Willie Winkie and Other Songs and Poems By William Miller: Edited, with an Introduction by Robert Ford |
 |
|
|
|
The Bards o' Scotland.
|
 | Willie Winkie and Other Songs and Poems |  |
53
The Bards o' Scotland.
(To James Ballantine, Esq.)
We lo'e the bards o' Scotland a'
Whose genius glorifies our hames,
An' lifts our heart its cares aboon,
Where'er they bide, whate'er their names;
The genial or the gleefu' sang,
Wi' sense and pith in ilka line,
Comes easy, as frae aff a clew,
Frae bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
Whose genius glorifies our hames,
An' lifts our heart its cares aboon,
Where'er they bide, whate'er their names;
The genial or the gleefu' sang,
Wi' sense and pith in ilka line,
Comes easy, as frae aff a clew,
Frae bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
They cheer our board, they sing our waes,
And nerve us in our honest toil,
An' wi' their lilts hae sic a way
That Care itself is forced to smile.
Nae lan' but ours can brag a pipe
Whose notes sic various moods combine.
When blawn by chiel's, the 'live and gane,
The bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
And nerve us in our honest toil,
An' wi' their lilts hae sic a way
That Care itself is forced to smile.
Nae lan' but ours can brag a pipe
Whose notes sic various moods combine.
When blawn by chiel's, the 'live and gane,
The bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
The Ettrick braes are wondrous sweet
When summer reigns, an' bees are thrang
Amang the broom, an' seem to sing
Some sweet love-lay that Hogg ance sang;
An' weel the han' that bure the crook
The flowers o' forest sang could twine
To fill the heart or weet the e'e,
Like bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
When summer reigns, an' bees are thrang
Amang the broom, an' seem to sing
Some sweet love-lay that Hogg ance sang;
An' weel the han' that bure the crook
The flowers o' forest sang could twine
To fill the heart or weet the e'e,
Like bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
54
To a' a sweet an' tender strain
Comes hame, an' manly hearts can thrill;
An' aft when daunnerin' by mysel',
I croon the sangs o' Tannahill.
The lav'rock o'er the Newton woods,
Wi' speckled breast, will ever shine
To fancy's e'e, sic power ha'e a'
The bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
Comes hame, an' manly hearts can thrill;
An' aft when daunnerin' by mysel',
I croon the sangs o' Tannahill.
The lav'rock o'er the Newton woods,
Wi' speckled breast, will ever shine
To fancy's e'e, sic power ha'e a'
The bards 'tween Burns and Ballantine.
Our wee bit bairns wha rampin' rin
To clasp our knees when we get hame,
Hae fand a voice their ways to sing,
Though humble be the maker's name.
While Scotland's bards sing as they feel,
Scotch sangs can neither dee nor tyne:
Then cheer, my lads, wi' hearts fu' leal,
Our bards frae Burns to Ballantine.
To clasp our knees when we get hame,
Hae fand a voice their ways to sing,
Though humble be the maker's name.
While Scotland's bards sing as they feel,
Scotch sangs can neither dee nor tyne:
Then cheer, my lads, wi' hearts fu' leal,
Our bards frae Burns to Ballantine.
| Willie Winkie and Other Songs and Poems | |