⚫ lively. • eddy. HALLOWEEN A wanton widow Leezie was, But och! that night, amang the shaws,b She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn, Was bent that night. Whiles owre a linn the burnie plays, Amang the brachens, on the brae, Poor Leezie's heart maist lap the hool'; Near lav rock-height she jumpit, But mist a fit, an' in the pool i moan. Out-owre the lugs she plumpit, 1 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 d bank. hunhoused young cow. as high as the lark. dry. Lie awake, and, sometime 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.-R. B. TO A MOUSE 1 In order, on the clean hearth-stane, Because he gat the tooma dish thrice, In wrath that night. Wi' merry sangs, an' friendly cracks, Syne, wi' a social glass o' strunt,d They parted aff careerin Fu' blythe that night. To a Mouse.3 ON TURNING HER UP IN HER NEST WITH THE PLOUGH, NOVEMBER 1785. ⚫ empty. WEE, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie, Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! b steam. • mouths in motion. d liquor. ⚫ hasty scamper. 1 Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another, and 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.-R. B. 2 Sowens, with butter instead of milk to them, is always the Halloween Supper.-R. B. The date, November 1785, is the poet's. There is no more beautiful example of sympathy with the beasts, even in the poetry of Burns. His brother Gilbert could point out the place where the mouse was unhoused and made immortal on the spot. TO A MOUSE I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, I'm truly sorry man's dominion, Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal! I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve; 'S a sma' request; I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,d An' never miss't! Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! An' bleak December's winds ensuin, Baith snell' an' keen! Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste, An' weary winter comin fast, An' cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell Till crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro' thy cell. That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble, To thole the winter's sleety dribble, An' cranreuchi cauld! EPITAPH ON JOHN DOVE But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me But och! I backward cast my e'e, On prospects drear! An' forward, tho' I canna see, I guess an' fear! Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper.1 HERE lies Johnie Pigeon; What was his religion Whae'er desires to ken, To some other warl' Maun follow the carl, For here Johnie Pigeon had nane! Strong ale was ablution, Small beer persecution, A dram was memento mori; But a full-flowing bowl Was the saving his soul, And port was celestial glory. a go oft awry. 1 He kept the Whitefoord Arms, in Mauchline, where a Bachelor's Club met. ADAM ARMOUR'S PRAYER Epitaph for James Smith.1 LAMENT him, Mauchline husbands a', For had ye staid hale weeks awa, Your wives they ne'er had miss'd ye. Ye Mauchline bairns, as on ye press Adam Armour's Prayer.2 GUDE pity me, because I'm little! Yet, scarce as lang's a gude kail-whittle,b An' now Thou kens our waefu' case; For whilk we daurna show our face Within the clachan.' |