— Iram, coram, dago.
So may ye hae auld stanes in store, — Igo, and ago,
The very stanes that Adam bore. — Iram, coram, dago,
So may ye get in glad possession, — Igo, and ago, 15
The coins o’ Satan’s coronation! — Iram coram dago.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
310.
Tam o’ Shanter: A Tale
A Tale.
“Of Brownyis and of Bogillis full is this Buke.”
GAWIN DOUGLAS.
Tam O’Shanter by Abraham Cooper
WHEN chapman billies leave the street,
And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;
As market days are wearing late,
And folk begin to tak the gate,
While we sit bousing at the nappy, 5
An’ getting fou and unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps and stiles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Where sits our sulky, sullen dame, 10
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
This truth fand honest TAM O’ SHANTER,
As he frae Ayr ae night did canter:
(Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses, 15
For honest men and bonie lasses).
O Tam! had’st thou but been sae wise,
As taen thy ain wife Kate’s advice!
She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,
A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;
20
That frae November till October,
Ae market-day thou was na sober;
That ilka melder wi’ the Miller,
Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;
That ev’ry naig was ca’d a shoe on 25
The Smith and thee gat roarin’ fou on;
That at the L — d’s house, ev’n on Sunday,
Thou drank wi’ Kirkton Jean till Monday,
She prophesied that late or soon,
Thou wad be found, deep drown’d in Doon, 30
Or catch’d wi’ warlocks in the mirk,
By Alloway’s auld, haunted kirk.
Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,
To think how mony counsels sweet,
How mony lengthen’d, sage advices, 35
The husband frae the wife despises!
But to our tale: — Ae market night,
Tam had got planted unco right,
Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,
Wi reaming sAats, that drank divinely; 40
And at his elbow, Souter Johnie,
His ancient, trusty, drougthy crony:
Tam lo’ed him like a very brither;
They had been fou for weeks thegither.
The night drave on wi’ sangs an’ clatter; 45
And aye the ale was growing better:
The Landlady and Tam grew gracious,
Wi’ favours secret, sweet, and precious:
The Souter tauld his queerest stories;
The Landlord’s laugh was ready chorus: 50
The storm without might rair and rustle,
Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.
Care, mad to see a man sae happy,
E’en drown’d himsel amang the nappy.
As bees flee hame wi’ lades o’ treasure, 55
The minutes wing’d their way wi’ pleasure:
Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,
O’er a’ the ills o’ life victorious!
But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flow’r, its bloom is shed; 60
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white — then melts for ever;
Or like the Borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the Rainbow’s lovely form 65
Evanishing amid the storm. —
Nae man can tether Time nor Tide,
The hour approaches Tam maun ride;
That hour, o’ night’s black arch the key-stane,
That dreary hour he mounts his beast in; 70
And sic a night he taks the road in,
As ne’er poor sinner was abroad in.
The wind blew as ‘twad blawn its last;
The rattling showers rose on the blast;
The speedy gleams the darkness swallow’d; 75
Loud, deep, and lang, the thunder bellow’d:
That night, a child might understand,
The deil had business on his hand.
Weel-mounted on his grey mare, Meg,
A better never lifted leg, 80
Tam skelpit on thro’ dub and mire,
Despising wind, and rain, and fire;
Whiles holding fast his gude blue bonnet,
Whiles crooning o’er some auld Scots sonnet,
Whiles glow’rin round wi’ prudent cares, 85
Lest bogles catch him unawares;
Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh,
Where ghaists and houlets nightly cry.
By this time he was cross the ford,
Where in the snaw the chapman smoor’d; 90
And past the birks and meikle stane,
Where drunken Charlie brak’s neck-bane;
And thro’ the whins, and by the cairn,
Where hunters fand the murder’d bairn;
And near the thorn, aboon the well, 95
Where Mungo’s mither hang’d hersel’.
Before him Doon pours all his floods,
The doubling storm roars thro’ the woods,
The lightnings flash from pole to pole,
Near and more near the thunders roll, 100
When, glimmering thro’ the groaning trees,
Kirk-Alloway seem’d in a bleeze,
Thro’ ilka bore the beams were glancing,
And loud resounded mirth and dancing.
Inspiring bold John Barleycorn! 105
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi’ tippenny, we fear nae evil;
Wi’ usquabae, we’ll face the devil!
