THE RIGS O' BARLEY. Tune-" Corn Riys are bonnie.” I. Ir was upon a Lammas night, The time flew by wi' tentless heed, II. The sky was blue, the wind was still, I ken't her heart was a' my ain; I kiss'd her owre and owre again, III. I lock'd her in my fond embrace! But by the moon and stars so bright, IV. I hae been blithe wi' comrades dear; I hae been merry drinkin'; Tho' three times doubl'd fairly, That happy night was worth them a', Amang the rigs o' barley. CHORUS. Corn rigs, an' barley rigs, An' corn rigs are bonnie: It is generally believed in the west of Scotland that Annie Ronald, afterwards Mrs. Paterson of Aikenbrae, was the inspirer of this charming song. The freedom and warmth of the words probably induced her to disown it in her latter days. The Poet was a frequent visiter at her father's house while he continued in Mossgiel; and Mr. Ronald liked so much the conversation of his eloquent neighbour, that he sat late with him on many occasions. This seems to have displeased another of his daughters, who said she "could na see ought about Robert Burns that would tempt her to sit up wi' him till twal o'clock at night.” It is not known how far Annie Ronald joined in her sister's dislike of the Bard. She probably thought on these matters like a young girl on Nithside, who said, with much simplicity, "I wonder what my brother John sees in the lasses, that he likes them sae weel;—for my part, I wad na gie the company o' ae lad for twenty lasses." MONTGOMERY'S PEGGY. Tune.-" Galla-Water." ALTHO' my bed were in yon muir Amang the heather, in my plaidie, Had I my dear Montgomery's Peggy. When o'er the hill beat surly storms, Were I a baron proud and high, And horse and servants waiting ready, The sharin't with Montgomery's Peggy. "This fragment is done," says Burns, "in imitation of the manner of a noble old Scottish piece, called M'Millan's Peggy. My Montgomery's Peggy was my deity for six or eight months. She had been bred in a style of life rather elegant; but, as Vanbrugh says, 'My damned star found me out there, too:' for though I began the affair merely in a gaieté de cœur, or to tell the truth, which will scarcely be believed, a vanity of shewing my parts in courtship, particularly my abilities at a billet doux, on which I always piqued myself, made me lay siege to her; and when, as I always do in my foolish gallantries, I had battered myself into a very warm affection for her, she told, in a flag of truce, that her fortress had been for some time before the rightful property of another. It cost me some heartaches to get rid of the affair. I have even tried to imi tate, in this extempore thing, that irregularity in the rhyme which, when judiciously done, has such a fine effect on the ear." Of M'Millan's Peggy various verses are yet remembered: "O I wad gie my gude brade sword, "He's mounted her on a milk-white steed, And he rode over hills, and he rode through howes, "Until that he came to a lone, lone glen, Enough to frighten the bauldest bodie; "He's made her bed o' the brekans green, Other verses might be added, and some curious variations given-more curious than decorous. |