THE BLUE-EYED LASSIE. I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen, She talk'd, she smil'd, my heart she wyl'd, THE BANKS OF NITH. Tune-" Robie Donna Gorach." The Thames flows proudly to the sea, Where Cummins ance had high command: poet and his friend Allan Masterton. This meeting took place at Laggan, a farm purchased by Mr. Nicol, in Nithsdale, on the recommendation of our bard. These three honest fellows-all men of uncommon talents, are now all under the turf. (1799.) E. The heroine of this song was Miss J****, of Lochmaban. This lady, now Mrs. R*****, after residing some time in Liverpool, is settled with her husband in New York, North America. E. When shall I see that honour'd land, How lovely, Nith, thy fruitful vales, Where spreading hawthorns gayly bloom; Where lambkins wanton thro' the broom! JOHN ANDERSON MY JO John Anderson my jo, John, John Anderson my jo, John, We clamb the hill thegither; And mony a canty day, John, We've had wi' ane anither: Now we maun totter down, John, -But hand in hand we'll go ; And sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson my jo*. In the first volume of a collection entitled, Poetry Original and Selected, printed by Brash and Reid, of Glasgow, this song is given as follows: TAM GLEN. My heart is a breaking, dear Tittie, John Anderson, my jo, Improved, By ROBERT BURNS. John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean, To rise so soon in the morning, and sit up so late at e'en ; Ye'll blear out all your e'en, John, and why should you do so? Gang sooner to your bed at e'en, John Anderson, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, when nature first began To try her canny hand, John, her master-work was man ; And you amang them a', John, sae trig frae tap to toe, She prov'd to be nae journey-work, John Ander son, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, ye were my first conceit, And ye need nae think it strange, John, tho' I ca' ye trim and neat; Tho' some folk say ye're auld, John, I never think ye so, But I think ye're aye the same to me, John Anderson, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, we've seen our bairns' bairns, And yet, my dear John Anderson, I'm happy in your arms, To anger them a' is a pity, But what will I do wi' Tam Glen. And sae are ye in mine, John-I'm sure ye'll ne'er say no, Tho' the days are gane that we have seen, John Anderson, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, what pleasure does it gie, To see sae many sprouts, John, spring up 'tween you and me, And ilka lad and lass, John, in our footsteps to go, Makes perfect heaven here on earth, John Anderson my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, when we were first acquaint, Your locks were like the raven, your bonny brow was brent; But now your head's turn'd bald, John, your locks are like the snow, Yet blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, frae year to year we've past, And soon that year maun come, John, will bring us to our last: But let nae that affright us, John, our hearts were ne'er our foe, While in innocent delight we lived, John Ander son, my jo. John Anderson, my jo, John, we clamb the hill the gither, And mony a canty day, John, we've had wi ane anither; Now we maun totter down, John, but hand in hand we'll And we'll sleep thegither at the foot, John Anderson, my jo. I'm thinking wi' sie a braw fellow, If I mauna marry Tam Glen! There's Lowrie the laird o' Dumeller, "Gude day to you brute," he comes ben: He brags and he blaws o' his siller, But when will he dance like Tam Glen? My minnie does constantly deave me, The stanza with which this song, inserted by Messrs. Brash and Reid, begins, is the chorus of the old song under this title; and though perfectly suitable to that wicked but witty ballad, it has no accordance with the strain of delicate and tender sentiment of this improved song. In regard to the five other additional stanzas, though they are in the spirit of the two stanzas that are unquestionably our bard's, yet every reader of discernment will see they are by an inferior hand; and the real author of them ought neither to have given them, nor suffered them to be given, to the world, as the production of Burns. If there were no other mark of their spurious origin, the latter half of the third line in the seventh stanza, our hearts were ne'er our foe, would be proof suffi cient. Many are the instances in which our bard has adopted defective rhymes, but a single instance cannot be produced, in which, to preserve the rhyme, he has given a feeble thought in false grammar. These additional stanzas are not, however, without merit, and they may serve to prolong the pleasure which every person of taste must feel, from listening to a most happy union of beautiful music, with moral sentiments that are singularly interesting. E. |