The swats sae ream’d in Tammie’s noddle,
Fair play, he car’d na deils a boddle, 110
But Maggie stood, right sair astonish’d,
Till, by the heel and hand admonish’d,
She ventur’d forward on the light;
And, wow! Tam saw an unco sight!
Warlocks and witches in a dance: 115
Nae cotillon, brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels,
Put life and mettle in their heels.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast; 120
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:
He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl,
Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl. —
Coffins stood round, like open presses, 125
That shaw’d the Dead in their last dresses;
And (by some devilish cantraip sleight)
Each in its cauld hand held a light.
By which heroic Tam was able
To note upon the haly table, 130
A murderer’s banes, in gibbet-airns;
Twa span-lang, wee, unchristened bairns;
A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,
Wi’ his last gasp his gabudid gape;
Five tomahawks, wi’ blude red-rusted: 135
Five scimitars, wi’ murder crusted;
A garter which a babe had strangled:
A knife, a father’s throat had mangled.
Whom his ain son of life bereft,
The grey-hairs yet stack to the heft; 140
Wi’ mair of horrible and awfu’,
Which even to name wad be unlawfu’.
As Tammie glowr’d, amaz’d, and curious,
The mirth and fun grew fast and furious;
The Piper loud and louder blew, 145
The dancers quick and quicker flew,
The reel’d, they set, they cross’d, they cleekit,
Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,
And coost her duddies to the wark,
And linkit at it in her sark! 150
Now Tam, O Tam! had they been queans,
A’ plump and strapping in their teens!
Their sarks, instead o’ creeshie flainen,
Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linen! —
Thir breeks o’ mine, my only pair, 155
That ance were plush o’ guid blue hair,
I wad hae gien them off my hurdies,
For ae blink o’ the bonie burdies!
But wither’d beldams, auld and droll,
Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal, 160
Louping an’ flinging on a crummock.
I wonder did na turn thy stomach.
But Tam kent what was what fu’ brawlie:
There was ae winsome wench and waulie
That night enlisted in the core, 165
Lang after ken’d on Carrick shore;
(For mony a beast to dead she shot,
And perish’d mony a bonie boat,
And shook baith meikle corn and bear,
And kept the country-side in fear); 170
Her cutty sark, o’ Paisley harn,
That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude tho’ sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie.
Ah! little ken’d thy reverend grannie, 175
That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,
Wi twa pund Scots (‘twas a’ her riches),
Wad ever grac’d a dance of witches!
But here my Muse her wing maun cour,
Sic flights are far beyond her power; 180
To sing how Nannie lap and flang,
(A souple jade she was and strang),
And how Tam stood, like ane bewithc’d,
And thought his very een enrich’d:
Even Satan glowr’d, and fidg’d fu’ fain, 185
And hotch’d and blew wi’ might and main:
Till first ae caper, syne anither,
Tam tint his reason a thegither,
And roars out, “Weel done, Cutty-sark!”
And in an instant all was dark: 190
And scarcely had he Maggie rallied.
When out the hellish legion sallied.
As bees bizz out wi’ angry fyke,
When plundering herds assail their byke;
As open pussie’s mortal foes, 195
When, pop! she starts before their nose;
As eager runs the market-crowd,
When “Catch the thief!” resounds aloud;
So Maggie runs, the witches follow,
Wi’ mony an eldritch skreich and hollow. 200
Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou’ll get thy fairin!
In hell, they’ll roast thee like a herrin!
In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!
Kate soon will be a woefu’ woman!
Now, do thy speedy-utmost, Meg, 205
And win the key-stone o’ the brig;
There, at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the keystane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake! 210
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi’ furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie’s mettle!
Ae spring brought off her master hale, 215
But left behind her ain grey tail:
The carlin claught her by the rump,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.
Now, wha this tale o’ truth shall read,
Ilk man and mother’s son, take heed: 220
Whene’er to Drink you are inclin’d,
Or Cutty-sarks rin in your mind,
Think ye may buy the joys o’er dear;
Remember Tam o’ Shanter’s mare.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
311.
On the Birth of a Posthumous Child
Born in peculiar circumstances of family distress.
SWEET flow’ret, pledge o’ meikle love,
And ward o’ mony a prayer,
What heart o’ stane wad thou na move,
Sae helpless, sweet, and fair?
November hirples o’er the lea, 5
Chill, on thy lovely form:
And gane, alas! the shelt’ring tree,
Should shield thee frae the storm.
