I left ye like the wanton lamb
That plays 'mang Hadyed's heather;
I've found ye noo a sober dame,
A wife and eke a mither.
Ye're fairer, statelier, I can see,
Ye're wiser, nae dou't, Jeanie;
But ah! I'd rather met wi' thee
'Mang the bourocks o' Bargeny.
THE HAUGHS O' AULD KENTUCK
[From the same]
Welcome, Edie, owre the sea,
Welcome to this lan' an' me,
Welcome from the warl' whaur we
Hae whistled owre the lave o't. [rest]
Come, gie your banes anither hitch,
Up Hudson's stream, thro' Clinton's ditch,
An' see our watlin meadows rich [cane-brake]
Wi' corn an' a' the lave o't. [all the rest of it]
We've hizzie here baith swank and sweet [maidens agile]
An' birkies here that can stan' a heat [young men]
O' barley bree, or aqua vit [brew; water of life]
Syne whistle owre the lave o't.
Gude kens, I want nae better luck [Goodness knows]
Than just to see ye, like a buck,
Spanking the haughs o' auld Kentuck, [speeding over the meadows]
An' whistling owre the lave o't.
THE INGLE SIDE
[From the same]