I Hae been at Crookieden,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,Viewing Willie and his men,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.There our foes that burnt and slew,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,There, at last, they gat their due,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie. Satan sits in his black neuk,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,Breaking sticks to roast the Duke,My bonie laddie, Highland […]

Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear,Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear,Ye Jacobites by name,Your fautes I will proclaim,Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear. What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law?What is Right and what is Wrang by the law?What is Right, and […]

O Kenmure’s on and awa, Willie,O Kenmure’s on and awa:An’ Kenmure’s lord’s the bravest lordThat ever Galloway saw. Success to Kenmure’s band, Willie!Success to Kenmure’s band!There’s no a heart that fears a Whig,That rides by kenmure’s hand. Here’s Kenmure’s health in wine, Willie!Here’s Kenmure’s health in wine!There’s ne’er a coward o’ Kenmure’s blude,Nor yet o’ […]

5th October 1791. Late crippl’d of an arm, and now a leg,About to beg a pass for leave to beg;Dull, listless, teas’d, dejected, and deprest(Nature is adverse to a cripple’s rest);Will generous Graham list to his Poet’s wail?(It soothes poor Misery, hearkening to her tale)And hear him curse the light he first survey’d,And doubly curse […]

Health to the Maxwell’s veteran Chief!Health, aye unsour’d by care or grief:Inspir’d, I turn’d Fate’s sibyl leaf,This natal morn,I see thy life is stuff o’ prief,Scarce quite half-worn. This day thou metes threescore eleven,And I can tell that bounteous Heaven(The second-sight, ye ken, is givenTo ilka Poet)On thee a tack o’ seven times sevenWill yet […]

Tune–“Oran an aoig.” Scene–A Field of Battle. Time of the day–evening. The wounded and dying of the victorious army are supposed to join in the following song. Farewell, thou fair day, thou green earth, and ye skies,Now gay with the broad setting sun;Farewell, loves and friendships, ye dear tender ties,Our race of existence is run!Thou […]

As cauld a wind as ever blew,A cauld kirk, an in’t but few:As cauld a minister’s e’er spak;Ye’se a’ be het e’er I come back.

Of Lordly acquaintance you boast,And the Dukes that you dined wi’ yestreen,Yet an insect’s an insect at most,Tho’ it crawl on the curl of a Queen!

Sensibility, how charming,Dearest Nancy, thou canst tell;But distress, with horrors arming,Thou alas! hast known too well! Fairest flower, behold the lilyBlooming in the sunny ray:Let the blast sweep o’er the valley,See it prostrate in the clay. Hear the wood lark charm the forest,Telling o’er his little joys;But alas! a prey the surestTo each pirate of […]

How daur ye ca’ me howlet-face,Ye blear-e’ed, withered spectre?Ye only spied the keekin’-glass,An’ there ye saw your picture.

O may, thy morn was ne’er so sweetAs the mirk night o’ December!For sparkling was the rosy wine,And private was the chamber:And dear was she I dare na name,But I will aye remember:And dear was she I dare na name,But I will aye remember. And here’s to them that, like oursel,Can push about the jorum!And […]

O thou, in whom we live and move–Who made the sea and shore;Thy goodness constantly we prove,And grateful would adore;And, if it please Thee, Power above!Still grant us, with such store,The friend we trust, the fair we love–And we desire no more. Amen!

O thou who kindly dost provideFor every creature’s want!We bless Thee, God of Nature wide,For all Thy goodness lent:And if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide,May never worse be sent;But, whether granted, or denied,Lord, bless us with content. Amen!

Tune–“Rory Dall’s Port.” Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!Deep in heart-wrung tears I’ll pledge thee,Warring sighs and groans I’ll wage thee.Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,While the star of hope she leaves him?Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me;Dark despair around benights me. I’ll ne’er blame my partial fancy,Naething could […]

Ance mair I hail thee, thou gloomy December!Ance mair I hail thee wi’ sorrow and care;Sad was the parting thou makes me remember–Parting wi’ Nancy, oh, ne’er to meet mair! Fond lovers’ parting is sweet, painful pleasure,Hope beaming mild on the soft parting hour;But the dire feeling, O farewell for ever!Is anguish unmingled, and agony […]

As down the burn they took their way,And thro’ the flowery dale;His cheek to hers he aft did lay,And love was aye the tale: With “Mary, when shall we return,Sic pleasure to renew?”Quoth Mary–“Love, I like the burn,And aye shall follow you.”

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 formed this Fair sae far awa,Gie body strength, then I’ll ne’er startAt this my way sae far awa. How true is love to pure desert!Like […]

Alteration of an Old Poem. I Do confess thou art sae fair,I was been o’er the lugs in luve,Had I na found the slightest prayerThat lips could speak thy heart could muve. I do confess thee sweet, but findThou art so thriftless o’ thy sweets,Thy favours are the silly windThat kisses ilka thing it meets. […]

Chorus.–The weary pund, the weary pund,The weary pund o’ tow;I think my wife will end her life,Before she spin her tow. I bought my wife a stane o’ lint,As gude as e’er did grow,And a’ that she has made o’ thatIs ae puir pund o’ tow.The weary pund, etc. There sat a bottle in a […]

Ill-fated genius! Heaven-taught Fergusson!What heart that feels and will not yield a tear,To think Life’s sun did set e’er well begunTo shed its influence on thy bright career. O why should truest Worth and Genius pineBeneath the iron grasp of Want and Woe,While titled knaves and idiot–Greatness shineIn all the splendour Fortune can bestow?