May He who gives the rain to pour,
And wings the blast to blaw, 10
Protect thee frae the driving show’r,
The bitter frost and snaw.
May He, the friend o’ Woe and Want,
Who heals life’s various stounds,
Protect and guard the mother plant, 15
And heal her cruel wounds.
But late she flourish’d, rooted fast,
Fair in the summer morn,
Now feebly bends she in the blast,
Unshelter’d and forlorn. 20
Blest be thy bloom, thou lovely gem,
Unscath’d by ruffian hand!
And from thee many a parent stem
Arise to deck our land!
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
312.
Elegy on the late Miss Burnet of Monboddo
LIFE ne’er exulted in so rich a prize,
As Burnet, lovely from her native skies;
Nor envious death so triumph’d in a blow,
As that which laid th’ accomplish’d Burnet low.
Thy form and mind, sweet maid, can I forget? 5
In richest ore the brightest jewel set!
In thee, high Heaven above was truest shown,
As by His noblest work the Godhead best is known.
In vain ye flaunt in summer’s pride, ye groves;
Thou crystal streamlet with thy flowery shore, 10
Ye woodland choir that chaunt your idle loves,
Ye cease to charm; Eliza is no more.
Ye healthy wastes, immix’d with reedy fens;
Ye mossy streams, with sedge and rushes stor’d:
Ye rugged cliffs, o’erhanging dreary glens, 15
To you I fly — ye with my soul accord.
Princes, whose cumb’rous pride was all their worth,
Shall venal lays their pompous exit hail,
And thou, sweet Excellence! forsake our earth,
And not a Muse with honest grief bewail? 20
We saw thee shine in youth and beauty’s pride,
And Virtue’s light, that beams beyond the spheres;
But, like the sun eclips’d at morning tide,
Thou left us darkling in a world of tears.
The parent’s heart that nestled fond in thee, 25
That heart how sunk, a prey to grief and care;
So deckt the woodbine sweet yon aged tree;
So, from it ravish’d, leaves it bleak and bare.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
1791
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
313.
Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots
NOW Nature hangs her mantle green
On every blooming tree,
And spreads her sheets o’ daisies white
Out o’er the grassy lea;
Now Phoebus cheers the crystal streams, 5
And glads the azure skies;
But nought can glad the weary wight
That fast in durance lies.
Now laverocks wake the merry morn
Aloft on dewy wing; 10
The merle, in his noontide bow’r,
Makes woodland echoes ring;
The mavis wild wi’ mony a note,
Sings drowsy day to rest:
In love and freedom they rejoice, 15
Wi’ care nor thrall opprest.
Now blooms the lily by the bank,
The primrose down the brae;
The hawthorn’s budding in the glen,
And milk-white is the slae: 20
The meanest hind in fair Scotland
May rove their sweets amang;
But I, the Queen of a’ Scotland,
Maun lie in prison strang.
I was the Queen o’ bonie France, 25
Where happy I hae been;
Fu’ lightly raise I in the morn,
As blythe lay down at e’en:
And I’m the sov’reign of Scotland,
And mony a traitor there; 30
Yet here I lie in foreign bands,
And never-ending care.
But as for thee, thou false woman,
My sister and my fae,
Grim Vengeance yet shall whet a sword 35
That thro’ thy soul shall gae;
The weeping blood in woman’s breast
Was never known to thee;
Nor th’ balm that draps on wounds of woe
Frae woman’s pitying e’e. 40
My son! my son! may kinder stars
Upon thy fortune shine;
And may those pleasures gild thy reign,
That ne’er wad blink on mine!
God keep thee frae thy mother’s faes, 45
Or turn their hearts to thee:
And where thou meet’st thy mother’s friend,
Remember him for me!
O! soon, to me, may Summer suns
Nae mair light up the morn! 50
Nae mair to me the Autumn winds
Wave o’er the yellow corn?
And, in the narrow house of death,
Let Winter round me rave;
And the next flow’rs that deck the Spring, 55
Bloom on my peaceful grave!
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
314.
There’ll never be Peace till Jamie comes hame (Song)
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 doon came, —
There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.
The Church is in ruins, the State is in jars, 5
Delusions, oppressions, and murderous wars,
We dare na weel say’t, but we ken wha’s to blame, —
There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.
