If thou hast met this fair one,— But her, thou hast deserted, O THAT I HAD NE'ER BEEN MARRIED.+ O THAT I had ne'er been married, Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away. Waefu' want and hunger fley me, Sair I fecht them at the door, But ay I'm eerie they come ben. + This song, which is not included in Mr. Cunningham's elaborate edition, occurs in the Musical Museum, p. 613. It is there said to be "corrected by R. Burns ;" the last verse is supposed to have been added by him. THERE'S NEWS, LASSES.‡ THERE'S news, lasses, news, Gude news I've to tell, Come to our town to sell. The wean wants a cradle, An' the cradle wants a cod, Father, quo' she, Mither, quo' she, This song is also copied from the Musical Museum, p. 609, because it is said to have been written for that work by Burns. SCROGGAM.† THERE was a wife wonn'd in Cockpen, She brew'd gude ale for gentlemen, The gudewife's dochter fell in a fever, The priest o' the parish fell in anither, They laid the twa i' the bed thegither, That the heat o' the tane might cool the tither, + This song is inserted from the Musical Museum, p. 558, where it is said to have been written for that work by Burns. FRAE THE FRIENDS AND LAND I LOVE.‡ FRAE the friends and land I love, Driven by Fortune's felly spite, Frae my best belov❜d I rove, Ease frae toil, relief frae care, Brightest climes shall mirk appear, Bring our banished hame again; Cross the seas and win his ain. Printed in the Musical Museum, p. 312, without the name of the author: and Burns says, "I added the four last lines by way of giving a turn to the theme of the poem such as it is.'" THE TEARS I SHED.t THE tears I shed must ever fall, Their toils are past, their sorrows o'er, And those they lov'd their steps shall tread, And death shall join to part no more. Tho' boundless oceans roll'd between, But bitter, bitter are the tears Of her who slighted love bewails; + Burns says, "This song of genius, which was published in the Musical Museum, p. 350, was composed by a Miss Cranston. It wanted four lines to make all the stanzas suit the music, which I added, and are the four first of the last stanza." Miss Cranstoun was the sister of George Cranstoun, Lord Cranstoun, a lord of session, and the second wife of the celebrated Dugald Stewart. She died on the 28th July, 1838, aged 71. |