O, FOR ANE AND TWENTY, TAM!

Wistfully I look and languish

In that bonnie face o' thine;
And my heart it stounds wi' anguish,
Lest my wee thing be na mine.

Wit, and grace, and love, and beauty
In ae constellation shine;

To adore thee is my duty,

Goddess o' this soul o' mine!
Bonnie wee, &c.

111

O, FOR ANE AND TWENTY, TAM!

TUNE-The Moudièwort.

CHORUS.

An O for ane and twenty, Tam!
An hey, sweet ane and twenty, Tam!
I'll learn my kin a rattlin sang,

An I saw ane and twenty, Tam.

THEY snool me sair, and haud me down,
And gar me look like bluntie, Tam!
But three short years will soon wheel roun',
And then comes ane and twenty, Tam.
An O for ane, &c.

A gleib o' lan', a claut o' gear,

Was left me by my auntie, Tam;

At kith or kin I needna spier,

An I saw ane and twenty, Tam.

An O for ane, &c.

They'll hae me wed a wealthy coof,
Tho' I mysel' hae plenty, Tam;
But hear'st thou, laddie, there's my loof,
I'm thine at ane and twenty, Tam!
An O for ane, &c.

BESS AND HER SPINNING WHEEL.

TUNE-Bottom of the Punch Bowl.

O, LEEZE me on my spinning wheel,
O, leeze me on my rock and reel;
Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien,
And haps me fiel and warm at e'en!
I'll set me down and sing and spin,
While laigh descends the simmer sun,
Blest wi' content, and milk and meal-
O, leeze me on my spinning wheel.

On ilka hand the burnies trot,
And meet below my theekit cot;
The scented birk and hawthorn white
Across the pool their arms unite,
Alike to screen the birdie's nest,
And little fishes caller rest:

The sun blinks kindly in the biel',
Where blithe I turn my spinning wheel.

On lofty aiks the cushats wail,
And echo cons the doolfu' tale;
The lintwhites in the hazel braes,
Delighted, rival ither's lays:
The craik amang the claver hay,
The paitrick whirrin o'er the ley,
The swallow jinkin round my shiel,
Amuse me at my spinning wheel.

Wi' sma' to sell, and less to buy,
Aboon distress, below envy,
O, wha wad leave this humble state,
For a' the pride of a' the great?

COUNTRY LASSIE.

Amid their flaring, idle toys,

Amid their cumbrous, dinsome joys,
Can they the peace and pleasure feel
Of Bessy at her spinning wheel?

113

COUNTRY LASSIE.

TUNE--John, come kiss me now.

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;
Blithe Bessie in the milking shiel,
Says, I'll be wed, come o't what will;
Out spak a dame in wrinkled eild,
O' guid advisement comes nae ill.

It's

ye hae wooers mony ane,

And lassie, ye're but young ye ken;
Then wait a wee, and cannie wale
A routhie butt, a routhie ben:
There's Johnie o' the Buskie-glen,
Fu' is his barn, fu' is his byre;
Tak this frae me, my bonnie hen,
It's plenty beets the luver's fire.
For Johnie o' the Buskie-glen
I dinna care a single flie;
He lo'es sae weel his craps
He has nae luve to
spare
for me:
But blithe's the blink o' Robie's ee,

and kye,

And weel I wat he lo'es me dear:

Ae blink o' him I wadna gie

For Buskie-glen and a' his gear.

O thoughtless lassie, life's a faught;
The canniest gate, the strife is sair;
But aye
fu' han't is fechtin best,

An hungry care's an unco care:

But some will spend, and some will spare,
An' wilfu' folk maun hae their will;
Syne as ye brew, my maiden fair,
Keep mind that ye maun drink the yill.
O, gear will buy me rigs o' land,
And gear will buy me sheep and kye;
But the tender heart o' leesome luve
The gowd and siller canna buy:

We may

be poor-Robie and I,

Light is the burden luve lays on; Content and luve brings peace and joy, What mair hae queens upon a throne?

FAIR ELIZA.

TUNE-The bonnie brucket Lassie.

TURN again, thou fair Eliza,

Ae kind blink before we part,

Rew on thy despairing lover!

Canst thou break his faithfu' heart?

Turn again, thou fair Eliza;

If to love thy heart denies,
For pity hide the cruel sentence
Under friendship's kind disguise!

Thee, dear maid, hae I offended?
The offence is loving thee;
Canst thou wreck his peace for ever,
Wha for thine wad gladly die?

O, LUVE WILL VENTURE IN.

While the life beats in my bosom,

Thou shalt mix in ilka throe:
Turn again, thou lovely maiden,
Ae sweet smile on me bestow.

Not the bee upon the blossom,
In the pride o' sunny noon;
Not the little sporting fairy,

All beneath the simmer moon;
Not the poet, in the moment
Fancy lightens in his ee,

Kens the pleasure, feels the rapture,
That thy presence gies to me.

O, LUVE WILL VENTURE IN.

TUNE-The Posie.

115

O, LUVE will venture in, where it daurna weel be

seen,

O, luve will venture in, where wisdom ance has been; [sae green, But I will down yon river rove, amang the wood

And a' to pu' a posie to my ain dear May. The primrose I will pu', the firstling o' the year, 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 bonnie mou; The hyacinth's for constancy, wi' its unchanging

blue,

And a' to be a posie to my ain dear May.