My seven braw sons for Jamie drew sword,
But now I greet round their green beds in the yerd; 10
It brak the sweet heart o’ my faithful and dame, —
There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.
Now life is a burden that bows me down,
Sin’ I tint my bairns, and he tint his crown;
But till my last moments my words are the same, — 15
There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
315.
Out over the Forth (Song)
OUT over the Forth, I look to the North;
But what is the north and its Highlands to me?
The south nor the east gie ease to my breast,
The far foreign land, or the wide rolling sea.
But I look to the west when I gae to rest, 5
That happy my dreams and my slumbers may be;
For far in the west lives he I loe best,
The man that is dear to my babie and me.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
316.
The Banks o’ Doon (First Version) (Song)
First Version
SWEET are the banks — the banks o’ Doon,
The spreading flowers are fair,
And everything is blythe and glad,
But I am fu’ o’ care.
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird, 5
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o’ the happy days
When my fause Luve was true:
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
That sings beside thy mate; 10
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wist na o’ my fate.
Aft hae I rov’d by bonie Doon,
To see the woodbine twine;
And ilka birds sang o’ its Luve, 15
And sae did I o’ mine:
Wi’ lightsome heart I pu’d a rose,
Upon its thorny tree;
But my fause Luver staw my rose
And left the thorn wi’ me: 20
Wi’ lightsome heart I pu’d a rose,
Upon a morn in June;
And sae I flourished on the morn,
And sae was pu’d or noon!
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
317.
The Banks o’ Doon (Second Version) (Song)
Second Version
YE flowery banks o’ bonie Doon,
How can ye blume sae fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu’ o care!
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird, 5
That sings upon the bough!
Thou minds me o’ the happy days
When my fause Luve was true.
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
That sings beside thy mate; 10
For sae I sat, and sae I sang,
And wist na o’ my fate.
Aft hae I rov’d by bonie Doon,
To see the woodbine twine;
And ilka bird sang o’ its Luve, 15
And sae did I o’ mine.
Wi’ lightsome heart I pu’d a rose,
Upon its thorny tree;
But my fause Luver staw my rose,
And left the thorn wi’ me. 20
Wi’ lightsome heart I pu’d a rose,
Upon a morn in June;
And sae I flourished on the morn,
And sae was pu’d or noon.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
318.
The Banks o’ Doon (Third Version) (Song)
Third Version
YE banks and braes o’ bonie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu’ o’ care!
Thou’ll break my heart, thou warbling bird, 5
That wantons thro’ the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o’ departed joys,
Departed never to return.
Aft hae I rov’d by Bonie Doon,
To see the rose and woodbine twine: 10
And ilka bird sang o’ its Luve,
And fondly sae did I o’ mine;
Wi’ lightsome heart I pu’d a rose,
Fu’ sweet upon its thorny tree!
And may fause Luver staw my rose, 15
But ah! he left the thorn wi’ me.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
319.
Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn
THE WIND blew hollow frae the hills,
By fits the sun’s departing beam
Look’d on the fading yellow woods,
That wav’d o’er Lugar’s winding stream:
Beneath a craigy steep, a Bard, 5
Laden with years and meikle pain,
In loud lament bewail’d his lord,
Whom Death had all untimely ta’en.
He lean’d him to an ancient aik,
Whose trunk was mould’ring down with years; 10
His locks were bleached white with time,
His hoary cheek was wet wi’ tears!
And as he touch’d his trembling harp,
And as he tun’d his doleful sang,
The winds, lamenting thro’ their caves, 15
To Echo bore the notes alang.
“Ye scatter’d birds that faintly sing,
The reliques o’ the vernal queir!
Ye woods that shed on a’ the winds
The honours of the agèd year! 20
A few short months, and glad and gay,
Again ye’ll charm the ear and e’e;
But nocht in all-revolving time
Can gladness bring again to me.
“I am a bending agèd tree, 25
That long has stood the wind and rain;
But now has come a cruel blast,
And my last hald of earth is gane;
Nae leaf o’ mine shall greet the spring,
Nae simmer sun exalt my bloom; 30
But I maun lie before the storm,
And ithers plant them in my room.
“I’ve seen sae mony changefu’ years,
On earth I am a stranger grown:
I wander in the ways of men, 35
Alike unknowing, and unknown:
Unheard, unpitied, unreliev’d,
I bear alane my lade o’ care,
For silent, low, on beds of dust,
Lie a’ that would my sorrows share. 40
“And last, (the sum of a’ my griefs!)
