He grippet Nelly hard an' fast
Loud skirl'd a' the lasses;
But her tap-pickle maist was lost,
When kintlin in the fause-house*

Wi' him that night.

VII.

The auld guidwife's weel hoordet nitst
Are round an' round divided,
An' monie lads an' lasses' fates,

Are there that night decided:
Some kindle, couthie, sid. by side,
An' burn thegither trimly;

Some start awa wi' saucy pride,
And jump out-owre the chimlie

Fu' high that night.

VIII.

Jean slips in twa wi' tentie e'e;
Wha 'twas she wadna tell;
But this is Jock, and this

She says in to hersel:

me,

He bleez'd owre her, an' she owre him,
As they wad never mair part!
Till luff! he started up the lum,
An' Jean had e'en a sair heart

To see't that night.

*When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being o green, or wet, the stack-builder, by means of old mber, &c, makes a large apartment in his stack, with opening in the side which is fairest exposed to the ind; this he calls a fause-house.

Burning the nuts is a famous charm. They name e lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay em in the fire, and accordingly as they burn quietly gether, or start from beside one another, the course d issue of the courtship will be.

IX.

Poor Willie, wi' his bow-kail-runt,
Was brunt wi' primsie Mallie;
An' Mallie, nae doubt, took the drunt,
To be compar'd to Willie;
Mall's nit lap out wi' pridefu' fling,
An' her ain fit it brunt it;

While Willie lap, and swoor by jing,
'Twas just the way he wanted

X.

To be that night.

Nell had the fause-house in her min',
She pits hersel an' Rob in;
In loving bleeze they sweetly join,
Till white in ase they're sobbin:
Nell's heart was dancin at the view,
She whisper'd Rob to leuk for't:
Rob, stowlins, prie'd her bonnie mou,
Fu' cozie in the neuk for't,

XI.

Unseen that night.

But Merran sat behint their backs,
Her thoughts on Andrew Bell;
She lea'es them gashin at their cracks,
And slips out by hersel:

She thro' the yard the nearest taks,
An' to the kiln she goes then,

An' darklins grapit for the banks,

And in the blue-clue* throws then,

Right fear't that night.

*Whoever would, with success, try this spell, must strictly observe these directions: Steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and, darkling, throw into the pot a clue of

XII.

An' ay she win't, an' ay she swat,
I wat she made nae jaukin;
Till something held within the pat,
Guid L-d but she was quakin!
But whether 'twas the Deil himsel,
Or whether 'twas a bauk-en',
Or whether it was Andrew Bell,
She did na wait on talkin

To spier that night.

XIII.

Wee Jenny to her graunie says,
"Will ye go wi' me, graunie?
I'll eat the apple* at the glass,
I gat frae uncle Johnnie:"
She fuff't her pipe wi' sick a lunt,
In wrath she was sae vap'rin,
She notic't na, an aizle brunt
Her braw new worset apron

XIV

Out thro' that night.

"Ye little skelpie limmer's face!
How daur you try sic sportin,
As seek the foul Thief onie place,
For him to spae your fortune?

blue yarn; wind it in a new clue off the old one; and towards the latter end, something will hold the thread; demand, Wha hauds? i. e. Who holds? An answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the christian and surname of your future spouse.

*Take a candle, and go alone to a looking-glass; eat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjugal companion to be, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder.

Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
Great cause ye have to fear it;
For monie a ane has gotten a fright,
An' lived an' died deleeret

XV.

On sic a night.

"Ae hairest afore the Sherra-moor,
I mind't as weel's yestreen,
I was a gylpey then, I'm sure
I was nae past fyfteen;

The simmer had been cauld an' wat,

An' stuff was unco green;

An' ay a rantin kirn we gat,

An' just on Halloween

It fell that night.

XVI.

"Our stibble-rig was Rab M'Graem,
A clever, sturdy fallow;

He's sin' gat Eppie Sim wi' wean,
That liv'd in Achmacalla:
He gat hemp-seed,* I mind it weel,
An' he made unco-light o't;
But monie a day was by himsel,
He was sae sairly frightet

That vera night."

Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of hemp-seed; harrowing it with any thing you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then, "Hemp-seed I saw thee, hemp-seed I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my true-love, come after me and pou thee." Look over your left shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, "Come

XVII.

Then up gat fetchin Jamie Fleck,
An' he swoor by his conscience,
That he could saw hemp-seed a peck;
For it was a' but nonsense:

The auld guidman raught down the peck,
An' out a handfu' gied him;

Syne bad him slip frae 'mang the folk,
Some time when nae ane see'd him,
An' try't that night.

XVIII.

He marches thro' amang the stacks,
Tho' he was something sturtin;
The graip he for a harrow taks,
An' haurls at his curpin:
An' ev'ry now an' then, he says'
Hemp-seed I saw thee,

66

An' her that is to be my lass,
Come after me, and draw thee

As fast this night."

XIX.

He whistl'd up Lord Lennox' march,
To keep his courage cheery;
Altho' his hair began to arch,
He was sae fley'd an' eerie;
Till presently he hears a squeak,
An' then a grane an' gruntle:
He by his shouther gae a keek,
An' tumbl'd wi' a wintle

Out-owre that night.

after me, and shaw thee;" that is, show thyself: in which case, it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say, "Come after me, and harrow thee, "VOL. II-C