Muir. Ye'll get a gouden ring an siller broach,
An noo an then we'll hurl in a coach ;
Tae shew we're gentle, whan we wauk on fit,
In passin puir fouk hoo we'll flucht an skit !
Jean. An tho ye're rather auld, I'm rather young;
Oor ages mixt will stap the warl's tongue.
Muir. Auld, say ye ! Na. Ye surely speak in jest.
Your mither kens I'm just noo at my best !
Mir. The lass is blunt ; she means na as she says :
Ye ne'er leuk't hauf sae weel in a your days !!!
Wi cannie care I've spun a pickle yairn,
That, honest like, we micht set aff oor bairn;
If gang wi me, we'll o'er tae Wabster Pate's, [1]
And see him weavin at the bridal sheets.
Muir. The bridal sheets ! he!I he! he! he! what bliss !
The bridal sheets !
O, gies an erl kiss!
Mir. Fey ! come awa, and dinna think o kissin
Till ance Mess John hae gien you baith his blessin.
[Exeunt.
JEAN, solus.
Alas ! my mither's just like Whang the Miller, [2]
O'erturns her hoose in hopes o finnin siller !
For sune's I see the mornin's first faint gleam,
She waukens sorrowin frae her gouden dream.
SONG.
Air.—“Morneen I Gaberland.” [3]
Blythe was the time when he fee'd wi my faither, O,
Happy war the days when we herded thegither, O,
Sweet war the hours when he rowed me in his plaidie. O,
An vow'd tae be mine, my dear Hielan laddie, O;
But ah ! waes me ! wi their sodg'rin sae gaudie, O,
The Laird's tryst awa my braw Hielan laddie, O,
Misty are the glens, an the dark hills sae cludie, O,
That ay seemt sae blythe wi my dear Hielan laddie, O.
The blaeberry banks, noo, are lanesome an dreary, O,
Muddy are the streams that gusht doun sae clearly, O,
Silent are the rocks that echoed sae gladly, O,
The wild meltin strains o my dear Hielan laddie, O.
Fareweel my ewes ! an fareweel my doggie, O,
Fareweel ye knowes ! noo sae cheerless an scroggie, O,
Fareweel Glenfeoch ! [4] my mammie an my daddie, O,
I will lea ye a for my dear Hielan laddie, O. [5]
Thro distant touns I'll stray a hapless stranger,
In thochts o him I'll brave pale want an danger,
An as I go, puir, weepin, mournfu pond'rer,
Still some kind heart will cheer the weary wand'rer.
[Exit.
[1] This weaver is the same person mentioned in the Kebbuckston Wedding (No. 109) as “Wee Patie Brydie.”—Ed.
[2] Oliver Goldsmith, historian, poet and essayist, who was born on 10th November, 1728, and died 4th April, 1774, wrote, in his Citizen of the World, the dream of Whang the Miller. He represented the Chinese Whang, as naturally an avaricious man, and, with all his eagerness in riches, was always poor. The Miller heard of a neighbour finding a pan of money after dreaming for three nights running. Whang commenced dreaming, and for three nights successively, dreamed that a monstrous pan filled with gold and diamonds was concealed under the principal foundation of the mill. He commenced digging under the wall, and latterly came upon a broad flat stone, but could not remove it. He ran for the assistance of his wife, and divulged the great secret to her. She flew into a rapture of joy, and both running to remove the flat stone to hug the gold and diamonds, they found the mill had fallen from being undermined, instead of finding the treasure. —Ed.
[3] Note by Lamb.—“R. A. Smith, in his 'Scottish Minstrel,' calls the air to which this song is sung, 'Mar nian a Gaberland.' These verses are those of the Interlude, a fourth verse appearing in the 1815 edition.” Morneen I Gaberland—Tannahill; Mor nian a Gaberland—Smith, is Irish. Both seem to be phonetically written, and mean “Sarah, the daughter from Gaberland.”—Ed.
[4] Glen-feoch. This name was made by the Poet adding to the word Glen, the syllable feoch, borrowed from the word “Craigenfeoch,” the name of the farm on the north-west side of Alt Patrick burn, opposite Highdykes. It has the ring of a true Gaelic name, and if it had not been called Glen-feoch before, it should have been. Tannahill uses his new name of Glen-feoch both for the glen and the farm of Highdykes. And how sweetly would Jean, otherwise Bell Dewar, pronounce the new Gaelic name of Glenfeoch, and translate it “The Raven's Glen.”—Ed.
[5] This song was first printed (1805) in No. III. of a local periodical,—the Paisley Repository,—published by John Millar, bookseller, Sandholes, Paisley. The song contained five verses, and the fourth verse was as follows:
“He pu'd me the crawberry, ripe frae the boggy fen,
He pu'd me the strawberry, red frae the foggy glen,
He pu'd me the row'n frae the wild steep sae giddy, O,
Sae lovin an kind was my dear Hielan laddie, O.”
It did not appear in the 1807, 1822, 1825, and 1846 editions, but in the other editions, and also in this volume (No. 82.) The Repository consisted of 24 Nos. at 1d. each, and was published without dates, between 1804 and 1812. It is very difficult to procure a complete set of the numbers. The Scottish Minstrel consisted of 6 vols., published between 1821 and 1824. —Ed.