The Complete Works of Robert Burns Part 89

And they ha'e ta'en his very heart's blood, And drank it round and round; And still the more and more they drank, Their joy did more abound.

XIII.

John Barleycorn was a hero bold, Of n.o.ble enterprise; For if you do but taste his blood, 'Twill make your courage rise.

XIV.

'Twill make a man forget his woe; 'Twill heighten all his joy: 'Twill make the widow's heart to sing, Tho' the tear were in her eye.

XV.

Then let us toast John Barleycorn, Each man a gla.s.s in hand; And may his great posterity Ne'er fail in old Scotland!

VII.

THE RIGS O' BARLEY.

Tune--"_Corn rigs are bonnie."_

[Two young women of the west, Anne Ronald and Anne Blair, have each, by the district traditions, been claimed as the heroine of this early song.]

I.

It was upon a Lammas night, When corn rigs are bonnie, Beneath the moon's unclouded light, I held awa to Annie: The time flew by wi' tentless heed, 'Till 'tween the late and early, Wi' sma' persuasion she agreed, To see me through the barley.

II.

The sky was blue, the wind was still, The moon was shining clearly; I set her down wi' right good will, Amang the rigs o' barley: I ken't her heart was a' my ain; I lov'd her most sincerely; I kiss'd her owre and owre again, Amang the rigs o' barley.

III.

I lock'd her in my fond embrace!

Her heart was beating rarely: My blessings on that happy place.

Amang the rigs o' barley!

But by the moon and stars so bright.

That shone that hour so clearly?

She ay shall bless that happy night, Amang the rigs o' barley!

IV.

I hae been blithe wi' comrades dear; I hae been merry drinkin'; I hae been joyfu' gath'rin' gear; I hae been happy thinkin': But a' the pleasures e'er I saw, Tho' three times doubled fairly, That happy night was worth them a', Amang the rigs o' barley.

CHORUS.

Corn rigs, an' barley rigs, An' corn rigs are bonnie: I'll ne'er forget that happy night, Amang the rigs wi' Annie.

VIII.

MONTGOMERY'S PEGGY.

Tune--"_Galla-Water."_

["My Montgomery's Peggy," says Burns, "was my deity for six or eight months: she had been bred in a style of life rather elegant: it cost me some heart-aches to get rid of the affair." The young lady listened to the eloquence of the poet, poured out in many an interview, and then quietly told him that she stood unalterably engaged to another.]

I.

Altho' my bed were in yon muir, Amang the heather, in my plaidie, Yet happy, happy would I be, Had I my dear Montgomery's Peggy.

II.

When o'er the hill beat surly storms, And winter nights were dark and rainy; I'd seek some dell, and in my arms I'd shelter dear Montgomery's Peggy.

III.

Were I a baron proud and high, And horse and servants waiting ready, Then a' 'twad gie o' joy to me, The sharin't with Montgomery's Peggy.

IX.

THE MAUCHLINE LADY.

Tune--"_I had a horse, I had nae mair._"

[The Mauchline lady who won the poet's heart was Jean Armour: she loved to relate how the bard made her acquaintance: his dog run across some linen webs which she was bleaching among Mauchline gowans, and he apologized so handsomely that she took another look at him. To this interview the world owes some of our most impa.s.sioned strains.]

When first I came to Stewart Kyle, My mind it was nae steady; Where'er I gaed, where'er I rade, A mistress still I had ay: But when I came roun' by Mauchline town, Not dreadin' any body, My heart was caught before I thought, And by a Mauchline lady.