Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Scots musical museum > Volume 5

CCCCIV. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS' LAMENT. 363
but unfortunate queen, languishing in a miserable dungeon,
without a ray of worldly hope to cheer her afflicted soul.
Can any thing be finer than the concluding lines, in allusion
to her son, James VI. and the prospect of her own dissolu-
tion ?
My son ! my son ! may kinder stars
Upon thy fortune shine ;
And may those pleasures gild thy reign^
That ne'er wad blink on mine.
God keep thee frae thy mother's faes.
Or turn their hearts to thee ;
And where thou meet'st thy mother's friend^
Remember him for me.
O ! soon, to me, may summer-suns
Nae mair light up the morn !
Nae mair, to mv,. the autumn-winds
Wave o'er the yellow corn !
And in the narrow house of death.
Let winter round me rave ;
And the next flowers that deck the spring.
Bloom on my peaceful grave.
The verses are adapted to the ancient air, entitled " Mary
Queen of Scots' Lament," which Burns communicated to the
Editor of the Museum, alongst with the ballad. It consists
of one simple plaintive strain, ending on the fifth of the key,
and has every appearance of being one of our earliest tunes.
ccccv.
A LASSIE ALL ALONE .
The words of this song, beginning " As I stood by yon
roofless tower," were written by Burns for the Museum.
They are adapted to a tune, called " Cumnock Psalms,''
which was also communicated by the bard. The original
manuscript is before me ; but Burns afterwards made se-
veral alterations on the song, in which the chorus was struck
out and the title entirely changed. It is here reprinted, with
his last corrections.
A VISION.
As I stood by yon roofless tower.
Where the wa'-flower scents the dewy air.
Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower.
And tells the midnight moon her care.