An' ev'ry now an' then he says,
Hemp-seed I saw thee,

6

An' her that is to be my lass,
Come after me, and draw thee,
As fast this night.'

He whistl'd up Lord Lenox' 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.

He roar'd a horrid murder-shout,
In dreadfu' desperation!

An' young an' auld came rinnin out

To hear the sad narration:

He swoor 'twas hilchin Jean M'Craw,
Or crouchie Merran Humphie,
Till stop! she trotted thro' them a';
An' wha was it but Grumphie

Asteer that night!

Meg fain wad to the barn gane
To win three wechts o' naething 12;
But for to meet the deil her lane,

She pat but little faith in :

12 This charm must likewise be performed unperceived, and alone. You go to the barn and open both doors, taking them off the hinges, if possible; for there is danger that the being, about to appear, may shut the doors, and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the

She gies the herd a pickle nits,
And twa red-cheekit apples,

To watch, while for the barn she sets,
In hopes to see Tam Kipples

That vera night,

She turns the key wi' cannie thraw,
An' owre the threshold ventures;
But first on Sawnie gies a ca',
Syne bauldly in she enters;
A ratton rattled up the wa',

An' she cried, L-d preserve her!
An' ran thro' midden-hole an' a',
An' pray'd wi' zeal an' fervour,
Fu' fast that night.

They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice;
They hecht him some fine braw ane;
It chanc'd the stack he faddom'd thrice13
Was timmer-propt for thrawin:
He taks a swirlie auld moss-oak,
For some black, grousome carlin;
An' loot a winze, an' drew a stroke,
Till skin in blypes came haurlin

Aff's nieves that night.

corn, which, in our country dialect, we call a wecht; and go through all the attitudes of letting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times; and the third time an apparition will pass through the barn, in at the windy door, and out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the appearance or retinue, marking the employment or station in life.

13 Take an opportunity of going, unnoticed, to a Bearstack, and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time, you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow.

A wanton widow Leezie was,

As canty as a kittlen;

But och! that night, amang the shaws,

She got a fearfu' settlin!

She thro' the wins, an' by the cairn,

An' owre the hill gaed scrievin,
Whare three lairds' lands met at a burn '4,
To dip her left sark-sleeve in,

Was bent that night.

Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays,
As thro' the glen it wimpl't;
Whyles round a rocky scar it strays;
Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't;
Whyles glitter'd to the nightly rays,
Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle;
Whyles cookit underneath the braes,
Below the spreading hazel,

Unseen that night.

Amang the brachens, on the brae,
Between her an' the moon,
The deil, or else an outler quey,
Gat up an' gae a croon:
Poor Leezie's heart maist lap the hool;
Near lav'rock height she jumpit,
But mist a fit, an' in the pool

Out-owre the lugs she plumpit,

Wi' a plunge that night.

14 You go out, one or more (for this is a social spell), to a south running spring or rivulet, where three lairds' lands meet,' and dip your left shirt sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet sleeve before it to dry. Lie awake; and some time near midnight, an apparition, having the exact figure of the grand object in question, will come and turn the sleeve, as if to dry the other side of it.

15

In order, on the clean hearth-stane,
The luggies three are ranged,
And ev'ry time great care is ta'en,
To see them duly changed:
Auld uncle John, wha wedlock's joys
Sin Mar's year did desire,

Because he gat the toom dish thrice,
He heav'd them on the fire

In wrath that night.

Wi' merry sangs, an' friendly cracks,
I wat they didna weary;
An' unco tales, an' funnie jokes,

Their sports were cheap an' cheery;
Till butter'd so'ns, wi' fragrant lunt,
Set a' their gabs a steerin;

Syne, wi' a social glass o' strunt,
They parted aff careerin

Fu' blythe that night.

15 Take three dishes; put clean water in one, foul water in another, leave the third empty: blindfold a person, and lead him to the hearth where the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand: if by chance in the clean water, the future husband or wife will come to the bar of matrimony a maid: if in the foul, a widow: if in the empty dish, it foretells, with equal certainty, no marriage at all. It is repeated three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered.

16 Sowens, with butter instead of milk to them, is always the Halloween Supper.

THE JOLLY BEGGARS.

A Cantata.

RECITATIVO.

WHEN lyart leaves bestrew the yird,
Or, wavering like the bauckie bird,
Bedim cauld Boreas' blast:
When hailstanes drive wi' bitter skyte,
And infant frosts begin to bite,
In hoary cranreugh drest;
Ae night, at e'en, a merry core
O' randie gangrel bodies,
In Poosie-Nansie's held the splore,
To drink their orra duddies:
Wi' quaffing and laughing,
They ranted and they sang;
Wi' jumping and thumping
The vera girdle rang.

First, niest the fire, in auld red

rags,

Ane sat, weel brac'd wi' mealy bags,

And knapsack a' in order;
His doxy lay within his arm,
Wi' usquebae and blankets warm,
She blinket on her sodger;
And aye he gies the tousie drab
The tither skelpin kiss,

While she held up her greedy gab,
Just like an a'mous dish;

1 The old Scottish name for the Bat.