98 COUNTRY ESSAYS. 



As they fared up o'er Lammermore, 



They burned baith up and down, 

 Until they came to a darksome house, 



Some call it Leader-town." 



Returning, we must cross the Tweed and cry to the ferryman 

 with the Jacobite song, 



" Come boat me o'er, come row me o'er, 



Come boat me o'er to Charlie ; 



I'll gi'e John Ross anither bawbee, 



To ferry me o'er to Charlie ! " 



By the mill stands a blue-eyed girl, who at once brings Burns to 

 our mind, 



" Oh, ken ye what Meg o' the Mill has gotten ? 

 And ken ye what Meg o' the Mill has gotten ? 

 She has gotten a coof wi' a claut o' siller, 

 And broken the heart o' the Barley Miller." 



It does not do to admire her too openly. Does not the same 

 poet tell that she's coy as well as inconstant ? 



" Aye vow and protest that ye care na for me, 

 And whiles ye may lichtly my beauty a wee ; 

 But court na anither, though jokin' ye be, 

 For fear that she wyle your fancy frae me ! " 



Joanna Baillie may help us to the finale of the romance, on 

 her lover's side at least, 



" Then out spake the wily bridegroom, 



Weel waled were his wordies, I ween) 

 I'm rich though my coffers be toom, 



Wi' the blink o' your bonnie blue een. 

 I'm prouder o' thee by my side, 



Tho' thy ruffles and ribbons be few, 

 Than if Kate o' the Craft were my bride, 



Wi' purples and pearlings enew." 



And Burns will end our romance with her own sentiments ; 

 very proper ones too for a young wife, 



