To see her is to love her,

And love but her for ever;

For Nature made her what she is,
And ne'er made sic anither!

Thou art a queen, Fair Lesley,
Thy subjects we, before thee:
Thou art divine, Fair Lesley,

The hearts o' men adore thee.

tidings that make their hearts swim in joy, and their imaginations soar in transport--such, so delighting, and so pure, were the emotions of my soul on meeting the other day with Miss L——— B ——, your neighbour, at M

Mr. B. with his two daughters, accompanied by Mr. H. of G. passing through Dumfries a few days ago, on their way to England, did me the honour of calling on me; on which I took my horse (though God knows I could ill spare the time), and accompanied them fourteen or fifteen miles, and dined and spent the day with them. 'Twas about nine, I think, when I left them; and riding home, I composed the following ballad, of which you will probably think you have a dear bargain, as it will cost you another groat of postage. You must know that there is an old ballad beginning with

My bonnie Lizzie Baillie

I'll row thee in my plaidie, &c.

So I parodied it as follows, which is literally the first copy, unanointed, unaneled,' as Hamlet says."

To Mr. Thomson, Burns said, on sending him this song in December following, "I have just been looking over the Collier's bonny Dochter,' and if the following rhapsody, which I composed the other day, on a charming Ayrshire girl, Miss as she passed through this place to England, will suit your taste better than the Collier Lassie,' fall on and welcome."

Miss Leslie Baillie was also the heroine of another of his songs," Blithe hae I been on yon hill."

The Deil he could na scaith thee,
Or aught that wad belang thee;
He'd look into thy bonnie face,

6

And say, I canna wrang thee.'

The Powers aboon will tent thee;
Misfortune sha'na steer thee;
Thou'rt like themselves sae lovely,
That ill they'll ne'er let near thee.

Return again, Fair Lesley,

Return to Caledonie !

That we may brag, we hae a lass
There's nane again sae bonnie.

AMANG THE TREES.+

TUNE- THE KING OF FRANCE, HE RADE A RACE.'

AMANG the trees where humming bees
At buds and flowers were hinging, O
Auld Caledon drew out her drone,
And to her pipe was singing; O
'Twas Pibroch, Sang, Strathspey, or Reels,
She dirl❜d them aff fu' clearly, O
When there cam a yell o' foreign squeels,
That dang her tapsalteerie, O-

This song, which was printed by Cromek, has been collated with a copy in the Poet's autograph. It occurs neither in Johnson's nor in Thomson's Collection, and the date of its composition is uncertain.

Their capon craws and

queer

ha ha's,

They made our lugs grow eerie; O
The hungry bike did scrape and pike
Till we were wae and weary: O-
But a royal ghaist wha ance was cas'd
A prisoner aughteen year awa,
He fir'd a fiddler in the north

That dang them tapsalteerie, O.

WHEN FIRST I CAME TO STEWART KYLE.*

TUNE I HAD A HORSE AND I HAD NAE MAIR.'

WHEN first I came to Stewart Kyle,
My mind it was na steady,
Where'er I gaed, where'er I rade,
A mistress still I had aye:

But when I came roun' by Mauchline town,
Not dreadin' onie body,

My heart was caught before I thought,
And by a Mauchline lady.

* These verses occur among the Poet's Memoranda, in August, 1785. The "Mauchline lady" was, says Allan Cunningham, Jean Armour; and he relates the manner in which Burns first attracted her attention.

ON SENSIBILITY.†

TO MY DEAR AND MUCH HONOURED FRIEND,

MRS. DUNLOP, OF DUNLOP.

AIR-SENSIBILITY.'

SENSIBILITY, how charming,

Thou, my friend, canst truly tell;
But distress, with horrors arming,
Thou hast also known too well!

Fairest flower, behold the lily,
Blooming in the sunny ray:
Let the blast sweep o'er the valley,
See it prostrate on the clay.

Hear the wood-lark charm the forest,
Telling o'er his little joys;
Hapless bird! a prey the surest

To each pirate of the skies.

+ Mr. Allan Cunningham has printed two versions (vide vol. iii. 251, iv. 198,) of this song, without noticing that they are in fact the same. The following, addressed to Mrs. Dunlop, occurs in Thomson's Collection (iii. 36). The other, in which the only variation is that the second line stands thus,

"Dearest Nancy! thou canst tell;"

is given in Johnson's Museum, ii. 329. In our lyrical legends, the heroine of this song," says Mr. Allan Cunningham," is said to be the fair Clarinda. The similarity of the name, perhaps, has aided in this belief."

Dearly bought the hidden treasure
Finer feelings can bestow;

Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure
Thrill the deepest notes of woe.

MONTGOMERIE'S PEGGY.

TUNE-GALLA WATER.'

ALTHO' my bed were in yon muir,
Amang the heather, in my plaidie,
Yet happy, happy would I be,

Had I my dear Montgomerie's Peggy.

When o'er the hill beat surly storms,
And winter nights were dark and rainy;
I'd seek some dell, and in my arms

I'd shelter dear Montgomerie's Peggy.

The name of the fair lass celebrated in this song, as well as in "Bonnie Peggy Alison," (ante,) and in "Now westlin winds and slaught'ring guns," (ante,) has not transpired, unless it were indeed Margaret Alison. She was the My dear E." of several letters written about the year 1782, professing the most ardent attachment; but she refused to marry him, alleging that she was engaged to another. Burns himself has, however, left an account of this affair, and of these verses, in his private memoranda dated September, 1785:

"The following fragment is done something in imitation of the manner of a noble old Scottish piece, called 'M'Millan's Peggy,' and sings to the tune of Galla Water.' My