Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns

The Vision

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The Vision

Duan First^1

The sun had clos'd the winter day,

The curless quat their roarin play,

And hunger'd maukin taen her way,

To kail-yards green,

While faithless snaws ilk step betray

Whare she has been.

The thresher's weary flingin-tree,

The lee-lang day had tired me;

And when the day had clos'd his e'e,

Far i' the west,

Ben i' the spence, right pensivelie,

I gaed to rest.

There, lanely by the ingle-cheek,

I sat and ey'd the spewing reek,

That fill'd, wi' hoast-provoking smeek,

The auld clay biggin;

An' heard the restless rattons squeak

About the riggin.

All in this mottie, misty clime,

I backward mus'd on wasted time,

How I had spent my youthfu' prime,

An' done nae thing,

But stringing blethers up in rhyme,

For fools to sing.

Had I to guid advice but harkit,

I might, by this, hae led a market,

Or strutted in a bank and clarkit

My cash-account;

While here, half-mad, half-fed, half-sarkit.

Is a' th' amount.

[Footnote 1: Duan, a term of Ossian's for the different

divisions of a digressive poem. See his Cath-Loda, vol. 2 of

M'Pherson's translation.--R. B.]

I started, mutt'ring, "blockhead! coof!"

And heav'd on high my waukit loof,

To swear by a' yon starry roof,

Or some rash aith,

That I henceforth wad be rhyme-proof

Till my last breath--

When click! the string the snick did draw;

An' jee! the door gaed to the wa';

An' by my ingle-lowe I saw,

Now bleezin bright,

A tight, outlandish hizzie, braw,

Come full in sight.

Ye need na doubt, I held my whisht;

The infant aith, half-form'd, was crusht

I glowr'd as eerie's I'd been dusht

In some wild glen;

When sweet, like honest Worth, she blusht,

An' stepped ben.

Green, slender, leaf-clad holly-boughs

Were twisted, gracefu', round her brows;

I took her for some Scottish Muse,

By that same token;

And come to stop those reckless vows,

Would soon been broken.

A "hair-brain'd, sentimental trace"

Was strongly marked in her face;

A wildly-witty, rustic grace

Shone full upon her;

Her eye, ev'n turn'd on empty space,

Beam'd keen with honour.

Down flow'd her robe, a tartan sheen,

Till half a leg was scrimply seen;

An' such a leg! my bonie Jean

Could only peer it;

Sae straught, sae taper, tight an' clean--

Nane else came near it.

Her mantle large, of greenish hue,

My gazing wonder chiefly drew:

Deep lights and shades, bold-mingling, threw

A lustre grand;

And seem'd, to my astonish'd view,

A well-known land.

Here, rivers in the sea were lost;

There, mountains to the skies were toss't:

Here, tumbling billows mark'd the coast,

With surging foam;

There, distant shone Art's lofty boast,

The lordly dome.

Here, Doon pour'd down his far-fetch'd floods;

There, well-fed Irwine stately thuds:

Auld hermit Ayr staw thro' his woods,

On to the shore;

And many a lesser torrent scuds,

With seeming roar.

Low, in a sandy valley spread,

An ancient borough rear'd her head;

Still, as in Scottish story read,

She boasts a race

To ev'ry nobler virtue bred,

And polish'd grace.^2

By stately tow'r, or palace fair,

Or ruins pendent in the air,

Bold stems of heroes, here and there,

I could discern;

Some seem'd to muse, some seem'd to dare,

With feature stern.

My heart did glowing transport feel,

To see a race heroic^3 wheel,

[Footnote 2: The seven stanzas following this were first

printed in the Edinburgh edition, 1787. Other stanzas, never

published by Burns himself, are given on p. 180.]

[Footnote 3: The Wallaces.--R. B.]

And brandish round the deep-dyed steel,

In sturdy blows;

While, back-recoiling, seem'd to reel

Their Suthron foes.

His Country's Saviour,^4 mark him well!

Bold Richardton's heroic swell;^5

The chief, on Sark who glorious fell,^6

In high command;

And he whom ruthless fates expel

His native land.

There, where a sceptr'd Pictish shade

Stalk'd round his ashes lowly laid,^7

I mark'd a martial race, pourtray'd

In colours strong:

Bold, soldier-featur'd, undismay'd,

They strode along.

