164

ELECTION BALLADS.

A wight that will weather damnation,
For the devil the prey will despise.

And there is our king's lord-lieutenant,
So famed for his grateful return;
The birkie is getting his questions,

To say in St. Stephen's the morn.

And there will be Douglasses doughty
New-christening towns far and near;
Abjuring their democrat doings,
· of a peer.

By kissing the

1

[1795.

And there'll be lads o' the gospel;
Muirhead, wha's as guid as he's true; 2
Aud there'll be Buittle's apostle,

fellow

Wha's mair o' the black than the blue.3

And there'll be Kenmure sae generous,*
Whase honour is proof to the storm;
To save them frae stark reprobation,
He lent them his name to the firm.

And there'll be Logan M'Dowall,5
Sculduddery and he will be there;

1 The Messrs. Douglas, brothers, of Carlinwark (new-christ

ened by them Castle-Douglas) and Orchardton.

2 Rev. Mr. Muirhead, minister of Urr.

3 Rev. George Maxwell, minister of Buittle.

4 Mr. Gordon, of Kenmure.

5 Captain M'Dowall, of Logan, the hero of Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonny Doon.

ET. 37.]

ELECTION BALLADS.

And also the wild Scot o' Galloway,
Sodgering gunpowder Blair.1

But we winna mention Redcastle,2
The body, e'en let him escape!
He'd venture the gallows for siller,
An' 'twere na' the cost o' the rape.

165

Then hey the chaste interest o' Broughton, And hey for the blessings 'twill bring! It may send Balmaghie to the Commons, In Sodom, 'twould make him a king.

And hey for the sanctified Murray,

Our land who wi' chapels has stored; He foundered his horse among harlots, But gied the auld naig to the Lord.

1 Mr. Blair, of Dunskey.

2 Walter Sloan Lawrie, of Redcastle.

rope

166 JOHN BUSHBY'S LAMENTATION. [1795.

JOHN BUSHBY'S LAMENTATION.

TUNE- The Babes in the Wood.

After the election, which was decided in Mr. Heron's favor, Burns could not resist the temptation to raise a pæan of triumph over the discomfited earl and his factotum Bushby.

"TWAS in the seventeen hunder year

O' grace and ninety-five,

That year I was the wae'est man saddest
O'ony man alive.

In March the three-and-twentieth morn,

The sun raise clear and bright;

But oh I was a waefu' man

Ere to-fa' o' the night.

night-fall

Yerl Galloway lang did rule this land,

Wi' equal right and fame,

And thereto was his kinsman joined

The Murray's noble name.1

1 Variation:

Fast knit in chaste and haly bands,

Wi' Broughton's noble name.

ÆT. 37.] JOHN BUSHBY'S LAMENTATION.

Yerl Galloway lang did rule the land,
Made me the judge o' strife;

167

But now Yerl Galloway's sceptre's broke,
And eke my hangman's knife.1

"Twas by the banks o' bonny Dee,
Beside Kirkcudbright's towers,
The Stewart and the Murray there
Did muster a' their powers.

The Murray, on the auld gray yaud, jade
Wi' winged spurs did ride,2

That auld gray yaud, yea, Nidsdale rade,
He staw upon Nidside.

An there had na been the yerl himsel',
O there had been nae play;

But Garlies was to London gane,
And sae the kye might stray.

1 Variation:

Earl Galloway's man o' men was I,

And chief o' Broughton's host;

So twa blind beggars on a string

The faithfu' tyke will trust.

But now Earl Galloway's sceptre's broke,
And Broughton's wi' the slain,

And I my ancient craft may try,

Sin' honesty is gane.

stole

dog

2 An obscure allusion to the lady with whom Murray had eloped - a member of the house of Johnston, whose wellknown crest is a winged spur.

168

JOHN BUSHBY'S LAMENTATION.

And there was Balmaghie, I ween,

In front rank he wad shine;
But Balmaghie had better been
Drinking Madeira wine.

Frae the Glenkens came to our aid,

A chief o' doughty deed;

In case that worth should wanted be,
O' Kenmure we had need.

[1795.

And by our banners marched Muirhead,
And Buittle was na slack;
Whase haly priesthood nane can stain,
For wha can dye the black?

And there sae grave Squire Cardoness,
Looked on till a' was done;

Sae, in the tower o' Cardoness,

A howlet sits at noon.

And there led I the Bushby clan,

My gamesome billie Will;

And my son Maitland, wise as brave,
My footsteps followed still.

The Douglas and the Heron's name
We set nought to their score;
The Douglas and the Heron's name
Had felt our weight before.

1 Variation: And fra.

owl

brother

2 Variation: Might.