WHEN JANUAR' WIND.

Tune-" The Lass that made the Bed to Me."

I.

WHEN Januar' wind was blawing cauld,
As to the north I took my way,
The mirksome night did me enfauld,
I knew na where to lodge till day.

II.

By my good luck a maid I met,
Just in the middle o' my care;
And kindly she did me invite
To walk into a chamber fair.

III.

I bow'd fu' low unto this maid,

And thank'd her for her courtesie;

I bow'd fu' low unto this maid,

And bade her mak a bed to me.

IV.

She made the bed baith large and wide,

Wi' twa white hands she spread it down; She put the cup to her rosy lips,

And drank, "Young man, now sleep ye soun"."

V.

She snatch'd the candle in her hand,
And frae my chamber went wi' speed;
But I call'd her quickly back again

To lay some mair below my head.

VI.

A cod she laid below my head,
And served me wi' due respect';
And to salute her wi' a kiss,

I put my arms about her neck.

VII.

"Haud aff your hands, young man," she says,

"And dinna sae uncivil be:

If ye hae onie love for me,

O wrang na my virginitie!"

VIII.

Her hair was like the links o' gowd,
Her teeth were like the ivorie;

Her cheeks like lilies dipt in wine,
The lass that made the bed to me.

IX.

Her bosom was the driven snaw,
Twa drifted heaps sae fair to see;
Her limbs the polish'd marble stane,
The lass that made the bed to me.

X.

I kiss'd her owre and owre again,

And aye she wist na what to say;
I laid her between me and the wa'-
The lassie thought na lang till day.

XI.

Upon the morrow when we rose,
I thank'd her for her courtesie ;
But aye she blush'd, and aye she sigh'd,
And said, "Alas! ye've ruin'd me.”

XII.

I clasp'd her waist, and kiss'd her syne, While the tear stood twinklin' in her e'e; I said, "My lassie, dinna cry,

For ye ay shall mak the bed to me."

XIII.

She took her mither's Holland sheets,
And made them a' in sarks to me:

Blythe and merry may she be,

The lass that made the bed to me.

XIV.

The bonnie lass made the bed to me,
The braw lass made the bed to me:
I'll ne'er forget till the day I die,

The lass that made the bed to me!

When Charles the Second was in Scotland during the days of Cromwell, he gave great offence to the kirk by the looseness of his language, and the open freedom of his gallantries. Before the fatal expedition into England, he had an intrigue with a young lady of the house of Port Letham, and his success was recorded by a cavalier minstrel in words which were once popular both in Scotland and England :—

"There was a lass dwelt in the north,

A bonnie lass of high degree;

A bonnie lass, and her name was Nell,
A blyther lass you ne'er did see.

CHORUS.

"O the bed to me, the bed to me,
The lass that made the bed to me;
Blythe, and bonnie, and sweet was she,
The lass that made the bed to me."

Burns took up the old song-which was sadly corrupted—and, exercising a poet's skill upon it, manufactured the present version, and sent it to the Musical Museum. He meditated alterations in it, and made a few, but not with his usual felicity in the amended copy he makes the heroine a humble maiden, and changes the character of the composition.

SAE FAR AWA.

Tune-" Dalkeith Maiden Bridge."

I.

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 form'd this fair sae far awa,
Gie body strength, then I'll ne'er start
At this my way sae far awa.

II.

How true is love to pure desert,
So love to her, sae far awa:
And nocht can heal my bosom's smart,
While, oh! she is sae far awa.

Nane other love, nane other dart,
I feel but her's, sae far awa;
But fairer never touch'd a heart

Than her's, the fair sae far awa.