Thro' many a wild, romantic grove,^8

Near many a hermit-fancied cove

(Fit haunts for friendship or for love,

In musing mood),

An aged Judge, I saw him rove,

Dispensing good.

With deep-struck, reverential awe,

The learned Sire and Son I saw:^9

To Nature's God, and Nature's law,

They gave their lore;

This, all its source and end to draw,

That, to adore.

[Footnote 4: William Wallace.--R.B.]

[Footnote 5: Adam Wallace of Richardton, cousin to the

immortal preserver of Scottish independence.--R.B.]

[Footnote 6: Wallace, laird of Craigie, who was second in

command under Douglas, Earl of Ormond, at the famous battle

on the banks of Sark, fought anno 1448. That glorious

victory was principally owing to the judicious conduct and

intrepid valour of the gallant laird of Craigie, who died of

his wounds after the action.--R.B.]

[Footnote 7: Coilus, King of the Picts, from whom the

district of Kyle is said to take its name, lies buried, as

tradition says, near the family seat of the Montgomeries of

Coilsfield, where his burial--place is still shown.--R.B.]

[Footnote 8: Barskimming, the seat of the Lord Justice--

Clerk.--R.B.]

[Footnote 9: Catrine, the seat of the late Doctor and

present Professor Stewart.--R.B.]

Brydon's brave ward^10 I well could spy,

Beneath old Scotia's smiling eye:

Who call'd on Fame, low standing by,

To hand him on,

Where many a patriot-name on high,

And hero shone.

Duan Second

With musing-deep, astonish'd stare,

I view'd the heavenly-seeming Fair;

A whispering throb did witness bear

Of kindred sweet,

When with an elder sister's air

She did me greet.

"All hail! my own inspired bard!

In me thy native Muse regard;

Nor longer mourn thy fate is hard,

Thus poorly low;

I come to give thee such reward,

As we bestow!

"Know, the great genius of this land

Has many a light aerial band,

Who, all beneath his high command,

Harmoniously,

As arts or arms they understand,

Their labours ply.

"They Scotia's race among them share:

Some fire the soldier on to dare;

Some rouse the patriot up to bare

Corruption's heart:

Some teach the bard--a darling care--

The tuneful art.

"'Mong swelling floods of reeking gore,

They, ardent, kindling spirits pour;

[Footnote 10: Colonel Fullarton.--R.B. This gentleman had

travelled under the care of Patrick Brydone, author of a

well-known "Tour Through Sicily and Malta."]

Or, 'mid the venal senate's roar,

They, sightless, stand,

To mend the honest patriot-lore,

And grace the hand.

"And when the bard, or hoary sage,

Charm or instruct the future age,

They bind the wild poetric rage

In energy,

Or point the inconclusive page

Full on the eye.

"Hence, Fullarton, the brave and young;

Hence, Dempster's zeal-inspired tongue;

Hence, sweet, harmonious Beattie sung

His 'Minstrel lays';

Or tore, with noble ardour stung,

The sceptic's bays.

"To lower orders are assign'd

The humbler ranks of human-kind,

The rustic bard, the lab'ring hind,

The artisan;

All choose, as various they're inclin'd,

The various man.

"When yellow waves the heavy grain,

The threat'ning storm some strongly rein;

Some teach to meliorate the plain

With tillage-skill;

And some instruct the shepherd-train,

Blythe o'er the hill.

"Some hint the lover's harmless wile;

Some grace the maiden's artless smile;

Some soothe the lab'rer's weary toil

For humble gains,

And make his cottage-scenes beguile

His cares and pains.

"Some, bounded to a district-space

Explore at large man's infant race,

To mark the embryotic trace

Of rustic bard;

And careful note each opening grace,

A guide and guard.

"Of these am I--Coila my name:

And this district as mine I claim,

Where once the Campbells, chiefs of fame,

Held ruling power:

I mark'd thy embryo-tuneful flame,

Thy natal hour.

"With future hope I oft would gaze

Fond, on thy little early ways,

Thy rudely, caroll'd, chiming phrase,

In uncouth rhymes;

Fir'd at the simple, artless lays

Of other times.

"I saw thee seek the sounding shore,

Delighted with the dashing roar;

Or when the North his fleecy store

Drove thro' the sky,

I saw grim Nature's visage hoar

Struck thy young eye.

"Or when the deep green-mantled earth

Warm cherish'd ev'ry floweret's birth,

And joy and music pouring forth

In ev'ry grove;

I saw thee eye the general mirth

With boundless love.

