Blythe Bessie in the milking shiel,
Says "I'll be wed, come o't what will":
Out spake a dame in wrinkled eild";
"O gude advisement comes nae ill.
"It's ye hae wooers mony ane,
And lassie, ye're but young ye ken;
Then wait a wee, and cannie wale b
A routhie butt, a routhie ben©;
There's Johnie o' the Buskie-glen,
Fu' is his barn, fu' is his byre;
Take this frae me, my bonie hen,
It's plenty beetsd the luver's fire."
"For Johnie o' the Buskie-glen,
I dinna care a single flie;
He lo'es sae weel his craps and kye,
He has nae love to spare
for me
;
But blythe's the blink o' Robie's e'e,
And weel I wat he lo'es me dear:
Ae blink o' him I wad na gie
For Buskie-glen and a' his gear.”
"O thoughtless lassie, life's a faught;
The canniest gate, the strife is sair;
But aye fu'-han't' is fechtin best,
A hungry care's an unco care:
But some will spend and some will spare,
An' wilfu' folk maun hae their will;
Syne as ye brew, my maiden fair,
Keep mind that ye maun drink the yill."
"O gear will buy me rigs o' land,
And gear will buy me sheep and kye;
But the tender heart o' leesome love,
The gowd and siller canna buy;
• a well-provided house. ' full-handed.
BESSY AND HER SPINNIN WHEEL
We may be poor-Robie and I-
Light is the burden love lays on;
Content and love brings peace and joy-
What mair hae Queens upon a throne?"
Bessy and her Spinnin Wheel.1
• dear to me is.
• thatched.
I linnets.
O LEEZE me on my spinnin-wheel,
And leeze me on my rock and reel;
Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien,b
And haps me bield and warm at e'en;
I'll set me down and sing and spin,
While laigh descends the simmer sun,
Blest wi' content, and milk and meal,
O leeze me on my spinnin-wheel.
On ilka hand the burnies trot,
And meet below my theekite cot;
The scented birk and hawthorn white,
Across the pool their arms unite,
Alike to screen the birdie's nest,
And little fishes' caller' rest;
The sun blinks kindly in the beil',
Where blythe I turn my spinnin-wheel.
Wi' sma' to sell and less to buy,
Aboon distress, below envy,
O wha wad leave this humble state,
For a' the pride of a' the great?
Amid their flairing, idle toys,
Amid their cumbrous, dinsome joys,
Can they the peace and pleasure feel
Of Bessie at her spinnin-wheel?
Fragment of Song.1
No cold approach, no altered mien,
Just what would make suspicion start;
No pause the dire extremes between,
He made me blest-and broke my heart.
Love for Love.2
ITHERS seek they ken na what,
Features, carriage, and a' that;
Gie me love in her I court,
Love to love maks a' the sport.
Let love sparkle in her e'e;
Let her lo'e nae man but me;
That's the tocher-gudea I prize,
There the luver's treasure lies.
Saw ye Bonie Lesley.3
O SAW ye bonie Lesley,
As she gaed o'er the Border?
She's gane, like Alexander,
To spread her conquests farther.
marriage-portion.
1 Added by Burns to a song by Miss Cranstoun, a sister of Scott's friend.
2 Added by Burns to a song in the Tea Table Miscellany.
3 Miss Lesley Baillie was Burns's
inspiration. In August 1794, Burns accompanied this lady and her father during part of their journey to the Border.
To see her is to love her,
And love but her for ever;
For Nature made her what she is,
And never made anither!
Thou art a queen, fair Lesley,
Thy subjects, we before thee;
Thou art divine, fair Lesley,
The hearts o' men adore thee.
The deil he could na scaith thee,
Or aught that wad belang thee;
He'd look into thy bonie face,
And say "I canna wrang thee!"
The Powers aboon will tent thee,
Misfortune sha'na steer thee;
Thou'rt like themselves sae lovely,
That ill they'll ne'er let near thee.
Return again, fair Lesley,
Return to Caledonie!
That we may brag we hae a lass
There's nane again sae bonie.
I'll meet thee on the Lea Rig.1
WHEN o'er the hill the e'ening 2 star
Tells bughtin time is near, my jo,
And owsen frae the furrow'd field
Return sae dowf" and weary 0;
Down by the burn, where birken buds
Wi' dew are hangin clear, my jo,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.
a the time for folding the sheep.
1 Suggested by an older song.
The text of Currie & Thomson has
the following variants :
eastern.
3 "scented birks.
At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,1
I'd rove, and ne'er be eerie O,
If thro' that glen I gaed to thee,
My ain kind Dearie 0;
Altho' the night were ne'er sae wild,2
And I were ne'er sae weary O,
I'll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.
The hunter lo'es the morning sun;
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher takes the glen
Adown the burn to steer, my jo:
Gie me the hour o' gloamin grey,
It maks my heart sae cheery O,
To meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie 0.
My Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing.3
Air-"My Wife's a Wanton Wee Thing."
Chorus.-She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a handsome wee thing,
She is a lo❜esome wee thing,
This dear wee wife o' mine.
|