Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/377

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ON ETTRICK BANKS.
359
Young Jockie was a wag that never wad. wed,
Though lang he had followed the lass;
Contented she earned and ate her brown bread,
And merrily turned up the grass.
    Bonnie Jockie, blythe and free,
    Won her heart right merrily:
Yet still she blushed, and frowning cried, "Na, na, it winna do;
I canna, canna, winna, winna, maunna buckle to."

But when he vowed he wad make her his bride,
Though his flocks and herds were not few,
She gie'd him her hand, and a kiss beside,
And vowed she'd for ever be true.
    Bonnie Jockie, blythe and free,
    Won her her heart right merrily:
At kirk she no more frowning cried, "Na, na, it winna do;
I canna, canna, winna, winna, maunna buckle to."

On Ettrick Banks.
On Ettrick banks, in a summer night,
At gloaming, when the sheep drave hame,
I met my lassie braw and tight,
Come wandering, barefoot, a' her lane.
My heart grew light, I ran, I flang
My arms about her lily neck,
And kissed and clapped her there fu' lang:
My word they were na' mony freck.

Said I, "My lassie, will ye go
To Highland hills, the Gaelic learn;
I'll baith gie thee a cow and ewe,
When ye come to the brig o' Earn.
At Leith auld meal comes in, ne'er fash,
And herrings at the Broomielaw,
Cheer up your heart, my bonnie lass,
There's gear to win ye never saw.

"All day when we have wrought enough,
When winter frosts and snaws begin,
Soon as the sun gaes west the loch.
At night when ye sit down to spin,