"Nae hame have I," the minstrel said; I wander through a wreath o' snaw." : Wi' tottering step he reached the spence, LASSIE, LIE NEAR ME. DR BLACKLOCK. TUNE-Laddie, lie near me. LANG hae we parted been, The first three and a half stanzas of this poem were published, as a fragment, in Johnson's Musical Museum, Part IV, 1792; having been sent to the editor of that work in an anonymous letter, which bore, however, the Newcastle post-mark. They were at first attributed to Burns, but were afterwards discovered to be the composition of William Pickering, a poor North of England poet, who never wrote any thing else of the least merit. The additional lines have been presented to the editor of this work by their author, Captain Charles Gray, of the Royal Marines, author of the lively drinking song to the tune of " Andro and his Cutty Gun," inserted in another part of this collection. Near me, near me, Lassie, lie near me. Lang hast thou lain thy lane; A' that I hae endured, Lassie, my dearie, Here in thy arms is cured; THOU'RT GANE AWA. TUNE-Haud awa frac me, Donald. THOU'RT gane awa, thou'rt gane awa, That ought would alter thee, Mary; Whate'er he said or might pretend, That staw that heart o' thine, Mary, Though you've been false, yet, while I live, * From Johnson's Musical Museum, Part III, 1790. Let friends forget, as I forgive, Thy wrongs to them and me, Mary. Half what I've done for thee, Mary.* WHEN SHE CAM BEN SHE BOBBIT. TUNE-The Laird o' Cockpen. O WHEN she cam ben she bobbit fu' law, And wasna Cockpen richt saucy witha', O never look doun, my lassie, at a', Thy lips are as sweet, and thy figure complete, Though thou hae nae silk and holland sae sma', From Johnson's Musical Museum, Part III, 1790. From Johnson's Musical Museum, Part IV, 1792. There is, however, an earlier and less delicate version in Herd's Collection, 1776. The present was probably improved for Johnson by Burns. THE CAMPBELLS ARE COMING. TUNE-The Campbells are coming. THE Campbells are coming, O-ho, O-ho! Upon the Lomonds I lay, I lay; Upon the Lomonds I lay; I lookit doun to bonnie Lochleven, The Campbells are coming, &c... Great Argyle he goes before; He makes the cannons and guns to roar; The Campbells they are a' in arms, The Campbells are coming, O-ho, O-ho!* MERRY HAE I BEEN TEETHING A HECKLE. TUNE-Lord Breadalbane's March. O MERRY hae I been teething a heckle, * From Johnson's Musical Museum, Part III, 1790; where it is insinuated, as an on dit, that it was composed on the imprisonment of Queen Mary in Lochleven Castle. The Lomonds are two well-known hills, overhanging Lochleven to the east, and visible from Edinburgh. The air is the well-known family tune or march of the Clan Campbell. O merry hae I been cloutin a kettle, And a' the lang day I whistle and sing; Bitter in dule I lickit my winnins, O' marrying Bess, to gie her a slave: Blest be the hour she cooled in her linens, And blythe be the bird that sings over her grave! Come to my arms, my Katie, my Katie, And come to my arms, my Katie again! Drucken or sober, here's to thee, Katie ! And blest be the day I did it again!* WHISTLE OWER THE LAVE O’T. BURNS, TUNE-Whistle ower the lave o't. FIRST when Maggie was my care, * From Johnson's Musical Museum, Part III, 1790. The object of this Bong seems to be a delineation of the light sentiments which a gipsy or tinker may be supposed to entertain on the sacred subject of matrimony. That it is not overcharged, I can attest by an anecdote of a person in a similar rank in society-Gingebreid Ned, who may be remembered by many of my readers as a noted figure at the south-country fairs, from thirty to forty years ago; it being his profession to deal in gingerbread. Ned had been married in his time to no fewer than seven wives, each of whom-at least scandal never asserted the contrary-had died before her successor came upon the carpet. Somebody asked the fellow one day what he thought of himself for having gone through such an immense number of spouses, or what was the chief impression of his mind on the subject. "Deed, sir," answered the man of gingerbread, "a' that I can say about it, is, that I aye got an auld kist wi' them, and they took away a new ane!" The first chest was that in which they brought their clothes, &c. (called in Scotland their providing ;) the second was the coffin which transported them to the grave. |