And, gin ye forsake me, Marion, And kirtle o' cramasie; And, as sune as my chin has nae hair on, TODLIN HAME. TUNE-Todlin hame. WHEN I hae a saxpence under my Then I get credit in ilka toun; thoom, But, aye when I'm puir they bid me gang by; Todlin hame, todlin hame, Couldna my loove come todlin hame. Fair fa' the gudewife, and send her gude sale! From the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724, where it is marked with the signature letter Q. In a version of "The Yowe-buchts," popular in the south of Scotland, the following chorus is added: Come round about the Merry-knowes, my Marion; As Whitsled is a farm in the parish of Ashkirk, and county of Selkirk, while the Merry-knowes is the name of a particular spot on the farm, it is probable that the song is a native of that Arcadia of Scotland, the Vale of the Tweed. It has been suggested to the editor, that, to readers of fastidious taste, the following would be a more acceptable version of the last stanza: I'm young and stout, my Marion ; Sae put on your pearlins, Marion, And, as sune as it is the gloamin, Syne, if that her tippeny chance to be sma', As round as a neep come todlin hame. My kimmer and I lay doun to sleep, Todlin butt, and todlin ben, Sae round as my loove comes todlin hame Leeze me on liquor, my todlin dow, Ye're aye sae gude-humour'd when weetin your mou'! When sober sae sour, ye'll fecht wi' a flee, That 'tis a blythe nicht to the bairns and me, When todlin hame, todlin hame, When, round as a neep, ye come todlin hame.* THE ABSENT LOVER. MISS BLAMIRE. WHAT ails this heart o' mine? What makes me aye turn cauld as death When thou art far awa, Thou'lt dearer grow to me; But change o' fouk and change o' place From the Tea-Table Miscellany (1724), where it is marked as a song of unknown antiquity. Then I'll sit down and moan, Syne I'll gang to the bower, Which thou wi' roses tied: 'Twas there, by mony a blushing bud, I'll doat on ilka spot Where I hae been wi' thee; 'Tis hope that cheers the mind, And when I think I see thee still, WHEN Maggy and I were acquaint, John, eventually second Marquis of Tweeddale, born in 1645-died 1713. This is evident from the dedication of Scott of Satchells' "History of the House of Scott," where the Marquis is complimented for his poetical abilities. He was a distinguished statesman in the reigns of William and Anne, and married the only daughter of the Duke of Lauderdale, considered the greatest heiress in the kingdom. He was one of the principal instruments in carrying through the Union, being at the head of the party called the Squadróne Volánte. Macky, in his curious work of that period, describes him as a great encourager and promoter of trade and the welfare of his country. "He hath good sense," he adds, " is very modest, much a man of honour, and hot when piqued; is highly esteemed in his country, and may make a considerable figure in it now. He is a short brown man, towards sixty years old." The song must have been written Nae lintwhite in a' the gay plain, I woo'd, but I cam nae great speed; To Maggy my love I did tell ; My tears did my passion express : And the women loe sic a man less. TWEEDSIDE. [MODERN VERSES.] CRAWFORD. WHAT beauties does Flora disclose! How sweet are her smiles upon Tweed! The warblers are heard in the grove, The linnet, the lark, and the thrush; before 1697, when he ceased to be Lord Yester, by succeeding his father. Neidpath Castle, near Peebles, which overhangs the Tweed, must be the locality of the song-that being then the property, and one of the residences, of the Tweeddale family. The song first appeared in Mr Herd's Collection, 1776. The blackbird, and sweet cooing dove, How does my love pass the long day? Does Mary not tend a few sheep? While happily she lies asleep? Should Tweed's murmurs lull her to rest, Kind nature indulgin' my bliss, 'Tis she does the virgins excel; No beauty with her may compare; She's fairest where thousands are fair. THE deil cam fiddling through the toun, Burns has stated the heroine of this song to have been Mary Stuart, a young lady of the Castlemilk family, afterwards Mrs Ritchie. But Sir Walter Scott, in his notes to the second canto of Marmion, asserts that it was written in honour of Mary Lilias Scott, of the Harden family, otherwise remarkable as the second Flower of Yarrow; a lady with whom he was acquainted at a period of her life when age had injured the charms which procured her that honourable epithet. The song appeared for the first time in the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724. |