My noble master lies in clay;
The flow’r amang our barons bold,
His country’s pride, his country’s stay:
In weary being now I pine, 45
For a’ the life of life is dead,
And hope has left may aged ken,
On forward wing for ever fled.
“Awake thy last sad voice, my harp!
The voice of woe and wild despair! 50
Awake, resound thy latest lay,
Then sleep in silence evermair!
And thou, my last, best, only, friend,
That fillest an untimely tomb,
Accept this tribute from the Bard 55
Thou brought from Fortune’s mirkest gloom.
“In Poverty’s low barren vale,
Thick mists obscure involv’d me round;
Though oft I turn’d the wistful eye,
Nae ray of fame was to be found: 60
Thou found’st me, like the morning sun
That melts the fogs in limpid air,
The friendless bard and rustic song
Became alike thy fostering care.
“O! why has worth so short a date, 65
While villains ripen grey with time?
Must thou, the noble, gen’rous, great,
Fall in bold manhood’s hardy prim
Why did I live to see that day —
A day to me so full of woe? 70
O! had I met the mortal shaft
That laid my benefactor low!
“The bridegroom may forget the bride
Was made his wedded wife yestreen;
The monarch may forget the crown 75
That on his head an hour has been;
The mother may forget the child
That smiles sae sweetly on her knee;
But I’ll remember thee, Glencairn,
And a’ that thou hast done for me!” 80
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
320.
Lines to Sir John Whitefoord, Bart
With the Lament on the Death of the Earl of Glencairn
THOU, who thy honour as thy God rever’st,
Who, save thy mind’s reproach, nought earthly fear’st,
To thee this votive offering I impart,
The tearful tribute of a broken heart.
The Friend thou valued’st, I, the Patron lov’d; 5
His worth, his honour, all the world approved:
We’ll mourn till we too go as he has gone,
And tread the shadowy path to that dark world unknown.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
321.
Craigieburn Wood (Song)
SWEET closes the ev’ning on Craigieburn Wood,
And blythely awaukens the morrow;
But the pride o’ the spring in the Craigieburn Wood
Can yield to me nothing but sorrow.
Chorus. — Beyond thee, dearie, beyond thee, dearie, 5
And O to be lying beyond thee!
O sweetly, soundly, weel may he sleep
That’s laid in the bed beyond thee!
I see the spreading leaves and flowers,
I hear the wild birds singing; 10
But pleasure they hae nane for me,
While care my heart is wringing.
Beyond thee, &c.
I can na tell, I maun na tell,
I daur na for your anger; 15
But secret love will break my heart,
If I conceal it langer.
Beyond thee, &c.
I see thee gracefu’, straight and tall,
I see thee sweet and bonie; 20
But oh, what will my torment be,
If thou refuse thy Johnie!
Beyond thee, &c.
To see thee in another’s arms,
In love to lie and languish, 25
‘Twad be my dead, that will be seen,
My heart wad burst wi’ anguish.
Beyond thee, &c.
But Jeanie, say thou wilt be mine,
Say thou lo’es nane before me; 30
And a’ may days o’ life to come
I’ll gratefully adore thee,
Beyond thee, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
322.
The Bonie Wee Thing (Song)
Chorus. — Bonie wee thing, cannie wee thing,
Lovely wee thing, wert thou mine,
I wad wear thee in my bosom,
Lest my jewel it should tine.
WISHFULLY I look and languish 5
In that bonie face o’ thine,
And my heart it stounds wi’ anguish,
Lest my wee thing be na mine.
Bonie wee thing, &c.
Wit, and Grace, and Love, and Beauty, 10
In ae constellation shine;
To adore thee is my duty,
Goddess o’ this soul o’ mine!
Bonie wee thing, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
323.
Epigram on Miss Davies
On being asked why she had been formed so little, and Mrs. A —— so big.
ASK why God made the gem so small?
And why so huge the granite? —
Because God meant mankind should set
That higher value on it.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
324.
The Charms of Lovely Davies (Song)
Tune— “Miss Muir.”
O HOW shall I, unskilfu’, try
The poet’s occupation?
The tunefu’ powers, in happy hours,
That whisper inspiration;
Even they maun dare an effort mair 5
Than aught they ever gave us,
Ere they rehearse, in equal verse,
The charms o’ lovely Davies.
