Will ye gang down the water side, And see the waves sae sweetly glide Beneath the hazels spreading wide, The moon it shines fu' clearly. I was bred up at nae sic school, Ye shall get gowns and ribbons meet, If ye'll but stand to what ye've said, I'se gang wi' you my shepherd lad; And ye may row me in your plaid, And I shall be your dearie. 5 10 15 20 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!" 'Ripple. 1 Ewes. 2 Knolls. The brook rolls. And he's clappit down in our gudeman's chair, And he's brought fouth' o' foreign trash, He's pu'd the rose o' English loons, Come up amang the Highland hills, And if a stock ye daur to pu', 10 15 20 5 In the land o' the leal. For a wee bit German lairdie! And we've the trenching blades o' weir, Wad glib ye o' your German gear, 30 And pass ye neath the claymore's sheer Thou feckless German lairdie! And I'll welcome you To the land o' the leal. That Charlie1 came to our town, The young Chevalier. And Charlie he's my darling, 5 In the land o' the leal. ANONYMOUS THE WEE, WEE GERMAN LAIRDIE Wha the deil hae we got for a king, 1 Loyal, faithful, true-hearted. 1i. e., George I (1714-1727), Elector of Hanover. Both George I and George II were favorite subjects for ridicule with the Jacobite song-writers. 2 Cabbage-garden. My darling, my darling, As Charlie he came up the gate, I grat to see the lad come back 10 Plenty. Charles Edward Stuart, "the young Pretender," grandson of King James II. 8 Deprive. A pointed tool, used to make holes for planting seeds, or "dibbling." 1 Charles Stuart, "the young Pretender," as his father James Edward Stuart, was called the "Chevalier" by his friends, Charles gained the title of "the young Chevalier." grave, Weel-pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave.19 Oh, happy love! where love like this is found! Oh, heart-felt raptures! bliss beyond compare! I've paced much this weary, mortal round, 75 And sage experience bids me this declare; "If Heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare One cordial in this melancholy vale, 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair In other's arms breathe out the tender tale, 80 Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale." Is there, in human form, that bears a heart, A wretch! a villain! lost to love and truth! That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art, Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth? Curse on his perjur'd arts! dissembling smooth! 86 Then kneeling down, to Heaven's Eternal King, The saint, the father, and the husband prays: Hope "springs exulting on triumphant wing,"32 25 Hall-bible, i. e., house-hold, or family, Bible. 26 In Scotland (as in Shakespeare) bonnet often means a cap, or head-covering, worn by men or boys. In Scott's well-known song the "Blue Bonnets" the Scotch. (v. p. 501). 27 Grey temples, i. e., the locks of gray about his templea. 2 Dundee, Martyrs, and Elgin are among the most familiar and characteristic of the Scottish hymn-tunes. 30 King David. 29 Rouses, fans. $1 Rev. xviii. 32 Pope, Windsor Forest, 1. 111. |