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Warlocks and witches in a dance;

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Nae cotillon brent-new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels
Put life and mettle in their heels:
A winnock bunker in the east,
There sat Auld Nick in shape o' beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge;
He screw'd the pipes and gart' them skirl,"
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.'-
Coffins stood round like open presses,
That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses;
And by some devilish cantraip sleight
Each in its cauld hand held a light,

By which heroic Tam was able

To note upon the haly table

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A murderer's banes in gibbet airns;
Twa span-lang, wee, unchristen'd bairns;
A thief, new-cutted frae the rape
Wi' his last gasp his gab " did gape;
Five tomahawks, wi' blude red-rusted;
Five scymitars, wi' murder crusted;
A garter, which a babe had strangled;
A knife, a father's throat had mangled,
Whom his ain son o' life bereft -
The grey hairs yet stack to the heft;
Wi' mair o' horrible and awfu',
Which ev'n to name wad be unlawfu'.

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That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude tho' sorely scanty,

It was her best, and she was vauntie."
Ah! little kent thy reverend grannie,
That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,
Wi' twa pund Scots ('twas a' her riches),
Wad ever graced a dance o' witches!

But here my Muse her wing maun cow'r,
Sic flights are far beyond her pow'r;
To sing how Nannie lap and flang,

(A souple jad she was and strang,)
And how Tam stood like ane bewitch'd,
And thought his very een enrich'd;

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Even Satan glowr'd and fidg'd fu' fain, 185 And hotch'd 10 and blew wi' might and main: Till first ae caper, syne 11 anither,

Tam tint 12 his reason a' thegither,

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As Tammie glowr'd, amaz'd and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious: The piper loud and louder blew, The dancers quick and quicker flew; They reel'd, they set, they cross'd, they cleekit,12 Till ilka carlin 13 swat 14 and reekit 15 And coost 16 her duddies 17 to the wark 18 And linket at it in her sark! 19

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Now Tam, O Tam! had thae been queans,? A' plump and strapping in their teens! Their sarks, instead o' creeshie 1 flannen, Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linen! Thir 22 breeks o' mine, my only pair, That ance were plush, o' gude blue hair, I wad hae gien them aff my hurdies,23 For ae blink o' the bonie burdies! 20

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When out the hellish legion sallied.

As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,13 When plundering herds assail their byke; " As open pussie's 15 mortal foes,

When, pop! she starts before their nose; As eager runs the market-crowd,

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In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!
Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!
Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane of the brig:
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient 19 a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie's mettle
Ae spring brought aff her master hale,
But left behind her ain grey tail:

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1 much 4 short shirt linen ' proud 6 bought 7 eyes fidgeted eagerly 10 squirmed 11 then 12 lost 13 fuss 14 hive 15 the hare's earthly 17 reward 18 bridge 19 devil

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AE FOND KISS

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, and then forever!

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 cheerfu' twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy;
But to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love forever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met or never parted

We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest !
Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest !
Thine be ilka2 joy and treasure,
Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure!
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, alas, forever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!

BONIE LESLEY

O saw ye bonie Lesley

As she gaed o'er the border?

She's gane, like Alexander,

To spread her conquests farther.

To see her is to love her,

And love but her forever; For Nature made her what she is, And never made anither!

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Thou art a queen, fair Lesley,
Thy subjects, we before thee:
Thou art divine, fair Lesley,

The hearts o' men adore thee.

The Deil he could na scaith thee,
Or aught that wad belang thee;
He'd look into thy bonie face,

And say, "I canna wrang thee." The Powers aboon will tent1 thee; Misfortune sha' na steer thee; Thou'rt like themselves sae lovely,

That ill they'll ne'er let near thee.

Return again, fair Lesley,

Return to Caledonie !

That we may brag, we hae a lass
There's nane again sae bonie.

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Spak o' lowpin owre a linn;"

Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

Time and chance are but a tide, Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

Slighted love is sair to bide,12 Ha, ha, the wooin o't! "Shall I, like a fool," quoth he, "For a haughty hizzie 13 die?

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France for me!"

Ha, ha, the wooin o't!

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Wi' monie a vow and lock'd embrace Our parting was fu' tender;

And, pledging aft to meet again,

We tore oursels asunder;

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1 full 2 sidewise • flattered 7 wept

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SCOTS WHA HAE

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led;

Welcome to your gory bed,

Or to victory!

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wondrous shy made off 8 eyes bleared 10 leaping

11 waterfall 12 hard to endure 18 lass 14 smothered

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Is there, for honest poverty,

That hings his head, an' a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,

Our toils obscure, an' a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp;
The man's the gowd for a' that.

What tho' on hamely fare we dine,

Wear hodden-gray, an' a' that;

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,

A man's a man for a' that.

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JOANNA BAILLIE (1762-1851)

WOO'D AND MARRIED AND A'

The bride she is winsome and bonny,
Her hair it is snooded sae sleek,
And faithfu' and kind is her Johnny,
Yet fast fa' the tears on her cheek.
New pearlins are cause of her sorrow,
New pearlins and plenishing too;
The bride that has a' to borrow
Has e'en right mickle ado.
Woo'd and married and a'!
Woo'd and married and a'!

Is na' she very weel aff

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gold

⚫ above

2 coarse grey cloth 3 young fellow fool 6 cannot accomplish

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A hat of ceremony? On he glides,
Slip-shod, ungartered; his long suit of black
Dingy, thread-bare, tho', patch by patch, renewed
Till it has almost ceased to be the same.

At length arrived, and with a shrug that pleads
"Tis my necessity!" he stops and speaks,
Screwing a smile into his dinnerless face.
"Blame not a Poet, Signor, for his zeal
When all are on the wing, who would be last?
The splendour of thy name has gone before

thee;

And Italy from sea to sea exults,

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As well indeed she may! But I transgress.
He, who has known the weight of praise him-
self,

Should spare another." Saying so, he laid
His sonnet, an impromptu, at my feet,

1 well chosen empty registered as intending to marry afterwards hare praise

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The gift of Beauty. Would thou hadst it not; Or wert as once, awing the caitiffs vile

That now beset thee, making thee their slave! Would they had loved thee less, or feared thee more!

But why despair? Twice hast thou lived already;

Twice shone among the nations of the world,
As the sun shines among the lesser lights
Of heaven; and shalt again. The hour shall

come,

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When they who think to bind the ethereal spirit, Who, like the eagle cowering o'er his prey, Watch with quick eye, and strike and strike again

If but a sinew vibrate, shall confess

Their wisdom folly. Even now the flame

Bursts forth where once it burnt so gloriously,
And, dying, left a splendour like the day,
That like the day diffused itself, and still
Blesses the earth- the light of genius, virtue, 30
Greatness in thought and act, contempt of
death,

God-like example. Echoes that have slept
Since Athens, Lacedæmon were themselves,
Since men invoked "By those in Marathon!".

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