Each eye it cheers when she appears,
Like Phoebus in the morning, 10
When past the shower, and every flower
The garden is adorning:
As the wretch looks o’er Siberia’s shore,
When winter-bound the wave is;
Sae droops our heart, when we maun part 15
Frae charming, lovely Davies.
Her smile’s a gift frae ‘boon the lift,
That maks us mair than princes;
A sceptred hand, a king’s command,
Is in her darting glances; 20
The man in arms ‘gainst female charms
Even he her willing slave is,
He hugs his chain, and owns the reign
Of conquering, lovely Davies.
My Muse, to dream of such a theme, 25
Her feeble powers surrender:
The eagle’s gaze alone surveys
The sun’s meridian splendour.
I wad in vain essay the strain,
The deed too daring brave is; 30
I’ll drap the lyre, and mute admire
The charms o’ lovely Davies.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
325.
What can a Young Lassie do wi’ an Auld Man? (Song)
WHAT can a young lassie, what shall a young lassie,
What can a young lassie do wi’ an auld man?
Bad luck on the penny that tempted my minnie
To sell her puir Jenny for siller an’ lan’.
Bad luck on the penny that tempted my minnie 5
To sell her puir Jenny for siller an’ lan’!
He’s always compleenin’ frae mornin’ to e’enin’,
He hoasts and he hirples the weary day lang;
He’s doylt and he’s dozin, his blude it is frozen, —
O dreary’s the night wi’ a crazy auld man! 10
He’s doylt and he’s dozin, his blude it is frozen,
O dreary’s the night wi’ a crazy auld man.
He hums and he hankers, he frets and he cankers,
I never can please him do a’ that I can;
He’s peevish an’ jealous o’ a’ the young fellows, — 15
O dool on the day I met wi’ an auld man!
He’s peevish an’ jealous o’ a’ the young fellows,
O dool on the day I met wi’ an auld man.
My auld auntie Katie upon me taks pity,
I’ll do my endeavour to follow her plan; 20
I’ll cross him an’ wrack him, until I heartbreak him
And then his auld brass will buy me a new pan,
I’ll cross him an’ wrack him, until I heartbreak him,
And then his auld brass will buy me a new pan.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
326.
The Posie (Song)
O LUVE will venture in where it daur na weel be seen,
O luve will venture in where wisdom ance has been;
But I will doun yon river rove, amang the wood sae green,
And a’ to pu’ a Posie to my ain dear May.
The primrose I will pu’, the firstling o’ the year, 5
And I will pu’ the pink, the emblem o’ my dear;
For she’s the pink o’ womankind, and blooms without a peer,
And a’ to be a Posie to my ain dear May.
I’ll pu’ the budding rose, when Phoebus peeps in view,
For it’s like a baumy kiss o’ her sweet, bonie mou; 10
The hyacinth’s for constancy wi’ its unchanging blue,
And a’ to be a Posie to my ain dear May.
The lily it is pure, and the lily it is fair,
And in her lovely bosom I’ll place the lily there;
The daisy’s for simplicity and unaffected air, 15
And a’ to be a Posie to my ain dear May.
The hawthorn I will pu’, wi’ its locks o’ siller gray,
Where, like an aged man, it stands at break o’ day;
But the songster’s nest within the bush I winna tak away
And a’ to be a Posie to my ain dear May. 20
The woodbine I will pu’, when the e’ening star is near,
And the diamond draps o’ dew shall be her een sae clear;
The violet’s for modesty, which weel she fa’s to wear,
And a’ to be a Posie to my ain dear May.
I’ll tie the Posie round wi’ the silken band o’ luve, 25
And I’ll place it in her breast, and I’ll swear by a’ above,
That to my latest draught o’ life the band shall ne’er remove,
And this will be a Posie to my ain dear May.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
327.
On Glenriddell’s Fox breaking his chain: A Fragment
A Fragment, 1791.
THOU, Liberty, thou art my theme;
Not such as idle poets dream,
Who trick thee up a heathen goddess
That a fantastic cap and rod has;
Such stale conceits are poor and silly; 5
I paint thee out, a Highland filly,
A sturdy, stubborn, handsome dapple,
As sleek’s a mouse, as round’s an apple,
That when thou pleasest canst do wonders;
But when thy luckless rider blunders, 10
Or if thy fancy should demur there,
Wilt break thy neck ere thou go further.
