And, gin ye forsake me, Marion,

I'll e'en gae draw up wi' Jean.
Sae put on your pearlins, Marion,

And kirtle o' cramasie;
And, as sune as my chin has nae hair on,

I will come west, and see ye.*

TODLIN HAME.

TUNE_Todlin hame.

WHEN I hae a saxpence under my thoom,
Then I get credit in ilka toun ;
But, aye when I'm puir they bid me gang by;
Oh, poverty parts gude company !

Todlin hame, todlin hame,
Couldna

my

loove come todlin hame.

Fair fa' the gudewife, and send her gude sale!
She gies us white bannocks to relish her ale ;

* 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 ;

Come round about the Merry-knowes wi' me;
Come round about the Merry-knowes, my Marion ;

For Whitsled is lying lee. 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 ;

Nane dances like me on the green;
I could work a haill day, my Marion,

For ae blink o' your een.
Sae put on your pearlins, Marion,

And kirtle o' cramasie;
And, as sune as it is the gloamin,

I will come west, and see ye.

Syne, if that her tippeny chance to be sma',
We tak'a gude scour o't, and ca't awa.

Todlin hame, todlin hame,
As round as a neep come todlin hame.

My kimmer and I lay doun to sleep,
And twa pint-stoups at our bed's feet;
And aye when we waken'd we drank them dry :-
What think ye o' my wee kimmer and I?

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 ails this watery ee ?
What makes me aye turn cauld as death

When I tak leave o' thee?
When thou art far awa,

Thou'lt dearer grow to me;
But change o' fouk and change o' place

May gar thy fancy jee.

* From the Tea-Table Miscellany (1724), where it is marked as a song of unknown antiquity,

Then I'll sit down and moan,

Just by yon spreadin' tree,
And gin a leaf fa' in my lap
I'll ca't a word frae thee.
gang

to the bower,
Which thou wi' roses tied :
'Twas there, by mony a blushing bud,

I strove my love to hide.

Syne I'll

I'll doat on ilka spot

Where I hae been wi' thee;
I'll ca' to mind some fond love-tale,

By every burn and tree.
'Tis hope that cheers the mind,

Though lovers absent be;
And when I think I see thee still,

I'll think I'm still wi' thee.

TWEEDSIDE.

[OLD VERSES.]

LORD YESTER.

TUNE-Tweedside.

WHEN Maggy and I were acquaint,

I carried my noddle fu' hie;

* 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 Squadrone 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 esteemned 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,

Nae gowdspink sae bonnie as she !
I whistled, I piped, and I sang;

I woo'd, but I cam nae great speed;
Therefore I maun wander abroad,

And lay my banes far frae the Tweed.
To Maggy my love I did tell;

My tears did my passion express :
Alas! for I lo’ed her ower weel,

And the women loe sic a man less.
Her heart it was frozen and cauld ;

Her pride had my ruin decreed ;
Therefore I maun wander abroad,

And lay my banes far frae the Tweed.

TWEEDSIDE.

[MODERN VERSES.]

CRAWFORD.

What beauties does Flora disclose !

How sweet are her smiles upon Tweed !
Yet Mary's, still sweeter than those,

Both nature and fancy exceed.
No daisy, nor sweet blushing rose,

Not all the gay flowers of the field,
Not Tweed, gliding gently through those,

Such beauty and pleasure does yield.

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,

With music enchant ev'ry bush.
Come, let us go forth to the mead;

Let us see how the primroses spring;
We'll lodge in some village on Tweed,

And love while the feather'd folk sing.

How does my love pass the long day?

Does Mary not tend a few sheep?
Do they never carelessly stray

While happily she lies asleep?
Should Tweed's murmurs lull her to rest,

Kind nature indulgin' my bliss,
To ease the soft pains of my breast,

I'd steal an ambrosial kiss.

'Tis she does the virgins excel ;

No beauty with her may compare ;
Love's graces around her do dwell;

She's fairest where thousands are fair.
Say, charmer, where do thy flocks stray ?

Oh, tell me at morn where they feed ?
Shall I seek them on sweet-winding Tay?

Or the pleasanter banks of the Tweed ? *

THE DEIL'S A WA WI' THE EXCISEMAN.

BURNS.

The deil cam fiddling through the toun,

And danced awa wi' the exciseman;

* 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 M any, 1724.