"There's ne'er a clean sark gae on my back,
Nor yet a kame gae in my hair;
There's neither coal nor candle licht55
Shall shine in my bouer for ever mair.
"At kirk nor market I'se ne'er be at,
Nor yet a blythe blink in my ee;
There's ne'er a ane shall say to anither,
That's the lassie gar'd the young man die."60
Between the yetts o' bonnie Stobha',
And the kirkstyle o' bonnie Cargill,
There is mony a man and mother's son
That was at my luve's burial.
OLD ROBIN OF PORTINGALE.
Percy's Reliques of English Poetry, iii. 88.
"From an ancient copy in the Editor's folio MS., which was judged to require considerable corrections.
"In the former edition the hero of this piece had been called Sir Robin, but that title not being in the MS. is now omitted.
"Giles, steward to a rich old merchant trading to Portugal, is qualified with the title of Sir, not as being a knight, but rather, I conceive, as having received an inferior order of priesthood." Percy.