s damned himsel’,", " To save the Lord the trouble." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "166. Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, Edinburgh", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "YE maggots, feed on Nicol’s brain,", " For few sic feasts you’ve gotten;", "And fix your claws in Nicol’s heart,", " For deil a bit o’t’s rotten." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "16. A Prayer under the Pressure of Violent Anguish", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O THOU Great Being! what Thou art,", " Surpasses me to know;", "Yet sure I am, that known to Thee", " Are all Thy works below.", "", "", "Thy creature here before Thee stands,", " All wretched and distrest;", "Yet sure those ills that wring my soul", " Obey Thy high behest.", "", "", "Sure, Thou, Almighty, canst not act", "From cruelty or wrath!", "O, free my weary eyes from tears,", "Or close them fast in death!", "", "", "But, if I must afflicted be,", "To suit some wise design,", "Then man my soul with firm resolves,", "To bear and not repine!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "449. Song—The Flowery banks of Cree", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "HERE is the glen, and here the bower", " All underneath the birchen shade;", "The village-bell has told the hour,", " O what can stay my lovely maid?", "", "", "’Tis not Maria’s whispering call;", " ’Tis but the balmy breathing gale,", "Mixt with some warbler’s dying fall,", " The dewy star of eve to hail.", "", "", "It is Maria’s voice I hear;", " So calls the woodlark in the grove,", "His little, faithful mate to cheer;", " At once ’tis music and ’tis love.", "", "", "And art thou come! and art thou true!", " O welcome dear to love and me!", "And let us all our vows renew,", " Along the flowery banks of Cree." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "185. The Humble Petition of Bruar Water", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "MY lord, I know your noble ear", " Woe ne’er assails in vain;", "Embolden’d thus, I beg you’ll hear", " Your humble slave complain,", "How saucy Phoebus’ scorching beams,", " In flaming summer-pride,", "Dry-withering, waste my foamy streams,", " And drink my crystal tide. 1", "", "", "The lightly-jumping, glowrin’ trouts,", " That thro’ my waters play,", "If, in their random, wanton spouts,", " They near the margin stray;", "If, hapless chance! they linger lang,", " I’m scorching up so shallow,", "They’re left the whitening stanes amang,", " In gasping death to wallow.", "", "", "Last day I grat wi’ spite and teen,", " As poet Burns came by.", "That, to a bard, I should be seen", " Wi’ half my channel dry;", "A panegyric rhyme, I ween,", " Ev’n as I was, he shor’d me;", "But had I in my glory been,", " He, kneeling, wad ador’d me.", "", "", "Here, foaming down the skelvy rocks,", " In twisting strength I rin;", "There, high my boiling torrent smokes,", " Wild-roaring o’er a linn:", "Enjoying each large spring and well,", " As Nature gave them me,", "I am, altho’ I say’t mysel’,", " Worth gaun a mile to see.", "", "", "Would then my noble master please", " To grant my highest wishes,", "He’ll shade my banks wi’ tow’ring trees,", " And bonie spreading bushes.", "Delighted doubly then, my lord,", " You’ll wander on my banks,", "And listen mony a grateful bird", " Return you tuneful thanks.", "", "", "The sober lav’rock, warbling wild,", " Shall to the skies aspire;", "The gowdspink, Music’s gayest child,", " Shall sweetly join the choir;", "The blackbird strong, the lintwhite clear,", " The mavis mild and mellow;", "The robin pensive Autumn cheer,", " In all her locks of yellow.", "", "", "This, too, a covert shall ensure,", " To shield them from the storm;", "And coward maukin sleep secure,", " Low in her grassy form:", "Here shall the shepherd make his seat,", " To weave his crown of flow’rs;", "Or find a shelt’ring, safe retreat,", " From prone-descending show’rs.", "", "", "And here, by sweet, endearing stealth,", " Shall meet the loving pair,", "Despising worlds, with all their wealth,", " As empty idle care;", "The flow’rs shall vie in all their charms,", " The hour of heav’n to grace;", "And birks extend their fragrant arms", " To screen the dear embrace.", "", "", "Here haply too, at vernal dawn,", " Some musing bard may stray,", "And eye the smoking, dewy lawn,", " And misty mountain grey;", "Or, by the reaper’s nightly beam,", " Mild-chequering thro’ the trees,", "Rave to my darkly dashing stream,", " Hoarse-swelling on the breeze.", "", "", "Let lofty firs, and ashes cool,", " My lowly banks o’erspread,", "And view, deep-bending in the pool,", " Their shadow’s wat’ry bed:", "Let fragrant birks, in woodbines drest,", " My craggy cliffs adorn;", "And, for the little songster’s nest,", " The close embow’ring thorn.", "", "", "So may old Scotia’s darling hope,", " Your little angel band", "Spring, like their fathers, up to prop", " Their honour’d native land!", "So may, thro’ Albion’s farthest ken,", " To social-flowing glasses,", "The grace be—“Athole’s honest men,", " And Athole’s bonie lasses!”", "", "", " Note 1. Bruar Falls, in Athole, are exceedingly picturesque and beautiful; but their effect is much impaired by the want of trees and shrubs.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "89" }, { "title": "123. Lines to an Old Sweetheart", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "ONCE fondly lov’d, and still remember’d dear,", " Sweet early object of my youthful vows,", "Accept this mark of friendship, warm, sincere,", " Friendship! ’tis all cold duty now allows.", "And when you read the simple artless rhymes,", " One friendly sigh for him—he asks no more,", "Who, distant, burns in flaming torrid climes,", " Or haply lies beneath th’ Atlantic roar." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "94. Here’s his Health in Water", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "ALTHO’ my back be at the wa’,", " And tho’ he be the fautor;", "Altho’ my back be at the wa’,", " Yet, here’s his health in water.", "O wae gae by his wanton sides,", " Sae brawlie’s he could flatter;", "Till for his sake I’m slighted sair,", " And dree the kintra clatter:", "But tho’ my back be at the wa’,", " And tho’ he be the fautor;", "But tho’ my back be at the wa’,", " Yet here’s his health in water!" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "419. Bonie Jean: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THERE was a lass, and she was fair,", " At kirk or market to be seen;", "When a’ our fairest maids were met,", " The fairest maid was bonie Jean.", "", "", "And aye she wrought her mammie’s wark,", " And aye she sang sae merrilie;", "The blythest bird upon the bush", " Had ne’er a lighter heart than she.", "", "", "But hawks will rob the tender joys", " That bless the little lintwhite’s nest;", "And frost will blight the fairest flowers,", " And love will break the soundest rest.", "", "", "Young Robie was the brawest lad,", " The flower and pride of a’ the glen;", "And he had owsen, sheep, and kye,", " And wanton naigies nine or ten.", "", "", "He gaed wi’ Jeanie to the tryste,", " He danc’d wi’ Jeanie on the down;", "And, lang ere witless Jeanie wist,", " Her heart was tint, her peace was stown!", "", "", "As in the bosom of the stream,", " The moon-beam dwells at dewy e’en;", "So trembling, pure, was tender love", " Within the breast of bonie Jean.", "", "", "And now she works her mammie’s wark,", " And aye she sighs wi’ care and pain;", "Yet wist na what her ail might be,", " Or what wad make her weel again.", "", "", "But did na Jeanie’s heart loup light,", " And didna joy blink in her e’e,", "As Robie tauld a tale o’ love", " Ae e’ening on the lily lea?", "", "", "The sun was sinking in the west,", " The birds sang sweet in ilka grove;", "His cheek to hers he fondly laid,", " And whisper’d thus his tale o’ love:", "", "", "“O Jeanie fair, I lo’e thee dear;", " O canst thou think to fancy me,", "Or wilt thou leave thy mammie’s cot,", " And learn to tent the farms wi’ me?", "", "", "“At barn or byre thou shalt na drudge,", " Or naething else to trouble thee;", "But stray amang the heather-bells,", " And tent the waving corn wi’ me.”", "", "", "Now what could artless Jeanie do?", " She had nae will to say him na:", "At length she blush’d a sweet consent,", " And love was aye between them twa." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "375. Song—The Deuks dang o’er my Daddie", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE BAIRNS gat out wi’ an unco shout,", " The deuks dang o’er my daddie, O!", "The fien-ma-care, quo’ the feirrie auld wife,", " He was but a paidlin’ body, O!", "He paidles out, and he paidles in,", " An’ he paidles late and early, O!", "This seven lang years I hae lien by his side,", " An’ he is but a fusionless carlie, O.", "", "", "O haud your tongue, my feirrie auld wife,", " O haud your tongue, now Nansie, O:", "I’ve seen the day, and sae hae ye,", " Ye wad na ben sae donsie, O.", "I’ve seen the day ye butter’d my brose,", " And cuddl’d me late and early, O;", "But downa-do’s come o’er me now,", " And oh, I find it sairly, O!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "220. Song—The Winter it is Past", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE WINTER it is past, and the summer comes at last", " And the small birds, they sing on ev’ry tree;", "Now ev’ry thing is glad, while I am very sad,", " Since my true love is parted from me.", "", "", "The rose upon the breer, by the waters running clear,", " May have charms for the linnet or the bee;", "Their little loves are blest, and their little hearts at rest,", " But my true love is parted from me." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "294. Song—To Mary in Heaven", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THOU ling’ring star, with lessening ray,", " That lov’st to greet the early morn,", "Again thou usher’st in the day", " My Mary from my soul was torn.", "O Mary! dear departed shade!", " Where is thy place of blissful rest?", "See’st thou thy lover lowly laid?", " Hear’st thou the groans that rend his breast?", "", "", "That sacred hour can I forget,", " Can I forget the hallow’d grove,", "Where, by the winding Ayr, we met,", " To live one day of parting love!", "Eternity will not efface", " Those records dear of transports past,", "Thy image at our last embrace,", " Ah! little thought we ’twas our last!", "", "", "Ayr, gurgling, kiss’d his pebbled shore,", " O’erhung with wild-woods, thickening green;", "The fragrant birch and hawthorn hoar,", " ’Twin’d amorous round the raptur’d scene:", "The flowers sprang wanton to be prest,", " The birds sang love on every spray;", "Till too, too soon, the glowing west,", " Proclaim’d the speed of winged day.", "", "", "Still o’er these scenes my mem’ry wakes,", " And fondly broods with miser-care;", "Time but th’ impression stronger makes,", " As streams their channels deeper wear,", "My Mary! dear departed shade!", " Where is thy blissful place of rest?", "See’st thou thy lover lowly laid?", " Hear’st thou the groans that rend his breast?" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "304. Song—I Murder hate", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "I MURDER hate by flood or field,", " Tho’ glory’s name may screen us;", "In wars at home I’ll spend my blood—", " Life-giving wars of Venus.", "The deities that I adore", " Are social Peace and Plenty;", "I’m better pleas’d to make one more,", " Than be the death of twenty.", "", "", "I would not die like Socrates,", " For all the fuss of Plato;", "Nor would I with Leonidas,", " Nor yet would I with Cato:", "The zealots of the Church and State", " Shall ne’er my mortal foes be;", "But let me have bold Zimri’s fate,", " Within the arms of Cozbi!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "7. Ah, woe is me, my Mother dear", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "AH, woe is me, my mother dear!", " A man of strife ye’ve born me:", "For sair contention I maun bear;", " They hate, revile, and scorn me.", "", "", "I ne’er could lend on bill or band,", " That five per cent. might blest me;", "And borrowing, on the tither hand,", " The deil a ane wad trust me.", "", "", "Yet I, a coin-deniиd wight,", " By Fortune quite discarded;", "Ye see how I am, day and night,", " By lad and lass blackguarded!" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "73. Song—Farewell to Ballochmyle", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE CATRINE woods were yellow seen,", " The flowers decay’d on Catrine lee,", "Nae lav’rock sang on hillock green,", " But nature sicken’d on the e’e.", "Thro’ faded groves Maria sang,", " Hersel’ in beauty’s bloom the while;", "And aye the wild-wood ehoes rang,", " Fareweel the braes o’ Ballochmyle!", "", "", "Low in your wintry beds, ye flowers,", " Again ye’ll flourish fresh and fair;", "Ye birdies dumb, in with’ring bowers,", " Again ye’ll charm the vocal air.", "But here, alas! for me nae mair", " Shall birdie charm, or floweret smile;", "Fareweel the bonie banks of Ayr,", " Fareweel, fareweel! sweet Ballochmyle!