ET. 36.] CA' THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES. 129

CA' THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES.

"I am flattered at your adopting Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes, as it was owing to me that ever it saw the light. About seven years ago, I was well acquainted with a worthy little fellow of a clergyman, a Mr. Clunie, who sang it charmingly; and, at my request, Mr. Clarke took it down from his singing. When I gave it to Johnson, I added some stanzas to the song, and mended others, but still it will not do for you. In a solitary stroll which I took to-day, I tried my hand on a few pastoral lines, following up the idea of the chorus, which I would preserve. Here it is, with all its crudities and imperfections on its head." Burns to Mr. Thomson, Sept., 1794.

CHORUS.

drive the ewes

CA' the yowes to the knowes,
Ca' them where the heather grows,
Ca' them where the burnie rows,
My bonny dearie !

Hark! the mavis' evening-sang
Sounding Cluden's woods amang ;
Then a faulding let us gang,
My bonny dearie.

VOL. III.

130

CA' THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES. [1794.

We'll gae down by Cluden side,
Through the hazels spreading wide,

O'er the waves that sweetly glide
To the moon sae clearly.

Yonder Cluden's silent towers,
Where at moonshine midnight hours,
O'er the dewy bending flowers,
Fairies dance sae cheery.

Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear ;
Thou❜rt to love and heaven sae dear,

goblin

Nocht of ill may come thee near,
My bonny dearie.

Fair and lovely as thou art,

Thou hast stown my very heart;

I can die. but canna part,

My bonny dearie.

While waters wimple to the sea;

stolen

meander

While day blinks in the lift sae hie; gleams

Till clay-cauld death shall blin' my ee,

Ye shall be my dearie.

ET. 36.] SHE SAYS SHE LO'ES ME.

131

SHE SAYS SHE LO'ES ME BEST OF A'.

TUNE- Onagh's Lock.

SAE flaxen were her ringlets,

Her eyebrows of a darker hue,
Bewitchingly o'er-arching

Twa laughing e'en o' bonny blue:

Her smiling, sae wiling,

Wad make a wretch forget his wo;

What pleasure, what treasure,

Unto these rosy lips to grow!
Such was my Chloris' bonny face,
When first her bonny face I saw;
And aye my Chloris' dearest charm, -
She says she lo'es me best of a'.

Like harmony her motion;

Her pretty ankle is a spy
Betraying fair proportion,

Wad make a saint forget the sky.
Sae warming, sae charming,

Her faultless form and graceful air;

Ilk feature auld nature

Declared that she could do nae mair.

132

SAW YE MY PHELY?

[1794.

Hers are the willing chains o' love,
By conquering beauty's sovereign law;
And aye my Chloris' dearest charm,

She says she lo'es me best of a'.

Let others love the city,

And gaudy show at sunny noon;
Gie me the lonely valley,

The dewy eve, and rising moon,

Fair beaming, and streaming,

Her silver light the boughs amang;

While falling, recalling,

The amorous thrush concludes his sang.
There, dearest Chloris, wilt thou rove
By wimpling burn and leafy

shaw,

meandering

And hear my vows o' truth and love,
And say thou lo'es me best of a'?

Sept., 1794.

grove

Он, saw ye my dear, my Phely?

Oh, saw ye my dear, my Phely?

She's down i' the grove, she's wi' a new love, She winna come hame to her Willy.

ET. 36.] HOW LONG AND DREARY.

133

What says she, my dearest, my Phely?
What says she, my dearest, my Phely?
She lets thee to wit, that she has thee forgot,
And for ever disowns thee, her Willy.

Oh, had I ne'er seen thee, my Phely!

Oh, had I ne'er seen thee, my Phely!
As light as the air, and fause as thou's fair,
Thou's broken the heart o' thy Willy.

Oct., 1794.

HOW LONG AND DREARY IS THE NIGHT!

TUNE

Cauld Kail in Aberdeen.

"How long and dreary is the Night! - I met with some such words in a collection of songs somewhere, which I altered and enlarged; and to please you, and to suit your favourite air, I have taken a stride or two across my room, and have arranged it anew, as you will find on the other page." — Burns to Mr. Thomson, 19th Oct., 1794.

How long and dreary is the night
When I am frae my dearie!

I restless lie frae e'en to morn,

Though I were ne'er sae weary.