Page:The Book of Scottish Song.djvu/576

558 But sparkling wit, and sense refin'd,

And spotless truth without disguise,

Make me with sighs enrich the wind

That fans the grave whare Mary lies.

[.—Gaelic Air.]

hon a ri! there's something wantin';

Oh hon a ri! I'm wearie;

Nae young, blythe, and bonnie lad

Comes o'er the knowe to cheer me.

When the day wears away,

Sad I look a' down the valley;

Ilka soun', wi' a stoun',

Sets my heart a thrillin'.

When I see the plover risin',

Or the curlew wheelin',

Then I trow some bonnie lad

Is coming to my sheelin'.

Why should I sit an' sigh,

While the greenwood blooms sae bonnie?

Laverocks sing, flow'rets spring,

A' but me are cheery.

My wee cot is blest and happy;

Oh 'tis neat and cleanly!

Sweet the brier that blooms beside it;

Kind the heart that's lanely.

Come away, come away,

Herd, or hind, or boatman laddie,

I ha'e a cow, kid, and ewe,

Gowd and gear, to gain ye.

[.—Here first printed.]

! I may not love thee now,

As when thou wert the witching quean

That charm'd my heart, I wot not how,

And I could sing my lovely Jean:—

I may not now so praise thy een,

And say that they the stars outshine;

The love we felt at gay eighteen

Is not like that of Thirty-nine.

Thy matron lip I may not kiss,

As when the cherry ripen'd there;

Nor say, that in thy smile is bliss,

Thy bosom more than lily fair;

Nor play me with thy tressed hair,

And round thy brow sweet roses twine;

Nor with an angel thee compare,

With fading charms at Thirty-nine.

And yet I love thee with a love

That cannot fade or pass away;

And time alone such love can prove,

As orient sunshine proves the day.

Sweet wert thou in thy maiden May!

And all its balmy blooms were mine;

When gently now these flowers decay,

Truth makes us friends at Thirty-nine.

[ admirable patriotic song was written by in April, 1795, when Britain was threatened with invasion by the French republicans, and should have for ever put to rest any doubts that existed regarding the poet's love of country or loyalty. "Burns enrolled himself in the bands of gentlemen volunteers of Dumfries," says Allan Cunningham, "though not without opposition from some of the haughty Tories who demurred about his principles, which they called democratic. I remember well the appearance of that respectable corps: their odd, but not ungraceful, dress, white kerseymere breeches and waistcoat; short blue coat, faced with red; and round hat surmounted by a bearskin, like the helmets of our horse guards; and I remember the Poet also—his very swarthy face, his very ploughman-stoop, his large dark eyes, and indifferent dexterity in the handling of his arms." The song was originally printed in the Dumfries Journal, and said to be sung to the tune of "Push about the jorum." It was afterwards set to music by Stephen Clarke, and published as a single sheet song. It for a time enjoyed an extensive popularity.]

haughty Gaul invasion threat?

Then let the loons beware, sir,

There's wooden walls upon our seas,

And volunteers on shore, sir.