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "144. A Winter Night", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHEN biting Boreas, fell and dour,", "Sharp shivers thro’ the leafless bow’r;", "When Phoebus gies a short-liv’d glow’r,", " Far south the lift,", "Dim-dark’ning thro’ the flaky show’r,", " Or whirling drift:", "", "", "Ae night the storm the steeples rocked,", "Poor Labour sweet in sleep was locked,", "While burns, wi’ snawy wreaths up-choked,", " Wild-eddying swirl;", "Or, thro’ the mining outlet bocked,", " Down headlong hurl:", "", "", "List’ning the doors an’ winnocks rattle,", "I thought me on the ourie cattle,", "Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle", " O’ winter war,", "And thro’ the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle", " Beneath a scar.", "", "", "Ilk happing bird,—wee, helpless thing!", "That, in the merry months o’ spring,", "Delighted me to hear thee sing,", " What comes o’ thee?", "Whare wilt thou cow’r thy chittering wing,", " An’ close thy e’e?", "", "", "Ev’n you, on murdering errands toil’d,", "Lone from your savage homes exil’d,", "The blood-stain’d roost, and sheep-cote spoil’d", " My heart forgets,", "While pityless the tempest wild", " Sore on you beats!", "", "", "Now Phoebe in her midnight reign,", "Dark-muff’d, view’d the dreary plain;", "Still crowding thoughts, a pensive train,", " Rose in my soul,", "When on my ear this plantive strain,", " Slow, solemn, stole:—", "", "", "“Blow, blow, ye winds, with heavier gust!", "And freeze, thou bitter-biting frost!", "Descend, ye chilly, smothering snows!", "Not all your rage, as now united, shows", " More hard unkindness unrelenting,", " Vengeful malice unrepenting.", "Than heaven-illumin’d Man on brother Man bestows!", "", "", "“See stern Oppression’s iron grip,", " Or mad Ambition’s gory hand,", "Sending, like blood-hounds from the slip,", " Woe, Want, and Murder o’er a land!", " Ev’n in the peaceful rural vale,", " Truth, weeping, tells the mournful tale,", "How pamper’d Luxury, Flatt’ry by her side,", " The parasite empoisoning her ear,", " With all the servile wretches in the rear,", "Looks o’er proud Property, extended wide;", " And eyes the simple, rustic hind,", " Whose toil upholds the glitt’ring show—", " A creature of another kind,", " Some coarser substance, unrefin’d—", "Plac’d for her lordly use thus far, thus vile, below!", "", "", "“Where, where is Love’s fond, tender throe,", " With lordly Honour’s lofty brow,", " The pow’rs you proudly own?", " Is there, beneath Love’s noble name,", " Can harbour, dark, the selfish aim,", " To bless himself alone?", " Mark maiden-innocence a prey", " To love-pretending snares:", " This boasted Honour turns away,", " Shunning soft Pity’s rising sway,", "Regardless of the tears and unavailing pray’rs!", " Perhaps this hour, in Misery’s squalid nest,", " She strains your infant to her joyless breast,", "And with a mother’s fears shrinks at the rocking blast!", "", "", "“Oh ye! who, sunk in beds of down,", " Feel not a want but what yourselves create,", " Think, for a moment, on his wretched fate,", " Whom friends and fortune quite disown!", "Ill-satisfy’d keen nature’s clamorous call,", " Stretch’d on his straw, he lays himself to sleep;", "While through the ragged roof and chinky wall,", " Chill, o’er his slumbers, piles the drifty heap!", " Think on the dungeon’s grim confine,", " Where Guilt and poor Misfortune pine!", " Guilt, erring man, relenting view,", " But shall thy legal rage pursue", " The wretch, already crushed low", " By cruel Fortune’s undeserved blow?", "Affliction’s sons are brothers in distress;", "A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!”", "", "", " I heard nae mair, for Chanticleer", " Shook off the pouthery snaw,", " And hail’d the morning with a cheer,", " A cottage-rousing craw.", " But deep this truth impress’d my mind—", " Thro’ all His works abroad,", " The heart benevolent and kind", " The most resembles God." ], "linecount": "96" }, { "title": "538. Song—Now Spring has clad the grove in green", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "NOW spring has clad the grove in green,", " And strew’d the lea wi’ flowers;", "The furrow’d, waving corn is seen", " Rejoice in fostering showers.", "While ilka thing in nature join", " Their sorrows to forego,", "O why thus all alone are mine", " The weary steps o’ woe!", "", "", "The trout in yonder wimpling burn", " That glides, a silver dart,", "And, safe beneath the shady thorn,", " Defies the angler’s art—", "My life was ance that careless stream,", " That wanton trout was I;", "But Love, wi’ unrelenting beam,", " Has scorch’d my fountains dry.", "", "", "That little floweret’s peaceful lot,", " In yonder cliff that grows,", "Which, save the linnet’s flight, I wot,", " Nae ruder visit knows,", "Was mine, till Love has o’er me past,", " And blighted a’ my bloom;", "And now, beneath the withering blast,", " My youth and joy consume.", "", "", "The waken’d lav’rock warbling springs,", " And climbs the early sky,", "Winnowing blythe his dewy wings", " In morning’s rosy eye;", "As little reck’d I sorrow’s power,", " Until the flowery snare", "O’witching Love, in luckless hour,", " Made me the thrall o’ care.", "", "", "O had my fate been Greenland snows,", " Or Afric’s burning zone,", "Wi’man and nature leagued my foes,", " So Peggy ne’er I’d known!", "The wretch whose doom is “Hope nae mair”", " What tongue his woes can tell;", "Within whase bosom, save Despair,", " Nae kinder spirits dwell." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "296. The Five Carlins: An Election Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THERE was five Carlins in the South,", " They fell upon a scheme,", "To send a lad to London town,", " To bring them tidings hame.", "", "", "Nor only bring them tidings hame,", " But do their errands there,", "And aiblins gowd and honor baith", " Might be that laddie’s share.", "", "", "There was Maggy by the banks o’ Nith,", " A dame wi’ pride eneugh;", "And Marjory o’ the mony Lochs,", " A Carlin auld and teugh.", "", "", "And blinkin Bess of Annandale,", " That dwelt near Solway-side;", "And whisky Jean, that took her gill,", " In Galloway sae wide.", "", "", "And auld black Joan frae Crichton Peel, 1", " O’ gipsy kith an’ kin;", "Five wighter Carlins were na found", " The South countrie within.", "", "", "To send a lad to London town,", " They met upon a day;", "And mony a knight, and mony a laird,", " This errand fain wad gae.", "", "", "O mony a knight, and mony a laird,", " This errand fain wad gae;", "But nae ane could their fancy please,", " O ne’er a ane but twae.", "", "", "The first ane was a belted Knight,", " Bred of a Border band; 2", "And he wad gae to London town,", " Might nae man him withstand.", "", "", "And he wad do their errands weel,", " And meikle he wad say;", "And ilka ane about the court", " Wad bid to him gude-day.", "", "", "The neist cam in a Soger youth, 3", " Who spak wi’ modest grace,", "And he wad gae to London town,", " If sae their pleasure was.", "", "", "He wad na hecht them courtly gifts,", " Nor meikle speech pretend;", "But he wad hecht an honest heart,", " Wad ne’er desert his friend.", "", "", "Now, wham to chuse, and wham refuse,", " At strife thir Carlins fell;", "For some had Gentlefolks to please,", " And some wad please themsel’.", "", "", "Then out spak mim-mou’d Meg o’ Nith,", " And she spak up wi’ pride,", "And she wad send the Soger youth,", " Whatever might betide.", "", "", "For the auld Gudeman o’ London court 4", " She didna care a pin;", "But she wad send the Soger youth,", " To greet his eldest son. 5", "", "", "Then up sprang Bess o’ Annandale,", " And a deadly aith she’s ta’en,", "That she wad vote the Border Knight,", " Though she should vote her lane.", "", "", "“For far-off fowls hae feathers fair,", " And fools o’ change are fain;", "But I hae tried the Border Knight,", " And I’ll try him yet again.”", "", "", "Says black Joan frae Crichton Peel,", " A Carlin stoor and grim.", "“The auld Gudeman or young Gudeman,", " For me may sink or swim;", "", "", "For fools will prate o’ right or wrang,", " While knaves laugh them to scorn;", "But the Soger’s friends hae blawn the best,", " So he shall bear the horn.”", "", "", "Then whisky Jean spak owre her drink,", " “Ye weel ken, kimmers a’,", "The auld gudeman o’ London court,", " His back’s been at the wa’;", "", "", "“And mony a friend that kiss’d his caup", " Is now a fremit wight;", "But it’s ne’er be said o’ whisky Jean—", " We’ll send the Border Knight.”", "", "", "Then slow raise Marjory o’ the Lochs,", " And wrinkled was her brow,", "Her ancient weed was russet gray,", " Her auld Scots bluid was true;", "", "", "“There’s some great folk set light by me,", " I set as light by them;", "But I will send to London town", " Wham I like best at hame.”", "", "", "Sae how this mighty plea may end,", " Nae mortal wight can tell;", "God grant the King and ilka man", " May look weel to himsel.", "", "", " Note 1. Sanquhar. [back]", "Note 2. Sir James Johnston of Westerhall. [back]", "Note 3. Captain Patrick Millar of Dalswinton. [back]", "Note 4. The King. [back]", "Note 5. The Prince of Wales. [back]" ], "linecount": "97" }, { "title": "15. Winter: A Dirge", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE WINTRY west extends his blast,", " And hail and rain does blaw;", "Or the stormy north sends driving forth", " The blinding sleet and snaw:", "While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,", " And roars frae bank to brae;", "And bird and beast in covert rest,", " And pass the heartless day.", "", "", "“The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast,”", " The joyless winter day", "Let others fear, to me more dear", " Than all the pride of May:", "The tempest’s howl, it soothes my soul,", " My griefs it seems to join;", "The leafless trees my fancy please,", " Their fate resembles mine!", "", "", "Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme", " These woes of mine fulfil,", "Here firm I rest; they must be best,", " Because they are Thy will!", "Then all I want—O do Thou grant", " This one request of mine!—", "Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,", " Assist me to resign." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "137. Song—Farewell to the Banks of Ayr", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE GLOOMY night is gath’ring fast,", "Loud roars the wild, inconstant blast,", "Yon murky cloud is foul with rain,", "I see it driving o’er the plain;", "The hunter now has left the moor.", "The scatt’red coveys meet secure;", "While here I wander, prest with care,", "Along the lonely banks of Ayr.", "", "", "The Autumn mourns her rip’ning corn", "By early Winter’s ravage torn;", "Across her placid, azure sky,", "She sees the scowling tempest fly:", "Chill runs my blood to hear it rave;", "I think upon the stormy wave,", "Where many a danger I must dare,", "Far from the bonie banks of Ayr.", "", "", "’Tis not the surging billow’s roar,", "’Tis not that fatal, deadly shore;", "Tho’ death in ev’ry shape appear,", "The wretched have no more to fear:", "But round my heart the ties are bound,", "That heart transpierc’d with many a wound;", "These bleed afresh, those ties I tear,", "To leave the bonie banks of Ayr.", "", "", "Farewell, old Coila’s hills and dales,", "Her healthy moors and winding vales;", "The scenes where wretched Fancy roves,", "Pursuing past, unhappy loves!", "Farewell, my friends! farewell, my foes!", "My peace with these, my love with those:", "The bursting tears my heart declare—", "Farewell, the bonie banks of Ayr!" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "193. On Scaring some Water-Fowl in Lock Turit", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHY, ye tenants of the lake,", "For me your wat’ry haunt forsake?", "Tell me, fellow-creatures, why", "At my presence thus you fly?", "Why disturb your social joys,", "Parent, filial, kindred ties?—", "Common friend to you and me,", "yature’s gifts to all are free:", "Peaceful keep your dimpling wave,", "Busy feed, or wanton lave;", "Or, beneath the sheltering rock,", "Bide the surging billow’s shock.", "", "", " Conscious, blushing for our race,", "Soon, too soon, your fears I trace,", "Man, your proud, usurping foe,", "Would be lord of all below:", "Plumes himself in freedom’s pride,", "Tyrant stern to all beside.", "", "", " The eagle, from the cliffy brow,", "Marking you his prey below,", "In his breast no pity dwells,", "Strong necessity compels:", "But Man, to whom alone is giv’n", "A ray direct from pitying Heav’n,", "Glories in his heart humane—", "And creatures for his pleasure slain!", "", "", " In these savage, liquid plains,", "Only known to wand’ring swains,", "Where the mossy riv’let strays,", "Far from human haunts and ways;", "All on Nature you depend,", "And life’s poor season peaceful spend.", "", "", " Or, if man’s superior might", "Dare invade your native right,", "On the lofty ether borne,", "Man with all his pow’rs you scorn;", "Swiftly seek, on clanging wings,", "Other lakes and other springs;", "And the foe you cannot brave,", "Scorn at least to be his slave." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "A Red, Red Rose", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O my Luve's like a red, red rose", "That's newly sprung in June;", "O my Luve's like the melodie", "That's sweetly played in tune.", "", "As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,", "So deep in luve am I;", "And I will luve thee still, my dear,", "Till a' the seas gang dry:", "", "Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,", "And the rocks melt wi' the sun;", "I will luve thee still, my dear,", "While the sands o' life shall run.", "", "And fare thee weel, my only Luve,", "And fare thee weel awhile!", "And I will come again, my Luve,", "Tho' it ware ten thousand mile." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "254. Caledonia: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THERE was once a day, but old Time wasythen young,", " That brave Caledonia, the chief of her line,", "From some of your northern deities sprung,", " (Who knows not that brave Caledonia’s divine?)", "From Tweed to the Orcades was her domain,", " To hunt, or to pasture, or do what she would:", "Her heav’nly relations there fixed her reign,", " And pledg’d her their godheads to warrant it good.", "", "", "A lambkin in peace, but a lion in war,", " The pride of her kindred, the heroine grew:", "Her grandsire, old Odin, triumphantly swore,—", " “Whoe’er shall provoke thee, th’ encounter shall rue!”", "With tillage or pasture at times she would sport,", " To feed her fair flocks by her green rustling corn;", "But chiefly the woods were her fav’rite resort,", " Her darling amusement, the hounds and the horn.", "", "", "Long quiet she reigned; till thitherward steers", " A flight of bold eagles from Adria’s strand:", "Repeated, successive, for many long years,", " They darken’d the air, and they plunder’d the land:", "Their pounces were murder, and terror their cry,", " They’d conquer’d and ruin’d a world beside;", "She took to her hills, and her arrows let fly,", " The daring invaders they fled or they died.", "", "", "The Cameleon-Savage disturb’d her repose,", " With tumult, disquiet, rebellion, and strife;", "Provok’d beyond bearing, at last she arose,", " And robb’d him at once of his hopes and his life:", "The Anglian lion, the terror of France,", " Oft prowling, ensanguin’d the Tweed’s silver flood;", "But, taught by the bright Caledonian lance,", " He learnèd to fear in his own native wood.", "", "", "The fell Harpy-raven took wing from the north,", " The scourge of the seas, and the dread of the shore;", "The wild Scandinavian boar issued forth", " To wanton in carnage and wallow in gore:", "O’er countries and kingdoms their fury prevail’d,", " No arts could appease them, no arms could repel;", "But brave Caledonia in vain they assail’d,", " As Largs well can witness, and Loncartie tell.", "", "", "Thus bold, independent, unconquer’d, and free,", " Her bright course of glory for ever shall run:", "For brave Caledonia immortal must be;", " I’ll prove it from Euclid as clear as the sun:", "Rectangle-triangle, the figure we’ll chuse:", " The upright is Chance, and old Time is the base;", "But brave Caledonia’s the hypothenuse;", " Then, ergo, she’ll match them, and match them always." