BLITHE WAS SHE. Tune-" Andro and his Cutty Gun." CHORUS. Blithe, blithe and merry was she, Blithe was she but and ben: And blithe in Glenturit glen. I. By Auchtertyre grows the aik, On Yarrow banks the birken shaw; But Phemie was a bonnier lass Than braes o' Yarrow ever saw. II. Her looks were like a flow'r in May, Her smile was like a simmer morn; She tripped by the banks of Ern, As light 's a bird upon a thorn. III. Her bonnie face it was as meek As ony lamb upon a lea ; The evening sun was ne'er sae sweet, As was the blink o' Phemie's ee IV. The Highland hills I've wander'd wide, Blithe, blithe and merry was she, And blithe in Glenturit glen. Beauty and gentleness-and they are seldom separatewere ever welcome to the muse of Burns. He seldom saw a lady with a bright eye, a sweet tongue, and a handsome form, without taking note of her perfections in verse. The heroine of this song, Euphemia Murray of Lintrose, called, in the poetic language of the Scottish mountains, the Flower of Strathmore, happened to forgather with Burns during one of his northern tours, and by her affability and beauty charmed this lyric from him. She accompanied him as one of a small party along the banks of Ern and to romantic Glenturit, and loved to stand by the Poet's side and point out what pleased her in the landscape. From living beauty he took the hint for his song, and happily has he handled the subject; only two lines of the chorus belong to the eldern muse. -"I composed these verses," says the Poet, in his notes on the Museum, "while I stayed at Auchtertyre, with Sir William Murray." THE BLUDE RED ROSE AT YULE MAY BLAW. Tune-" To daunton me." I. THE blude red rose at Yule may blaw, II. For a' his meal and a' his maut, For a' his fresh beef and his saut, For a' his gold and white monie, An auld man shall never daunton me. III. His gear may buy him kye and yowes, For an auld man shall never daunton me. IV. He hirples twa fauld as he dow, Wi' his teethless gab and his auld beld pow, To daunton me, and me sae young, For an auld man shall never daunton me. The Poet had a jacobite song of the same name in his thoughts when he wrote his pithy lyric: some of the old verses are curious and to the point : "To daunton me, to daunton me, D'ye ken the things wad daunton me? Eighty-eight and eighty-nine, And a' the dreary years sin syne, With cess and press and Presbytry, Gude faith, these were like to hae daunton'd me. "But to wanton me, but to wanton me, D'ye ken the things that wad wanton me? To see gude corn upon the rigs, An' banishment to a' the Whigs, An' right restored, where right should be, O! these are the things that wad wanton me." There are several variations of the old verses, and jacobitical. domestic COME BOAT ME O'ER TO CHARLIE. Tune-" O'er the Water to Charlie." I. COME boat me o'er, come row me o'er, I'll gie John Ross another bawbee, To boat me o'er to Charlie. We'll o'er the water and o'er the sea, We'll o'er the water to Charlie; Come weal, come woe, we'll gather and go, II. I lo'e weel my Charlie's name, Tho' some there be abhor him: But O, to see auld Nick gaun hame, And Charlie's faes before him! |