VOLUME IV

[No. 301. Craigie-burn Wood.

Sweet closes the evening on Craigie-burn-wood,
And blythely awaukens the morrow;

But the pride of the spring in the Craigie-burn-wood,
Can yield me nothing but sorrow, &c.]

'It is remarkable of this air, that it is the confine of that country where the greatest part of our Lowland music, (so far as from the title, words, &c., we can localize it) has been composed. From Craigie-burn, near Moffat, until one reaches the West Highlands, we have scarcely one slow air of any antiquity.

The song was composed on a passion which a Mr Gillespie, a particular friend of mine, had for a Miss Lorimer, afterwards a Mrs Whelpdale. The young lady was born at Craigie-burn wood. The chorus is part of an old foolish ballad.'

[No. 302. Tune: Carron side.

Frae the friends and land I love,

Driv'n by fortune's felly spite,
Frae my best belov'd I rove,

Never mair to taste delight, &c.]

'I added the four last lines by way of giving a turn to the theme of the poem, such as it is.'

[No. 303. Hughie Graham.

Our lords are to the mountains gane,
A-hunting o' the fallow deer,

And they hae grippet Hughie Graham
For stealing o' the Bishop's mare, &c.]

'There are several editions of this ballad. This, here inserted, is from oral tradition in Ayrshire, where, when I was a boy, it was a popular song. It, originally, had a simple old tune which I have forgotten.'

[No. 308.

A Southland Jenny that was right bonie,
She had for a suitor a Norland Johnie,
But he was sicken a bashful wooer

That he could scarcely speak unto her, &c.]

'This is a popular Ayrshire song, though the notes were never taken down before. It, as well as many of the ballad tunes in this collection, was written from Mrs Burns's voice.'

[No. 312. My tocher's the jewel.

O! meikle thinks my love o' my beauty,
And meikle thinks my love o' my kin;
But little thinks my love, I ken brawlie,

My tocher's the jewel has charms for him, &c.]

'This tune is claimed by Nath1 Gow. It is notoriously taken from The muckin o' Geordie's byre. It is also to be found, long prior to Nath1 Gow's aera, in Aird's Selection of Airs and Marches, the first edition, under the name of The highway to Edin".'

[No. 313. Then guidwife count the lawin.

Gane is the day, and mirk's the night,
But we'll ne'er stray for faute o' light,
For ale and brandy's stars and moon,
And blude-red wine's the rysin sun, &c.]

i this is part of an old song, one stanza
ect:-
-

day my wife tells me

ale and brandy will ruin me;

if gude liquor be my dead,
is shall be written on my head,
O gude wife count, &c.'

[No. 315. There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame. By yon castle wa' at the close of the day,

I heard a man sing tho' his head it was grey,
And as he was singing the tears down came,

There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame, &c.] 'This tune is sometimes called There's few gude fellows when Willie's awa'; but I never have been able to meet with anything else of the song than the title.'

[No. 321.

I do confess thou art sae fair,

I wad been o'er the lugs in luve;

Had I na found the slightest prayer

That lips could speak thy heart could move, &c.]

'This song is altered from a poem by Sir Robert Ayton, private Secretary to Mary and Anne, queens of Scotland. The poem is to be found in James Watson's Collection of Scots Poems, the earliest collection printed in Scotland. I think that I have improved the simplicity of the sentiments, by giving them a Scots dress.'

[No. 323. The soger laddie.

My soger laddie is over the sea,

And he'll bring gold and money to me;

And when he comes hame, he'll make me a lady,
My blessings gang wi' my soger laddie, &c.]

'The first verse of this is old: the rest is by Ramsay. The tune seems to be the same with a slow air called Jacky Hume's Lament; or, The hollin buss; or Ken ye what Meg o' the Mill has gotten.'

[No. 324. O! where wad bonie Annie ly,

lie.

Alane nae mair ye mauna ly;

Wad ye a goodman try;

Is that the thing ye're lacking? &c.]

'The old name of this tune is: Whare'll our gudeman
A silly old stanza of it runs thus :-
O, whare'll our gudeman lie,
Gudeman lie, gudeman lie,
O, whare'll our gudeman lie,
Till he shute o'er the simmer?
Up amang the hen-bawks,
The hen-bawks, the hen-bawks,
Up amang the hen-bawks
Amang the rotten timmer.'

[No. 326.

As I cam down by yon castle wa',
And in by yon garden green;
O there I spied a bony, bony lass,

But the flower borders were us between, &c.] 'This is a very popular Ayrshire song.'

[No. 327. Lord Ronald, my son.

O where hae ye been, Lord Ronald, my son?
O where hae ye been, Lord Ronald, my son?

I hae been wi' my sweetheart, mother make my bed soon, For I'm weary wi' the hunting and fain wad lie down, &c.]

'This air, a very favourite one in Ayrshire, is evidently the original of Lochaber. In this manner, most of our finest more modern airs have had their origin. Some early minstrel, or musical shepherd, composed the simple artless original air, which being pickt up by the more learned modern musician took the improved form it bears.'

[No. 328. O'er the moor amang the heather.

Comin thro' the craigs o' Kyle,

Amang the bonie blooming heather,
There I met a bonie lassie

Keeping a' her yowes the-gether, &c.]

'This song is the composition of a Jean Glover, a girl who was not only a whore, but also a thief; and in one or other character has visited most of the Correction Houses in the West. She was born, I believe, in Kilmarnock. I took down the song from her singing as she was strolling through the country, with a slightof-hand blackguard.'

[No. 330. To the Rose bud.

All hail to thee, thou bawmy bud,

Thou charming child o' simmer, hail!
Ilk fragrant thorn and lofty wood

Does nod thy welcome to the vale, &c.]

'This song is the composition of a

Thomson, a

joiner in the neighbourhood of Belfast. The tune is by Oswald, altered, evidently, from Jockie's gray breeks.'