The Modern Scottish Minstrel , Volume I. eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 366 pages of information about The Modern Scottish Minstrel , Volume I..

The Modern Scottish Minstrel , Volume I. eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 366 pages of information about The Modern Scottish Minstrel , Volume I..

    Now the tempest’s blawin’,
    Almond water ‘s flowin’,
    Deep and ford unknowin’,
        She maun cross the day. 
    Almond waters, spare her,
    Safe to Lynedoch bear her! 
    Its braes ne’er saw a fairer,
        Bess Bell nor Mary Gray.

    Oh, now to be wi’ her! 
    Or but ance to see her
    Skaithless, far or near,
        I ’d gie Scotland’s crown. 
    Byeword, blind ’s a lover—­
    Wha ’s yon I discover? 
    Just yer ain fair rover,
        Stately stappin’ down.

[53] Another song with the same title, “Saw ye nae my Peggy?” is inserted in the Collections.  It first appeared in Herd’s Collection, in 1769, though it is understood to be of a considerably older date.  Allan Ramsay composed two songs to the same air, but they are both inferior.  The air is believed to have originally been connected with some exceptionable words, beginning, “Saw ye my Maggie?”

GUDE NICHT, AND JOY BE WI’ YE A’!

    The best o’ joys maun hae an end,
      The best o’ friends maun part, I trow;
    The langest day will wear away,
      And I maun bid fareweel to you. 
    The tear will tell when hearts are fu’,
      For words, gin they hae sense ava,
    They ’re broken, faltering, and few: 
      Gude nicht, and joy be wi’ you a’!

    Oh, we hae wander’d far and wide,
      O’er Scotia’s lands o’ frith and fell! 
    And mony a simple flower we ’ve pu’d,
      And twined it wi’ the heather-bell. 
    We ’ve ranged the dingle and the dell,
      The cot-house, and the baron’s ha’;
    Now we maun tak a last farewell: 
      Gude nicht, and joy be wi’ you a’!

    My harp, fareweel! thy strains are past,
      Of gleefu’ mirth, and heartfelt care;
    The voice of song maun cease at last,
      And minstrelsy itsel’ decay. 
    But, oh! whar sorrow canna win,
      Nor parting tears are shed ava’,
    May we meet neighbour, kith, and kin,
      And joy for aye be wi’ us a’!

CAULD KAIL IN ABERDEEN.[54]

    There ’s cauld kail in Aberdeen,
      There ’s castocks in Strabogie;
    And morn and e’en, they ’re blythe and bein,
      That haud them frae the cogie. 
    Now, haud ye frae the cogie, lads;
      O bide ye frae the cogie! 
    I ’ll tell ye true, ye ’ll never rue,
      O’ passin’ by the cogie.

    Young Will was braw and weel put on,
      Sae blythe was he and vogie;
    And he got bonnie Mary Don,
      The flower o’ a’ Strabogie. 
    Wha wad hae thocht, at wooin’ time,
      He ’d e’er forsaken Mary,
    And ta’en him to the tipplin’ trade,
      Wi’ boozin’ Rob and Harry?

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The Modern Scottish Minstrel , Volume I. from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.