Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Illustrated book of Scottish songs from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century

SONGS OF THE AIPECTIONS. 57
JOHN HAY'S BONNIE LASSIE.
From the " Tea-Table Miscellany."
By smooth-winding Tay a swain was reclining,
Aft cried he, Oh, hey ! maun I still live pining
MyseF thus away, and daurna discover
To my bonny Hay that I am her lover !
Nae mair it will hide, the flame waxes stranger ;
If she's not my bride, my days are nae langer ;
Then I'll take a heart, and try at a venture, —
Maybe, ere we part, my vows may content her.
She's fresh as the spring, and sweet as Aurora,
When birds mount and sing, bidding day a good morrow ;
The sward of the mead enamell'd with daisies
Looks wither'd and dead when twined of her graces.
But if she appears where verdure invites her.
The fountains run clear, and the flowers smell the sweeter ;
'*Tis heaven to be by when her wit is a- flowing ;
Her smiles and bright eyes set my spirits a-glowing.
The mair that I gaze, the deeper I'm wounded,
Struck dumb with amaze, my mind is confounded;
I'm all in a fire, dear maid, to caress ye ;
For a' my desire is John Hay's bonnie lassie.
Mr. Chambers states that there is a tradition in Roxburghshire that this song
■was written by a carpenter or joiner in honour of a daughter of John Hay, first
Marquis of Tweeddale.
JOHN HAY'S BONNIE MAEY.
From Peter Buchan's manuscript collection of ancient and traditional
Scottish songs.
As I gaed down an' farther down,
An' down into a cellar,
There I saw the bonniest lass
Was writing a letter.
She was writing an' inditing,
And losing her colour.
But ilka kiss of her mou'
Cost me a dollar.