"When ripen'd fields and azure skies

Call'd forth the reapers' rustling noise,

I saw thee leave their ev'ning joys,

And lonely stalk,

To vent thy bosom's swelling rise,

In pensive walk.

"When youthful love, warm-blushing, strong,

Keen-shivering, shot thy nerves along,

Those accents grateful to thy tongue,

Th' adored Name,

I taught thee how to pour in song,

To soothe thy flame.

"I saw thy pulse's maddening play,

Wild send thee Pleasure's devious way,

Misled by Fancy's meteor-ray,

By passion driven;

But yet the light that led astray

Was light from Heaven.

"I taught thy manners-painting strains,

The loves, the ways of simple swains,

Till now, o'er all my wide domains

Thy fame extends;

And some, the pride of Coila's plains,

Become thy friends.

"Thou canst not learn, nor I can show,

To paint with Thomson's landscape glow;

Or wake the bosom-melting throe,

With Shenstone's art;

Or pour, with Gray, the moving flow

Warm on the heart.

"Yet, all beneath th' unrivall'd rose,

T e lowly daisy sweetly blows;

Tho' large the forest's monarch throws

His army shade,

Yet green the juicy hawthorn grows,

Adown the glade.

"Then never murmur nor repine;

Strive in thy humble sphere to shine;

And trust me, not Potosi's mine,

Nor king's regard,

Can give a bliss o'ermatching thine,

A rustic bard.

"To give my counsels all in one,

Thy tuneful flame still careful fan:

Preserve the dignity of Man,

With soul erect;

And trust the Universal Plan

Will all protect.

"And wear thou this"--she solemn said,

And bound the holly round my head:

The polish'd leaves and berries red

Did rustling play;

And, like a passing thought, she fled

In light away.

[To Mrs. Stewart of Stair, Burns presented a manuscript copy of

the Vision. That copy embraces about twenty stanzas at the end of

Duan First, which he cancelled when he came to print the price in

his Kilmarnock volume. Seven of these he restored in printing his

second edition, as noted on p. 174. The following are the verses

which he left unpublished.]

Suppressed Stanza's Of "The Vision"

After 18th stanza of the text (at "His native land"):--

With secret throes I marked that earth,

That cottage, witness of my birth;

And near I saw, bold issuing forth

In youthful pride,

A Lindsay race of noble worth,

Famed far and wide.

Where, hid behind a spreading wood,

An ancient Pict-built mansion stood,

I spied, among an angel brood,

A female pair;

Sweet shone their high maternal blood,

And father's air.^1

An ancient tower^2 to memory brought

How Dettingen's bold hero fought;

Still, far from sinking into nought,

It owns a lord

Who far in western climates fought,

With trusty sword.

[Footnote 1: Sundrum.--R.B.]

[Footnote 2: Stair.--R.B.]

Among the rest I well could spy

One gallant, graceful, martial boy,

The soldier sparkled in his eye,

A diamond water.

I blest that noble badge with joy,

That owned me frater.^3

After 20th stanza of the text (at "Dispensing good"):--

Near by arose a mansion fine^4

The seat of many a muse divine;

Not rustic muses such as mine,

With holly crown'd,

But th' ancient, tuneful, laurell'd Nine,

From classic ground.

I mourn'd the card that Fortune dealt,

To see where bonie Whitefoords dwelt;^5

But other prospects made me melt,

That village near;^6

There Nature, Friendship, Love, I felt,

Fond-mingling, dear!

Hail! Nature's pang, more strong than death!

Warm Friendship's glow, like kindling wrath!

Love, dearer than the parting breath

Of dying friend!

Not ev'n with life's wild devious path,

Your force shall end!

The Power that gave the soft alarms

In blooming Whitefoord's rosy charms,

Still threats the tiny, feather'd arms,

The barbed dart,

While lovely Wilhelmina warms

The coldest heart.^7

After 21st stanza of the text (at "That, to adore"):--

Where Lugar leaves his moorland plaid,^8

Where lately Want was idly laid,

[Footnote 3: Captain James Montgomerie, Master of St. James'

Lodge, Tarbolton, to which the author has the honour to

belong.--R.B.]

[Footnote 4: Auchinleck.--R.B.]

[Footnote 5: Ballochmyle.]

[Footnote 6: Mauchline.]

[Footnote 7: Miss Wilhelmina Alexander.]

[Footnote 8: Cumnock.--R.B.]

