University of Virginia Library

Willie Wastle.

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Tune—“Macfarlane's Reel.”

Willie Wastle lo'ed a lass
Was bright as ony rainbow;
A pretty dear I wat she was,
But saucy an' disdainfu':
She courtit was by mony a lad,
Wha teas'd her late an' early;
An' a' the wiles that Willie had
Could scarcely gain a parley.
The western sea had drown'd the sun;
The sternies blinkit clearly;
The moon was glentin' o'er the glen,
To light him to his deary.
She dwalt amang the mountains wild,
Nae wood nor bower to shade her;
But O! the scene look'd sweet an' mild,
For love o' them that staid there.
The cock that craw'd wi' yelpin' voice,
Nae claronet sae grand, O;
The bonnie burnie's purlin' noise,
Was sweet as the piano.
The little doggy at the door,
Into his arms he caught it,
An' hugg'd an' sleek'd it o'er and o'er,
For love o' them that aught it.
The house was thrang, the night was lang,
The auld gudewife bethought her,
To tak a lair was naething wrang
Beside her bonnie daughter.
Sly Willie enter'd unperceiv'd
To wake his charming Annie,
An' straight his jealous mind believ'd
The wife was shepherd Sawny.
Though milder than the southern breeze
When July's odours waftin',
Yet now his passion made a heeze,
An' a' his reason left him;
He gae the kerlin' sic a swinge,
He didna stand on prattlin',
Till down her throat, like bristled beans,
He gart her teeth gang rattlin'.
The doggy fawn'd but got a drub
Frae Willie's hand uncivil;
The burn was grown a drumly dub;
The cock a skirlin' devil.
The place appear'd a wilderness,
A desert, dank an' dreary;
For O, alas! the bonnie lass
Nae mair could mak it cheery?
O love, thou ray of life divine!
If rosy virtue guide thee,
What sense or feeling half sae fine!
What blessings to abide thee!
But jealousy, thy neighbour sour,
Deforms the finest feature,
An' maks a gloomy shade to lour
O'er fairest scenes in nature.