To see her cousin she cam' there;
And oh! the scene was passing fair,
For what in Scotland can compare
Wi' the Carse o' Gowrie?
The sun was setting on the Tay,
The blue hills melting into gray,
The mavis and the blackbird's lay
Were sweetly heard in Gowrie.

O lang the lassie I had wooed,
And truth and constancy had vowed,
But could nae speed wi' her I lo'ed
Until she saw fair Gowrie.

I pointed to my faither's ha'-
Yon bonnie bield ayont the shaw,

Sae loun that there nae blast could blaw:

Wad she no bide in Gowrie?

Her faither was baith glad and wae;
Her mither she wad naething say;
The bairnies thocht they wad get play

If Kitty gaed to Gowrie.

She whiles did smile, she whiles did greet;
The blush and tear were on her cheek;

She narthing said, and hung her head;—
But now she's Leddy Gowrie.

Carolina Nairne [1766-1845]

THE CONSTANT SWAIN AND VIRTUOUS
MAID

SOON as the day begins to waste,
Straight to the well-known door I haste,
And rapping there, I'm forced to stay
While Molly hides her work with care,
Adjusts her tucker and her hair,

And nimble Becky scours away.

Entering, I see in Molly's eyes
A sudden smiling joy arise,

"When the Kye Comes Hame"

As quickly checked by virgin shame:
She drops a curtsey, steals a glance,
Receives a kiss, one step advance.-
If such I love, am I to blame?

I sit, and talk of twenty things,
Of South Sea stock, or death of kings,

While only "Yes" or "No," says Molly;
As cautious she conceals her thoughts,
As others do their private faults:-
Is this her prudence, or her folly?

Parting, I kiss her lip and cheek,
I hang about her snowy neck,

And cry, "Farewell, my dearest Molly!"
Yet still I hang and still I kiss,

Ye learned sages, say, is this

In me the effect of love, or folly?

No-both by sober reason move,—
She prudence shows, and I true love—
No charge of folly can be laid.
Then (till the marriage-rites proclaimed
Shall join our hands) let us be named
The constant swain, the virtuous maid.

745

COME, all ye jolly shepherds

That whistle through the glen,

I'll tell ye of a secret

That courtiers dinna ken:

What is the greatest bliss

That the tongue o' man can name?

'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie

When the kye comes hame.

When the kye comes hame,

When the kye comes hame,

"Tween the gloamin and the mirk,

When the kye comes hame.

'Tis not beneath the coronet,
Nor canopy of state,
'Tis not on couch of velvet,
Nor arbor of the great-
'Tis beneath the spreading birk,
In the glen without the name,
Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,

When the kye comes hame.

There the blackbird bigs his nest
For the mate he lo'es to see,
And on the topmost bough,

O, a happy bird is he!

Then he pours his melting ditty,
And love is a' the theme,
And he'll woo his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame.

When the blewart bears a pearl,
And the daisy turns a pea,
And the bonnie lucken gowan

Has fauldit up her e'e,

Then the laverock frae the blue lift

Draps down, and thinks nae shame

To woo his bonnie lassie

When the kye comes hame.

See yonder pawkie shepherd.

That lingers on the hillHis ewes are in the fauld,

And his lambs are lying still;

Yet he downa gang to bed,

For his heart is in a flame

To meet his bonnie lassie

When the kye comes hame.

When the little wee bit heart
Rises high in the breast,
And the little wee bit starn
Rises red in the east,

The Low-Backed Car

747

O there's a joy sae dear,

That the heart can hardly frame, Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,

When the kye comes hame.

Then since all nature joins

In this love without alloy,
O, wha wad prove a traitor
To Nature's dearest joy?
Or wha wad choose a crown,
Wi' its perils and its fame,
And miss his bonnie lassie
When the kye comes hame?
When the kye comes hame,

When the kye comes hame

"Tween the gloamin' and the mirk,
When the kye comes hame!

James Hogg (1770-1835]

THE LOW-BACKED CAR

WHEN first I saw sweet Peggy, 'Twas on a market day,

A low-backed car she drove, and sat

Upon a truss of hay;

But when that hay was blooming grass

And decked with flowers of Spring,
No flower was there that could compare
With the blooming girl I sing.
As she sat in the low-backed car,
The man at the turnpike bar

Never asked for the toll,

But just rubbed his ould poll,

And looked after the low-backed car.

In battle's wild commotion,

The proud and mighty Mars,

With hostile scythes, demands his tithes

Of death-in warlike cars;

While Peggy, peaceful goddess,

Has darts in her bright eye,

That knock men down in the market town,
As right and left they fly;-
While she sits in her low-backed car,

Than battle more dangerous far,

For the doctor's art

Cannot cure the heart

That is hit from that low-backed car.

Sweet Peggy round her car, sir,
Has strings of ducks and geese,
But the scores of hearts she slaughters
By far outnumber these;

While she among her poultry sits,

Just like a turtle-dove,

Well worth the cage, I do engage,
Of the blooming god of Love!
While she sits in her low-backed car,
The lovers come near and far,

And envy the chicken

That Peggy is pickin',

As she sits in her low-backed car.

O, I'd rather own that car, sir,

With Peggy by my side,

Than a coach-and-four, and goold galore,

And a lady for my bride;

For the lady would sit forninst me,

On a cushion made with taste,

While Peggy would sit beside me,

With my arm around her waist,-
While we drove in the low-backed car,
To be married by Father Mahar,

O, my heart would beat high
At her glance and her sigh,-

Though it beat in a low-backed car!

Samuel Lover [1797-1868]