These things premised, I sing a Fox,
Was caught among his native rocks,
And to a dirty kennel chained, 15
How he his liberty regained.
Glenriddell! Whig without a stain,
A Whig in principle and grain,
Could’st thou enslave a free-born creature,
A native denizen of Nature? 20
How could’st thou, with a heart so good,
(A better ne’er was sluiced with blood!)
Nail a poor devil to a tree,
That ne’er did harm to thine or thee?
The staunchest Whig Glenriddell was, 25
Quite frantic in his country’s cause;
And oft was Reynard’s prison passing,
And with his brother-Whigs canvassing
The Rights of Men, the Powers of Women,
With all the dignity of Freemen. 30
Sir Reynard daily heard debates
Of Princes’, Kings’, and Nations’ fates,
With many rueful, bloody stories
Of Tyrants, Jacobites, and Tories:
From liberty how angels fell, 35
That now are galley-slaves in hell;
How Nimrod first the trade began
Of binding Slavery’s chains on Man;
How fell Semiramis — G — d d-mn her!
Did first, with sacrilegious hammer, 40
(All ills till then were trivial matters)
For Man dethron’d forge hen-peck fetters;
How Xerxes, that abandoned Tory,
Thought cutting throats was reaping glory,
Until the stubborn Whigs of Sparta 45
Taught him great Nature’s Magna Charta;
How mighty Rome her fiat hurl’d
Resistless o’er a bowing world,
And, kinder than they did desire,
Polish’d mankind with sword and fire; 50
With much, too tedious to relate,
Of ancient and of modern date,
But ending still, how Billy Pitt
(Unlucky boy!) with wicked wit,
Has gagg’d old Britain, drain’d her coffer, 55
As butchers bind and bleed a heifer,
Thus wily Reynard by degrees,
In kennel listening at his ease,
Suck’d in a mighty stock of knowledge,
As much as some folks at a College; 60
Knew Britain’s rights and constitution,
Her aggrandisement, diminution,
How fortune wrought us good from evil;
Let no man, then, despise the Devil,
As who should say, ‘I never can need him,’ 65
Since we to scoundrels owe our freedom.
• • • • • •
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
328.
Poem on Pastoral Poetry
HAIL, Poesie! thou Nymph reserv’d!
In chase o’ thee, what crowds hae swerv’d
Frae common sense, or sunk enerv’d
‘Mang heaps o’ clavers:
And och! o’er aft thy joes hae starv’d, 5
‘Mid a’ thy favours!
Say, Lassie, why, thy train amang,
While loud the trump’s heroic clang,
And sock or buskin skelp alang
To death or marriage; 10
Scarce ane has tried the shepherd-sang
But wi’ miscarriage?
In Homer’s craft Jock Milton thrives;
Eschylus’ pen Will Shakespeare drives;
Wee Pope, the knurlin’, till him rives 15
Horatian fame;
In thy sweet sang, Barbauld, survives
Even Sappho’s flame.
But thee, Theocritus, wha matches?
They’re no herd’s ballats, Maro’s catches; 20
Squire Pope but busks his skinklin’ patches
O’ heathen tatters:
I pass by hunders, nameless wretches,
That ape their betters.
In this braw age o’ wit and lear, 25
Will nane the Shepherd’s whistle mair
Blaw sweetly in its native air,
And rural grace;
And, wi’ the far-fam’d Grecian, share
A rival place? 30
Yes! there is ane; a Scottish callan!
There’s ane; come forrit, honest Allan!
Thou need na jouk behint the hallan,
A chiel sae clever;
The teeth o’ time may gnaw Tantallan, 35
But thou’s for ever.
Thou paints auld Nature to the nines,
In thy sweet Caledonian lines;
Nae gowden stream thro’ myrtle twines,
Where Philomel, 40
While nightly breezes sweep the vines,
Her griefs will tell!
In gowany glens thy burnie strays,
Where bonie lasses bleach their claes,
Or trots by hazelly shaws and braes, 45
Wi’ hawthorns gray,
Where blackbirds join the shepherd’s lays,
At close o’ day.
Thy rural loves are Nature’s sel’;
Nae bombast spates o’ nonsense swell; 50
Nae snap conceits, but that sweet spell
O’ witchin love,
That charm that can the strongest quell,
The sternest move.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
329.