I marked busy, bustling Trade,

In fervid flame,

Beneath a Patroness' aid,

of noble name.

Wild, countless hills I could survey,

And countless flocks as wild as they;

But other scenes did charms display,

That better please,

Where polish'd manners dwell with Gray,

In rural ease.^9

Where Cessnock pours with gurgling sound;^10

And Irwine, marking out the bound,

Enamour'd of the scenes around,

Slow runs his race,

A name I doubly honour'd found,^11

With knightly grace.

Brydon's brave ward,^12 I saw him stand,

Fame humbly offering her hand,

And near, his kinsman's rustic band,^13

With one accord,

Lamenting their late blessed land

Must change its lord.

The owner of a pleasant spot,

Near and sandy wilds, I last did note;^14

A heart too warm, a pulse too hot

At times, o'erran:

But large in ev'ry feature wrote,

Appear'd the Man.

The Rantin' Dog, The Daddie O't

Tune--"Whare'll our guidman lie."

O wha my babie-clouts will buy?

O wha will tent me when I cry?

Wha will kiss me where I lie?

The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

[Footnote 9: Mr. Farquhar Gray.--R.B.]

[Footnote 10: Auchinskieth.--R.B.]

[Footnote 11: Caprington.--R.B.]

[Footnote 12: Colonel Fullerton.--R.B.]

[Footnote 13: Dr. Fullerton.--R.B.]

[Footnote 14: Orangefield.--R.B.]

O wha will own he did the faut?

O wha will buy the groanin maut?

O wha will tell me how to ca't?

The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

When I mount the creepie-chair,

Wha will sit beside me there?

Gie me Rob, I'll seek nae mair,

The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

Wha will crack to me my lane?

Wha will mak me fidgin' fain?

Wha will kiss me o'er again?

The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

Here's His Health In Water

Tune--"The Job of Journey-work."

Altho' my back be at the wa',

And tho' he be the fautor;

Altho' my back be at the wa',

Yet, here's his health in water.

O wae gae by his wanton sides,

Sae brawlie's he could flatter;

Till for his sake I'm slighted sair,

And dree the kintra clatter:

But tho' my back be at the wa',

And tho' he be the fautor;

But tho' my back be at the wa',

Yet here's his health in water!

About Robert Burns

Text

Summary

Preface

1771 - 1779

Song--Handsome Nell

O Tibbie, I Hae Seen The Day

I Dream'd I Lay

In The Character Of A Ruined Farmer

Tragic Fragment

The Tarbolton Lasses

Montgomerie's Peggy

The Ploughman's Life

1780

The Ronalds Of The Bennals

Song--Here's To Thy Health

The Lass Of Cessnock Banks

Song--Bonie Peggy Alison

Song--Mary Morison

1781

Winter: A Dirge

Prayer, Under The Pressure Of Violent Anguish

Paraphrase Of The First Psalm

The First Six Verses Of The Ninetieth Psalm Versified

Prayer, In The Prospect Of Death

Stanzas, On The Same Occasion

1782

Fickle Fortune: A Fragment

Raging Fortune--Fragment Of Song

Impromptu--"I'll Go And Be A Sodger"

Song--"No Churchman Am I"

A Stanza Added In A Mason Lodge

My Father Was A Farmer

John Barleycorn: A Ballad

1783

Death And Dying Words Of Poor Mailie

Poor Mailie's Elegy

Song--The Rigs O' Barley

Song Composed In August

Song-Tune "My Nanie, O."

