Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns Part 71

O weary fa' the waukrife c.o.c.k, And the foumart lay his crawin!

He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep, A wee blink or the dawin.

An angry wife I wat she raise, And o'er the bed she brocht her; And wi' a meikle hazel rung She made her a weel-pay'd dochter.

O fare thee weel, my bonie la.s.s, O fare thee well, my hinnie!

Thou art a gay an' a bonnie la.s.s, But thou has a waukrife minnie.

The Captive Ribband

Tune--"Robaidh dona gorach."

Dear Myra, the captive ribband's mine, 'Twas all my faithful love could gain; And would you ask me to resign The sole reward that crowns my pain?

Go, bid the hero who has run Thro' fields of death to gather fame, Go, bid him lay his laurels down, And all his well-earn'd praise disclaim.

The ribband shall its freedom lose-- Lose all the bliss it had with you, And share the fate I would impose On thee, wert thou my captive too.

It shall upon my bosom live, Or clasp me in a close embrace; And at its fortune if you grieve, Retrieve its doom, and take its place.

My Heart's In The Highlands

Tune--"Failte na Miosg."

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North, The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth; Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Chorus.--My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer; Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe, My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow, Farewell to the straths and green vallies below; Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods, Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, &c.

The Whistle--A Ballad

I sing of a Whistle, a Whistle of worth, I sing of a Whistle, the pride of the North.

Was brought to the court of our good Scottish King, And long with this Whistle all Scotland shall ring.

Old Loda, still rueing the arm of Fingal, The G.o.d of the bottle sends down from his hall-- "The Whistle's your challenge, to Scotland get o'er, And drink them to h.e.l.l, Sir! or ne'er see me more!"

Old poets have sung, and old chronicles tell, What champions ventur'd, what champions fell: The son of great Loda was conqueror still, And blew on the Whistle their requiem shrill.

Till Robert, the lord of the Cairn and the Scaur, Unmatch'd at the bottle, unconquer'd in war, He drank his poor G.o.d-ship as deep as the sea; No tide of the Baltic e'er drunker than he.

Thus Robert, victorious, the trophy has gain'd; Which now in his house has for ages remain'd; Till three n.o.ble chieftains, and all of his blood, The jovial contest again have renew'd.

Three joyous good fellows, with hearts clear of flaw Craigdarroch, so famous for with, worth, and law; And trusty Glenriddel, so skill'd in old coins; And gallant Sir Robert, deep-read in old wines.

Craigdarroch began, with a tongue smooth as oil, Desiring Downrightly to yield up the spoil; Or else he would muster the heads of the clan, And once more, in claret, try which was the man.

"By the G.o.ds of the ancients!" Downrightly replies, "Before I surrender so glorious a prize, I'll conjure the ghost of the great Rorie More, And b.u.mper his horn with him twenty times o'er."

Sir Robert, a soldier, no speech would pretend, But he ne'er turn'd his back on his foe, or his friend; Said, "Toss down the Whistle, the prize of the field,"

And, knee-deep in claret, he'd die ere he'd yield.

To the board of Glenriddel our heroes repair, So noted for drowning of sorrow and care; But, for wine and for welcome, not more known to fame, Than the sense, wit, and taste, of a sweet lovely dame.

A bard was selected to witness the fray, And tell future ages the feats of the day; A Bard who detested all sadness and spleen, And wish'd that Parna.s.sus a vineyard had been.

The dinner being over, the claret they ply, And ev'ry new cork is a new spring of joy; In the bands of old friendship and kindred so set, And the bands grew the tighter the more they were wet.

Gay Pleasure ran riot as b.u.mpers ran o'er: Bright Phoebus ne'er witness'd so joyous a core, And vow'd that to leave them he was quite forlorn, Till Cynthia hinted he'd see them next morn.

Six bottles a-piece had well wore out the night, When gallant Sir Robert, to finish the fight, Turn'd o'er in one b.u.mper a bottle of red, And swore 'twas the way that their ancestor did.

Then worthy Glenriddel, so cautious and sage, No longer the warfare unG.o.dly would wage; A high Ruling Elder to wallow in wine; He left the foul business to folks less divine.

The gallant Sir Robert fought hard to the end; But who can with Fate and quart b.u.mpers contend!

Though Fate said, a hero should perish in light; So uprose bright Phoebus--and down fell the knight.

Next uprose our Bard, like a prophet in drink:-- "Craigdarroch, thou'lt soar when creation shall sink!

But if thou would flourish immortal in rhyme, Come--one bottle more--and have at the sublime!

"Thy line, that have struggled for freedom with Bruce, Shall heroes and patriots ever produce: So thine be the laurel, and mine be the bay; The field thou hast won, by yon bright G.o.d of day!"

To Mary In Heaven

Thou ling'ring star, with lessening ray, That lov'st to greet the early morn, Again thou usher'st in the day My Mary from my soul was torn.

O Mary! dear departed shade!

Where is thy place of blissful rest?

See'st thou thy lover lowly laid?

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?

That sacred hour can I forget, Can I forget the hallow'd grove, Where, by the winding Ayr, we met, To live one day of parting love!

Eternity will not efface Those records dear of transports past, Thy image at our last embrace, Ah! little thought we 'twas our last!

Ayr, gurgling, kiss'd his pebbled sh.o.r.e, O'erhung with wild-woods, thickening green; The fragrant birch and hawthorn h.o.a.r, 'Twin'd amorous round the raptur'd scene: The flowers sprang wanton to be prest, The birds sang love on every spray; Till too, too soon, the glowing west, Proclaim'd the speed of winged day.