Burns says, "I do not know a blither old song than this." When Burns sent this song to the Museum, he sent it as an old song, some few words altered by himself: in proof of which we here give the original: I hae been east, I hae been west, I'll gie you ha's, I'll gie you bowers, wad turn my back on you and it a', And embrace my Collier Laddie. wad turn my back on you and it a', And embrace my Collier Laddie. V. I can win my five pennies a day, VI. Luve for luve is the bargain for me, Thơ' the wee cot-house should haud me; And the warld before me to win my bread, And fair fa' my Collier Laddie. And the warld before me to win my bread, And fair fa' my Collier Laddie. * I value not your ha's and bowers, I wantna ha's, I wantna bowers, And seven years sae gawdie, [The Maxwells were once the most powerful | family in all the south of Scotland. The family rose on the fall of the great house of Douglas : a feud with the Annandale Johnstons cost them three earls: the wars of Charles and his Parliament were very injurious-the rebellion of 1786 deprived them of the title and the truly noble name is no longer numbered with our nobility. Terreagles-house stands at the foot of a fine range of green and lofty hills: it was built in the days of the Poet, and to this the song alludes. The music was by Robert Riddel, Esq., of Glenriddel.] Lines on a merry Ploughman. As I was a wand'ring de morning in spring, I heard a merry ploughman sae sweetly to sing; And as he was singin' thae words he did say, There's nae life like the Ploughman in the month o' sweet May. O hae ye money to lend, fair maid? Where are your ha's?-where are your bowers To forsake my collier laddie ? I wantna ha's, I wantna bowers, Now she is to her father gane, Then he tauld down ten thousand crowns, The heroine of this song was Jane Cochrane, daughter to the laird of Bohill, near Kelso; and the hero of the piece was Mr. Presley, proprietor of a very extensive coal work in that neighbourhood. The song is very old. Another ballad called the "Collier's Bonny Lassie," may be found in Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany.) * [It is pleasing to mark those touches of sympathy which show the sons of genius to be of one kindred. In the following passage from the poem of his countryman, the same figure is illustrated with characteristic simplicity; and never were the tender and the sublime of poetry more happily united, nor a more affectionate tribute paid to the memory of Burns: -"Thou, simple bird, Of all the vocal quire, dwell'st in a home Grahame's Birds of Scotland, vol. ii. p. iv.] † Burns. III. Although he has left me for greed o' the siller, wi' him, I may be distress'd, but I winna complain; I'll flatter my fancy I may get anither, My heart it shall never be broken for ane. [The air to which these affecting words were written is good old Highland, and the title means, "My love did deceive me." It was found by Burns during his last northern tour, and found-as all Gaelic melodies are accompanied by verse. The original was rendered into English by an Inverness-shire lady, and from her version he composed these stanzas. They were printed in the fourth volume of the Musical Museum.] Bess and her Spinning-Wheel. Tune-The sweet Lass that lo'es me. I. O LEEZE me on my spinning-wheel, II. On ilka hand the burnies trot, The sun blinks kindly in the biel', III. On lofty aiks the cushats wail, IV. Wi' sma' to sell, and less to buy, ["The melody to which Burns composed those verses was written by Oswald. The theme is a favourite one with the Poet-virtue and thrift, The heroine rejoices in her rustic independence; her wheel and reel are her truest friends, and clothe her and fill her cottage with comforts. Nor is she insensible to rural loveliness; her house stands among trotting streams; and birds sing and cushats wail on the bushes and trees around her. Machinery has stopt the spinning. wheel, and taken the distaff from the bosoms of our lasses; on the rivulet side, now, no white-armed girls sing as they lave water on yarn of their own making-a shining and glossy grey, 'Which glanc'd in a' our lads' een.' as they walked kirk-ward."-CUNNINGHAM.] v. The hawthorn I will pu', Wi' its locks o' siller gray, Where, like an aged man, It stands at break of day. But the songster's nest within the bush I winna tak away And a' to be a posie To my ain dear May. VI. The woodbine I will pu', When the ev'ning 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 wearAnd a' to be a posie To my ain dear May. * [Similar sentiments to those of Burns inspired Meleager in his "Heliodora's Garland," thus translated by Professor Wilson: "I'll twine white violets, with soft myrtles too, A wreath her beauteous ringlets may flower-spread." "The feeling of the Greek lines," says Wilson, "is tender, and the expression perfect; but we cannot say more of the feeling than that it is a natural tenderness, inspired by the mingled breath of Heliodora and her garland. The tenderness is mixed, too, it may be said, with pride and homage. Meleager does the thing gracefully; we see his figure in an imposing posture, as he fixes the wreath on her head. But compare the courtier with the peasant-Meleager with Burns. By the banks of every stream in Coila hath bold bright Bobby walked, with his arm round some sweetheart's waist, and helped her to pull the primrose or the hawthorn, In many a secret place, Where rivulets danc'd their wayward round, "The Scot surpasses the Greek in poetry as well as passion -his tenderness is more heartfelt-his expression is even more exquisite; for the most consummate art, even when guided by genius, cannot refine and burnish, by repeated polishing, the best selected words, up to the breathing beauty that, warm from the fount of inspiration, sometimes colours the pure