Song--Green Grow The Rashes

Song--Wha Is That At My Bower-Door

1784

Remorse: A Fragment

Epitaph On Wm. Hood, Senr., In Tarbolton

Epitaph On James Grieve, Laird Of Boghead, Tarbolton

Epitaph On My Own Friend And My Father's Friend

Epitaph On My Ever Honoured Father

Ballad On The American War

Reply To An Announcement By J. Rankine

Epistle To John Rankine

A Poet's Welcome To His Love-Begotten Daughter

Song--O Leave Novels

Fragment--The Mauchline Lady

Fragment--My Girl She's Airy

The Belles Of Mauchline

Epitaph On A Noisy Polemic

Epitaph On A Henpecked Country Squire

Epigram On The Said Occasion

Another

On Tam The Chapman

Epitaph On John Rankine

Lines On The Author's Death

Man Was Made To Mourn: A Dirge

The Twa Herds; Or, The Holy Tulyie

1785

Epistle To Davie, A Brother Poet

Holy Willie's Prayer

Epitaph On Holy Willie

Death and Doctor Hornbook

Epistle To J. Lapraik, An Old Scottish Bard

Second Epistle To J. Lapraik

Epistle To William Simson

Postcript

One Night As I Did Wander

Tho' Cruel Fate Should Bid Us Part

Song--Rantin', Rovin' Robin

Elegy On The Death Of Robert Ruisseaux

Epistle To John Goldie, In Kilmarnock

The Holy Fair

Third Epistle To J. Lapraik

Epistle To The Rev. John M'math

Second Epistle to Davie

Song--Young Peggy Blooms

Song--Farewell To Ballochmyle

Fragment--Her Flowing Locks

Halloween

To A Mouse

Epitaph On John Dove, Innkeeper

Epitaph For James Smith

Adam Armour's Prayer

The Jolly Beggars: A Cantata

Song--For A' That

Song--Merry Hae I Been Teethin A Heckle

The Cotter's Saturday Night

Address To The Deil

Scotch Drink

1786

The Auld Farmer's New-Year-Morning Salutation

The Twa Dogs

The Author's Earnest Cry And Prayer

The Ordination

Epistle To James Smith

The Vision

The Rantin' Dog, The Daddie O't

Here's His Health In Water

Address To The Unco Guid, Or The Rigidly Righteous

The Inventory

To John Kennedy, Dumfries House

To Mr. M'Adam, Of Craigen-Gillan

To A Louse

Inscribed On A Work Of Hannah More's

Song, Composed In Spring

To A Mountain Daisy

To Ruin

The Lament

Despondency: An Ode

To Gavin Hamilton, Esq., Mauchline,

Versified Reply To An Invitation

Song--Will Ye Go To The Indies, My Mary?

Song--My Highland Lassie, O

Epistle To A Young Friend

Address Of Beelzebub

A Dream

A Dedication

Versified Note To Dr. Mackenzie, Mauchline

The Farewell To the Brethren of St. James' Lodge, Tarbolton

On A Scotch Bard, Gone To The West Indies

Song--Farewell To Eliza

A Bard's Epitaph

Epitaph On "Wee Johnie"

The Lass O' Ballochmyle

Lines To An Old Sweetheart

Motto Prefixed To The Author's First Publication

Lines To Mr. John Kennedy

Lines Written On A Banknote

Stanzas On Naething

The Farewell

Thomson's Edward and Eleanora

The Calf

Nature's Law--A Poem

Song--Willie Chalmers

Reply To A Trimming Epistle Received From A Tailor

The Brigs Of Ayr

Fragment Of Song

Epigram On Rough Roads

Prayer--O Thou Dread Power

Farewell Song To The Banks Of Ayr

Address To The Toothache

Lines On Meeting With Lord Daer

Masonic Song

Tam Samson's Elegy

Epistle To Major Logan

Fragment On Sensibility

A Winter Night

Song--Yon Wild Mossy Mountains

Address To Edinburgh

Address To A Haggis

1787

To Miss Logan

Mr. William Smellie--A Sketch

Song--Bonie Dundee

Extempore In The Court Of Session

Inscription For The Headstone Of Fergusson The Poet

Epistle To Mrs. Scott

Verses Intended To Be Written Below A Noble Earl's Picture

The Bonie Moor-Hen

Song--My Lord A-Hunting

Epigram At Roslin Inn

Epigram Addressed To An Artist

The Book-Worms

On Elphinstone's Translation Of Martial's Epigrams

Song--A Bottle And Friend

Epitaph For William Nicol

Epitaph For Mr. William Michie

Address To Wm. Tytler, Esq., Of Woodhouselee

Epigram To Miss Ainslie In Church

Burlesque Lament For The Absence Of William Creech, Publisher

Note To Mr. Renton Of Lamerton

Elegy On "Stella"

The Bard At Inverary

Epigram To Miss Jean Scott

On The Death Of John M'Leod, Esq,

Elegy On The Death Of Sir James Hunter Blair

Impromptu On Carron Iron Works

To Miss Ferrier

Written By Somebody On The Window

The Poet's Reply To The Threat Of A Censorious Critic

The Libeller's Self-Reproof

Verses Written With A Pencil

Song--The Birks Of Aberfeldy

The Humble Petition Of Bruar Water

Lines On The Fall Of Fyers Near Loch-Ness.