Verses on the destruction of the Woods near Drumlanrig
AS on the banks o’ wandering Nith,
Ae smiling simmer morn I stray’d,
And traced its bonie howes and haughs,
Where linties sang and lammies play’d,
I sat me down upon a craig, 5
And drank my fill o’ fancy’s dream,
When from the eddying deep below,
Up rose the genius of the stream.
Dark, like the frowning rock, his brow,
And troubled, like his wintry wave, 10
And deep, as sughs the boding wind
Amang his caves, the sigh he gave —
“And come ye here, my son,” he cried,
“To wander in my birken shade?
To muse some favourite Scottish theme, 15
Or sing some favourite Scottish maid?
“There was a time, it’s nae lang syne,
Ye might hae seen me in my pride,
When a’ my banks sae bravely saw
Their woody pictures in my tide; 20
When hanging beech and spreading elm
Shaded my stream sae clear and cool:
And stately oaks their twisted arms
Threw broad and dark across the pool;
“When, glinting thro’ the trees, appear’d 25
The wee white cot aboon the mill,
And peacefu’ rose its ingle reek,
That, slowly curling, clamb the hill.
But now the cot is bare and cauld,
Its leafy bield for ever gane, 30
And scarce a stinted birk is left
To shiver in the blast its lane.”
“Alas!” quoth I, “what ruefu’ chance
Has twin’d ye o’ your stately trees?
Has laid your rocky bosom bare — 35
Has stripped the cleeding o’ your braes?
Was it the bitter eastern blast,
That scatters blight in early spring?
Or was’t the wil’fire scorch’d their boughs,
Or canker-worm wi’ secret sting?” 40
“Nae eastlin blast,” the sprite replied;
“It blaws na here sae fierce and fell,
And on my dry and halesome banks
Nae canker-worms get leave to dwell:
Man! cruel man!” the genius sighed — 45
As through the cliffs he sank him down —
“The worm that gnaw’d my bonie trees,
That reptile wears a ducal crown.”
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
330.
The Gallant Weaver (Song)
WHERE Cart rins rowin’ to the sea,
By mony a flower and spreading tree,
There lives a lad, the lad for me,
He is a gallant Weaver.
O, I had wooers aught or nine, 5
They gied me rings and ribbons fine;
And I was fear’d my heart wad tine,
And I gied it to the Weaver.
My daddie sign’d my tocher-band,
To gie the lad that has the land, 10
But to my heart I’ll add my hand,
And give it to the Weaver.
While birds rejoice in leafy bowers,
While bees delight in opening flowers,
While corn grows green in summer showers, 15
I love my gallant Weaver.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
331.
Epigram at Brownhill Inn
AT Brownhill we always get dainty good cheer,
And plenty of bacon each day in the year;
We’ve a’ thing that’s nice, and mostly in season,
But why always Bacon — come, tell me a reason?
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
332.
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart (Song)
Chorus. — You’re welcome, Willie Stewart,
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart,
There’s ne’er a flower that blooms in May,
That’s half sae welcome’s thou art!
COME, bumpers high, express your joy, 5
The bowl we maun renew it,
The tappet hen, gae bring her ben,
To welcome Willie Stewart,
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart, &c.
May foes be strang, and friends be slack 10
Ilk action, may he rue it,
May woman on him turn her back
That wrangs thee, Willie Stewart,
You’re welcome, Willie Stewart, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
333.
Lovely Polly Stewart (Song)
Chorus. — O lovely Polly Stewart,
O charming Polly Stewart,
There’s ne’er a flower that blooms in May,
That’s half so fair as thou art!
THE FLOWER it blaws, it fades, it fa’s, 5
And art can ne’er renew it;
But worth and truth, eternal youth
Will gie to Polly Stewart,
O lovely Polly Stewart, &c.
May he whase arms shall fauld thy charms 10
Possess a leal and true heart!
To him be given to ken the heaven
He grasps in Polly Stewart!
O lovely Polly Stewart, &c.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
334.
Damon and Sylvia (Fragment of a Song)
Tune— “The Tither Morn.”
YON wandering rill that marks the hill,
And glances o’er the brae, Sir,
Slides by a bower, where mony a flower
Sheds fragrance on the day, Sir;
There Damon lay, with Sylvia gay, 5
To love they thought no crime, Sir,
The wild birds sang, the echoes rang,
While Damon’s heart beat time, Sir.
Chronological List of Poems
Alphabetical List of Poems
335.
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