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "548. The Dean of Faculty: A new Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "DIRE was the hate at old Harlaw,", " That Scot to Scot did carry;", "And dire the discord Langside saw", " For beauteous, hapless Mary:", "But Scot to Scot ne’er met so hot,", " Or were more in fury seen, Sir,", "Than ’twixt Hal and Bob for the famous job,", " Who should be the Faculty’s Dean, Sir.", "", "", "This Hal for genius, wit and lore,", " Among the first was number’d;", "But pious Bob, ’mid learning’s store,", " Commandment the tenth remember’d:", "Yet simple Bob the victory got,", " And wan his heart’s desire,", "Which shews that heaven can boil the pot,", " Tho’ the devil piss in the fire.", "", "", "Squire Hal, besides, had in this case", " Pretensions rather brassy;", "For talents, to deserve a place,", " Are qualifications saucy.", "So their worships of the Faculty,", " Quite sick of merit’s rudeness,", "Chose one who should owe it all, d’ye see,", " To their gratis grace and goodness.", "", "", "As once on Pisgah purg’d was the sight", " Of a son of Circumcision,", "So may be, on this Pisgah height,", " Bob’s purblind mental vision—", "Nay, Bobby’s mouth may be opened yet,", " Till for eloquence you hail him,", "And swear that he has the angel met", " That met the ass of Balaam.", "", "", "In your heretic sins may you live and die,", " Ye heretic Eight-and-Tairty!", "But accept, ye sublime Majority,", " My congratulations hearty.", "With your honours, as with a certain king,", " In your servants this is striking,", "The more incapacity they bring,", " The more they’re to your liking." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "311. On the Birth of a Posthumous Child", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "SWEET flow’ret, pledge o’ meikle love,", " And ward o’ mony a prayer,", "What heart o’ stane wad thou na move,", " Sae helpless, sweet, and fair?", "", "", "November hirples o’er the lea,", " Chill, on thy lovely form:", "And gane, alas! the shelt’ring tree,", " Should shield thee frae the storm.", "", "", "May He who gives the rain to pour,", " And wings the blast to blaw,", "Protect thee frae the driving show’r,", " The bitter frost and snaw.", "", "", "May He, the friend o’ Woe and Want,", " Who heals life’s various stounds,", "Protect and guard the mother plant,", " And heal her cruel wounds.", "", "", "But late she flourish’d, rooted fast,", " Fair in the summer morn,", "Now feebly bends she in the blast,", " Unshelter’d and forlorn.", "", "", "Blest be thy bloom, thou lovely gem,", " Unscath’d by ruffian hand!", "And from thee many a parent stem", " Arise to deck our land!" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "75. Halloween", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "UPON that night, when fairies light", " On Cassilis Downans 2 dance,", "Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,", " On sprightly coursers prance;", "Or for Colean the rout is ta’en,", " Beneath the moon’s pale beams;", "There, up the Cove, 3 to stray an’ rove,", " Amang the rocks and streams", " To sport that night;", "", "", "Amang the bonie winding banks,", " Where Doon rins, wimplin, clear;", "Where Bruce 4 ance rul’d the martial ranks,", " An’ shook his Carrick spear;", "Some merry, friendly, countra-folks", " Together did convene,", "To burn their nits, an’ pou their stocks,", " An’ haud their Halloween", " Fu’ blythe that night.", "", "", "The lasses feat, an’ cleanly neat,", " Mair braw than when they’re fine;", "Their faces blythe, fu’ sweetly kythe,", " Hearts leal, an’ warm, an’ kin’:", "The lads sae trig, wi’ wooer-babs", " Weel-knotted on their garten;", "Some unco blate, an’ some wi’ gabs", " Gar lasses’ hearts gang startin", " Whiles fast at night.", "", "", "Then, first an’ foremost, thro’ the kail,", " Their stocks 5 maun a’ be sought ance;", "They steek their een, and grape an’ wale", " For muckle anes, an’ straught anes.", "Poor hav’rel Will fell aff the drift,", " An’ wandered thro’ the bow-kail,", "An’ pou’t for want o’ better shift", " A runt was like a sow-tail", " Sae bow’t that night.", "", "", "Then, straught or crooked, yird or nane,", " They roar an’ cry a’ throu’ther;", "The vera wee-things, toddlin, rin,", " Wi’ stocks out owre their shouther:", "An’ gif the custock’s sweet or sour,", " Wi’ joctelegs they taste them;", "Syne coziely, aboon the door,", " Wi’ cannie care, they’ve plac’d them", " To lie that night.", "", "", "The lassies staw frae ’mang them a’,", " To pou their stalks o’ corn; 6", "But Rab slips out, an’ jinks about,", " Behint the muckle thorn:", "He grippit Nelly hard and fast:", " Loud skirl’d a’ the lasses;", "But her tap-pickle maist was lost,", " Whan kiutlin in the fause-house 7", " Wi’ him that night.", "", "", "The auld guid-wife’s weel-hoordit nits 8", " Are round an’ round dividend,", "An’ mony lads an’ lasses’ fates", " Are there that night decided:", "Some kindle couthie side by side,", " And burn thegither trimly;", "Some start awa wi’ saucy pride,", " An’ jump out owre the chimlie", " Fu’ high that night.", "", "", "Jean slips in twa, wi’ tentie e’e;", " Wha ’twas, she wadna tell;", "But this is Jock, an’ this is me,", " She says in to hersel’:", "He bleez’d owre her, an’ she owre him,", " As they wad never mair part:", "Till fuff! he started up the lum,", " An’ Jean had e’en a sair heart", " To see’t that night.", "", "", "Poor Willie, wi’ his bow-kail runt,", " Was brunt wi’ primsie Mallie;", "An’ Mary, nae doubt, took the drunt,", " To be compar’d to Willie:", "Mall’s nit lap out, wi’ pridefu’ fling,", " An’ her ain fit, it brunt it;", "While Willie lap, and swore by jing,", " ’Twas just the way he wanted", " To be that night.", "", "", "Nell had the fause-house in her min’,", " She pits hersel an’ Rob in;", "In loving bleeze they sweetly join,", " Till white in ase they’re sobbin:", "Nell’s heart was dancin at the view;", " She whisper’d Rob to leuk for’t:", "Rob, stownlins, prie’d her bonie mou’,", " Fu’ cozie in the neuk for’t,", " Unseen that night.", "", "", "But Merran sat behint their backs,", " Her thoughts on Andrew Bell:", "She lea’es them gashin at their cracks,", " An’ slips out-by hersel’;", "She thro’ the yard the nearest taks,", " An’ for the kiln she goes then,", "An’ darklins grapit for the bauks,", " And in the blue-clue 9 throws then,", " Right fear’t that night.", "", "", "An’ ay she win’t, an’ ay she swat—", " I wat she made nae jaukin;", "Till something held within the pat,", " Good L—d! but she was quaukin!", "But whether ’twas the deil himsel,", " Or whether ’twas a bauk-en’,", "Or whether it was Andrew Bell,", " She did na wait on talkin", " To spier that night.", "", "", "Wee Jenny to her graunie says,", " “Will ye go wi’ me, graunie?", "I’ll eat the apple at the glass, 10", " I gat frae uncle Johnie:”", "She fuff’t her pipe wi’ sic a lunt,", " In wrath she was sae vap’rin,", "She notic’t na an aizle brunt", " Her braw, new, worset apron", " Out thro’ that night.", "", "", "“Ye little skelpie-limmer’s face!", " I daur you try sic sportin,", "As seek the foul thief ony place,", " For him to spae your fortune:", "Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!", " Great cause ye hae to fear it;", "For mony a ane has gotten a fright,", " An’ liv’d an’ died deleerit,", " On sic a night.", "", "", "“Ae hairst afore the Sherra-moor,", " I mind’t as weel’s yestreen—", "I was a gilpey then, I’m sure", " I was na past fyfteen:", "The simmer had been cauld an’ wat,", " An’ stuff was unco green;", "An’ eye a rantin kirn we gat,", " An’ just on Halloween", " It fell that night.", "", "", "“Our stibble-rig was Rab M’Graen,", " A clever, sturdy fallow;", "His sin gat Eppie Sim wi’ wean,", " That lived in Achmacalla:", "He gat hemp-seed, 11 I mind it weel,", " An’he made unco light o’t;", "But mony a day was by himsel’,", " He was sae sairly frighted", " That vera night.”", "", "", "Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck,", " An’ he swoor by his conscience,", "That he could saw hemp-seed a peck;", " For it was a’ but nonsense:", "The auld guidman raught down the pock,", " An’ out a handfu’ gied him;", "Syne bad him slip frae’ mang the folk,", " Sometime when nae ane see’d him,", " An’ try’t that night.", "", "", "He marches thro’ amang the stacks,", " Tho’ he was something sturtin;", "The graip he for a harrow taks,", " An’ haurls at his curpin:", "And ev’ry now an’ then, he says,", " “Hemp-seed I saw thee,", "An’ her that is to be my lass", " Come after me, an’ draw thee", " As fast this night.”", "", "", "He wistl’d up Lord Lennox’ March", " To keep his courage cherry;", "Altho’ his hair began to arch,", " He was sae fley’d an’ eerie:", "Till presently he hears a squeak,", " An’ then a grane an’ gruntle;", "He by his shouther gae a keek,", " An’ tumbled wi’ a wintle", " Out-owre that night.", "", "", "He roar’d a horrid murder-shout,", " In dreadfu’ desperation!", "An’ young an’ auld come rinnin out,", " An’ hear the sad narration:", "He swoor ’twas hilchin Jean M’Craw,", " Or crouchie Merran Humphie—", "Till stop! she trotted thro’ them a’;", " And wha was it but grumphie", " Asteer that night!", "", "", "Meg fain wad to the barn gaen,", " To winn three wechts o’ naething; 12", "But for to meet the deil her lane,", " She pat but little faith in:", "She gies the herd a pickle nits,", " An’ twa red cheekit apples,", "To watch, while for the barn she sets,", " In hopes to see Tam Kipples", " That vera night.", "", "", "She turns the key wi’ cannie thraw,", " An’owre the threshold ventures;", "But first on Sawnie gies a ca’,", " Syne baudly in she enters:", "A ratton rattl’d up the wa’,", " An’ she cry’d Lord preserve her!", "An’ ran thro’ midden-hole an’ a’,", " An’ pray’d wi’ zeal and fervour,", " Fu’ fast that night.", "", "", "They hoy’t out Will, wi’ sair advice;", " They hecht him some fine braw ane;", "It chanc’d the stack he faddom’t thrice 13", " Was timmer-propt for thrawin:", "He taks a swirlie auld moss-oak", " For some black, grousome carlin;", "An’ loot a winze, an’ drew a stroke,", " Till skin in blypes cam haurlin", " Aff’s nieves that night.", "", "", "A wanton widow Leezie was,", " As cantie as a kittlen;", "But och! that night, amang the shaws,", " She gat a fearfu’ settlin!", "She thro’ the whins, an’ by the cairn,", " An’ owre the hill gaed scrievin;", "Whare three lairds’ lan’s met at a burn, 14", " To dip her left sark-sleeve in,", " Was bent that night.", "", "", "Whiles owre a linn the burnie plays,", " As thro’ the glen it wimpl’t;", "Whiles round a rocky scar it strays,", " Whiles in a wiel it dimpl’t;", "Whiles glitter’d to the nightly rays,", " Wi’ bickerin’, dancin’ dazzle;", "Whiles cookit undeneath the braes,", " Below the spreading hazel", " Unseen that night.", "", "", "Amang the brachens, on the brae,", " Between her an’ the moon,", "The deil, or else an outler quey,", " Gat up an’ ga’e a croon:", "Poor Leezie’s heart maist lap the hool;", " Near lav’rock-height she jumpit,", "But mist a fit, an’ in the pool", " Out-owre the lugs she plumpit,", " Wi’ a plunge that night.", "", "", "In order, on the clean hearth-stane,", " The luggies 15 three are ranged;", "An’ ev’ry time great care is ta’en", " To see them duly changed:", "Auld uncle John, wha wedlock’s joys", " Sin’ Mar’s-year did desire,", "Because he gat the toom dish thrice,", " He heav’d them on the fire", " In wrath that night.", "", "", "Wi’ merry sangs, an’ friendly cracks,", " I wat they did na weary;", "And unco tales, an’ funnie jokes—", " Their sports were cheap an’ cheery:", "Till butter’d sowens, 16 wi’ fragrant lunt,", " Set a’ their gabs a-steerin;", "Syne, wi’ a social glass o’ strunt,", " They parted aff careerin", " Fu’ blythe that night.", "", "", " Note 1. Is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are abroad on their baneful midnight errands; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said on that night to hold a grand anniversary.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the Earls of Cassilis.—R.B. [back]", "Note 3. A noted cavern near Colean house, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed, in country story, for being a favorite haunt of fairies.—R. B. [back]", "Note 4. The famous family of that name, the ancestors of Robert, the great deliverer of his country, were Earls of Carrick.—R. B. [back]", "Note 5. The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a “stock,” or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with: its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any “yird,” or earth, stick to the root, that is “tocher,” or fortune; and the taste of the “custock,” that is, the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the “runts,” are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brings into the house are, according to the priority of placing the “runts,” the names in question.—R. B. [back]", "Note 6. They go to the barnyard, and pull each, at three different times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the “top-pickle,” that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed anything but a maid.—R. B. [back]", "Note 7. When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being too green or wet, the stack-builder, by means of old timber, etc., makes a large apartment in his stack, with an opening in the side which is fairest exposed to the wind: this he calls a “fause-house.”—R. B. [back]", "Note 8. Burning the nuts is a favorite charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire; and according as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be.—R. B. [back]", "Note 9. Whoever would, with success, try this spell, must strictly observe these directions: Steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and darkling, throw into the “pot” a clue of blue yarn; wind it in a new clue off the old one; and, toward the latter end, something will hold the thread: demand, “Wha hauds?” i. e., who holds? and answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the Christian and surname of your future spouse.—R. B. [back]", "Note 10. Take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass; eat an apple before it, and some traditions say you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjungal companion, to be, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder.—R. B. [back]", "Note 11. Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of hemp-seed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then: “Hemp-seed, I saw thee, hemp-seed, I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my true love, come after me and pou thee.” Look over your left shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, “Come after me and shaw thee,” that is, show thyself; in which case, it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say: “Come after me and harrow thee.”