Epigram On Parting With A Kind Host In The Highlands

Strathallan's Lament

Castle Gordon

Song--Lady Onlie, Honest Lucky

Theniel Menzies' Bonie Mary

The Bonie Lass Of Albany

On Scaring Some Water-Fowl In Loch-Turit

Blythe Was She

A Rose-Bud By My Early Walk

Epitaph For Mr. W. Cruikshank

Song--The Banks Of The Devon

Braving Angry Winter's Storms

Song--My Peggy's Charms

The Young Highland Rover

Birthday Ode For 31st December, 1787

On The Death Of Robert Dundas, Esq., Of Arniston,

Sylvander To Clarinda

1788

Love In The Guise Of Friendship

Go On, Sweet Bird, And Sooth My Care

Clarinda, Mistress Of My Soul

I'm O'er Young To Marry Yet

To The Weavers Gin Ye Go

M'Pherson's Farewell

Stay My Charmer

Song--My Hoggie

Raving Winds Around Her Blowing

Up In The Morning Early

Hey, The Dusty Miller

Duncan Davison

The Lad They Ca'Jumpin John

Talk Of Him That's Far Awa

To Daunton Me

The Winter It Is Past

The Bonie Lad That's Far Awa

Verses To Clarinda

The Chevalier's Lament

Epistle To Hugh Parker

Of A' The Airts The Wind Can Blaw

Song--I Hae a Wife O' My Ain

Lines Written In Friars'-Carse Hermitage

To Alex. Cunningham, ESQ., Writer

Song.--Anna, Thy Charms

The Fete Champetre

Epistle To Robert Graham, Esq., Of Fintry

Song.--The Day Returns

Song.--O, Were I On Parnassus Hill

A Mother's Lament

The Fall Of The Leaf

I Reign In Jeanie's Bosom

Auld Lang Syne

My Bonie Mary

The Parting Kiss

Written In Friar's-Carse Hermitage

The Poet's Progress

Elegy On The Year 1788

The Henpecked Husband

Versicles On Sign-Posts

1789

Robin Shure In Hairst

Ode, Sacred To The Memory Of Mrs. Oswald Of Auchencruive

Pegasus At Wanlockhead

Sappho Redivivus--A Fragment

Song--She's Fair And Fause

Impromptu Lines To Captain Riddell

Lines To John M'Murdo, Esq. Of Drumlanrig

Rhyming Reply To A Note From Captain Riddell

Caledonia--A Ballad

To Miss Cruickshank

Beware O' Bonie Ann

Ode On The Departed Regency Bill

Epistle To James Tennant Of Glenconner

A New Psalm For The Chapel Of Kilmarnock

Sketch In Verse

The Wounded Hare

Delia, An Ode

The Gard'ner Wi' His Paidle

On A Bank Of Flowers

Young Jockie Was The Blythest Lad

The Banks Of Nith

Jamie, Come Try Me

I Love My Love In Secret

Sweet Tibbie Dunbar

The Captain's Lady

John Anderson, My Jo

My Love, She's But A Lassie Yet

Song--Tam Glen

Carle, An The King Come

The Laddie's Dear Sel'

Whistle O'er The Lave O't

My Eppie Adair

On The Late Captain Grose's Peregrinations Thro' Scotland

Epigram On Francis Grose The Antiquary

The Kirk Of Scotland's Alarm

Presentation Stanzas To Correspondents

Sonnet On Receiving A Favour

Extemporaneous Effusion

Song--Willie Brew'd A Peck O' Maut

Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes

I Gaed A Waefu' Gate Yestreen

Highland Harry Back Again

The Battle Of Sherramuir

The Braes O' Killiecrankie

Awa' Whigs, Awa'

A Waukrife Minnie

The Captive Ribband

My Heart's In The Highlands

The Whistle--A Ballad

To Mary In Heaven

Epistle To Dr. Blacklock

The Five Carlins

Election Ballad For Westerha'

Prologue Spoken At The Theatre Of Dumfries

1790

Sketch--New Year's Day [1790]

