[However much the advice, here given by "auld auntie Katie " to her disconsolate niece, be disapproved of on Christian principles, this song is certainly in Burns's best manner, and one is apt to wonder why it is never sung by our lyric exponents of the bard. We suspect that this neglect has arisen from the very awkward setting of the music attached to it in the Museum and other collections, where it is hopelessly disarranged, and wants that "flow" which is so essential to the popularity of a tune. We suppose it to be of Irish origin, although it is given as a Scots air in Oswald's sixth Book. Its title is quoted in Durfey's "Pills," 1703. The phrase, "his auld brass 'ill buy me a new pan," is taken from the ancient song "" Auld Rob Morris."

The Author's MS. of this song is in the British Museum, and below it he has noted the following directions to Johnson—“ Dr. Blacklock's set of the tune is bad; I here enclose a better. You may put Dr. B.'s song after these verses, or you may leave it out, as you please. It has some merit, but it is miserably long."

We invite the attention of the musical reader to the annexed arrangement and set of the melody, as well fitted to give effect to the characteristic words of Burns.]

What can

a young las-sie, what shall a young las - sie, What can a

young las sie

do wi' an auld man? Bad luck on the penny that tempt-ed my min-nie

To sell her puir Jenny for

sil - ler an' lan'. Bad luck on the pen ny

that tempted my minnie To

sell her puir Jenny for sil - ler an' lan'

THE POSIE.

(JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.)

O LUVE will venture in where it daur na weel be seen, O luve will venture in, where wisdom ance hath been; But I will doun yon river rove, amang the wood sae

green,

And a' to pu' a Poșie to my ain dear May. pull nosegay

The primrose I will pu', the firstling o' the year, And I will pu' the pink, the emblem o' my dear; For she's the pink o' womankind, and blooms without a peer,

And a' to be a Posie to my ain dear May.

I'll pu' the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view, For it's like a balmy kiss o' her sweet, bonie mou; The hyacinth's for constancy wi' its unchanging blue, And a' to be a Posie to my ain dear May.

The lily it is pure, and the lily it is fair,
And in her lovely bosom I'll place the lily there;
The daisy's for simplicity and unaffected air,

And a' to be a Posie to my ain dear May.

The hawthorn I will pu', wi' its locks o' siller gray, Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o' day; But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak

away,

And a' to be a Posie to my ain dear May.

The woodbine I will pu', when the e'ening star is near, And the diamond draps o' dew shall be her een sae clear ; The violet's for modesty, which weel she fa's becomes

to wear,

And a' to be a Posie to my ain dear May.

I'll tie the Posie round wi' the silken band o' luve, And I'll place it in her breast, and I'll swear by a' above,

That to my latest draught o' life the band shall ne'er

remove,

And this will be a Posie to my ain dear May.

[In his Glenriddell notes, the poet mentions that he took down the air and the old words of this song from the singing of a country girl. That "country girl," he afterwards explained to George Thomson, was no other than Mrs. Burns, who was very fond of giving vocal effect to the present words with her expressive "woodnote wild." It is one of the loveliest and most everlastingly fresh of all Burns's lyrics; and yet how seldom is it heard either in the concert room, or at home, when the song goes round the young circle.

The phrase "my ain dear May," means "my ain dear maid;" May, in short, being a contraction of Mysie or Marian, common in ballad poetry as a name for its heroines-hence the "MaidMarian" of Robin Hood. The melody, taken down from Jean Armour's singing, is very beautiful, and Burns is quite right in holding that it contains within it the outline of the popular air, "Roslin Castle." In the Museum, this song is placed on the page opposite "The Banks o' Doon," and it seems now certain that both of these charming lyrics were produced about the same time. We append the music.]

乾

O luve will ven-ture in where it daur na well be seen,

O luve will

venture in where wisdom ance has been; But I will doun yon riv er

rove

a - mang the wood sae green, And a' to pu' a po- sie to my ain dear May.

ON GLENRIDDELL'S FOX BREAKING HIS

CHAIN.

A FRAGMENT, 1791.

*(BRIGHT'S GLENRIDDELL MSS., 1874.)

THOU, Liberty, thou art my theme;
Not such as idle poets dream,
Who trick thee up a heathen goddess
That a fantastic cap and rod has;
Such stale conceits are poor and silly;
I paint thee out, a Highland filly,
A sturdy, stubborn, handsome dapple,
As sleek's a mouse, as round's an apple,
That when thou pleasest can do wonders;
But when thy luckless rider blunders,
Or if thy fancy should demur there,
Wilt break thy neck ere thou go further.

These things premised, I sing-a Fox
Was caught among his native rocks,
And to a dirty kennel chained,
How he his liberty regained.

Glenriddell a Whig without a stain,
A Whig in principle and grain,

Could'st thou enslave a free-born creature,
A native denizen of Nature?

How could'st thou, with a heart so good,
(A better ne'er was sluiced with blood)
Nail a poor devil to a tree,

That ne'er did harm to thine or thee?

*This Glenriddell MSS. which contained many of Burns pieces already published, several never before published, was possessed, in 1874, by a Mr. Bright, of Liverpool, who printed for private circulation five hundred copies.