—R. B. [back]", "Note 12. This charm must likewise be performed unperceived and alone. You go to the barn, and open both doors, taking them off the hinges, if possible; for there is danger that the being about to appear may shut the doors, and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the corn, which in our country dialect we call a “wecht,” and go through all the attitudes of letting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times, and the third time an apparition will pass through the barn, in at the windy door and out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the appearance or retinue, marking the employment or station in life.—R. B. [back]", "Note 13. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a “bear-stack,” and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.—R. B. [back]", "Note 14. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a “bear-stack,” and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.—R. B. [back]", "Note 15. Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another, and leave the third empty; blindfold a person and lead him to the hearth where the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand; if by chance in the clean water, the future (husband or) wife will come to the bar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretells, with equal certainty, no marriage at all. It is repeated three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered.—R. B. [back]", "Note 16. Sowens, with butter instead of milk to them, is always the Halloween Supper.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "268" }, { "title": "79. Adam Armour’s Prayer", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "GUDE pity me, because I’m little!", "For though I am an elf o’ mettle,", "An’ can, like ony wabster’s shuttle,", " Jink there or here,", "Yet, scarce as lang’s a gude kail-whittle,", " I’m unco queer.", "", "", "An’ now Thou kens our waefu’ case;", "For Geordie’s jurr we’re in disgrace,", "Because we stang’d her through the place,", " An’ hurt her spleuchan;", "For whilk we daurna show our face", " Within the clachan.", "", "", "An’ now we’re dern’d in dens and hollows,", "And hunted, as was William Wallace,", "Wi’ constables-thae blackguard fallows,", " An’ sodgers baith;", "But Gude preserve us frae the gallows,", " That shamefu’ death!", "", "", "Auld grim black-bearded Geordie’s sel’—", "O shake him owre the mouth o’ hell!", "There let him hing, an’ roar, an’ yell", " Wi’ hideous din,", "And if he offers to rebel,", " Then heave him in.", "", "", "When Death comes in wi’ glimmerin blink,", "An’ tips auld drucken Nanse the wink,", "May Sautan gie her doup a clink", " Within his yett,", "An’ fill her up wi’ brimstone drink,", " Red-reekin het.", "", "", "Though Jock an’ hav’rel Jean are merry—", "Some devil seize them in a hurry,", "An’ waft them in th’ infernal wherry", " Straught through the lake,", "An’ gie their hides a noble curry", " Wi’ oil of aik!", "", "", "As for the jurr-puir worthless body!", "She’s got mischief enough already;", "Wi’ stanged hips, and buttocks bluidy", " She’s suffer’d sair;", "But, may she wintle in a woody,", " If she wh-e mair!" ], "linecount": "42" }, { "title": "285. Song—I Gaed a Waefu’ Gate Yestreen", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "I GAED a waefu’ gate yestreen,", " A gate, I fear, I’ll dearly rue;", "I gat my death frae twa sweet een,", " Twa lovely een o’bonie blue.", "’Twas not her golden ringlets bright,", " Her lips like roses wat wi’ dew,", "Her heaving bosom, lily-white—", " It was her een sae bonie blue.", "", "", "She talk’d, she smil’d, my heart she wyl’d;", " She charm’d my soul I wist na how;", "And aye the stound, the deadly wound,", " Cam frae her een so bonie blue.", "But “spare to speak, and spare to speed;”", " She’ll aiblins listen to my vow:", "Should she refuse, I’ll lay my dead", " To her twa een sae bonie blue." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "352. The Song of Death", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FAREWELL, thou fair day, thou green earth, and ye skies,", " Now gay with the broad setting sun;", "Farewell, loves and friendships, ye dear tender ties,", " Our race of existence is run!", "Thou grim King of Terrors; thou Life’s gloomy foe!", " Go, frighten the coward and slave;", "Go, teach them to tremble, fell tyrant! but know", " No terrors hast thou to the brave!", "", "", "Thou strik’st the dull peasant—he sinks in the dark,", " Nor saves e’en the wreck of a name;", "Thou strik’st the young hero—a glorious mark;", " He falls in the blaze of his fame!", "In the field of proud honour—our swords in our hands,", " Our King and our country to save;", "While victory shines on Life’s last ebbing sands,—", " O! who would not die with the brave!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "29. Song—The Rigs o’ Barley", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "IT was upon a Lammas night,", " When corn rigs are bonie,", "Beneath the moon’s unclouded light,", " I held awa to Annie;", "The time flew by, wi’ tentless heed,", " Till, ’tween the late and early,", "Wi’ sma’ persuasion she agreed", " To see me thro’ the barley.", "", "", "Corn rigs, an’ barley rigs,", " An’ corn rigs are bonie:", "I’ll ne’er forget that happy night,", " Amang the rigs wi’ Annie.", "", "", "The sky was blue, the wind was still,", " The moon was shining clearly;", "I set her down, wi’ right good will,", " Amang the rigs o’ barley:", "I ken’t her heart was a’ my ain;", " I lov’d her most sincerely;", "I kiss’d her owre and owre again,", " Amang the rigs o’ barley.", " Corn rigs, an’ barley rigs, &c.", "", "", "I lock’d her in my fond embrace;", " Her heart was beating rarely:", "My blessings on that happy place,", " Amang the rigs o’ barley!", "But by the moon and stars so bright,", " That shone that hour so clearly!", "She aye shall bless that happy night", " Amang the rigs o’ barley.", " Corn rigs, an’ barley rigs, &c.", "", "", "I hae been blythe wi’ comrades dear;", " I hae been merry drinking;", "I hae been joyfu’ gath’rin gear;", " I hae been happy thinking:", "But a’ the pleasures e’er I saw,", " Tho’ three times doubl’d fairly,", "That happy night was worth them a’,", " Amang the rigs o’ barley.", " Corn rigs, an’ barley rigs, &c." ], "linecount": "39" }, { "title": "247. Ode, Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald of Auchencruive", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "DWELLER in yon dungeon dark,", " Hangman of creation! mark,", " Who in widow-weeds appears,", " Laden with unhonour’d years,", " Noosing with care a bursting purse,", " Baited with many a deadly curse?", "", "", "STROPHE View the wither’d Beldam’s face;", " Can thy keen inspection trace", "Aught of Humanity’s sweet, melting grace?", " Note that eye, ’tis rheum o’erflows;", " Pity’s flood there never rose,", " See these hands ne’er stretched to save,", " Hands that took, but never gave:", " Keeper of Mammon’s iron chest,", " Lo, there she goes, unpitied and unblest,", "She goes, but not to realms of everlasting rest!", "", "", "ANTISTROPHEPlunderer of Armies! lift thine eyes,", " (A while forbear, ye torturing fiends;)", "Seest thou whose step, unwilling, hither bends?", "No fallen angel, hurl’d from upper skies;", " ’Tis thy trusty quondam Mate,", " Doom’d to share thy fiery fate;", " She, tardy, hell-ward plies.", "", "", "EPODE And are they of no more avail,", "Ten thousand glittering pounds a-year?", " In other worlds can Mammon fail,", " Omnipotent as he is here!", "", "", "O, bitter mockery of the pompous bier,", " While down the wretched Vital Part is driven!", "The cave-lodged Beggar,with a conscience clear,", " Expires in rags, unknown, and goes to Heaven." ], "linecount": "31" }, { "title": "204. Song—Love in the Guise of Friendship", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "YOUR friendship much can make me blest,", " O why that bliss destroy!", "Why urge the only, one request", " You know I will deny!", "", "", "Your thought, if Love must harbour there,", " Conceal it in that thought;", "Nor cause me from my bosom tear", " The very friend I sought." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "280. The Kirk of Scotland’s Alarm: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "ORTHODOX! orthodox, who believe in John Knox,", " Let me sound an alarm to your conscience:", "A heretic blast has been blown in the West,", " That what is no sense must be nonsense,", "Orthodox! That what is no sense must be nonsense.", "", "", "Doctor Mac! Doctor Mac, you should streek on a rack,", " To strike evil-doers wi’ terror:", "To join Faith and Sense, upon any pretence,", " Was heretic, damnable error,", "Doctor Mac! 1 ’Twas heretic, damnable error.", "", "", "Town of Ayr! town of Ayr, it was mad, I declare,", " To meddle wi’ mischief a-brewing, 2", "Provost John 3 is still deaf to the Church’s relief,", " And Orator Bob 4 is its ruin,", "Town of Ayr! Yes, Orator Bob is its ruin.", "", "", "D’rymple mild! D’rymple mild, tho’ your heart’s like a child,", " And your life like the new-driven snaw,", "Yet that winna save you, auld Satan must have you,", " For preaching that three’s ane an’ twa,", "D’rymple mild! 5 For preaching that three’s ane an’ twa.", "", "", "Rumble John! rumble John, mount the steps with a groan,", " Cry the book is with heresy cramm’d;", "Then out wi’ your ladle, deal brimstone like aidle,", " And roar ev’ry note of the D—’d.", "Rumble John! 6 And roar ev’ry note of the D—’d.", "", "", "Simper James! simper James, leave your fair Killie dames,", " There’s a holier chase in your view:", "I’ll lay on your head, that the pack you’ll soon lead,", " For puppies like you there’s but few,", "Simper James! 7 For puppies like you there’s but few.", "", "", "Singet Sawnie! singet Sawnie, are ye huirdin the penny,", " Unconscious what evils await?", "With a jump, yell, and howl, alarm ev’ry soul,", " For the foul thief is just at your gate.", "Singet Sawnie! 8 For the foul thief is just at your gate.", "", "", "Poet Willie! poet Willie, gie the Doctor a volley,", " Wi’ your “Liberty’s Chain” and your wit;", "O’er Pegasus’ side ye ne’er laid a stride,", " Ye but smelt, man, the place where he sh-t.", "Poet Willie! 9 Ye but smelt man, the place where he sh-t.", "", "", "Barr Steenie! Barr Steenie, what mean ye, what mean ye?", " If ye meddle nae mair wi’ the matter,", "Ye may hae some pretence to havins and sense,", " Wi’ people that ken ye nae better,", "Barr Steenie! 10 Wi’people that ken ye nae better.", "", "", "Jamie Goose! Jamie Goose, ye made but toom roose,", " In hunting the wicked Lieutenant;", "But the Doctor’s your mark, for the Lord’s holy ark,", " He has cooper’d an’ ca’d a wrang pin in’t,", "Jamie Goose! 11 He has cooper’d an’ ca’d a wrang pin in’t.", "", "", "Davie Bluster! Davie Bluster, for a saint ye do muster,", " The core is no nice o’ recruits;", "Yet to worth let’s be just, royal blood ye might boast,", " If the Ass were the king o’ the brutes,", "Davie Bluster! 12 If the Ass were the king o’ the brutes.", "", "", "Cessnock-side! Cessnock-side, wi’ your turkey-cock pride", " Of manhood but sma’ is your share:", "Ye’ve the figure, ’tis true, ev’n your foes will allow,", " And your friends they dare grant you nae mair,", "Cessnock-side! 13 And your friends they dare grant you nae mair.", "", "", "Muirland Jock! muirland Jock, when the L—d makes a rock,", " To crush common-sense for her sins;", "If ill-manners were wit, there’s no mortal so fit", " To confound the poor Doctor at ance,", "Muirland Jock! 14 To confound the poor Doctor at ance.", "", "", "Andro Gowk! Andro Gowk, ye may slander the Book,", " An’ the Book nought the waur, let me tell ye;", "Tho’ ye’re rich, an’ look big, yet, lay by hat an’ wig,", " An’ ye’ll hae a calf’s-had o’ sma’ value,", "Andro Gowk! 15 Ye’ll hae a calf’s head o’ sma value.", "", "", "Daddy Auld! daddy Auld, there’a a tod in the fauld,", " A tod meikle waur than the clerk;", "Tho’ ye do little skaith, ye’ll be in at the death,", " For gif ye canna bite, ye may bark,", "Daddy Auld! 16 Gif ye canna bite, ye may bark.", "", "", "Holy Will! holy Will, there was wit in your skull,", " When ye pilfer’d the alms o’ the poor;", "The timmer is scant when ye’re taen for a saunt,", " Wha should swing in a rape for an hour,", "Holy Will! 17 Ye should swing in a rape for an hour.", "", "", "Calvin’s sons! Calvin’s sons, seize your spiritual guns,", " Ammunition you never can need;", "Your hearts are the stuff will be powder enough,", " And your skulls are a storehouse o’ lead,", "Calvin’s sons! Your skulls are a storehouse o’ lead.", "", "", "Poet Burns! poet Burns, wi” your priest-skelpin turns,", " Why desert ye your auld native shire?", "Your muse is a gipsy, yet were she e’en tipsy,", " She could ca’us nae waur than we are,", "Poet Burns! She could ca’us nae waur than we are.", "", "", "PRESENTATION STANZAS TO CORRESPONDENTSFactor John! Factor John, whom the Lord made alone,", " And ne’er made anither, thy peer,", "Thy poor servant, the Bard, in respectful regard,", " He presents thee this token sincere,", "Factor John! He presents thee this token sincere.", "", "", "Afton’s Laird! Afton’s Laird, when your pen can be spared,", " A copy of this I bequeath,", "On the same sicker score as I mention’d before,", " To that trusty auld worthy, Clackleith,", "Afton’s Laird! To that trusty auld worthy, Clackleith.", "", "", " Note 1. Dr. M’Gill, Ayr.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. See the advertisement.—R. B. [back]", "Note 3. John Ballantine,—R. B. [back]", "Note 4. Robert Aiken.—R. B. [back]", "Note 5. Dr. Dalrymple, Ayr.—R. B. [back]", "Note 6. John Russell, Kilmarnock.—R. B. [back]", "Note 7. James Mackinlay, Kilmarnock.—R. B. [back]", "Note 8. Alexander Moodie of Riccarton.—R. B. [back]", "Note 9. William Peebles, in Newton-upon-Ayr, a poetaster, who, among many other things, published an ode on the “Centenary of the Revolution,” in which was the line: “And bound in Liberty’s endering chain.”—R. B.", " [back]", "Note 10. Stephen Young of Barr.—R. B. [back]", "Note 11. James Young, in New Cumnock, who had lately been foiled in an ecclesiastical prosecution against a Lieutenant Mitchel—R. B. [back]", "Note 12. David Grant, Ochiltree.—R. B. [back]", "Note 13. George Smith, Galston.—R. B. [back]", "Note 14. John Shepherd Muirkirk.—R. B. [back]", "Note 15. Dr. Andrew Mitchel, Monkton.—R. B. [back]", "Note 16. William Auld, Mauchline; for the clerk, see “Holy Willie”s Prayer.”—R. B. [back]", "Note 17. Vide the “Prayer” of this saint.