Scots' Prologue For Mr. Sutherland

Lines To A Gentleman

Elegy On Willie Nicol's Mare

The Gowden Locks Of Anna

Song--I Murder Hate

Gudewife, Count The Lawin

Election Ballad

Elegy On Captain Matthew Henderson

Verses On Captain Grose

Tam O' Shanter

On The Birth Of A Posthumous Child

Elegy On The Late Miss Burnet Of Monboddo

1791

Lament Of Mary, Queen Of Scots, On The Approach Of Spring

There'll Never Be Peace Till Jamie Comes Hame

Song--Out Over The Forth

The Banks O' Doon--First Version

The Banks O' Doon--Second Version

The Banks O' Doon--Third Version

Lament For James, Earl Of Glencairn

Lines Sent To Sir John Whiteford, Bart

Craigieburn Wood

Epigram On Miss Davies

The Charms Of Lovely Davies

What Can A Young Lassie Do Wi' An Auld Man

The Posie

On Glenriddell's Fox Breaking His Chain

Poem On Pastoral Poetry

Verses On The Destruction Of The Woods Near Drumlanrig

The Gallant Weaver

Epigram At Brownhill Inn

Lovely Polly Stewart

Fragment,--Damon And Sylvia

Johnie Lad, c**k Up Your Beaver

My Eppie Macnab

Altho' He Has Left Me

My Tocher's The Jewel

O For Ane An' Twenty, Tam

Thou Fair Eliza

My Bonie Bell

Sweet Afton

Address To The Shade Of Thomson

Nithsdale's Welcome Hame

Frae The Friends And Land I Love

Such A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation

Ye Jacobites By Name

I Hae Been At Crookieden

O Kenmure's On And Awa, Willie

Epistle To John Maxwell, ESQ., Of Terraughty

Second Epistle To Robert Graham, ESQ., Of Fintry

The Song Of Death

Poem On Sensibility

The Toadeater

Divine Service In The Kirk Of Lamington

The Keekin'-Glass

A Grace Before Dinner, Extempore

A Grace After Dinner, Extempore

O May, Thy Morn

Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever

Behold The Hour, The Boat, Arrive

Thou Gloomy December

My Native Land Sae Far Awa

1792

I do Confess Thou Art Sae Fair

Lines On Fergusson, The Poet

The Weary Pund O' Tow

When She Cam' Ben She Bobbed

Scroggam, My Dearie

My Collier Laddie

Sic A Wife As Willie Had

Lady Mary Ann

Kellyburn Braes

The Slave's Lament

O Can Ye Labour Lea?

The Deuks Dang O'er My Daddie

The Deil's Awa Wi' The Exciseman

The Country Lass

Bessy And Her Spinnin' Wheel

Love For Love

Saw Ye Bonie Lesley

Fragment Of Song

I'll Meet Thee On The Lea Rig

My Wife's A Winsome Wee Thing

Highland Mary

Auld Rob Morris

The Rights Of Woman

Epigram On Seeing Miss Fontenelle In A Favourite Character

Extempore On Some Commemorations Of Thomson

Duncan Gray

Here's A Health To Them That's Awa

A Tippling Ballad

1793

Poortith Cauld And Restless Love

On Politics

Braw Lads O' Galla Water

Sonnet Written On The Author's Birthday

Wandering Willie--First Version

Wandering Willie--Revised Version

Lord Gregory

Open The Door To Me, Oh

Lovely Young Jessie

Meg O' The Mill

Meg O' The Mill--Another Version

The Soldier's Return

Versicles, A.D. 1793

The True Loyal Natives

On Commissary Goldie's Brains

Lines Inscribed In A Lady's Pocket Almanac

Thanksgiving For A National Victory

Lines On The Commemoration Of Rodney's Victory

The Raptures Of Folly

Kirk and State Excisemen

Extempore Reply To An Invitation

Grace After Meat

Grace Before And After Meat

Impromptu On General Dumourier's Desertion From The French Republican Army

The Last Time I Came O'er The Moor

Logan Braes

Blythe Hae I been On Yon Hill

O Were My Love Yon Lilac Fair

Bonie Jean--A Ballad

Lines On John M'Murdo, ESQ.

Epitaph On A Lap-Dog

Epigrams Against The Earl Of Galloway

Epigram On The Laird Of Laggan

Song--Phillis The Fair

Song--Had I A Cave

Song--By Allan Stream

Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad

Phillis The Queen O' The Fair

Come, Let Me Take Thee To My Breast

Dainty Davie

Robert Bruce's March To Bannockburn

Behold The Hour, The Boat Arrive

Down The Burn, Davie

Thou Hast Left Me Ever, Jamie

Where Are The Joys I have Met?

