The following fragments occur in Burns' Common Place Book. Mr. Allan Cunningham says, "The Prose portion has been copied from Currie and from Cromek, with some slight additions, and the verses are from another source." He adds, "In several places small but necessary liberties have been taken with the language. It would have been unwise to omit verses so characteristic, and they would have offended many had they appeared as they stand in the original." YE hae lien a' wrang, lassie, Ye've lien a' wrang; And wi a fremit man. O ance ye danced upon the knowes But in herrying o' a bee byke, O GIE my love brose, brose, The muirhen lo'es the heather; But gie me a braw moonlight, LASS, when your mither is frae hame, Young man, gif ye should be sae kind, The way to me lies through the kirk; I MET a lass, a bonnie lass, And handsome ilka bit about her. Weel I wat she was a quean Wad made a body's mouth to water; Our mess John, wi' his lyart pow, His haly lips wad lickit at her. O WAT ye what my minnie did, My minnie did, my minnie did, O wat ye what my minnie did, On Tysday 'teen to me, jo? She laid me in a saft bed, A saft bed, a saft bed, She laid me in a saft bed, An' wat ye what the parson did, He loosed on me a lang man, A mickle man, a strang man, He loosed on me a lang man, That might hae worried me, jo. An' I was but a young thing, O CAN ye labour lea, young man, Gae back the gate ye cam' again, I feed a man at Martinmas, He couldna labour lea. The stibble rig is easy plough'd, The fallow land is free; JENNY M'Craw, she has ta'en to the heather, Their leagues and their covenants a' she has ta'en; LORD, we thank an' thee adore, THE last braw bridal that I was at, And there was routh o' drink and fun, The bells they rang, and the carlins sang, The bride went to bed wi' the silly bridegroom, THERE came a piper out o' Fife, And ay the mair he hotch'd an' blew, The mair that she forbade him. THE black-headed eagle As keen as a beagle, He hunted o'er height and owre howe; But fell in a trap On the braes o' Gemappe, E'en let him come out as he dowe. |