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "118" }, { "title": "264. Song—On a Bank of Flowers", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "ON a bank of flowers, in a summer day,", " For summer lightly drest,", "The youthful, blooming Nelly lay,", " With love and sleep opprest;", "When Willie, wand’ring thro’ the wood,", "Who for her favour oft had sued;", " He gaz’d, he wish’d", " He fear’d, he blush’d,", "And trembled where he stood.", "", "", "Her closèd eyes, like weapons sheath’d,", " Were seal’d in soft repose;", "Her lip, still as she fragrant breath’d,", " It richer dyed the rose;", "The springing lilies, sweetly prest,", "Wild-wanton kissed her rival breast;", " He gaz’d, he wish’d,", " He mear’d, he blush’d,", "His bosom ill at rest.", "", "", "Her robes, light-waving in the breeze,", " Her tender limbs embrace;", "Her lovely form, her native ease,", " All harmony and grace;", "Tumultuous tides his pulses roll,", "A faltering, ardent kiss he stole;", " He gaz’d, he wish’d,", " He fear’d, he blush’d,", "And sigh’d his very soul.", "", "", "As flies the partridge from the brake,", " On fear-inspired wings,", "So Nelly, starting, half-awake,", " Away affrighted springs;", "But Willie follow’d-as he should,", "He overtook her in the wood;", " He vow’d, he pray’d,", " He found the maid", "Forgiving all, and good." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "101. Song—Composed in Spring", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "AGAIN rejoicing Nature sees", " Her robe assume its vernal hues:", "Her leafy locks wave in the breeze,", " All freshly steep’d in morning dews.", "", "", " Chorus.—And maun I still on Menie doat,", " And bear the scorn that’s in her e’e?", " For it’s jet, jet black, an’ it’s like a hawk,", " An’ it winna let a body be.", "", "", "In vain to me the cowslips blaw,", " In vain to me the vi’lets spring;", "In vain to me in glen or shaw,", " The mavis and the lintwhite sing.", " And maun I still, &c.", "", "", "The merry ploughboy cheers his team,", "Wi’ joy the tentie seedsman stalks;", "But life to me’s a weary dream,", "A dream of ane that never wauks.", " And maun I still, &c.", "", "", "The wanton coot the water skims,", "Amang the reeds the ducklings cry,", "The stately swan majestic swims,", "And ev’ry thing is blest but I.", " And maun I still, &c.", "", "", "The sheep-herd steeks his faulding slap,", "And o’er the moorlands whistles shill:", "Wi’ wild, unequal, wand’ring step,", "I meet him on the dewy hill.", " And maun I still, &c.", "", "", "And when the lark, ’tween light and dark,", "Blythe waukens by the daisy’s side,", "And mounts and sings on flittering wings,", "A woe-worn ghaist I hameward glide.", " And maun I still, &c.", "", "", "Come winter, with thine angry howl,", "And raging, bend the naked tree;", "Thy gloom will soothe my cheerless soul,", "When nature all is sad like me!", " And maun I still, &c." ], "linecount": "38" }, { "title": "394. Song—Braw Lads o’ Gala Water", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "BRAW, braw lads on Yarrow-braes,", " They rove amang the blooming heather;", "But Yarrow braes, nor Ettrick shaws", " Can match the lads o’ Galla Water.", "", "", "But there is ane, a secret ane,", " Aboon them a’ I loe him better;", "And I’ll be his, and he’ll be mine,", " The bonie lad o’ Galla Water.", "", "", "Altho’ his daddie was nae laird,", " And tho’ I hae nae meikle tocher,", "Yet rich in kindest, truest love,", " We’ll tent our flocks by Galla Water.", "", "", "It ne’er was wealth, it ne’er was wealth,", " That coft contentment, peace, or pleasure;", "The bands and bliss o’ mutual love,", " O that’s the chiefest warld’s treasure." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "297. Election Ballad for Westerha’", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE LADDIES by the banks o’ Nith", " Wad trust his Grace 1 wi a’, Jamie;", "But he’ll sair them, as he sair’d the King—", " Turn tail and rin awa’, Jamie.", "", "", "Chorus.—Up and waur them a’, Jamie,", " Up and waur them a’;", "The Johnstones hae the guidin o’t,", " Ye turncoat Whigs, awa’!", "", "", "The day he stude his country’s friend,", " Or gied her faes a claw, Jamie,", "Or frae puir man a blessin wan,", " That day the Duke ne’er saw, Jamie.", " Up and waur them, &c.", "", "", "But wha is he, his country’s boast?", " Like him there is na twa, Jamie;", "There’s no a callent tents the kye,", " But kens o’ Westerha’, Jamie.", " Up and waur them, &c.", "", "", "To end the wark, here’s Whistlebirk,", " Lang may his whistle blaw, Jamie;", "And Maxwell true, o’ sterling blue;", " And we’ll be Johnstones a’, Jamie.", " Up and waur them, &c." ], "linecount": "23" }, { "title": "314. Song—There’ll never be Peace till Jamie comes hame", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "BY yon Castle wa’, at the close of the day,", "I heard a man sing, tho’ his head it was grey:", "And as he was singing, the tears doon came,—", "There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.", "", "", "The Church is in ruins, the State is in jars,", "Delusions, oppressions, and murderous wars,", "We dare na weel say’t, but we ken wha’s to blame,—", "There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.", "", "", "My seven braw sons for Jamie drew sword,", "But now I greet round their green beds in the yerd;", "It brak the sweet heart o’ my faithful and dame,—", "There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.", "", "", "Now life is a burden that bows me down,", "Sin’ I tint my bairns, and he tint his crown;", "But till my last moments my words are the same,—", "There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "551. Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 4", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHA will buy my troggin, fine election ware,", "Broken trade o’ Broughton, a’ in high repair?", "", "", "Chorus.—Buy braw troggin frae the banks o’ Dee;", "Wha wants troggin let him come to me.", "", "", "There’s a noble Earl’s fame and high renown,", "For an auld sang—it’s thought the gudes were stown—", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s the worth o’ Broughton in a needle’s e’e;", "Here’s a reputation tint by Balmaghie.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s its stuff and lining, Cardoness’ head,", "Fine for a soger, a’ the wale o’ lead.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s a little wadset, Buittle’s scrap o’ truth,", "Pawn’d in a gin-shop, quenching holy drouth.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s an honest conscience might a prince adorn;", "Frae the downs o’ Tinwald, so was never worn.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s armorial bearings frae the manse o’ Urr;", "The crest, a sour crab-apple, rotten at the core.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s the worth and wisdom Collieston can boast;", "By a thievish midge they had been nearly lost.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here is Satan’s picture, like a bizzard gled,", "Pouncing poor Redcastle, sprawlin’ like a taed.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here’s the font where Douglas stane and mortar names;", "Lately used at Caily christening Murray’s crimes.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Here is Murray’s fragments o’ the ten commands;", "Gifted by black Jock to get them aff his hands.", " Buy braw troggin, &c.", "", "", "Saw ye e’er sic troggin? if to buy ye’re slack,", "Hornie’s turnin chapman—he’ll buy a’ the pack.", " Buy braw troggin, &c." ], "linecount": "37" }, { "title": "226. Song—I hae a Wife o’ my Ain", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "I HAE a wife of my ain,", " I’ll partake wi’ naebody;", "I’ll take Cuckold frae nane,", " I’ll gie Cuckold to naebody.", "", "", "I hae a penny to spend,", " There—thanks to naebody!", "I hae naething to lend,", " I’ll borrow frae naebody.", "", "", "I am naebody’s lord,", " I’ll be slave to naebody;", "I hae a gude braid sword,", " I’ll tak dunts frae naebody.", "", "", "I’ll be merry and free,", " I’ll be sad for naebody;", "Naebody cares for me,", " I care for naebody." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "136. Prayer—O Thou Dread Power", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O THOU dread Power, who reign’st above,", " I know thou wilt me hear,", "When for this scene of peace and love,", " I make this prayer sincere.", "", "", "The hoary Sire—the mortal stroke,", " Long, long be pleas’d to spare;", "To bless this little filial flock,", " And show what good men are.", "", "", "She, who her lovely offspring eyes", " With tender hopes and fears,", "O bless her with a mother’s joys,", " But spare a mother’s tears!", "", "", "Their hope, their stay, their darling youth.", " In manhood’s dawning blush,", "Bless him, Thou God of love and truth,", " Up to a parent’s wish.", "", "", "The beauteous, seraph sister-band—", " With earnest tears I pray—", "Thou know’st the snares on ev’ry hand,", " Guide Thou their steps alway.", "", "", "When, soon or late, they reach that coast,", " O’er Life’s rough ocean driven,", "May they rejoice, no wand’rer lost,", " A family in Heaven!" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "518. Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 1", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHOM will you send to London town,", " To Parliament and a’ that?", "Or wha in a’ the country round", " The best deserves to fa’ that?", " For a’ that, and a’ that,", " Thro’ Galloway and a’ that,", " Where is the Laird or belted Knight", " The best deserves to fa’ that?", "", "", "Wha sees Kerroughtree’s open yett,", " (And wha is’t never saw that?)", "Wha ever wi’ Kerroughtree met,", " And has a doubt of a’ that?", " For a’ that, and a’ that,", " Here’s Heron yet for a’ that!", " The independent patriot,", " The honest man, and a’ that.", "", "", "Tho’ wit and worth, in either sex,", " Saint Mary’s Isle can shaw that,", "Wi’ Dukes and Lords let Selkirk mix,", " And weel does Selkirk fa’ that.", " For a’ that, and a’ that,", " Here’s Heron yet for a’ that!", " The independent commoner", " Shall be the man for a’ that.", "", "", "But why should we to Nobles jouk,", " And is’t against the law, that?", "For why, a Lord may be a gowk,", " Wi’ ribband, star and a’ that,", " For a’ that, and a’ that,", " Here’s Heron yet for a’ that!", " A Lord may be a lousy loun,", " Wi’ ribband, star and a’ that.", "", "", "A beardless boy comes o’er the hills,", " Wi’ uncle’s purse and a’ that;", "But we’ll hae ane frae mang oursels,", " A man we ken, and a’ that.", " For a’ that, and a’ that,", " Here’s Heron yet for a’ that!", " For we’re not to be bought and sold,", " Like naigs, and nowt, and a’ that.", "", "", "Then let us drink—The Stewartry,", " Kerroughtree’s laird, and a’ that,", "Our representative to be,", " For weel he’s worthy a’ that.", " For a’ that, and a’ that,", " Here’s Heron yet for a’ that!", "A House of Commons such as he,", " They wad be blest that saw that." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "59. Death and Dr. Hornbook", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "SOME books are lies frae end to end,", "And some great lies were never penn’d:", "Ev’n ministers they hae been kenn’d,", " In holy rapture,", "A rousing whid at times to vend,", " And nail’t wi’ Scripture.", "", "", "But this that I am gaun to tell,", "Which lately on a night befell,", "Is just as true’s the Deil’s in hell", " Or Dublin city:", "That e’er he nearer comes oursel’", " ’S a muckle pity.", "", "", "The clachan yill had made me canty,", "I was na fou, but just had plenty;", "I stacher’d whiles, but yet too tent aye", " To free the ditches;", "An’ hillocks, stanes, an’ bushes, kenn’d eye", " Frae ghaists an’ witches.", "", "", "The rising moon began to glowre", "The distant Cumnock hills out-owre:", "To count her horns, wi’ a my pow’r,", " I set mysel’;", "But whether she had three or four,", " I cou’d na tell.", "", "", "I was come round about the hill,", "An’ todlin down on Willie’s mill,", "Setting my staff wi’ a’ my skill,", " To keep me sicker;", "Tho’ leeward whiles, against my will,", " I took a bicker.", "", "", "I there wi’ Something did forgather,", "That pat me in an eerie swither;", "An’ awfu’ scythe, out-owre ae shouther,", " Clear-dangling, hang;", "A three-tae’d leister on the ither", " Lay, large an’ lang.", "", "", "Its stature seem’d lang Scotch ells twa,", "The queerest shape that e’er I saw,", "For fient a wame it had ava;", " And then its shanks,", "They were as thin, as sharp an’ sma’", " As cheeks o’ branks.", "", "", "“Guid-een,” quo’ I; “Friend! hae ye been mawin,", "When ither folk are busy sawin!” 1", "I seem’d to make a kind o’ stan’", " But naething spak;", "At length, says I, “Friend! whare ye gaun?", " Will ye go back?”", "", "", "It spak right howe,—“My name is Death,", "But be na fley’d.”—Quoth I, “Guid faith,", "Ye’re maybe come to stap my breath;", " But tent me, billie;", "I red ye weel, tak care o’ skaith", " See, there’s a gully!”", "", "", "“Gudeman,” quo’ he, “put up your whittle,", "I’m no designed to try its mettle;", "But if I did, I wad be kittle", " To be mislear’d;", "I wad na mind it, no that spittle", " Out-owre my beard.”", "", "", "“Weel, weel!” says I, “a bargain be’t;", "Come, gie’s your hand, an’ sae we’re gree’t;", "We’ll ease our shanks an tak a seat—", " Come, gie’s your news;", "This while ye hae been mony a gate,", " At mony a house.” 