III.

He was a braw gallant,

And he rid at the ring;

And the bonny Earl of Murray,
Oh! he might have been a king.
And the, &c.

IV.

He was a braw gallant,

And he play'd at the ba’:
And the bonny Earl of Murray
Was the flower amang them a'.
And the, &c.

V.

He was a braw gallant,

And he play'd at the glove :
And the bonny Earl of Murray,

Oh! he was the queen's love.
And the, &c.

VI.

Oh! lang will his lady

Look o'er the castle Down,

Ere she see the Earl of Murray
Come founding thro' the town.
Ere fhe, &c.

If e'er I do well, 'tis a Wonder.

I.

THEN I was a young lad,

WHEN

My fortune was bad;

If e'er I do well, 'tis a wonder:

I spent all my means

On whores, bawds, and queans: Then I got a commiffion to plunder. Fal al de ral, &c.

II.

The hat I have on,
So greafy is grown,
Remarkable 'tis for its fhining;

'Tis ftitch'd all about,

Without button or loop,

And never a bit of a lining.
Fal al de ral, &c.

III.

The coat I have on,

So thread-bare is grown,

So out at the armpits and elbows,

That I look as abfurd

As a failor on board,

That has ly'n fifteen months in the bilboes. Fal al de ral, &c.

IV.

My fhirt it is tore

Both behind and before,

The colour is much like a cinder;

'Tis fo thin and fo fine,

That it is my design

To prefent it to the mufes for tinder.

Fal al de ral, &c.

V.

My blue fuftian breeches

Is wore to the stitches,

My legs you may fee what's between them;

My pockets all four,

I'm the fon of a whore,

If there's ever one farthing within them.

Fal al de ral, &c.

VI.

I've stockings, 'tis true,

But the devil a fhoe,

I'm oblig'd to wear boots in all weather;
Be damn'd the boot-fole,
Curfe on the spur-roll,
Confounded be the upper-leather.
Fal al de ral, &c.

VII.

Had ye then but seen

The fad plight I was in,

Ye'd not feen fuch a poet amongst twenty;

I have nothing that's full,

But my fhirt and my fcull,

For my pockets and belly were empty.

Fal al de ral, &c.

»&་་་་་་་་

་་་ཛར་ར་

The Fumbler's Rant.

COME

I.

carls a' of fumblers' ha',

And I will tell you of our fate,

Since we have married wives that's braw,
And canna please them when 'tis late:
A pint we'll take our hearts to cheer;
What fauts we have our wives can tell :
Gar bring us in baith ale and beer,

The auldest bairn we hae's ourfell.

II.

Christ'ning of weans we are rid of,
The parish-prieft 'tis he can tell,
We aw him nought but a gray groat,
The off'ring for the house we dwell.
Our bairn's tocher is a' paid,

We're mafters of the gear ourfell;
Let either well or wae betide,

Here's a health to a' the wives that's yell.

III.

Our nibour's auld fon and the lass,
Into the barn amang the ftrae,
He grips her in the dark beguess,

And after that comes meikle wae.
Repentance ay comes afterhin',

It coft the carl baith corn and hay;
We're quat of that with little din,
Sic croffes haunt ne'er you nor I.

IV.

Now merry, merry may we be,

When we think on our nibour Robie,
way the carl does, we see,

The

Wi' his auld fon and his daughter Maggy:

Boots he maun hae, pistols, why not?

The huffy maun hae corkit shoon :

We are no fae; gar fill the pot,

We'll drink to a' the hours at e'en.

V.

Here's a health to John Mackay we'll drink,
To Hughie, Andrew, Rob, and Tam:
We'll fit and drink, we'll nod and wink,
It is o'er foon for us to gang.

Foul fa' the cock he'as fpilt the play,
And I do trow he's but a fool,
We'll fit a while, 'tis lang to day,
For a' they rave at Yool.

VI.

Since we have met, we'll merry be,

The foremost hame shall bear the mell; I'll fet me down, left I be fee,

For fear that I fhou'd bear't myfell. And I, quoth Rob, and down fat he, The gear shall never me outride, But we'll take a foup of the barley-bree, And drink to our yell firefide.

The Matron's Wish.

I.

WHEN my locks are grown hoary,

And my visage looks pale;

When my forehead has wrinkles,

And my eye-fight does fail;

Let my words and my actions
Be free from all harm,

And may I have my old husband
To keep my back warm.

CHORUS.

The pleafures of youth
Are flowers but of May;
Our life's but a vapour,
Our body's but clay:
O let me live well,

Tho' I live but a day.