Deluded Swain, The Pleasure

Thine Am I, My Faithful Fair

On Mrs. Riddell's Birthday

My Spouse Nancy

Address

Complimentary Epigram On Maria Riddell

1794

Remorseful Apology

Wilt Thou Be My Dearie?

A Fiddler In The North

The Minstrel At Lincluden

A Vision

A Red, Red Rose

Young Jamie, Pride Of A' The Plain

The Flowery Banks Of Cree

Monody

The Epitaph

Pinned To Mrs. Walter Riddell's Carriage

Epitaph For Mr. Walter Riddell

Epistle From Esopus To Maria

Epitaph On A Noted Coxcomb

On Capt. Lascelles

On Wm. Graham, Esq., Of Mossknowe

On John Bushby, Esq., Tinwald Downs

Sonnet On The Death Of Robert Riddell

The Lovely Lass O' Inverness

Charlie, He's My Darling

Bannocks O' Bear Meal

The Highland Balou

The Highland Widow's Lament

It Was A' For Our Rightfu' King

Ode For General Washington's Birthday

Inscription To Miss Graham Of Fintry

On The Seas And Far Away

Ca' The Yowes To The Knowes--Second Version

She Says She Loes Me Best Of A'

To Dr. Maxwell

To The Beautiful Miss Eliza J--N

On Chloris

On Seeing Mrs. Kemble In Yarico

Epigram On A Country Laird

On Being Shewn A Beautiful Country Seat

On Hearing It Asserted Falsehood

On A Suicide

On A Swearing Coxcomb

On An Innkeeper Nicknamed "The Marquis"

On Andrew Turner

Pretty Peg

Esteem For Chloris

Saw Ye My Dear, My Philly

How Lang And Dreary Is The Night

Inconstancy In Love

The Lover's Morning Salute To His Mistress

The Winter Of Life

Behold, My Love, How Green The Groves

The Charming Month Of May

Lassie Wi' The Lint-White Locks

Dialogue song--Philly And Willy

Contented Wi' Little And Cantie Wi' Mair

Farewell Thou Stream

Canst Thou Leave Me Thus, My Katie

My Nanie's Awa

The Tear-Drop

For The Sake O' Somebody

1795

A Man's A Man For A' That

Craigieburn Wood

Versicles of 1795

The Solemn League And Covenant

Lines sent with a Present of a Dozen of Porter.

Inscription On A Goblet

Apology For Declining An Invitation To Dine

Epitaph For Mr. Gabriel Richardson

Epigram On Mr. James Gracie

Bonie Peg-a-Ramsay

Inscription At Friars' Carse Hermitage

There Was A Bonie Lass

Wee Willie Gray

O Aye My Wife She Dang Me

Gude Ale Keeps The Heart Aboon

O Steer Her Up An' Haud Her Gaun

The Lass O' Ecclefechan

O Let Me In Thes Ae Night

Her Answer

I'll Aye Ca' In By Yon Town

O Wat Ye Wha's In Yon Town

Ballads on Mr. Heron's Election, 1795

Inscription For An Altar Of Independence

The Cardin O't, The Spinnin O't

The Cooper O' Cuddy

The Lass That Made The Bed To Me

Had I The Wyte? She Bade Me

Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat?

Address To The Woodlark

Song.--On Chloris Being Ill

How Cruel Are The Parents

Mark Yonder Pomp Of Costly Fashion

'Twas Na Her Bonie Blue E'e

Their Groves O'Sweet Myrtle

Forlorn, My Love, No Comfort Near

Fragment,--Why, Why Tell The Lover

The Braw Wooer

This Is No My Ain Lassie

O Bonie Was Yon Rosy Brier

Song Inscribed To Alexander Cunningham

O That's The Lassie O' My Heart

Inscription

Fragment.--Leezie Lindsay

Fragment.--The Wren's Nest

News, Lassies, News

Crowdie Ever Mair

Mally's Meek, Mally's Sweet

Jockey's Taen The Parting Kiss

Verses To Collector Mitchell

Postscript

1796

The Dean Of Faculty

Epistle To Colonel De Peyster

A Lass Wi' A Tocher

Heron Election Ballad, No. IV.

Complimentary Versicles To Jessie Lewars

O Lay Thy Loof In Mine, Lass

A Health To Ane I Loe Dear

O Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast

Inscription To Miss Jessy Lewars

Fairest Maid On Devon Banks

Glossary

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