2", "", "", "“Ay, ay!” quo’ he, an’ shook his head,", "“It’s e’en a lang, lang time indeed", "Sin’ I began to nick the thread,", " An’ choke the breath:", "Folk maun do something for their bread,", " An’ sae maun Death.", "", "", "“Sax thousand years are near-hand fled", "Sin’ I was to the butching bred,", "An’ mony a scheme in vain’s been laid,", " To stap or scar me;", "Till ane Hornbook’s 3 ta’en up the trade,", " And faith! he’ll waur me.", "", "", "“Ye ken Hornbook i’ the clachan,", "Deil mak his king’s-hood in spleuchan!", "He’s grown sae weel acquaint wi’ Buchan 4", " And ither chaps,", "The weans haud out their fingers laughin,", " An’ pouk my hips.", "", "", "“See, here’s a scythe, an’ there’s dart,", "They hae pierc’d mony a gallant heart;", "But Doctor Hornbook, wi’ his art", " An’ cursed skill,", "Has made them baith no worth a f—t,", " D—n’d haet they’ll kill!", "", "", "“’Twas but yestreen, nae farther gane,", "I threw a noble throw at ane;", "Wi’ less, I’m sure, I’ve hundreds slain;", "But deil-ma-care,", "It just play’d dirl on the bane,", "But did nae mair.", "", "", "“Hornbook was by, wi’ ready art,", "An’ had sae fortify’d the part,", "That when I looked to my dart,", " It was sae blunt,", "Fient haet o’t wad hae pierc’d the heart", " Of a kail-runt.", "", "", "“I drew my scythe in sic a fury,", "I near-hand cowpit wi’ my hurry,", "But yet the bauld Apothecary", " Withstood the shock;", "I might as weel hae tried a quarry", " O’ hard whin rock.", "", "", "“Ev’n them he canna get attended,", "Altho’ their face he ne’er had kend it,", "Just —— in a kail-blade, an’ sent it,", " As soon’s he smells ’t,", "Baith their disease, and what will mend it,", " At once he tells ’t.", "", "", "“And then, a’ doctor’s saws an’ whittles,", "Of a’ dimensions, shapes, an’ mettles,", "A’ kind o’ boxes, mugs, an’ bottles,", " He’s sure to hae;", "Their Latin names as fast he rattles", " As A B C.", "", "", "“Calces o’ fossils, earths, and trees;", "True sal-marinum o’ the seas;", "The farina of beans an’ pease,", " He has’t in plenty;", "Aqua-fontis, what you please,", " He can content ye.", "", "", "“Forbye some new, uncommon weapons,", "Urinus spiritus of capons;", "Or mite-horn shavings, filings, scrapings,", " Distill’d per se;", "Sal-alkali o’ midge-tail clippings,", " And mony mae.”", "", "", "“Waes me for Johnie Ged’s-Hole 5 now,”", "Quoth I, “if that thae news be true!", "His braw calf-ward whare gowans grew,", " Sae white and bonie,", "Nae doubt they’ll rive it wi’ the plew;", " They’ll ruin Johnie!”", "", "", "The creature grain’d an eldritch laugh,", "And says “Ye needna yoke the pleugh,", "Kirkyards will soon be till’d eneugh,", " Tak ye nae fear:", "They’ll be trench’d wi’ mony a sheugh,", " In twa-three year.", "", "", "“Whare I kill’d ane, a fair strae-death,", "By loss o’ blood or want of breath", "This night I’m free to tak my aith,", " That Hornbook’s skill", "Has clad a score i’ their last claith,", " By drap an’ pill.", "", "", "“An honest wabster to his trade,", "Whase wife’s twa nieves were scarce weel-bred", "Gat tippence-worth to mend her head,", " When it was sair;", "The wife slade cannie to her bed,", " But ne’er spak mair.", "", "", "“A country laird had ta’en the batts,", "Or some curmurring in his guts,", "His only son for Hornbook sets,", " An’ pays him well:", "The lad, for twa guid gimmer-pets,", " Was laird himsel’.", "", "", "“A bonie lass—ye kend her name—", "Some ill-brewn drink had hov’d her wame;", "She trusts hersel’, to hide the shame,", " In Hornbook’s care;", "Horn sent her aff to her lang hame,", " To hide it there.", "", "", "“That’s just a swatch o’ Hornbook’s way;", "Thus goes he on from day to day,", "Thus does he poison, kill, an’ slay,", " An’s weel paid for’t;", "Yet stops me o’ my lawfu’ prey,", " Wi’ his d—n’d dirt:", "", "", "“But, hark! I’ll tell you of a plot,", "Tho’ dinna ye be speakin o’t;", "I’ll nail the self-conceited sot,", " As dead’s a herrin;", "Neist time we meet, I’ll wad a groat,", " He gets his fairin!”", "", "", "But just as he began to tell,", "The auld kirk-hammer strak the bell", "Some wee short hour ayont the twal’,", " Which rais’d us baith:", "I took the way that pleas’d mysel’,", " And sae did Death.", "", "", " Note 1. This recontre happened in seed-time, 1785.—R. B. [back]", "Note 2. An epidemical fever was then raging in that country.—R. B. [back]", "Note 3. This gentleman, Dr. Hornbook, is professionally a brother of the sovereign Order of the Ferula; but, by intuition and inspiration, is at once an apothecary, surgeon, and physician.—R. B. [back]", "Note 4. Burchan’s Domestic Medicine.—R. B. [back]", "Note 5. The grave-digger.—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "191" }, { "title": "117. Song—Farewell to Eliza", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FROM thee, Eliza, I must go,", " And from my native shore;", "The cruel fates between us throw", " A boundless ocean’s roar:", "But boundless oceans, roaring wide,", " Between my love and me,", "They never, never can divide", " My heart and soul from thee.", "", "", "Farewell, farewell, Eliza dear,", " The maid that I adore!", "A boding voice is in mine ear,", " We part to meet no more!", "But the latest throb that leaves my heart,", " While Death stands victor by,—", "That throb, Eliza, is thy part,", " And thine that latest sigh!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "167. Epitaph for Mr. William Michie, Schoolmaster", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "HERE lie Willie Michie’s banes;", " O Satan, when ye tak him,", "Gie him the schulin o’ your weans,", " For clever deils he’ll mak them!" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "383. Song—My Wife’s a winsome wee thing", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "Chorus.—She is a winsome wee thing,", "She is a handsome wee thing,", "She is a lo’esome wee thing,", " This dear wee wife o’ mine.", "", "", "I NEVER saw a fairer,", "I never lo’ed a dearer,", "And neist my heart I’ll wear her,", " For fear my jewel tine,", " She is a winsome, &c.", "", "", "The warld’s wrack we share o’t;", "The warstle and the care o’t;", "Wi’ her I’ll blythely bear it,", " And think my lot divine.", " She is a winsome, &c." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "279. Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "THE DEVIL got notice that Grose was a-dying", "So whip! at the summons, old Satan came flying;", "But when he approached where poor Francis lay moaning,", "And saw each bed-post with its burthen a-groaning,", "Astonish’d, confounded, cries Satan—“By G—,", "I’ll want him, ere I take such a damnable load!”" ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "324. Song—The Charms of Lovely Davies", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "O HOW shall I, unskilfu’, try", " The poet’s occupation?", "The tunefu’ powers, in happy hours,", " That whisper inspiration;", "Even they maun dare an effort mair", " Than aught they ever gave us,", "Ere they rehearse, in equal verse,", " The charms o’ lovely Davies.", "", "", "Each eye it cheers when she appears,", " Like Phoebus in the morning,", "When past the shower, and every flower", " The garden is adorning:", "As the wretch looks o’er Siberia’s shore,", " When winter-bound the wave is;", "Sae droops our heart, when we maun part", " Frae charming, lovely Davies.", "", "", "Her smile’s a gift frae ’boon the lift,", " That maks us mair than princes;", "A sceptred hand, a king’s command,", " Is in her darting glances;", "The man in arms ’gainst female charms", " Even he her willing slave is,", "He hugs his chain, and owns the reign", " Of conquering, lovely Davies.", "", "", "My Muse, to dream of such a theme,", " Her feeble powers surrender:", "The eagle’s gaze alone surveys", " The sun’s meridian splendour.", "I wad in vain essay the strain,", " The deed too daring brave is;", "I’ll drap the lyre, and mute admire", " The charms o’ lovely Davies." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "87. The Twa Dogs", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "’TWAS 1 in that place o’ Scotland’s isle,", "That bears the name o’ auld King Coil,", "Upon a bonie day in June,", "When wearin’ thro’ the afternoon,", "Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,", "Forgather’d ance upon a time.", " The first I’ll name, they ca’d him Caesar,", "Was keepit for His Honor’s pleasure:", "His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,", "Shew’d he was nane o’ Scotland’s dogs;", "But whalpit some place far abroad,", "Whare sailors gang to fish for cod.", " His locked, letter’d, braw brass collar", "Shew’d him the gentleman an’ scholar;", "But though he was o’ high degree,", "The fient a pride, nae pride had he;", "But wad hae spent an hour caressin,", "Ev’n wi’ al tinkler-gipsy’s messin:", "At kirk or market, mill or smiddie,", "Nae tawted tyke, tho’ e’er sae duddie,", "But he wad stan’t, as glad to see him,", "An’ stroan’t on stanes an’ hillocks wi’ him.", " The tither was a ploughman’s collie—", "A rhyming, ranting, raving billie,", "Wha for his friend an’ comrade had him,", "And in freak had Luath ca’d him,", "After some dog in Highland Sang, 2", "Was made lang syne,—Lord knows how lang.", " He was a gash an’ faithfu’ tyke,", "As ever lap a sheugh or dyke.", "His honest, sonsie, baws’nt face", "Aye gat him friends in ilka place;", "His breast was white, his touzie back", "Weel clad wi’ coat o’ glossy black;", "His gawsie tail, wi’ upward curl,", "Hung owre his hurdie’s wi’ a swirl.", " Nae doubt but they were fain o’ ither,", "And unco pack an’ thick thegither;", "Wi’ social nose whiles snuff’d an’ snowkit;", "Whiles mice an’ moudieworts they howkit;", "Whiles scour’d awa’ in lang excursion,", "An’ worry’d ither in diversion;", "Until wi’ daffin’ weary grown", "Upon a knowe they set them down.", "An’ there began a lang digression.", "About the “lords o’ the creation.”", "", "", "CÆSAR I’ve aften wonder’d, honest Luath,", "What sort o’ life poor dogs like you have;", "An’ when the gentry’s life I saw,", "What way poor bodies liv’d ava.", " Our laird gets in his racked rents,", "His coals, his kane, an’ a’ his stents:", "He rises when he likes himsel’;", "His flunkies answer at the bell;", "He ca’s his coach; he ca’s his horse;", "He draws a bonie silken purse,", "As lang’s my tail, where, thro’ the steeks,", "The yellow letter’d Geordie keeks.", " Frae morn to e’en, it’s nought but toiling", "At baking, roasting, frying, boiling;", "An’ tho’ the gentry first are stechin,", "Yet ev’n the ha’ folk fill their pechan", "Wi’ sauce, ragouts, an’ sic like trashtrie,", "That’s little short o’ downright wastrie.", "Our whipper-in, wee, blasted wonner,", "Poor, worthless elf, it eats a dinner,", "Better than ony tenant-man", "His Honour has in a’ the lan’:", "An’ what poor cot-folk pit their painch in,", "I own it’s past my comprehension.", "", "", "LUATH Trowth, C&æsar, whiles they’re fash’t eneugh:", "A cottar howkin in a sheugh,", "Wi’ dirty stanes biggin a dyke,", "Baring a quarry, an’ sic like;", "Himsel’, a wife, he thus sustains,", "A smytrie o’ wee duddie weans,", "An’ nought but his han’-daurk, to keep", "Them right an’ tight in thack an’ rape.", " An’ when they meet wi’ sair disasters,", "Like loss o’ health or want o’ masters,", "Ye maist wad think, a wee touch langer,", "An’ they maun starve o’ cauld an’ hunger:", "But how it comes, I never kent yet,", "They’re maistly wonderfu’ contented;", "An’ buirdly chiels, an’ clever hizzies,", "Are bred in sic a way as this is.", "", "", "CÆSAR But then to see how ye’re negleckit,", "How huff’d, an’ cuff’d, an’ disrespeckit!", "Lord man, our gentry care as little", "For delvers, ditchers, an’ sic cattle;", "They gang as saucy by poor folk,", "As I wad by a stinkin brock.", " I’ve notic’d, on our laird’s court-day,—", "An’ mony a time my heart’s been wae,—", "Poor tenant bodies, scant o’cash,", "How they maun thole a factor’s snash;", "He’ll stamp an’ threaten, curse an’ swear", "He’ll apprehend them, poind their gear;", "While they maun stan’, wi’ aspect humble,", "An’ hear it a’, an’ fear an’ tremble!", " I see how folk live that hae riches;", "But surely poor-folk maun be wretches!", "", "", "LUATH They’re no sae wretched’s ane wad think.", "Tho’ constantly on poortith’s brink,", "They’re sae accustom’d wi’ the sight,", "The view o’t gives them little fright.", " Then chance and fortune are sae guided,", "They’re aye in less or mair provided:", "An’ tho’ fatigued wi’ close employment,", "A blink o’ rest’s a sweet enjoyment.", " The dearest comfort o’ their lives,", "Their grushie weans an’ faithfu’ wives;", "The prattling things are just their pride,", "That sweetens a’ their fire-side.", " An’ whiles twalpennie worth o’ nappy", "Can mak the bodies unco happy:", "They lay aside their private cares,", "To mind the Kirk and State affairs;", "They’ll talk o’ patronage an’ priests,", "Wi’ kindling fury i’ their breasts,", "Or tell what new taxation’s comin,", "An’ ferlie at the folk in Lon’on.", " As bleak-fac’d Hallowmass returns,", "They get the jovial, rantin kirns,", "When rural life, of ev’ry station,", "Unite in common recreation;", "Love blinks, Wit slaps, an’ social Mirth", "Forgets there’s Care upo’ the earth.", " That merry day the year begins,", "They bar the door on frosty win’s;", "The nappy reeks wi’ mantling ream,", "An’ sheds a heart-inspiring steam;", "The luntin pipe, an’ sneeshin mill,", "Are handed round wi’ right guid will;", "The cantie auld folks crackin crouse,", "The young anes rantin thro’ the house—", "My heart has been sae fain to see them,", "That I for joy hae barkit wi’ them.", " Still it’s owre true that ye hae said,", "Sic game is now owre aften play’d;", "There’s mony a creditable stock", "O’ decent, honest, fawsont folk,", "Are riven out baith root an’ branch,", "Some rascal’s pridefu’ greed to quench,", "Wha thinks to knit himsel the faster", "In favour wi’ some gentle master,", "Wha, aiblins, thrang a parliamentin,", "For Britain’s guid his saul indentin—", "", "", "CÆSAR Haith, lad, ye little ken about it:", "For Britain’s guid! guid faith! I doubt it.", "Say rather, gaun as Premiers lead him:", "An’ saying ay or no’s they bid him:", "At operas an’ plays parading,", "Mortgaging, gambling, masquerading:", "Or maybe, in a frolic daft,", "To Hague or Calais takes a waft,", "To mak a tour an’ tak a whirl,", "To learn bon ton, an’ see the worl’.", " There, at Vienna, or Versailles,", "He rives his father’s auld entails;", "Or by Madrid he takes the rout,", "To thrum guitars an’ fecht wi’ nowt;", "Or down Italian vista startles,", " Wh-re-hunting amang groves o’ myrtles:", "Then bowses drumlie German-water,", "To mak himsel look fair an’ fatter,", "An’ clear the consequential sorrows,", "Love-gifts of Carnival signoras.", " For Britain’s guid! for her destruction!", "Wi’ dissipation, feud, an’ faction.", "", "", "LUATH Hech, man! dear sirs! is that the gate", "They waste sae mony a braw estate!", "Are we sae foughten an’ harass’d", "For gear to gang that gate at last?", " O would they stay aback frae courts,", "An’ please themsels wi’ country sports,", "It wad for ev’ry ane be better,", "The laird, the tenant, an’ the cotter!", "For thae frank, rantin, ramblin billies,", "Feint haet o’ them’s ill-hearted fellows;", "Except for breakin o’ their timmer,", "Or speakin lightly o’ their limmer,", "Or shootin of a hare or moor-cock,", "The ne’er-a-bit they’re ill to poor folk,", " But will ye tell me, Master C&æsar,", "Sure great folk’s life’s a life o’ pleasure?", "Nae cauld nor hunger e’er can steer them,", "The very thought o’t need na fear them.", "", "", "CÆSAR L—d, man, were ye but whiles whare I am,", "The gentles, ye wad ne’er envy them!", " It’s true, they need na starve or sweat,", "Thro’ winter’s cauld, or simmer’s heat:", "They’ve nae sair wark to craze their banes,", "An’ fill auld age wi’ grips an’ granes:", "But human bodies are sic fools,", "For a’ their colleges an’ schools,", "That when nae real ills perplex them,", "They mak enow themsel’s to vex them;", "An’ aye the less they hae to sturt them,", "In like proportion, less will hurt them.", " A country fellow at the pleugh,", "His acre’s till’d, he’s right eneugh;", "A country girl at her wheel,", "Her dizzen’s dune, she’s unco weel;", "But gentlemen, an’ ladies warst,", "Wi’ ev’n-down want o’ wark are curst.", "They loiter, lounging, lank an’ lazy;", "Tho’ deil-haet ails them, yet uneasy;", "Their days insipid, dull, an’ tasteless;", "Their nights unquiet, lang, an’ restless.", " An’ev’n their sports, their balls an’ races,", "Their galloping through public places,", "There’s sic parade, sic pomp, an’ art,", "The joy can scarcely reach the heart.", " The men cast out in party-matches,", "Then sowther a’ in deep debauches.", "Ae night they’re mad wi’ drink an’ whoring,", "Niest day their life is past enduring.", " The ladies arm-in-arm in clusters,", "As great an’ gracious a’ as sisters;", "But hear their absent thoughts o’ ither,", "They’re a’ run-deils an’ jads thegither.", "Whiles, owre the wee bit cup an’ platie,", "They sip the scandal-potion pretty;", "Or lee-lang nights, wi’ crabbit leuks", "Pore owre the devil’s pictur’d beuks;", "Stake on a chance a farmer’s stackyard,", "An’ cheat like ony unhanged blackguard.", " There’s some exceptions, man an’ woman;", "But this is gentry’s life in common.", " By this, the sun was out of sight,", "An’ darker gloamin brought the night;", "The bum-clock humm’d wi’ lazy drone;", "The kye stood rowtin i’ the loan;", "When up they gat an’ shook their lugs,", "Rejoic’d they werena men but dogs;", "An’ each took aff his several way,", "Resolv’d to meet some ither day.", "", "", " Note 1. Luath was Burns’ own dog. [back]", "Note 2. Cuchullin’s dog in Ossian’s “Fingal.”