Like you I vainly trusted then, Great Hercules, and Sampson too, Stout gates of brass, and well-built walls, AULD ROB MORRIS. TUNE-Auld Rob Morris. MOTHER. AULD Rob Morris, that wons in yon glen, DAUGHTER. Haud your tongue, mother, and let that abee; MOTHER. Haud your tongue, dochter, and lay by your pride, DAUGHTER. Auld Rob Morris, I ken him fu' weel, * From Herd's Collection, 1776. He's out-shinn'd, in-kneed, and ringle-eyed too; MOTHER. Though auld Rob Morris be an elderly man, DAUGHTER. But auld Rob Morris I never will hae, His back is so stiff, and his beard is grown grey; Sae mair o' Rob Morris I never will hear. * HEY FOR A LASS WI' A TOCHER! BURNS. TUNE-Ballinamona and Ora. Awa wi' your witchcraft o' beauty's alarms, The nice yellow guineas for me! Your beauty's a flower in the morning that blows, And e'en when this beauty your bosom has bless'd, From the Tea-Table Miscellany (1724,) where it is printed with the signature Q. But the sweet yellow darlings, wi' Geordie imprest, The langer ye ha'e them, the mair they're carest. AE FOND KISS. BURNS. Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, I'll ne'er blame thy partial fancy, Fare thee well, thou first and fairest ! Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, STREPHON AND LYDIA. WILLIAM WALLACE, ESQ. ALL lovely, on the sultry beach, No hand the cordial draught to reach, Far distant from the mournful scene, And all the spring to please. POLWARTH, ON THE GREEN.† RAMSAY. TUNE-Polwarth on the Green. AT Polwarth, on the Green, If you'll meet me the morn, To dance around the thorn; This Song was written by William Wallace, Esq. of Cairnhill, in Ayrshire, upon the fate of an unfortunate couple who figured in fashionable society at Edinburgh during the earlier half of the last century. Strephon was a gentleman commonly known by the name of Beau Gibson, and Lydia was a lady celebrated in the poems of Mr Hamilton of Bangour, under the title of Gentle Jean. Having met frequently at public places, they formed a reciprocal attachment, which their friends thought dangerous, as their resources were by no means adequate to their tastes and habits of life. To elude the bad consequences of such a connexion, Strephon was sent abroad with a commission, and perished in Admiral Vernon's expedition to Carthagena. Polwarth is a small primitive-looking parish-village in the centre of Berwickshire, with a green, in the centre of which three thorns grow within a little enclosure. These trees are the successors of one aged thorn, which, A kindly welcome you shall meet A lover and a lad complete, Let dorty dames say Na, At Polwarth, on the Green, AWA, WHIGS, AWA! TUNE-Awa, Whigs, awa! OUR thistles flourish'd fresh and fair, Awa, Whigs, awa ! Awa, Whigs, awa! after keeping its place there for centuries, was blown down some years ago. It was formerly the custom of the villagers, who are a simple race, and were formerly vassals to the Earl of Marchmont, whose seat is in the neighbourhood, to dance round this venerable tree at weddings; which they are said to have done in consequence of a romantic incident in the history of the noble family just mentioned. The song first appeared in the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724. |