THE SONS OF OLD KILLIE.

Tune-" Shawnboy.”

I.

YE Sons of old Killie, assembled by Willie,
To follow the noble vocation;

Your thrifty old mother has scarce such another

To sit in that honoured station.

I've little to say, but only to pray,

A

As praying's the ton of your fashion;

prayer from the muse you well may excuse, 'Tis seldom her favourite passion.

II.

Ye powers who preside o'er the wind and the tide, Who marked each element's border;

Who formed this frame with beneficent aim,

Whose sovereign statute is order;

Within this dear mansion may wayward contention

Or withered envy ne'er enter;

May secresy round be the mystical bound,

And brotherly love be the centre.

The original, in the Poet's handwriting, belongs to Gabriel Neil, Glasgow, and has the following interesting note attached to it :-"This song, wrote by Mr. Burns, was sung by him in the Kilmarnock Kilwinning Lodge, in 1786, and given by him to Mr. Parker, who was Master of the Lodge."

MENIE.

Tune-" Johnny's grey Breeks."

I.

AGAIN rejoicing nature sees

Her robe assume its vernal hues,
Her leafy locks wave in the breeze,
All freshly steep'd in morning dews.

And maun I still on Menie doat,

And bear the scorn that's in her e'e? For it's jet, jet black, and like a hawk, And winna let a body be.

II.

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.

III.

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.

IV.

The wanton coot the water skims,
Amang the reeds the ducklings cry,
The stately swan majestic swims,
And every thing is blest but I.

V.

The sheep-herd steeks his faulding slap,
And owre the moorland whistles shill ;
Wi' wild, unequal, wand'ring step,

I meet him on the dewy hill.

VI.

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.

VII.

Come, Winter, with thine angry howl,
And raging bend the naked tree :
Thy gloom will sooth my cheerless soul,
When nature all is sad like me!

And maun I still on Menie doat,

And bear the scorn that's in her e'e? For it's jet, jet black, and like a hawk, And winna let a body be.

The chorus was composed by a wit in Edinburgh, and adopted by Burns because it contained the name of Menie, which is, he says, the abbreviation of Mariamne. It jars with the ruling sentiment of the song, and has been discarded by some editors as superfluous: if we regard the lyric as a poem to be read or recited, the chorus may be spared; but if we look upon it as a composition to be sung, the omission maims the performance. Yet it cannot be denied that some of the old choruses, which Burns adopted in his lyrics, injure the feeling and unity of his strains. He rose into a higher mood very frequently. The Lass of Craigie-burn-wood and the Lincluden Vision may be named as instances of this.

Of the lady who inspired this strain no one has given any account. It was first printed in the second edition of the Poet's works.

THE

FAREWELL

TO THE

BRETHREN OF ST. JAMES'S LODGE,

TARBOLTON.

Tune-Good-night, and Joy be wi you

a'!

I.

ADIEU a heart-warm, fond adieu !
Dear brothers of the mystic tie!
Ye favour'd, ye 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'.