The Complete Works of Robert Burns Part 86

TO THE MEN AND BRETHREN

OF THE

MASONIC LODGE AT TARBOLTON.

Within your dear mansion may wayward contention Or withering envy ne'er enter: May secrecy round be the mystical bound, And brotherly love be the centre.

_Edinburgh_, 23 _August_, 1787.

Lx.x.x.

IMPROMPTU.

[The tumbler on which these verses are inscribed by the diamond of Burns, found its way to the hands of Sir Walter Scott, and is now among the treasures of Abbotsford.]

You're welcome, Willie Stewart, You're welcome, Willie Stewart; There's ne'er a flower that blooms in May, That's half sae welcome's thou art.

Come b.u.mpers high, express your joy, The bowl we maun renew it; The tappit-hen, gae bring her ben, To welcome Willie Stewart.

My foes be strang, and friends be slack, Ilk action may he rue it, May woman on him turn her back, That wrongs thee, Willie Stewart.

Lx.x.xI.

PRAYER FOR ADAM ARMOUR.

[The origin of this prayer is curious. In 1785, the maid-servant of an innkeeper at Mauchline, having been caught in what old ballad-makers delicately call "the deed of shame," Adam Armour, the brother of the poet's bonnie Jean, with one or two more of his comrades, executed a rustic act of justice upon her, by parading her perforce through the village, placed on a rough, unpruned piece of wood: an unpleasant ceremony, vulgarly called "Riding the Stang." This was resented by Geordie and Nanse, the girl's master and mistress; law was restored to, and as Adam had to hide till the matter was settled, he durst not venture home till late on the Sat.u.r.day nights. In one of these home-comings he met Burns who laughed when he heard the story, and said, "You have need of some one to pray for you." "No one can do that better than yourself," was the reply, and this humorous intercession was made on the instant, and, as it is said, "clean off loof." From Adam Armour I obtained the verses, and when he wrote them out, he told the story in which the prayer originated.]

Lord, pity me, for I am little, An elf of mischief and of mettle, That can like ony wabster's shuttle, Jink there or here, Though scarce as lang's a gude kale-whittle, I'm unco queer.

Lord pity now our waefu' case, For Geordie's Jurr we're in disgrace, Because we stang'd her through the place, 'Mang hundreds laughin', For which we daurna show our face Within the clachan.

And now we're dern'd in glens and hallows, And hunted as was William Wallace, By constables, those blackguard fellows, And bailies baith, O Lord, preserve us frae the gallows!

That cursed death.

Auld, grim, black-bearded Geordie's sel', O shake him ewre the mouth o' h.e.l.l, And let him hing and roar and yell, Wi' hideous din, And if he offers to rebel Just heave him in.

When Death comes in wi' glimmering blink, And tips auld drunken Nanse the wink'

Gaur Satan gie her a--e a clink Behint his yett, And fill her up wi' brimstone drink, Red reeking het!

There's Jockie and the hav'rel Jenny, Some devil seize them in a hurry, And waft them in th' infernal wherry, Straught through the lake, And gie their hides a n.o.ble curry, Wi' oil of aik.

As for the la.s.s, lascivious body, She's had mischief enough already, Weel stang'd by market, mill, and smiddie, She's suffer'd sair; But may she wintle in a widdie, If she wh--re mair.

SONGS AND BALLADS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HANDSOME NELL.]

I.

HANDSOME NELL.

Tune.--"_I am a man unmarried."_

["This composition," says Burns in his "Common-place Book," "was the first of my performances, and done at an early period in life, when my heart glowed with honest, warm simplicity; unacquainted and uncorrupted with the ways of a wicked world. The subject of it was a young girl who really deserved all the praises I have bestowed on her."]

I.

O once I lov'd a bonnie la.s.s, Ay, and I love her still; And whilst that honour warms my breast, I'll love my handsome Nell.

II.

As bonnie la.s.ses I hae seen, And mony full as braw; But for a modest gracefu' mien The like I never saw.

III.

A bonnie la.s.s, I will confess, Is pleasant to the e'e, But without some better qualities She's no a la.s.s for me.

IV.

But Nelly's looks are blithe and sweet, And what is best of a', Her reputation is complete, And fair without a flaw.

V.

She dresses ay sae clean and neat, Both decent and genteel: And then there's something in her gait Gars ony dress look weel.

VI.

A gaudy dress and gentle air May slightly touch the heart; But it's innocence and modesty That polishes the dart.