language of nature. "Lady! we appeal to thee-while we place THE POSIE ON thy bosom. "In one of Mr. Merivale's notes-always so agreeable allusion is made to Dr. Aikin's 'Essay on the application of Natural History to Poetry'-where he censures Pope for having in his Pastorals represented two flowers as blowing at the same time, when some months in reality intervene between the periods of their flowering; 'Here, the bright crocus and the violet grow; We have never seen the Doctor's Essay, but do not doubt the excellence of his prescription. Every flowery versifier,' he says, 'has materials at hand for a lover's bower; but a botanist alone could have culled and sorted the plants which compose the Bower of Eve.' Poo-poo-poo. Milton was no botanist. Poets of course observe all natural phenomena; when they wish to be accurate they generally are so; and ignorance is unpardonable on all occasions where they profess to write according to knowledge. But feeling often forgets facts. Meleager gathers flowers for his Heliodora that are all naturally in blossom together, and it is well; but Burns pu'd a posie for his own dear May, in despite of the Seasons and Dr. Aikin. He was as good a botanist as Milton-that is, no botanist at all-but he knew every month by its flower. VII. I'll tie the posie round, Wi' the silken band of love, 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 Countrie Lassie. Tune-The Country Lass. I. In simmer, when the hay was mawn, And corn wav'd green in ilka field, While claver blooms white o'er the lea, And roses blaw in ilka bield; Nevertheless, his own dear May, more magical than even the month of that name, to his eyes covered the earth at once with all the flowers of the year. As all the innocences were alive in her, so to his imagination were all their emblems in nature. The primrose the firstling of the year--as he most tenderly calls it-the pink, which comes long after the rose, which in Scotland at least is 'newly born in June'-the hawthorn, seldom 'siller grey' before July and the violet earlier far than the lily-though Heaven forbid the lily should be wanting all are pu'd by the ploughman for one Posie, that in its profusion and confusion of balm and bloom, shall faintly but faithfully image his own dear May. Enough that both she and they were innocent and beautiful in the breath of Heaven. Nor is that all. He mingles the hours of the day as well as the seasons of the year. 'I'll pu' the budding rose when Phœbus peeps in view' an image of the dewy dawn; but from morn to dewy eve is but a moment in 'love's young dream,' and, forgetful of the simplest and easiest chronology, he declares, 'The woodbine I will pu' when the evening star is near!' We could expatiate for an hour on this Posie; but the hint we have dropped is sufficient to settle Dr. Aikin." Another version of this beautiful lyric appeared above thirty years ago, set to music, and was afterwards printed in the Harp of Caledonia; it exhibits many variations, and was no doubt the poet's first draught. It is here subjoined: O luve will venture in whar it daurna well be seen; And a' to pu' a posie for my ain dear Jean. The primrose I will pu', the firstling o' the year, And a' to be a posie to my ain dear Jean. I'll pu' the budding rose, when Phœbus peeps in view, And a' to be a posie to my ain dear Jean. I'll pu' the lily pure, that adorns the dewy vale, And a' to be a posie to my ain dear Jean. The woodbine I will pu' when the e'ening star is near, Gemm'd wi' diamond drops o' dew, like her twa e'en sae clear, The violet all modesty, the odour-breathing bean, And a' to be a posie to my ain dear Jean. I'll tie the posie round with the silken band o' luve, Blithe Bessie in the milking shiel, Says I'll be wed, come o't what will; Out spak a dame in wrinkled eild- II. It's ye hae wooers mony ane, III. For Johnnie o' the Buskie-glen, He lo'es sae weel his craps and kye, For Buskie-glen and a' his gear. IV. O thoughtless lassie, life's a faught; An hungry angry care's an unco care: Keep mind that ye maun drink the yill. v. O, gear will buy me rigs o' land, And gear will buy me sheep and kye; Light is the burden luve lays on; ["In the present song, a dame of wrinkled eild takes upon her the duty of monitress, and it cannot be said that she fails to make out a capital case in favour of a prudent match; she asserts, with the wooer in Allan Ramsay, "There's mickle true love in bands and bags, The Poet has made a liberal use of proverb lore; the fourth verse consists wholly of warning saws and antique sayings; the grey dame who uses them makes happiness of the household of Mammon. In former times, before money was plentiful, it is said that a wooer waded the Nith to the Isle beside Ellisland, and made an offer for the hand of a farmer's daughter: the young woman received his addresses with a sort of sarcastic coldness; her father approached, and rounded in her ear, Look at him twice, Jenny; look at him twice-he's weel ar ["The original title of this song was 'Fair Rabina:' the heroine was a young lady to whom one of the Poet's friends was attached, and Burns wrote it in compliment to his passion. Johnson, the proprietor of the Museum, disliked the name, and, desiring to have one more suitable for singing, the Poet unwillingly changed it to Eliza. Burns thought very well of the composition, and said he had tasked his muse to the top of her performing. It is to be regretted that this change took place: it was something | of a fraud, for it robbed the fair Rabina of an honour of which any one might be justly covetous, and bestowed it upon a shadowy dame of the fancy." CUNNINGHAM.] Ve Jacobites by Name. Tune-Ye Jacobites by Name I. YE jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear: Your fautes I will proclaim, Your doctrines I maun blame |