‘Will. “Come, my beloved, let us walk in the fields, let us lodge in the villages.” The same metaphor still. The kirk not having the liberty of bringing her servant to her mother’s house, resolveth to meet him in the villages, such as the Canongate, in respect of Edinburgh; and the vineyard, such as my Lady Murray’s Yards, to use a homely comparison.
‘Old Lady. A wondrous young man this!
* * * *
‘Will. The eighth chapter towards the close: “Thou that dwellest in the gardens, cause me to hear thy voice.”
‘Violetta. That’s still alluding to the metaphor of a gallant, who, by some signs, warns his mistress to make haste—a whistle or so. The same with early in the former chapter; that is to say, to-morrow by six o’clock. Make haste to accomplish our loves.
‘Old L. Thou art a hopeful girl; I hope God has blest my pains on thee.’
In terms of this curious assignation, the third act opens in a walk in Lady Murray’s Yards, where Will meets his beloved Violetta. After a great deal of badinage, in the style of Dryden’s comedies, which were probably Dr Pitcairn’s favourite models, the dialogue proceeds in the following style:
‘Will. I’ll marry you at the rights, if you can find in your heart to give yourself to an honest fellow of no great fortune.
‘Vio. In truth, sir, methinks it were fully as much for my future comfort to bestow myself, and any little fortune I have, upon you, as some reverend spark in a band and short cloak, with the patrimony of a good gift of prayer, and as little sense as his father, who was hanged in the Grassmarket for murdering the king’s officers, had of honesty.
‘Will. Then I must acknowledge, my dear madam, I am most damnably in love with you, and must have you by foul or fair means; choose you whether.