Robert Burns: How To Know Him Part 15

BRAW BRAW LADS

Braw braw lads on Yarrow braes, [hills]

That wander thro' the blooming heather; But Yarrow braes nor Ettrick shaws [woods]

Can match the lads o' Gala Water.

But there is ane, a secret ane, Aboon them a' I lo'e him better; [love]

And I'll be his, and he'll be mine, The bonnie lad o' Gala Water.

Altho' his daddie was nae laird, [landlord]

And tho' I hae nae meikle tocher, [much dowry]

Yet rich in kindest, truest love, We'll tent our flocks by Gala Water. [watch]

It ne'er was wealth, it ne'er was wealth, That coft contentment, peace, and pleasure; [bought]

The bands and bliss o' mutual love, O that's the chiefest warld's treasure!

MY HEART'S IN THE HIGHLANDS

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

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.

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

The foregoing are all placed in the mouths of girls, and it is difficult to deny that they ring as true as the songs that are known to have sprung from the poet's direct experience. Scarcely less notable than their sincerity is their variety. Pathos of desertion, gay defiance of opposition, yearning in absence, confession of coquetry, joyous confession of affection returned--these are only a few of the phases of woman's love rendered here with a felicity that leaves nothing to be desired. What woman has so interpreted the feelings of her s.e.x?

The next two express a girl's repugnance at the thought of marriage with an old man; and the two following form a pair treating the same theme, one from the girl's point of view, the other from the lover's.

The later verses of _My Love She's but a La.s.sie Yet_, however, though full of vivacity, have so little to do with the first or with one another that the song seems to be a collection of sc.r.a.ps held together by a common melody.

WHAT CAN A YOUNG La.s.sIE

What can a young la.s.sie, what shall a young la.s.sie, What can a young la.s.sie do wi' an auld man?

Bad luck on the penny that tempted my minnie [mother]

To sell her poor Jenny for siller an' lan'! [money]

He's always compleenin' frae mornin' to e'enin', He boasts and he hirples the weary day lang: [coughs, limps]

He's doylt and he's dozin, his bluid it is frozen, [stupid, benumbed]

O, dreary's the night wi' a crazy auld man!

He hums and he hankers, he frets and he cankers, I never can please him do a' that I can; He's peevish, and jealous of a' the young fellows: O, dool on the day I met wi' an auld man! [woe]

My auld auntie Katie upon me takes pity, I'll do my endeavour to follow her plan: I'll cross him and rack him, until I heart-break him, And then his auld bra.s.s will buy me a new pan.

TO DAUNTON ME

The blude-red rose at Yule may blaw, The simmer lilies bloom in snaw, The frost may freeze the deepest sea; But an auld man shall never daunton me. [tame]

To daunton me, and me sae young, Wi' his fause heart and flatt'ring tongue, [false]

That is the thing you ne'er shall see; For an auld man shall never daunton me.

For a' his meal and a' his maut, [malt]

For a' his fresh beef and his saut, [salt]

For a' his gold and white monie, An auld man shall never daunton me.

His gear may buy him kye and yowes, [wealth, cows, ewes]

His gear may buy him glens and knowes; [knolls]

But me he shall not buy nor fee, [hire]

For an auld man shall never daunton me.

He hirples twa fauld as he dow, [limps double, can]

Wi' his teethless gab and his auld beld pow, [mouth, bald head]

And the rain rains down frae his red bleer'd e'e-- That auld man shall never daunton me.

I'M OWRE YOUNG TO MARRY YET

I am my mammie's ae bairn, [only child]

Wi' unco folk I weary, Sir; [strange]

And lying in a man's bed, I'm fley'd wad mak me eerie, Sir. [frightened, scared]

I'm owre young, I'm owre young, [too]

I'm owre young to marry yet; I'm owre young, 'twad be a sin To tak me frae my mammie yet.

[My mammie coft me a new gown, [bought]

The kirk maun hae the gracing o't; [must]

Were I to lie wi' you, kind Sir, I'm fear'd ye'd spoil the lacing o't.]

Hallowmas is come and gane, The nights are lang in winter, Sir; And you an' I in ae bed, In troth I dare na venture, Sir.

Fu' loud and shrill the frosty wind Blaws thro' the leafless timmer, Sir; [timber]

But if ye come this gate again, [way]

I'll aulder be gin simmer, Sir. [older, by]

MY LOVE SHE'S BUT A La.s.sIE YET

My love she's but a la.s.sie yet; My love she's but a la.s.sie yet; We'll let her stand a year or twa, She'll no be half sae saucy yet.

I rue the day I sought her, O, I rue the day I sought her, O; Wha gets her needs na say he's woo'd, But he may say he's bought her, O!

Come, draw a drap o' the best o't yet; Come, draw a drap o' the best o't yet; Gae seek for pleasure where ye will, [Go]

But here I never miss'd it yet.

[We're a' dry wi' drinking o't; We're a' dry wi' drinking o't; The minister kiss'd the fiddler's wife, An' could na preach for thinkin' o't.]