THE LADDIES BY THE BANKS O'NITH. I gaed up to Dunse, To warp a wab o' plaiden; At his daddie's yett, Wha met me but Robin? Was na Robin bauld, Though I was a cotter, Play'd me sic a trick, And me the eller's dochter? Robin promised me A' my winter vittle; Fient haet he had but three Goose feathers and a whittle. Sweetest May. SWEETEST May, let love inspire thee; The Lass of Eccleferhan. GAT ye me, oh gat ye me, Oh gat ye me wi' naething Rock and reel, and spinnin' wheel, A mickle quarter basin. Bye attour, my gutcher has A hich house and a laigh ane, A' forbye my bonnie sel', The lass of Ecclefcchan. Oh haud your tongue now, Luckie Laing, Oh haud your tongue and jannier; I held the gate till you I met, Syne I began to wander : I tint my whistle and my sang, I tint my peace and pleasure: But your green graff, now, Luckie Laing, Wad airt me to my treasure. On a Ploughman. 255 As I was a-wand'ring ane morning in spring, I heard a young ploughman sae sweetly to sing; And as he was singing these words, he did say, There's nae life like the ploughman's in the mouth o' sweet May. The lav'rock in the morning she'll rise frae her nest, [breast, And mount to the air wi' the dew on her And wi' the merry ploughman she'll whistle and sing, [again. And at night she'll return to her nest back The Wrary and o' Tow. I think my wife will end her life I bought my wife a stane o' lint There sat a bottle in a bole, And Quoth I, for shame, ye dirty dame, At last her feet-I sang to see't- The Laddies by the Banks n' With, (390) TUNE-Up and waur them a'. Berr's a Bottle and an Bonest Friend. THE laddies by the banks o' Nith, HERE'S a bottle and an honest friend! Wha wad ye wish for mair, man? Wha kens, before his life u ay end, What his share may be o' care, man? Then catch the moments as they fly, And use them as ye ought, man :Believe me, happiness is shy, And comes na aye when sought, man. Wad trust his Grace wi' a', Jamie, But he'll sair them as he sair'd the king, Turn tail and rin awa, Jamie. Up and waur them a', Jamie, Up and waur them a'; The Johnstones hae the guidin' o't, Ye turncoat whigs, awa. The day he stude his country's friend, That day the duke ne'er saw, Jamie. And we'll be Johnstones a', Jamie. Another on his Widow. ONE Queen Artemisia, as old stories tell, When deprived of her husband she loved so well, [show'd her, In respect for the love and affection he She reduc'd him to dust, and she drank off the powder. Written on a Window of the Jan AT CARRON. WE cam na here to view your warks But whan we tirled at your door, Your porter dought na hear us; Sae may, should we to hell's yetts come, Your billy Satan sair us! On an Empty Fellow, WHO IN COMPANY ENGROSSED THE CONVERSATION No more of your titled acquaintances boast, The Creed of Poverty. (401) IN politics if thou would'st mix, Written on a Pane of Glass, ON THE OCCASION OF A NATIONAL The True Loyal Latives. (400) YE true "Loyal Natives," attend to my song In uproar and riot rejoice the night long: From envy and hatred your corps is exempt; But where is your shield from the darts o' contempt ? Inscription on a Goblet. THERE'S death in the cup-sae beware! Nay, more-there is danger in touching; But wha can avoid the fell snare? The man and his wine's sae bewitching! Extempore on Mr. Syme. No more of your guests, be they titled or not, And cookery the first in the nation ; Who is proof to thy personal converse and wit, Is proof to all other temptation. To Mr. Sqme, WITH A PRESENT OF A DOZEN OF PORTER. OH, had the malt thy strength of mind, Written in a Lady's Pocket-Book. GRANT me, indulgent Heav'n, that I may live, [give, To see the miscreants feel the pains they Deal freedom's sacred treasures free as air, Till slave and despot be but things which were. Ta Suhn Taylor. (402) Poor slip-shod giddy Pegasus Obliging Vulcan fell to work, Threw by his coat and bonnet, YE Vulcan's sons of Wanlockhead, To Miss Fontenelle, ON SEEING HER IN A FAVOURITE CHARACTER. SWEET naïveté of feature, Simple, wild, enchanting elf, Not to thee, but thanks to Nature, Thou art acting but thyself. Wert thou awkward, stiff, affected, Spurning nature, torturing art; Loves and graces all rejected, Then indeed thou'd'st act a part. The Toast. (403) INSTEAD of a song, boys, I'll give you a toast Here's the memory of those on the twelth that we lost! That we lost, did I say? nay, by Heav'n, that we found; For their fame it shall last while the world goes round. [King! The next in succession, I'll give you—the Whoe'er would betray him, on high may he swing; [tution, And here's the grand fabric, our free ConstiAs built on the base of the great Revolution; And longer with politics not to be cramm'd, Be Anarchy curs'd, and be Tyranny damn'd: And who would to Liberty e'er prove disloyal, May his son be a hangman, and he his first trial. Toast to the Same. (406) FILL me with the rosy wine, Call a toast-a toast divine; Give the poet's darling flame, Lovely Jessy be the name; Then thou mayest freely boast Thou hast given a peerless toast. Epitaph on the Same. (407) SAY, sages, what's the charm on earth To the Same. BUT rarely seen since Nature's birth. Yet still one seraph's left on earth, |