MY days hae flown wi gleesome speed,
Grief ne'er sat heavy on my mind,
Sae happy wi my rural reed,
I liltet every care behind ;
I've been vext and sair perplext
When friens prov'd false, or beauty shy;
But, like gude John o Badenyon, [1]
I croon'd my lilt and car'd na by.
[1] “John o Badenyon” was the name of a song written by the Rev. John Skinner, a popular song-writer and ecclesiastical historian. He was born in the Parish of Birse, Aberdeenshire; Episcopal clergyman at Longside, Peterhead, sixty-five years; and died 16th June, 1807. He was one of two Bishops of Aberdeen. Tannahill seemed to be acquainted with the current literature of the day, particularly of a poetical description. The ruins of Badenyon or Badniaun House, alluded to in the song of “John o Badenyon,” are situated in the Parish of Glenbucket, Aberdeenshire.—Ed.[return]
[Semple 126]