Page images
PDF
EPUB

5

ΙΟ

15

JOHN SKINNER

TULLOCHGORUM

COME, gie's a sang, Montgomery cried,
And lay your disputes all aside;

What signifies't for folks to chide

For what's been done before them?
Let Whig and Tory all agree,
Whig and Tory, Whig and Tory,
Let Whig and Tory all agree
To drop their Whigmegmorum.

Let Whig and Tory all agree

To spend this night with mirth and glee,
And cheerful sing alang wi' me

The reel of Tullochgorum.

[blocks in formation]

And mak a cheerfu' quorum.
Blithe and merry we's be a',

As lang as we hae breath to draw,
And dance, till we be like to fa',
The reel of Tullochgorum.

There need nae be sae great a fraise
Wi' dringing dull Italian lays;
I wadna gie our own strathspeys
For half a hunder score o' 'em.
They're dowf and dowie at the best,
Dowf and dowie, dowf and dowie,
They're dowf and dowie at the best,
Wi' a' their variorum.

They're dowf and dowie at the best,
Their allegros, and a' the rest,
They canna please a Scottish taste,

Compared wi' Tullochgorum.

Let warldly minds themselves oppress
Wi' fears of want, and double cess,
And sullen sots themselves distress

Wi' keeping up decorum.
Shall we sae sour and sulky sit,
Sour and sulky, sour and sulky,

Shall we sae sour and sulky sit,

Like auld Philosophorum?

Shall we sae sour and sulky sit,

20

25

30

35

40

45

Wi' neither sense nor mirth, nor wit,

50

55

60

65

70

Nor ever rise to shake a fit
To the reel of Tullochgorum?

May choicest blessings ay attend.
Each honest-hearted, open friend;
And calm and quiet be his end,

And a' that's good watch o'er him
May peace and plenty be his lot,
Peace and plenty, peace and plenty,
May peace and plenty be his lot,

And dainties, a great store o' 'em!
May peace and plenty be his lot,
Unstained by any vicious spot;
And may he never want a groat,
That's fond of Tullochgorum.

But for the discontented fool,
Who wants to be oppression's tool,
May envy gnaw his rotten soul,

And discontent devour him!
May dool and sorrow be his chance,
Dool and sorrow, dool and sorrow,
May dool and sorrow be his chance,

And nane say, Wae's me for 'im!
May dool and sorrow be his chance,
And a' the ills that come frae France,
Whae'er he be that winna dance

The reel of Tullochgorum!

LADY ANNE BARNARD

AULD ROBIN GRAY

WHEN the sheep are in the fauld, when the kye's come

hame,

And a' the weary warld to rest are gane,

The waes o' my heart fa' in showers frae my ee,
Unkent by my guidman, wha sleeps sound by me.

Young Jamie lo'ed me weel, and sought me for his

bride,

But saving ae crown-piece he had naething beside;
To make the crown a pound my Jamie went to sea,
And the crown and the pound-they were baith for me.

He hadna been gane a twelvemonth and a day,
When my father brake his arm and the cow was stown

away;

My mither she fell sick

my Jamie was at sea,

And auld Robin Gray came a-courting me.

My father couldna wark — my mither couldna spin

ΙΟ

I toiled day and night, but their bread I couldna win; Auld Rob maintained them baith, and, wi' tears in his 15

ee,

Said: 'Jeanie, O for their sakes, will ye no marry me?'

My heart it said na, and I looked for Jamie back, But hard blew the winds, and his ship was a wrack, His ship was a wrack - why didna Jamie die, 20 Or why am I spared to cry wae is me?

.

My father urged me sair - my mither didna speak, But she looked in my face till my heart was like to break; They gied him my hand my heart was in the sea And so Robin Gray he was guidman to me.

25 I hadna been his wife a week but only four,
When, mournfu' as I sat on the stane at my door,

I saw my Jamie's ghaist, for I couldna think it he,

Till he said: 'I'm come hame, love, to marry thee!'

Oh, sair sair did we greet, and mickle say of a',

30 I gied him ae kiss, and bade him gang awa'

I wish that I were dead, but I'm na like to die, For, though my heart is broken, I'm but young, wae is me!

I gang like a ghaist, and I carena much to spin,
I darena think o' Jamie, for that wad be a sin,
35 But I'll do my best a gude wife to be,
For, oh! Robin Gray, he is kind to me.

« PreviousContinue »