XV.
A FRAGMENT.
Tune--"_John Anderson my jo._"
[This verse, written early, and probably intended for the starting verse of a song, was found among the papers of the poet.]
One night as I did wander, When corn begins to shoot, I sat me down to ponder, Upon an auld tree root: Auld Ayr ran by before me, And bicker"d to the seas; A cushat crooded o"er me, That echoed thro" the braes.
XVI.
BONNIE PEGGY ALISON.
Tune--"_Braes o" Balquihidder._"
[On those whom Burns loved, he poured out songs without limit. Peggy Alison is said, by a western tradition, to be Montgomery"s Peggy, but this seems doubtful.]
CHORUS.
I"ll kiss thee yet, yet, An" I"ll kiss thee o"er again; An" I"ll kiss thee yet, yet, My bonnie Peggy Alison!
I.
Ilk care and fear, when thou art near, I ever mair defy them, O; Young kings upon their hansel throne Are no sae blest as I am, O!
II.
When in my arms, wi" a" thy charms, I clasp my countless treasure, O, I seek nae mair o" Heaven to share Than sic a moment"s pleasure, O!
III.
And by thy een, sae bonnie blue, I swear, I"m thine for ever, O!-- And on thy lips I seal my vow, And break it shall I never, O!
I"ll kiss thee yet, yet, An" I"ll kiss thee o"er again; An" I"ll kiss thee yet, yet, My bonnie Peggy Alison!
XVII.
THERE"S NOUGHT BUT CARE.
Tune--"_Green grow the rashes._"
["Man was made when nature was but an apprentice; but woman is the last and most perfect work of nature," says an old writer, in a rare old book: a pa.s.sage which expresses the sentiment of Burns; yet it is all but certain, that the Ploughman Bard was unacquainted with "Cupid"s Whirlygig," where these words are to be found.]
CHORUS.
Green grow the rashes, O!
Green grow the rashes, O!
The sweetest hours that e"er I spend Are spent amang the la.s.ses, O.
I.
There"s nought but care on ev"ry han", In every hour that pa.s.ses, O: What signifies the life o" man, An" "twere na for the la.s.ses, O.
II.
The warly race may riches chase, An" riches still may fly them, O; An" tho" at last they catch them fast, Their hearts can ne"er enjoy them, O.
III.
But gie me a canny hour at e"en, My arms about my dearie, O; An" warly cares, an" warly men, May a" gae tapsalteerie, O.
IV.
For you sae douce, ye sneer at this, Ye"re nought but senseless a.s.ses, O: The wisest man the warl" e"er saw, He dearly lov"d the la.s.ses, O.
V.
Auld Nature swears the lovely dears Her n.o.blest work she cla.s.ses, O: Her "prentice han" she try"d on man, An" then she made the la.s.ses, O.
Green grow the rashes, O!
Green grow the rashes, O!
The sweetest hours that e"er I spend Are spent amang the la.s.ses, O.
XVIII.
MY JEAN!
Tune--"_The Northern La.s.s._"
[The lady on whom this pa.s.sionate verse was written was Jean Armour.]