Tho' stars in skies may disappear, So dawning day has brought relief, Fareweel our night o' sorrow. have since [In our note to the "Lament of Mary Queen of Scots," page 20 supra, we introduce some particulars regarding Lady Winifred Maxwell Constable. The present song gives us an occasion to resume the subject. She was married to William Haggerston Constable, of Everingham, Yorkshire, and was the granddaughter and sole representative of that Earl of Nithsdale, who in 1715 escaped from the axe through the intrepidity and ingenuity of his wife, as referred to in footnote. Burns wrote to her at the close of 1789, enclosing his verses to William Tytler of Woodhouselee "for her ladyship's eye alone," and was some time thereafter formally introduced to her. She had returned to Scotland after a long absence, and was rebuilding Terregles House, the hereditary seat of her ancestry. The song in the text was thereupon composed and presented to her as an affectionate tribute of respect for an ancient family in whose fortunes the poet felt a natural interest. We have little doubt that several other Jacobite songs, which first appeared in Johnson's fourth volume, and which now fall to be presented to the reader, were prompted by his desire to gratify that lady. Mrs. Burns, in her M'Diarmid memoranda, remembers Lady W. Maxwell calling to see the poet after his removal to Dumfries; and while at Ellisland he dined once or twice at Terregles House where the family lived in great style. Burns used to talk with wonder of the number of wax candles he had seen lighted at supper. The reader may here be reminded of a letter by Sir Walter Scott, to his son-in-law, Mr. Lockhart, dated 14th July 1828, enclosing the originals of several letters by Burns, which might be useful in constructing the memoir of the poet he was then engaged with. Sir Walter thus refers to one of these "addressed to that singular old curmudgeon, Lady Winifred Constable, in which you will see he plays high Jacobite; and on that account it is curious; though I imagine that his Jacobitism, like my own, belonged to the fancy, rather than the reason."] FRAE THE FRIENDS AND LAND I LOVE. (JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.) FRAE the friends and land I love, Driv'n by Fortune's felly spite; Frae my best belov'd I rove, Never mair to taste delight: Never mair maun hope to find Brightest climes shall mirk appear, Bring our banished hame again; Cross the seas, and win his ain. from cruel must dark every each Own [The poet in his Glenriddell notes claims only the last four lines of this song, which he says he added "by way of giving a turn to the theme of the poem, such as it is." Stenhouse, however, records his belief that the whole piece is by Burns. The tune to which it is set is from Oswald's "Pocket Companion," where it is called Carron Side." The reader will observe the unusual force of the language in this little piece,-"Fortune's felly spite"-"When Remembrance wracks the mind." There is a kind of Shakesperian pith here that surprises us. Who but a genius could have conceived the image of "Revenge, wi' laurel'd head"?] SUCH A PARCEL OF ROGUES IN A NATION. (JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.) FAREWEEL to a' our Scottish fame, To mark where England's province stands— What force or guile could not subdue, Is wrought now by a coward few, But English gold has been our bane— O would, ere I had seen the day But pith and power, till my last hour, We're bought and sold for English gold- [In the musical collections of M'Gibbon and Oswald is found a tune having this title, which furnished the key-note to the above spirited effusion. The chief reference in it seems to be to the treaty of Union between England and Scotland, which was signed * One of the tributaries of the Solway, and, for a short distance, the boundary line between England and Scotland.-J. H. on 22nd July 1707. An old-fashioned prejudice against this measure was long in dying away, among the Jacobites in particular; and this seems to have been one of several pieces which were constructed by Burns for the delectation of his friends whose tastes lay in that direction.] YE JACOBITES BY NAME. (JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.) YE Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, Your fautes I will proclaim, faults Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear. must What is Right, and what is Wrang, by the law, by the law? What is Right, and what is Wrang, by the law? 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? strong 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. [This powerful political satire, in which some of the bard's favorite sentiments are expressed under the coverture of Jacobitism, might have been produced for the gratification of his neighbor, Lady Winifred Maxwell. The melody to which it is set was much in vogue about the close of last century, and when well sung, may express both pathos and heroic energy. Hector Macneil's song, "My Love's in Germanie" was set to the same air, and had a long run of popularity.] I HAE BEEN AT CROOKIEDEN. (JOHNSON'S MUSEUM, 1792.) I HAE been at Crookieden,* My bonie laddie, Highland laddie. My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, Satan sits in his black neuk, My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, My bonie laddie, Highland laddie, corner went [This familiar ditty is mainly indebted to the hand of Burns for its point and pith. The original title of the tune is "Jinglin John," and after the cruelties of William, Duke of Cumberland, at Culloden, it became one of several quick step tunes known by the title "Bonie laddie, Highland laddie."] A cant name for hell. |