—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "240" }, { "title": "386. The Rights of Women—Spoken by Miss Fontenelle", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WHILE Europe’s eye is fix’d on mighty things,", "The fate of Empires and the fall of Kings;", "While quacks of State must each produce his plan,", "And even children lisp the Rights of Man;", "Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,", "The Rights of Woman merit some attention.", "", "", "First, in the Sexes’ intermix’d connection,", "One sacred Right of Woman is, protection.—", "The tender flower that lifts its head, elate,", "Helpless, must fall before the blasts of Fate,", "Sunk on the earth, defac’d its lovely form,", "Unless your shelter ward th’ impending storm.", "", "", "Our second Right—but needless here is caution,", "To keep that right inviolate’s the fashion;", "Each man of sense has it so full before him,", "He’d die before he’d wrong it—’tis decorum.—", "There was, indeed, in far less polish’d days,", "A time, when rough rude man had naughty ways,", "Would swagger, swear, get drunk, kick up a riot,", "Nay even thus invade a Lady’s quiet.", "", "", "Now, thank our stars! those Gothic times are fled;", "Now, well-bred men—and you are all well-bred—", "Most justly think (and we are much the gainers)", "Such conduct neither spirit, wit, nor manners.", "", "", "For Right the third, our last, our best, our dearest,", "That right to fluttering female hearts the nearest;", "Which even the Rights of Kings, in low prostration,", "Most humbly own—’tis dear, dear admiration!", "In that blest sphere alone we live and move;", "There taste that life of life—immortal love.", "Smiles, glances, sighs, tears, fits, flirtations, airs;", "’Gainst such an host what flinty savage dares,", "When awful Beauty joins with all her charms—", "Who is so rash as rise in rebel arms?", "", "", "But truce with kings, and truce with constitutions,", "With bloody armaments and revolutions;", "Let Majesty your first attention summon,", "Ah! ça ira! THE MAJESTY OF WOMAN!" ], "linecount": "38" }, { "title": "115. The Farewell to the Brethren of St. James’s Lodge, Tarbolton", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "ADIEU! a heart-warm fond adieu;", " Dear brothers of the mystic tie!", "Ye favourèd, enlighten’d few,", " Companions of my social joy;", "Tho’ I to foreign lands must hie,", " Pursuing Fortune’s slidd’ry ba’;", "With melting heart, and brimful eye,", " I’ll mind you still, tho’ far awa.", "", "", "Oft have I met your social band,", " And spent the cheerful, festive night;", "Oft, honour’d with supreme command,", " Presided o’er the sons of light:", "And by that hieroglyphic bright,", " Which none but Craftsmen ever saw", "Strong Mem’ry on my heart shall write", " Those happy scenes, when far awa.", "", "", "May Freedom, Harmony, and Love,", " Unite you in the grand Design,", "Beneath th’ Omniscient Eye above,", " The glorious Architect Divine,", "That you may keep th’ unerring line,", " Still rising by the plummet’s law,", "Till Order bright completely shine,", " Shall be my pray’r when far awa.", "", "", "And you, farewell! whose merits claim", " Justly that highest badge to wear:", "Heav’n bless your honour’d noble name,", " To Masonry and Scotia dear!", "A last request permit me here,—", " When yearly ye assemble a’,", "One round, I ask it with a tear,", " To him, the Bard that’s far awa." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "201. Birthday Ode for 31st December, 1787", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "AFAR 1 the illustrious Exile roams,", " Whom kingdoms on this day should hail;", " An inmate in the casual shed,", " On transient pity’s bounty fed,", " Haunted by busy memory’s bitter tale!", " Beasts of the forest have their savage homes,", " But He, who should imperial purple wear,", "Owns not the lap of earth where rests his royal head!", " His wretched refuge, dark despair,", " While ravening wrongs and woes pursue,", " And distant far the faithful few", " Who would his sorrows share.", "", "", " False flatterer, Hope, away!", " Nor think to lure us as in days of yore:", " We solemnize this sorrowing natal day,", " To prove our loyal truth-we can no more,", " And owning Heaven’s mysterious sway,", " Submissive, low adore.", "", "", " Ye honored, mighty Dead,", " Who nobly perished in the glorious cause,", " Your King, your Country, and her laws,", " From great DUNDEE, who smiling Victory led,", " And fell a Martyr in her arms,", " (What breast of northern ice but warms!)", " To bold BALMERINO’S undying name,", " Whose soul of fire, lighted at Heaven’s high flame,", "Deserves the proudest wreath departed heroes claim:", " Nor unrevenged your fate shall lie,", " It only lags, the fatal hour,", " Your blood shall, with incessant cry,", " Awake at last, th’ unsparing Power;", " As from the cliff, with thundering course,", " The snowy ruin smokes along", " With doubling speed and gathering force,", "Till deep it, crushing, whelms the cottage in the vale;", " So Vengeance’ arm, ensanguin’d, strong,", " Shall with resistless might assail,", " Usurping Brunswick’s pride shall lay,", "And STEWART’S wrongs and yours, with tenfold weight repay.", "", "", " PERDITION, baleful child of night!", " Rise and revenge the injured right", " Of STEWART’S royal race:", " Lead on the unmuzzled hounds of hell,", " Till all the frighted echoes tell", " The blood-notes of the chase!", " Full on the quarry point their view,", " Full on the base usurping crew,", "The tools of faction, and the nation’s curse!", " Hark how the cry grows on the wind;", " They leave the lagging gale behind,", " Their savage fury, pitiless, they pour;", " With murdering eyes already they devour;", " See Brunswick spent, a wretched prey,", " His life one poor despairing day,", "Where each avenging hour still ushers in a worse!", " Such havock, howling all abroad,", " Their utter ruin bring,", " The base apostates to their God,", " Or rebels to their King.", "", "", " Note 1. The last birthday of Prince Charles Edward. [back]" ], "linecount": "60" }, { "title": "244. The Henpecked Husband", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "Chorus.—Robin shure in hairst,", " I shure wi’ him.", "Fient a heuk had I,", " Yet I stack by him.", "", "", "I GAED up to Dunse,", " To warp a wab o’ plaiden,", "At his daddie’s yett,", " Wha met me but Robin:", " Robin shure, &c.", "", "", "Was na Robin bauld,", " Tho’ I was a cotter,", "Play’d me sic a trick,", " An’ me the El’er’s dochter!", " Robin shure, &c.", "", "", "Robin promis’d me", " A’ my winter vittle;", "Fient haet he had but three", " Guse-feathers and a whittle!", " Robin shure, &c." ], "linecount": "19" }, { "title": "520. Ballad on Mr. Heron’s Election—No. 3", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "’TWAS in the seventeen hunder year", " O’ grace, and ninety-five,", "That year I was the wae’est man", " Of ony man alive.", "", "", "In March the three-an’-twentieth morn,", " The sun raise clear an’ bright;", "But oh! I was a waefu’ man,", " Ere to-fa’ o’ the night.", "", "", "Yerl Galloway lang did rule this land,", " Wi’ equal right and fame,", "And thereto was his kinsmen join’d,", " The Murray’s noble name.", "", "", "Yerl Galloway’s man o’ men was I,", " And chief o’ Broughton’s host;", "So twa blind beggars, on a string,", " The faithfu’ tyke will trust.", "", "", "But now Yerl Galloway’s sceptre’s broke,", " And Broughton’s wi’ the slain,", "And I my ancient craft may try,", " Sin’ honesty is gane.", "", "", "’Twas by the banks o’ bonie Dee,", " Beside Kirkcudbright’s towers,", "The Stewart and the Murray there,", " Did muster a’ their powers.", "", "", "Then Murray on the auld grey yaud,", " Wi’ winged spurs did ride,", "That auld grey yaud a’ Nidsdale rade,", " He staw upon Nidside.", "", "", "And there had na been the Yerl himsel,", " O there had been nae play;", "But Garlies was to London gane,", " And sae the kye might stray.", "", "", "And there was Balmaghie, I ween,", " In front rank he wad shine;", "But Balmaghie had better been", " Drinkin’ Madeira wine.", "", "", "And frae Glenkens cam to our aid", " A chief o’ doughty deed;", "In case that worth should wanted be,", " O’ Kenmure we had need.", "", "", "And by our banners march’d Muirhead,", " And Buittle was na slack;", "Whase haly priesthood nane could stain,", " For wha could dye the black?", "", "", "And there was grave squire Cardoness,", " Look’d on till a’ was done;", "Sae in the tower o’ Cardoness", " A howlet sits at noon.", "", "", "And there led I the Bushby clan,", " My gamesome billie, Will,", "And my son Maitland, wise as brave,", " My footsteps follow’d still.", "", "", "The Douglas and the Heron’s name,", " We set nought to their score;", "The Douglas and the Heron’s name,", " Had felt our weight before.", "", "", "But Douglasses o’ weight had we,", " The pair o’ lusty lairds,", "For building cot-houses sae fam’d,", " And christenin’ kail-yards.", "", "", "And there Redcastle drew his sword,", " That ne’er was stain’d wi’ gore,", "Save on a wand’rer lame and blind,", " To drive him frae his door.", "", "", "And last cam creepin’ Collieston,", " Was mair in fear than wrath;", "Ae knave was constant in his mind—", " To keep that knave frae scaith." ], "linecount": "68" }, { "title": "83. The Cotter’s Saturday Night", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "MY lov’d, my honour’d, much respected friend!", " No mercenary bard his homage pays;", "With honest pride, I scorn each selfish end,", " My dearest meed, a friend’s esteem and praise:", " To you I sing, in simple Scottish lays,", "The lowly train in life’s sequester’d scene,", " The native feelings strong, the guileless ways,", "What Aiken in a cottage would have been;", "Ah! tho’ his worth unknown, far happier there I ween!", "", "", "November chill blaws loud wi’ angry sugh;", " The short’ning winter-day is near a close;", "The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh;", " The black’ning trains o’ craws to their repose:", " The toil-worn Cotter frae his labour goes,—", "This night his weekly moil is at an end,", " Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes,", "Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend,", "And weary, o’er the moor, his course does hameward bend.", "", "", "At length his lonely cot appears in view,", " Beneath the shelter of an aged tree;", "Th’ expectant wee-things, toddlin, stacher through", " To meet their dead, wi’ flichterin noise and glee.", " His wee bit ingle, blinkin bonilie,", "His clean hearth-stane, his thrifty wifie’s smile,", " The lisping infant, prattling on his knee,", "Does a’ his weary kiaugh and care beguile,", "And makes him quite forget his labour and his toil.", "", "", "Belyve, the elder bairns come drapping in,", " At service out, amang the farmers roun’;", "Some ca’ the pleugh, some herd, some tentie rin", " A cannie errand to a neibor town:", " Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman-grown,", "In youthfu’ bloom-love sparkling in her e’e—", " Comes hame, perhaps to shew a braw new gown,", "Or deposite her sair-won penny-fee,", "To help her parents dear, if they in hardship be.", "", "", "With joy unfeign’d, brothers and sisters meet,", " And each for other’s weelfare kindly speirs:", "The social hours, swift-wing’d, unnotic’d fleet:", " Each tells the uncos that he sees or hears.", " The parents, partial, eye their hopeful years;", "Anticipation forward points the view;", " The mother, wi’ her needle and her shears,", "Gars auld claes look amaist as weel’s the new;", "The father mixes a’ wi’ admonition due.", "", "", "Their master’s and their mistress’ command,", " The younkers a’ are warned to obey;", "And mind their labours wi’ an eydent hand,", " And ne’er, tho’ out o’ sight, to jauk or play;", " “And O! be sure to fear the Lord alway,", "And mind your duty, duly, morn and night;", " Lest in temptation’s path ye gang astray,", "Implore His counsel and assisting might:", "They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright.”", "", "", "But hark! a rap comes gently to the door;", " Jenny, wha kens the meaning o’ the same,", "Tells how a neibor lad came o’er the moor,", " To do some errands, and convoy her hame.", " The wily mother sees the conscious flame", "Sparkle in Jenny’s e’e, and flush her cheek;", " With heart-struck anxious care, enquires his name,", "While Jenny hafflins is afraid to speak;", "Weel-pleased the mother hears, it’s nae wild, worthless rake.", "", "", "Wi’ kindly welcome, Jenny brings him ben;", " A strappin youth, he takes the mother’s eye;", "Blythe Jenny sees the visit’s no ill ta’en;", " The father cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye.", " The youngster’s artless heart o’erflows wi’ joy,", "But blate an’ laithfu’, scarce can weel behave;", " The mother, wi’ a woman’s wiles, can spy", "What makes the youth sae bashfu’ and sae grave,", "Weel-pleas’d to think her bairn’s respected like the lave.", "", "", "O happy love! where love like this is found:", " O heart-felt raptures! bliss beyond compare!", "I’ve paced much this weary, mortal round,", " And sage experience bids me this declare,—", " “If Heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare—", "One cordial in this melancholy vale,", " ’Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair", "In other’sarms, breathe out the tender