And he wad gae to Lon'on town,
Might nae man him withstan'.

And he wad do their errands weel,
And meikle he wad say,

And ilka ane at Lon'on court
Would bid to him guid-day.

Then next came in a sodger youth,1
And spak wi' modest grace,
And he wad gae to Lon'on town,
If sae their pleasure was.

He wadna hecht them courtly gifts,

Nor meikle speech pretend,

But he wad hecht an honest heart

Wad ne'er desert a friend.

promise

Now, wham to choose, and wham refuse,

At strife thir carlines fell;

For some had gentle folks to please,
And some wad please themsel'.

these

Then out spak mim-mou❜ed Meg o' prim-mouthed Nith,

And she spak up wi' pride,

And she wad send the sodger youth,

Whatever might betide.

1 Captain Miller.

For the auld guidman o' Lon'on court1
She didna care a pin;

But she wad send the sodger youth

To greet his eldest son.2

Then up sprang Bess o' Annandale,
And a deadly aith she's ta'en,
That she wad vote the Border knight,
Though she should vote her lane.

For far-aff fowls hae feathers fair,
And fools o' change are fain;
But I hae tried the Border knight,
And I'll try him yet again.

Says Black Joan frae Crichton Peel,

A carline stoor and grim,

alone

austere

"The auld guidman, and the young guidman,

For me may sink or swim.

"For fools will freit o' right or wrang,

While knaves laugh them to scorn;

But the sodger's friends hae blawn the best, So he shall bear the horn."

Then Whisky Jean spak owre her drink,

"Ye weel ken, kimmers a',

1 The King.

2 The Prince of Wales.

gossips

8 Talk superstitiously.

The auld guidman o' Lon'on court
His back's been at the wa';

estranged

"And monie a friend that kissed his cup
Is now a fremit wight:
But it's ne'er be said o' Whisky Jean —
I'll send the Border knight."

Then slow raise Marjory o' the Lochs,
And wrinkled was her brow,

Her ancient weed was russet gray,
Her auld Scots bluid was true; 1

"There's some great folks set light by meI set as light by them;

But I will send to Lon'on town

Wham I like best at hame.

"Sae how this weighty plea may end
Nae mortal wight can tell :
God grant the king and ilka man
May look weel to himsel."

1 It may not be unworthy of notice that this verse was one in great favor with Sir Walter Scott, who used to recite it with good effect.

THE BLUE-EYED LASSIE.1

Mr. Jeffrey, the clergyman of Lochmaben, had a daughter, a sweet blue-eyed young creature, who at one of Burns's visits, did the honors of the table. Next morning, our poet presented at breakfast a song which has given the young lady immortality.

I GAED a waefu' gate yestreen,

A gate, I fear, I'll dearly rue;
I gat my death frae twa sweet een,
Twa lovely een o' bonny blue.
'Twas not her golden ringlets bright,
Her lips like roses wat wi' dew,
Her heaving bosom, lily-white-
It was her een sae bonny blue.

road

She talked, she smiled, my heart she wiled; She charmed my soul-I wist na how; And aye the stound, the deadly wound, pang Cam fra her een sae bonny blue.

1 This song was printed in Johnson's Museum, with an air composed by Mr. Riddel of Glenriddel. It has been set by George Thomson to the tune of "The Blathrie o't," but, in the opinion of the present editor, it flows much more sweetly to "My only joe and dearie O."

But, spare to speak, and spare to speed;1

She'll aiblins listen to my vow; Should she refuse, I'll lay my dead To her twa een sae bonny blue.

perhaps

death

SONG.

AIR-Maggy Lauder.

Miss Jeffrey married a gentleman named Renwick, of New York, and was living there about 1822, when a son of Mr. George Thomson was introduced to her by her son, the professor of chemistry in Columbia College.

The following song has been put forward as another composition of Burns in honor of the "Blue-eyed Lassie." It first appeared in the New York Mirror (1846).

WHEN first I saw fair Jeanie's face,
I couldna tell what ailed me,

My heart went fluttering pit-a-pat,
My een they almost failed me.
She's aye sae neat, sae trim, sae tight,
All grace does round her hover,
Ae look deprived me o' my heart,
And I became a lover.

1 A proverbial expression.