THERE WAS A BONNIE LASS.

A FRAGMENT.

THERE was a bonnie lass, and a bonnie, bonnie lass,
And she lo'ed her bonnie laddie dear;

Till war's loud alarms tore her laddie frae her arms,
Wi' monie a sigh and tear.

Over sea, over shore, where the cannons loudly roar,
He still was a stranger to fear:

And nocht' could him quell, or his bosom assail,
But the bonnie lass he lo'ed sae dear.

TIBBIE DUNBAR,

The person who composed the air of this song was a Girvan fiddler, a Johny M'Gill-he named it after himself.

TUNE-Johny M'Gill.

Оn wilt thou go wi' me, sweet Tibbie Dunbar?
Oh wilt thou go wi' me, sweet Tibbie Dunbar?
Wilt thou ride on a horse, or be drawn in a car,
Or walk by my side, O sweet Tibbie Dunbar?
I carena' thy daddie, his lands and his money,
I carena thy kin, sae high and sae lordly:
But say thou wilt hae me for better for waur,
And come in thy coatie, sweet Tibbie Dunbar.

3

ROBIN SHURE IN HAIRST.

First published in the Poetry, "Original and Selected," by Brash and
Reid, of Glasgow.

Robin shure in hairst,*

I shure wi' him,

Fients a heuk had I,

Yet I stack by him.

Nothing.-2 Care not for.-3 Worse.-4 Did shear, or reap, in harvest.A petty oath of negation.- Reaping-hook.-7 Stuck.

MY LADY'S GOWN THERE 'S GAIRS UPON "T.

The original of this song will be found in Sibbald's "Chronicle of Scottish

Poetry."

My lady's gown there's gairs upon 't,
And gowden flowers sae rare upon't;
But Jenny's jimps and jirkinet,1o
My lord thinks muckle mair" upon't.

My lord a-hunting he is gane,

But hounds or hawks wi' him are nane,
By Colin's cottage lies his game,

If Colin's Jenny be at hame.

My lady's gown, &c.

My lady's white, my lady's red,
And kith and kin o' Cassillis' blude,
But her ten-pund lands o' tocher's guid
Were a' the charms his lordship lo'ed.
My lady's gown, &c.

Out o'er yon muir, out o'er yon moss,
Whare gor-cocks thro' the heather pass,

8

Went. Web. 3 Gate.-4 Bold.-5 Such.-6 Elder's daughter. ' Victuals.-8 Triangular pieces of cloth sewed on the bottom of it.- Easy stays.-10 Short gown.-11 Much more.-12 Kindred.-13 Marriage portion.

There wons' auld Colin's bonnie lass,

A lily in a wilderness.

My lady's gown, &c.

Sae sweetly move her genty' limbs,
Like music notes o' lover's hymns:
The diamond dew in her een sae blue,
Where laughing love sae wanton swims.
My lady's gown, &c.

My lady's dink, my lady's drest,
The flower and fancy o' the west;
But the lassie that a man lo'es best,
Oh that's the lass to make him blest.
My lady's gown, &c.

WEE WILLIE GRAY.

This and the following two verses are imitations of old songs

WEE Willie Gray, and his leather wallet;

Peel a willow-wand to be him boots and jacket:

The rose upon the brier will be him trouse and doublet, The rose upon the brier will be him trouse and doublet.

Wee Willie Gray, and his leather wallet;

Twice a lily flower will be him sark and cravat:
Feathers of a flee wad feather up his bonnet,
Feathers of a flee wad feather up his bonnet.

OH GUID ALE COMES.

Oh guid ale comes, and guid ale goes,
Guid ale gars me sell my hose,
Sell my hose, and pawon my shoon,
Guid ale keeps my heart aboon.

I HAD Sax owsen' in a pleugh,
They drew a' weel eneugh,
I sell'd them a' just ane by ane;
Guid ale keeps my heart aboon.

1 Dwells.-2 Elegantly formed.-3 Neat, trim.-4 Little.-5 Fly.- Makes. -7 Six oxen,

Guid ale hauds1 me bare and busy,
Gars me moop wi' the servant hizzie,
Stand i' the stool when I hae done,
Guid ale keeps my heart aboon.

Oh guid ale comes, &c.

OH LAY THY LOOF IN MINE, LASS.

Written for the Museum. The chorus is partly old.

Oh lay thy loof3 in mine, lass,
In mine, lass, in mine, lass,
And swear in thy white hand, lass,
That thou wilt be my ain.

A SLAVE to love's unbounded sway,
He aft has wrought me meikle wae;"
But now he is my deadly fae,
Unless thou be my ain.

Oh lay thy loof, &c.

There's mony a lass has broke my rest,
That for a blink I hae lo'ed best;

But thou art queen within my breast,
Forever to remain.

Oh lay thy loof, &c.

EXTEMPORE.5

April, 1782.

On why the deuce should I repine,
And be an ill foreboder?

I'm twenty-three, and five feet nine-
I'll go and be a sodger.

I gat some gear wi' meikle care,

I held it weel thegither;

But now it's gane and something mair,

I'll go and be a sodger.

• Holds.-2 Stool of repentance.-3 Palm of the hand.-4 Much woe.

• An early production.

OH LEAVE NOVELS.

Extracted from the Poet's memorandum-book, when farmer at Mossgiel.

On leave novels, ye Mauchline belles,
Ye're safer at your spinning-wheel;
Such witching books are baited hooks,
For rakish rooks like Rob Mossgiel.
Your fine Tom Jones and Grandisons,
They make your youthful fancies reel,
They heat your brains, and fire your veins,
And then you 're prey for Rob Mossgiel.
Beware a tongue that's smoothly hung;
A heart that warmly seems to feel;
That feeling heart but acts a part,
'Tis rakish art in Rob Mossgiel.
The frank address, the soft caress,

Are worse than poison'd darts of steel;
The frank address, and politesse,
Are all finesse in Rob Mossgiel.

OH AY MY WIFE SHE DANG ME.

The chorus and the two concluding lines of this song are from an old ballad of considerable length, which tradition has still preserved in Kincardineshire.

Oh ay my wife she dang me,
An' aft my wife she bang'd me;
If ye gie a woman a' her will,
Guid faith she'll soon o'ergang ye.

ON peace and rest my mind was bent,
And fool I was I married;

But never honest man's intent,
As cursedly miscarried.

Some sairie1 comfort still at last,
When a' thir' days are done, man,

My pains o' hell on earth is past,
I'm sure o' bliss aboon, man.
Oh ay my wife, &c.

1 Sorry.-2 These.