THE LASS O' PATIE'S MILL.*

RAMSAY.

TUNE_The Lass o' Fatie's Mill.

heart away.

The lass o' Patie's Mill,

Sae bonnie, blythe, and gay,
In spite of a' my skill,
She stole

ту
When teddin out the hay,

Bareheaded on the green,
Love mid her locks did play,

And wanton'd in her een.

Without the help of art,
Like flowers that grace

the wild,
She did her sweets impart,

Whene'er she spak or smild:
Her looks they were so mild,

Free from affected pride,
She me to love beguild;
I wish'd her for

my

bride.

Oh! had I a' the wealth

Hopetoun's high mountains fill,

* The scene of this song lies on the southern bank of the Irvine Water, near Newmills, in the eastern part of Ayrshire. I visited the spot in September 1826, and took an exact note of the locality. Patie's Mill, or rather Pate's Mill, for the poet seems to have eked out the name for the sake of his versification, stands about a stone-cast from the town of Newmills, and a mile from Loudoun Castle. The mill and all the contiguous tenements have been renewed since Ramsay's time, except part of one cottage. They occupy both sides of the road to Galston. A field is pointed out at the distance of two hundred yards from the mill, as that in which “the lass" was working at the time she was seen by the poet. Ramsay had been taking a forenoon ride with the Earl of Loudoun along the opposite bank of the river, when they observed the rural nymph, and the Earl pointed her out to his companion as a fit subject for his muse. Allan hung behind his lordship, in order to compose what was required, and produced the song at the dinner-table that afternoon.

One stanza, too minutely descriptive of her charms, is omitted in the above copy. The song appeared for the first time in the Tea-Table Mis. cellany, 1724.

Insured lang life and health,

And pleasure at my will ;
I'd promise, and fulfil,

That nane but bonnie she,
The lass o' Patie's Mill,

Should share the same wi' me.

THE YELLOW-HAIR’D LADDIE.

[OLD VERSES.]

TUNE- The yellow-hair'd Laddie.
The yellow-hair'd laddie sat doun on yon brae,
Cried, Milk the yowes, lassie, let nane o' them gae;
And aye as she milkit, she merrily sang,
The yellow-bair’d laddie shall be my gudeman.

And aye as she milkit, she merrily sang,
The yellow-hair'd laddie shall be my gudeman.

The weather is cauld, and my cleadin is thin,
The yowes are new clipt, and they winna bucht in ;
They winna bucht in, although I should dee:
Oh, yellow-bair'd laddie, be kind unto me.

The gudewife cries butt the house, Jennie, come ben; The cheese is to mak, and the butter's to kirn. Though butter, and cheese, and a should gang sour, I'll crack and I'll kiss wi' my love ae half hour.

It's ae lang balf hour, and we'll e'en mak it three, For the yellow-hair’d laddie my gudeman shall be.*

* From the Tea-Table Miscellany, 1724.

THE YELLOW-HAIR’D LADDIE.

[NEW VERSES.]

RAMSAY.

TUNE-The Yellow-hair'd Laddie. In April, when primroses paint the sweet plain, And summer approaching rejoiceth the swain, The yellow-bair'd laddie would oftentimes go To woods and deep glens where the hawthorn trees

grow.

There, under the shade of an old sacred thorn,
With freedom he sung his loves, evening and morn:
He sung with so soft and enchanting a sound,
That sylvans and fairies, unseen, danced around.
The shepherd thus sung : “ Though young Maddie be

fair, Her beauty is dash'd with a scornful proud air ; But Susie was handsome, and sweetly could sing ; Her breath's like the breezes perfumed in the spring. “ That Maddie, in all the gay bloom of her youth, Like the moon, was inconstant, and never spoke truth; But Susie was faithful, good-humour'd, and free, And fair as the goddess that sprung from the sea. “ That mamma's fine daughter, with all her great

dower,
Was awkwardly airy, and frequently sour.”
Then sighing, he wish’d, would but parents agree,
The witty sweet Susie his mistress might be.*

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

GRADUATE LIBRARY

DATE DUE