Grat his e'en baith blear't an' blin'
Spak o' lowpin o'er a linn;

b

Ha, ha, the wooing o't.

Time and Chance are but a tide,
Ha, ha, the wooing o't,
Slighted love is sair to bide,

Ha, ha, the wooing o't:
Shall I like a fool, quoth he,
For a haughty hizzie die?
She may gae to-France for me!
Ha, ha, the wooing o't.

How it comes let doctors tell,
Ha, ha, the wooing o't;
Meg grew sick, as he grew hale,
Ha, ha, the wooing o't.
Something in her bosom wrings,
For relief a sigh she brings :

And oh her een they spak sic things!
Ha, ha, the wooing o't.

Duncan was a lad o' grace,

Ha, ha, the wooing o't:
Maggie's was a piteous case,

Ha, ha, the wooing o't:
Duncan could na be her death,
Swelling Pity smoor'd his wrath;
Now they're crouse and canty baith,
Ha, ha, the wooing o't.

Here's a Health to Them that's Awa.1

HERE'S a health to them that's awa,

Here's a health to them that's awa;

And wha winna wish gude luck to our cause,
May never gude luck be their fa'!

HEALTH TO THEM THAT'S AWA

It's gude to be merry and wise,

It's gude to be honest and true;
It's gude to support Caledonia's cause,
And bide by the buff and the blue.1

Here's a health to them that's awa,

2

Here's a health to them that's awa,
Here's a health to Charlie the chief o' the clan,
Altho' that his band be but sma'!
May Liberty meet wi' success!

May Prudence protect her frae evil!
May tyrants and tyranny tine i' the mist,
And wander their way to the devil!

Here's a health to them that's awa,

8

Here's a health to them that's awa; Here's a health to Tammie, the Norlan' laddie, That lives at the lug o' the law!

Here's freedom to them that wad read,

Here's freedom to them that wad write,
There's nane ever fear'd that the truth should be heard,
But they whom the truth would indite.b

Here's a health to them that's awa,

An' here's to them that's awa!

Here's to Maitland and Wycombe, let wha doesna like 'em Be built in a hole in the wa':

Here's timmer that's red at the heart,

And

Here's fruit that is sound at the core;

may he that wad turn the buff and blue coat
Be turn'd to the back o' the door."

Here's a health to them that's awa,

Here's a health to them that's awa;

Here's chieftain M'Leod," a chieftain worth gowd,
Tho' bred amang mountains o' snaw;

a lose their way.

b indict, prosecute.

5 This verse was first included in the Kilmarnock edition of 1871.

6 M'Leod of Dunvegan, a prominent Reformer.

Here's friends on baith sides o' the firth,
And friends on baith sides o' the Tweed;
And wha wad betray old Albion's right,
May they never eat of her bread!

A Tippling Ballad

On the Duke of Brunswick's Breaking up his Camp, and the Defeat of the Austrians, by Dumourier, November 1792.1

WHEN Princes and Prelates,

And hot-headed zealots,

A' Europe had set in a low, a low,

The poor man lies down,

Nor envies a crown,

And comforts himself as he dow, as he dow,

And comforts himself as he dow.

The black-headed eagle,

As keen as a beagle,

He hunted o'er height and o'er howe,"

In the braes o' Gemappe,

He fell in a trap,

E'en let him come out as he dow, dow, dow,

E'en let him come out as he dow.

But truce with commotions,
And new-fangled notions,
A bumper, I trust you'll allow;
Here's George our good king,

And Charlotte his queen,

And lang may they ring as they dow, dow, dow,

And lang may they ring as they dow.

1 The title explains the occasion: Burns's political sentiments supply the rest.

O POORTITH CAULD

On Politics.1

IN Politics if thou would'st mix,
And mean thy fortunes be;
Bear this in mind, be deaf and blind,
Let great folk hear and see.

Poortith Cauld and Restless Love.2

Tune-"Cauld Kail in Aberdeen.”

O POORTITH Cauld, and restless love.
Ye wrack my peace between ye;
Yet poortith a' I could forgive,
An 'twere na for my Jeanie.

Chorus-O why should Fate sic pleasure have,
Life's dearest bands untwining?

Or why sae sweet a flower as love
Depend on Fortune's shining?

The warld's wealth, when I think on,
It's pride and a' the lave" o't;

O fie on silly coward man,

That he should be the slave o't!
O why, &c.

Her e'en, sae bonie blue, betray
How she repays my passion;
But prudence is her o'erword aye,
She talks o' rank and fashion.
O why, &c.

⚫ poverty.

b rest.

1 Written, as was Burns's way, on a pane of glass in a tavern. His politics, being reported to his official superiors, caused him a good deal of anxiety.

2 A Miss Jean Lorimer,-"Chloris " -was mistress of Burns's heart at this period.

c burden of her talk.
Another version of the chorus is:-
For weel I lo'e my Jeanie, 0,
I doat upon my Jeanie, O;
How happy I, were she my ain,
Tho' I had ne'er a guinea, O.'

BRAW, braw lads on Yarrow-braes,
They rove amang the blooming heather;
But Yarrow braes, nor Ettrick shawsb
Can match the lads o' Galla Water.

But there is ane, a secret ane,
Aboon them a' I loe him better;
And I'll be his, and he'll be mine,
The bonie lad o' Galla Water.

Altho' his daddie was nae laird,

And tho' I hae nae meikle tocher,

Yet rich in kindest, truest love,

We'll tent our flocks by Galla Water.

It ne'er was wealth, it ne'er was wealth,
That cofta contentment, peace, or pleasure.

The bands and bliss o' mutual love,

& afraid.

O that's the chiefest warld's treasure.

b groves.

1 Based on an old song about the Pringles of Torwoodlee and other