O'er thae scenes o' past delight The lov'd resorts o' Mary, O. Above that vault sae starry, O! ས་ MUCKING O' GEORDIE'S BYRE. As I went over yon meadow, And the shooling the gruip sae clean, It was nae my father's intention, Though the roads were ever sae filthy, I wad ay be ganging wi' Geordie; The mucking, &c. * We have not been able to learn the name of the writer of the original of this song. The copy here given has been altered by the author of The days o' auld langsyne, who has also added to it the second stanza. My brither abuses me daily, The mucking, &c. But weel do I like my young Geordie, ** * This piece is another of the productions of Balloon Tytler. In addition to the information BURNS gives respecting this singular character, in his note on the Bonnie brucket lassie, page 136, the Editor is enabled to add the following from a short account of him written by Dr. CURRIE-JAMES TYTLER was the son of a country Clergyman in the Presbytery of Brechin. He received a classical education, and was brought up to the profession of medicine, which he followed for some time in Leith, in Berwick, and in Newcastle. Not meeting with success, however, in consequence of a too great attention to religious disputes, he abandoned this profession, commenced author and printer at the same time, and, for a while, continued regularly to print and publish his own works. His publications ultimately brought him into the notice of the booksellers, and from them he afterwards found constant employment in compilations, abridgements, translations, and miscellaneous essays. During his literary career, his labours, for their magnitude and extent, were truly astonishing; but as they scarcely produced him the means of subsistence, in consequence of the parsimony of his employers, he turned a portion of his attention to chemistry, electricity, and mechanics, in which sciences he made some useful discoveries that he thought might be turned to advantage. But the roguery of an individual to whom he communicated one of his most important discoveries, and the total failure of many of his other schemes, at length began to prey upon his spirits; and, though LAST MAY A BRAW WOOER. TUNE-" The Lothian Lassie." LAST May a braw wooer cam down the lang glen, I said there was naething I hated like men, He spak o' the darts o' my bonnie black een, A weel stocket mailen, himsel for the laird, But thought I might get a waur offer, waur offer, otherwise a man of great modesty of disposition and integrity of character, he finally suffered his social propensities to violate the rules of sobriety. "Forgetting his old friends, he associated with discontented persons, and entered into a deliberate exposition of the abuses of government in A Pamphlet on the Excise,' and more systematically in a periodical publication, entitled, The Historical Register,' which gratified malignity by personal invective and intemperance of language. He was concerned in the wild, irrational plans of the British convention, and published A hand bill addressed to the people,' written in so inflammatory a style, as rendered him obnoxious to government. A warrant was issued to apprehend him, and he left his native country and crossed the Atlantic for America, where he fixed his residence in the town of Salem, in the state of Massachusetts, where he established a newspaper in connexion with a printer, which he continued till his death, which happened in the year 1805, in the 58th year of his age." But what do ye think? in a fortnight or less, Sae a' the niest week as I fretted wi' care, And wha but my braw fickle wooer was there, But owre my left shouther I gied him a blink, I spier'd for my cousin, fu' couthie and sweet, And how my auld shoon fitted her shachel'd feet, He begged, for Gudesake! I wad be his wife, I think I maun wed him to-morrow, to-morrow, *The following note upon this song is by the Editor of the Works of BURNS." In the original MS. this line (the 3d of verse 4th) runs, He up the Gateslack to my black cousin Bess.' Mr. THOMSON objected to this word, as well as to the word, Dalgarnock in the next verse. Mr. BURNS replies as follows: "Gateslack is the name of a particular place, a kind of pas sage up among the Lawther hills, on the confines of this coun ty. Dalgarnock is also the name of a romantic spot near the Nith, where are still a ruined church and a burial ground. However, let the first line run, • He up the lang loan,' &c. It is always a pity to throw out any thing that gives locality to our poet's verses." SHE LOO'S ME BEST OF A'. TUNE" Onagh's Waterfall." SAE flaxen were her ringlets, Twa laughing een o' bonnie blue. Wad make a wretch forget his woe; Like harmony her motion; Wad make a saint forget the sky, Her faultless form and gracefu' air; Declar'd that she could do nae mair: Let others love the city, And gaudie show at sunnie noon; Gie me the lonely valley, The dewie eve, and rising moon Fair-beaming, and streaming, Her silver light the boughs amang; While falling, recalling, The amorous thrush concludes his sang: R |