O safely sleep, my bonnie, bonnie bairn,
Rock'd on this breast o' mine,
The heart that beats sae sair within
Will not, will not awaken thine.
Lie still, lie still, ye cankered thochts,
That such late watches keep,
And if ye break the
Sleep on, sleep on, my ae ae bairn,
Nor look sae wae on me,
As if ye felt the bitter tear
That blin's thy mammie's e'e.
Dry up, dry up, ye saut, saut tears,
Lest on my bairn ye dreep,
And break in silence, waefu' heart,
And let my baby sleep.
If you know it not, oh reader! take lute or viol and learn it.
At the second verse Lotty had really dropped off to sleep; but as the last words died in cadence soft and sad away she started and shook back her yellow hair. Her open eyes had a strange wildness in them.
'Where—oh, where am I?'
Then she smiled and seemed to recover consciousness wholly; but she squeezed mammy's arm against her chest with a vice-like grip as she gazed into her face.
'Mrs Captain,' she cried, 'mammy then, I've had such a strange, strange dream. I thought—but never mind, only tell me this: Did you ever sing that strange song to me before? I have never heard it, and yet, mammy, I have. How is that? Can you explain?'