tale,", "Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale.”", "", "", "Is there, in human form, that bears a heart,", " A wretch! a villain! lost to love and truth!", "That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art,", " Betray sweet Jenny’s unsuspecting youth?", " Curse on his perjur’d arts! dissembling smooth!", "Are honour, virtue, conscience, all exil’d?", " Is there no pity, no relenting ruth,", "Points to the parents fondling o’er their child?", "Then paints the ruin’d maid, and their distraction wild?", "", "", "But now the supper crowns their simple board,", " The halesome parritch, chief of Scotia’s food;", "The sowp their only hawkie does afford,", " That, ’yont the hallan snugly chows her cood:", " The dame brings forth, in complimental mood,", "To grace the lad, her weel-hain’d kebbuck, fell;", " And aft he’s prest, and aft he ca’s it guid:", "The frugal wifie, garrulous, will tell", "How t’was a towmond auld, sin’ lint was i’ the bell.", "", "", "The cheerfu’ supper done, wi’ serious face,", " They, round the ingle, form a circle wide;", "The sire turns o’er, with patriarchal grace,", " The big ha’bible, ance his father’s pride:", " His bonnet rev’rently is laid aside,", "His lyart haffets wearing thin and bare;", " Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,", "He wales a portion with judicious care;", "And “Let us worship God!” he says with solemn air.", "", "", "They chant their artless notes in simple guise,", " They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim;", "Perhaps Dundee’s wild-warbling measures rise;", " Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name;", " Or noble Elgin beets the heaven-ward flame;", "The sweetest far of Scotia’s holy lays:", " Compar’d with these, Italian trills are tame;", "The tickl’d ears no heart-felt raptures raise;", "Nae unison hae they with our Creator’s praise.", "", "", "The priest-like father reads the sacred page,", " How Abram was the friend of God on high;", "Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage", " With Amalek’s ungracious progeny;", " Or how the royal bard did groaning lie", "Beneath the stroke of Heaven’s avenging ire;", " Or Job’s pathetic plaint, and wailing cry;", "Or rapt Isaiah’s wild, seraphic fire;", "Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre.", "", "", "Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme,", " How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed;", "How He, who bore in Heaven the second name,", " Had not on earth whereon to lay His head:", " How His first followers and servants sped;", "The precepts sage they wrote to many a land:", " How he, who lone in Patmos banished,", "Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand,", "And heard great Bab’lon’s doom pronounc’d by Heaven’s command.", "", "", "Then, kneeling down to Heaven’s Eternal King,", " The saint, the father, and the husband prays:", "Hope “springs exulting on triumphant wing,” 1", " That thus they all shall meet in future days,", " There, ever bask in uncreated rays,", "No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear,", " Together hymning their Creator’s praise,", "In such society, yet still more dear;", "While circling Time moves round in an eternal sphere", "", "", "Compar’d with this, how poor Religion’s pride,", " In all the pomp of method, and of art;", "When men display to congregations wide", " Devotion’s ev’ry grace, except the heart!", " The Power, incens’d, the pageant will desert,", "The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole;", " But haply, in some cottage far apart,", "May hear, well-pleas’d, the language of the soul;", "And in His Book of Life the inmates poor enroll.", "", "", "Then homeward all take off their sev’ral way;", " The youngling cottagers retire to rest:", "The parent-pair their secret homage pay,", " And proffer up to Heaven the warm request,", " That he who stills the raven’s clam’rous nest,", "And decks the lily fair in flow’ry pride,", " Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best,", "For them and for their little ones provide;", "But chiefly, in their hearts with grace divine preside.", "", "", "From scenes like these, old Scotia’s grandeur springs,", " That makes her lov’d at home, rever’d abroad:", "Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,", " “An honest man’s the noblest work of God;”", " And certes, in fair virtue’s heavenly road,", "The cottage leaves the palace far behind;", " What is a lordling’s pomp? a cumbrous load,", "Disguising oft the wretch of human kind,", "Studied in arts of hell, in wickedness refin’d!", "", "", "O Scotia! my dear, my native soil!", " For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent,", "Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil", " Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet content!", " And O! may Heaven their simple lives prevent", "From luxury’s contagion, weak and vile!", " Then howe’er crowns and coronets be rent,", "A virtuous populace may rise the while,", "And stand a wall of fire around their much-lov’d isle.", "", "", "O Thou! who pour’d the patriotic tide,", " That stream’d thro’ Wallace’s undaunted heart,", "Who dar’d to nobly stem tyrannic pride,", " Or nobly die, the second glorious part:", " (The patriot’s God peculiarly thou art,", "His friend, inspirer, guardian, and reward!)", " O never, never Scotia’s realm desert;", "But still the patriot, and the patriot-bard", "In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard!", "", "", " Note 1. Pope’s “Windsor Forest.”—R. B. [back]" ], "linecount": "190" }, { "title": "370. Song—Sic a Wife as Willie had", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "WILLIE WASTLE dwalt on Tweed,", " The spot they ca’d it Linkumdoddie;", "Willie was a wabster gude,", " Could stown a clue wi’ ony body:", "He had a wife was dour and din,", " O Tinkler Maidgie was her mither;", "Sic a wife as Willie had,", " I wad na gie a button for her!", "", "", "She has an e’e, she has but ane,", " The cat has twa the very colour;", "Five rusty teeth, forbye a stump,", " A clapper tongue wad deave a miller:", "A whiskin beard about her mou’,", " Her nose and chin they threaten ither;", "Sic a wife as Willie had,", " I wadna gie a button for her!", "", "", "She’s bow-hough’d, she’s hein-shin’d,", " Ae limpin leg a hand-breed shorter;", "She’s twisted right, she’s twisted left,", " To balance fair in ilka quarter:", "She has a lump upon her breast,", " The twin o’ that upon her shouther;", "Sic a wife as Willie had,", " I wadna gie a button for her!", "", "", "Auld baudrons by the ingle sits,", " An’ wi’ her loof her face a-washin;", "But Willie’s wife is nae sae trig,", " She dights her grunzie wi’ a hushion;", "Her walie nieves like midden-creels,", " Her face wad fyle the Logan Water;", "Sic a wife as Willie had,", " I wadna gie a button for her!" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "309. Verses on Captain Grose", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "KEN ye aught o’ Captain Grose?—Igo, and ago,", "If he’s amang his friends or foes?—Iram, coram, dago.", "", "", "Is he to Abra’m’s bosom gane?—Igo, and ago,", "Or haudin Sarah by the wame?—Iram, coram dago.", "", "", "Is he south or is he north?—Igo, and ago,", "Or drowned in the river Forth?—Iram, coram dago.", "", "", "Is he slain by Hielan’ bodies?—Igo, and ago,", "And eaten like a wether haggis?—Iram, coram, dago.", "", "", "Where’er he be, the Lord be near him!—Igo, and ago,", "As for the deil, he daur na steer him.—Iram, coram, dago.", "", "", "But please transmit th’ enclosed letter,—Igo, and ago,", "Which will oblige your humble debtor.—Iram, coram, dago.", "", "", "So may ye hae auld stanes in store,—Igo, and ago,", "The very stanes that Adam bore.—Iram, coram, dago,", "", "", "So may ye get in glad possession,—Igo, and ago,", "The coins o’ Satan’s coronation!—Iram coram dago." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "209. Song—M’Pherson’s Farewell", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FAREWELL, ye dungeons dark and strong,", " The wretch’s destinie!", "M’Pherson’s time will not be long", " On yonder gallows-tree.", "", "", "Chorus.—Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,", " Sae dauntingly gaed he;", "He play’d a spring, and danc’d it round,", " Below the gallows-tree.", "", "", "O, what is death but parting breath?", " On many a bloody plain", "I’ve dared his face, and in this place", " I scorn him yet again!", " Sae rantingly, &c.", "", "", "Untie these bands from off my hands,", " And bring me to my sword;", "And there’s no a man in all Scotland", " But I’ll brave him at a word.", " Sae rantingly, &c.", "", "", "I’ve liv’d a life of sturt and strife;", " I die by treacherie:", "It burns my heart I must depart,", " And not avengèd be.", " Sae rantingly, &c.", "", "", "Now farewell light, thou sunshine bright,", " And all beneath the sky!", "May coward shame distain his name,", " The wretch that dares not die!", " Sae rantingly, &c." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "130. Nature’s Law: A Poem", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "LET other heroes boast their scars,", " The marks of sturt and strife:", "And other poets sing of wars,", " The plagues of human life:", "Shame fa’ the fun, wi’ sword and gun", " To slap mankind like lumber!", "I sing his name, and nobler fame,", " Wha multiplies our number.", "", "", "Great Nature spoke, with air benign,", " “Go on, ye human race;", "This lower world I you resign;", " Be fruitful and increase.", "The liquid fire of strong desire", " I’ve pour’d it in each bosom;", "Here, on this had, does Mankind stand,", " And there is Beauty’s blossom.”", "", "", "The Hero of these artless strains,", " A lowly bard was he,", "Who sung his rhymes in Coila’s plains,", " With meikle mirth an’glee;", "Kind Nature’s care had given his share", " Large, of the flaming current;", "And, all devout, he never sought", " To stem the sacred torrent.", "", "", "He felt the powerful, high behest", " Thrill, vital, thro’ and thro’;", "And sought a correspondent breast,", " To give obedience due:", "Propitious Powers screen’d the young flow’rs,", " From mildews of abortion;", "And low! the bard—a great reward—", " Has got a double portion!", "", "", "Auld cantie Coil may count the day,", " As annual it returns,", "The third of Libra’s equal sway,", " That gave another Burns,", "With future rhymes, an’ other times,", " To emulate his sire:", "To sing auld Coil in nobler style", " With more poetic fire.", "", "", "Ye Powers of peace, and peaceful song,", " Look down with gracious eyes;", "And bless auld Coila, large and long,", " With multiplying joys;", "Lang may she stand to prop the land,", " The flow’r of ancient nations;", "And Burnses spring, her fame to sing,", " To endless generations!" ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "234. A Mother’s Lament for her Son’s Death", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "FATE gave the word, the arrow sped,", " And pierc’d my darling’s heart;", "And with him all the joys are fled", " Life can to me impart.", "", "", "By cruel hands the sapling drops,", " In dust dishonour’d laid;", "So fell the pride of all my hopes,", " My age’s future shade.", "", "", "The mother-linnet in the brake", " Bewails her ravish’d young;", "So I, for my lost darling’s sake,", " Lament the live-day long.", "", "", "Death, oft I’ve feared thy fatal blow.", " Now, fond, I bare my breast;", "O, do thou kindly lay me low", " With him I love, at rest!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "25. My Father was a Farmer: A Ballad", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "MY father was a farmer upon the Carrick border, O,", "And carefully he bred me in decency and order, O;", "He bade me act a manly part, though I had ne’er a farthing, O;", "For without an honest manly heart, no man was worth regarding, O.", "", "", "Then out into the world my course I did determine, O;", "Tho’ to be rich was not my wish, yet to be great was charming, O;", "My talents they were not the worst, nor yet my education, O:", "Resolv’d was I at least to try to mend my situation, O.", "", "", "In many a way, and vain essay, I courted Fortune’s favour, O;", "Some cause unseen still stept between, to frustrate each endeavour, O;", "Sometimes by foes I was o’erpower’d, sometimes by friends forsaken, O;", "And when my hope was at the top, I still was worst mistaken, O.", "", "", "Then sore harass’d and tir’d at last, with Fortune’s vain delusion, O,", "I dropt my schemes, like idle dreams, and came to this conclusion, O;", "The past was bad, and the future hid, its good or ill untried, O;", "But the present hour was in my pow’r, and so I would enjoy it, O.", "", "", "No help, nor hope, nor view had I, nor person to befriend me, O;", "So I must toil, and sweat, and moil, and labour to sustain me, O;", "To plough and sow, to reap and mow, my father bred me early, O;", "For one, he said, to labour bred, was a match for Fortune fairly, O.", "", "", "Thus all obscure, unknown, and poor, thro’ life I’m doom’d to wander, O,", "Till down my weary bones I lay in everlasting slumber, O:", "No view nor care, but shun whate’er might breed me pain or sorrow, O;", "I live to-day as well’s I may, regardless of to-morrow, O.", "", "", "But cheerful still, I am as well as a monarch in his palace, O,", "Tho’ Fortune’s frown still hunts me down, with all her wonted malice, O:", "I make indeed my daily bread, but ne’er can make it farther, O:", "But as daily bread is all I need, I do not much regard her, O.", "", "", "When sometimes by my labour, I earn a little money, O,", "Some unforeseen misfortune comes gen’rally upon me, O;", "Mischance, mistake, or by neglect, or my goodnatur’d folly, O:", "But come what will, I’ve sworn it still, I’ll ne’er be melancholy, O.", "", "", "All you who follow wealth and power with unremitting ardour, O,", "The more in this you look for bliss, you leave your view the farther, O:", "Had you the wealth Potosi boasts, or nations to adore you, O,", "A cheerful honest-hearted clown I will prefer before you, O." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "488. Song—The Winter of Life", "author": "Robert Burns", "lines": [ "BUT lately seen in gladsome green,", " The woods rejoic’d the day,", "Thro’ gentle showers, the laughing flowers", " In double pride were gay:", "But now our joys are fled", " On winter blasts awa;", "Yet maiden May, in rich array,", " Again shall bring them a’.", "", "", "But my white pow, nae kindly thowe", " Shall melt the snaws of Age;", "My trunk of eild, but buss or beild,", " Sinks in Time’s wintry rage.", "Oh, Age has weary days,", " And nights o’ sleepless pain:", "Thou golden time, o’ Youthfu’ prime,", " Why comes thou not again!" ], "linecount": "16" } ]