X.

I kiss'd her owre and owre again,
And aye she wist na what to say;

I laid her between me and the wa'-
The lassie thought na lang till day.

XI.

Upon the morrow when we rose,
I thank'd her for her courtesie;

But aye she blush'd, and aye she sigh'd,
And said, "Alas! ye've ruin'd me.”

XII.

I clasp'd her waist, and kiss'd her syne,

While the tear stood twinklin' in her e'e;

I said, "My lassie, dinna cry,

For ye ay shall mak the bed to me."

XIII.

She took her mither's Holland sheets,
And made them a' in sarks to me :

Blythe and merry may she be,

The lass that made the bed to me.

XIV.

The bonnie lass made the bed to me,
The braw lass made the bed to me:
I'll ne'er forget till the day I die,

The lass that made the bed to me!

When Charles the Second was in Scotland during the days of Cromwell, he gave great offence to the kirk by the looseness of his language, and the open freedom of his gallantries. Before the fatal expedition into England, he had an intrigue with a young lady of the house of Port Letham, and his success was recorded by a cavalier minstrel in words which were once popular both in Scotland and England :—

"There was a lass dwelt in the north,

A bonnie lass of high degree;

A bonnie lass, and her name was Nell,
A blyther lass you ne'er did see.

CHORUS.

"O the bed to me, the bed to me,

The lass that made the bed to me;
Blythe, and bonnie, and sweet was she,
The lass that made the bed to me."

Burns took up the old song-which was sadly corrupted-and, exercising a poet's skill upon it, manufactured the present version, and sent it to the Musical Museum. He meditated alterations in it, and made a few, but not with his usual felicity in the amended copy he makes the heroine a humble maiden, and changes the character of the composition.

SAE FAR AWA.

Tune-" Dalkeith Maiden Bridge."

I.

O, SAD and heavy should I part,
But for her sake sae far awa;
Unknowing what my way may thwart
My native land sae far awa.

Thou that of a' things Maker art,
That form'd this fair sae far awa,
Gie body strength, then I'll ne'er start
At this my way sae far awa.

II.

How true is love to pure desert,

So love to her, sae far awa:

And nocht can heal my bosom's smart,
While, oh! she is sae far awa.

Nane other love, nane other dart,
I feel but her's, sae far awa;
But fairer never touch'd a heart

Than her's, the fair sae far awa.

This is another of the many songs which Burns wrote for the Musical Museum. Who the fair one sae far awa' was, it is now idle to inquire. Had the Poet lived to write his promised notes on his songs, he would have saved his biographers much fruitless research, and his admirers many idle conjectures.

It must be acknowledged that the Scotch give great occasion for songs of this nature-they wander the world over. Their native land is poor and sterile, and unable to maintain the half of the hardy and enterprising race to whom it gives birth. They are trained up to endurance and privation; they are well educated, for they can all read, write, and cypher; they are all intelligent, for a Scottish peasant knows more than the alehouse can tell him, and would think himself ignorant were he not to look far beyond the business by which he gains his bread. He has no poor-laws to hold out a miserable boon to his declining years; he, therefore, marches east, west, north, or south, as fortune or inclination determines, and relieves his own land while he benefits others.

I'LL AY CA' IN BY YON TOWN.

Tune-" I'll gae nae mair to yon town.”

I'LL

I.

ay ca' in by yon town,

And by yon garden green, again;

I'll ay ca' in by yon town,

And see my bonnie Jean again.

There's nane sall ken, there's nane sall guess, What brings me back the gate again;

But she my fairest faithfu' lass,

And stownlins we sall meet again.

II.

She'll wander by the aiken tree,

When trystin-time draws near again ;

And when her lovely form I see,

O haith, she's doubly dear again!

I'll ay ca' in by yon town,

I'll

And by yon garden green, again;
ay ca' in by yon town,
And see my bonnie Jean again.