NANNIE.

Tune-" My Nannie, O."

I.

BEHIND yon hills where Lugar flows,
'Mang moors an' mosses many, O,
The wintry sun the day has clos'd,
And I'll awa to Nannie, O.

II.

The westlin wind blaws loud an' shrill; The night's baith mirk and rainy, O; But I'll get my plaid, an' out I'll steal, An' owre the hills to Nannie, O.

III.

My Nannie's charming, sweet, an' young;
Nae artfu' wiles to win ye, O:

May ill befa' the flattering tongue
That wad beguile my Nannie, O.

IV..

Her face is fair, her heart is true,

As spotless as she's bonnie, O: The op'ning gowan, wet wi' dew, Nae purer is than Nannie, O.

V.

A country lad is my degree,

An' few there be that ken me, O ;
But what care I how few they be?
I'm welcome ay to Nannie, O.

VI.

My riches a' s my penny-fee,

An' I maun guide it cannie, O;
But warl's gear ne'er troubles me,
My thoughts are a' my Nannie, O.

VII.

Our auld guidman delights to view
His sheep an' kye thrive bonnie, O;
But I'm as blythe that hauds his pleugh,
An' has nae care but Nannie, O.

VIII.

Come weel, come woe, I care na by,

I'll tak what Heav'n will sen' me, O;

Nae ither care in life have I,

But live, an' love my Nannie, O.

Nannie Fleming, a servant in Calcothill, near Lochlea, was the heroine of this fine song. She died unmarried and well advanced in life, and when questioned about

the Poet's attachment said, "Aye, atweel he made a great wark about me."-" Like most of the favourites of Burns," says an observing friend, "she was more remarkable for the symmetry of her limbs than the beauty of her face. She was modest and cheerful, and had a winning manner." Burns says, concerning this song: "As I have been all along a miserable dupe to love, and have been led into a thousand weaknesses and follies by it, for that reason I put more confidence in my critical skill in distinguishing foppery and conceit from real passion and nature. Whether My Nannie, O!' will stand the test I will not pretend to say, because it is my own; only I can say, it was at the time genuine from the heart."

This fine air attracted minstrels before the days of Burns. The" Nannie, O!" of Allan Ramsay will be long remembered, both for its singular faults and its great beauties: among the latter may be reckoned this verse"How joyfully my spirits rise

When, dancing, she moves finely, O!

I guess what heaven is by her eyes,
They sparkle so divinely, O."

Older words still linger in the land: they must have been known both to Ramsay and Burns :

"As I came in by Enbro' town,

By the side o' the bonny city, O,
I heard a young man mak his moan,
And O! it was a pity, O.

For aye he cried his Nannie, O!
His handsome, charming Nannie, O!
Nor friend nor foe can tell, O-ho,
How dearly I love Nannie, O."

Burns sometimes hit upon one happy stanza, but, not falling readily again into the same track of feeling, allowed it to remain a fragment. Such precious things must not, however, be thrown away. Some gifted son of song, on a future day, may take a liking for the verse, and eke it out in the same spirit and feeling with which the Poet of Ayr has commenced it. That Burns completed many of our melodies in the same manner, this and the succeeding volume will sufficiently show.

BONNIE PEGGY ALISON.

Tune-" Braes o' Balquhidder.”

CHORUS.

I'll kiss thee yet, yet,

An' I'll kiss thee o'er again;

An' I'll kiss thee yet, yet,

My bonnie Peggy Alison!

I.

ILK care and fear, when thou art near, I ever mair defy them, O;

Young kings upon their hansel throne Are no sae blest as I am, O!

II.

When in my arms, wi' a' thy charms,

I clasp my countless treasure, O, I seek nae mair o' Heaven to share

Than sic a moment's pleasure, O!