 | The Poems of Robert Fergusson |  |
Leith Races.
I
In July month, ae bonny morn,Whan Nature's rokelay green
Was spread o'er ilka rigg o' corn
To charm our roving een;
Glouring about I saw a quean,
The fairest 'neath the lift;
Her Een ware o' the siller sheen,
Her Skin like snawy drift,
Sae white that day.
161
II
Quod she, “I ferly unco sair,“That ye sud musand gae,
“Ye wha hae sung o' Hallow-fair,
“Her winter's pranks and play:
“Whan on Leith-Sands the racers rare,
“Wi' Jocky louns are met,
“Their orro pennies there to ware,
“And drown themsel's in debt
“Fu' deep that day.”
III
An' wha are ye, my winsome dear,That takes the gate sae early?
Whare do ye win, gin ane may spier,
For I right meikle ferly,
That sic braw buskit laughing lass
Thir bonny blinks shou'd gi'e,
An' loup like Hebe o'er the grass,
As wanton and as free
Frae dule this day.
IV
“I dwall amang the caller springs“That weet the Land o' Cakes,
“And aften tune my canty strings
“At bridals and late-wakes:
“They ca' me Mirth; I ne'er was kend
“To grumble or look sour,
“But blyth wad be a lift to lend,
“Gif ye wad sey my pow'r
“An' pith this day.”
162
V
A bargain be't, and, by my feggs,Gif ye will be my mate,
Wi' you I'll screw the cheery pegs,
Ye shanna find me blate;
We'll reel an' ramble thro' the sands,
And jeer wi' a' we meet;
Nor hip the daft and gleesome bands
That fill Edina's street
Sae thrang this day.
VI
Ere servant maids had wont to riseTo seeth the breakfast kettle,
Ilk dame her brawest ribbons tries,
To put her on her mettle,
Wi' wiles some silly chiel to trap,
(And troth he's fain to get her,)
But she'll craw kniefly in his crap,
Whan, wow! he canna flit her
Frae hame that day.
VII
Now, mony a scaw'd and bare-ars'd lownRise early to their wark,
Enough to fley a muckle town,
Wi' dinsome squeel and bark.
“Here is the true an' faithfu' list
“O' Noblemen and Horses;
“Their eild, their weight, their height, their grist,
“That rin for Plates or Purses
“Fu' fleet this day.”
163
VIII
To Whisky Plooks that brunt for wooksOn town-guard soldiers faces,
Their barber bauld his whittle crooks,
An' scrapes them for the races:
Their Stumps erst us'd to filipegs,
Are dight in spaterdashes,
Whase barkent hides scarce fend their legs
Frae weet, and weary plashes
O' dirt that day.
IX
“Come, hafe a care (the captain cries),“On guns your bagnets thraw;
“Now mind your manual exercise,
“An' marsh down raw by raw.”
And as they march he'll glowr about,
'Tent a' their cuts and scars:
'Mang them fell mony a gausy snout
Has gusht in birth-day wars,
Wi' blude that day.
X
Her Nanesel maun be carefu' now,Nor maun she pe misleard,
Sin baxter lads hae seal'd a vow
To skelp and clout the guard:
I'm sure Auld Reikie kens o' nane
That wou'd be sorry at it,
Tho' they should dearly pay the kane,
An' get their tails weel sautit
And sair thir days.
164
XI
The tinkler billies i' the BowAre now less eidant clinking,
As lang's their pith or siller dow,
They're daffin', and they're drinking.
Bedown Leith-walk what burrochs reel
Of ilka trade and station,
That gar their wives an' childer feel
Toom weyms for their libation
O' drink thir days.
XII
The browster wives thegither harlA' trash that they can fa' on;
They rake the grounds o' ilka barrel,
To profit by the lawen:
For weel wat they a skin leal het
For drinking needs nae hire;
At drumbly gear they take nae pet;
Foul Water slockens Fire
And drouth thir days.
XIII
They say, ill ale has been the deidO' mony a beirdly lown;
Then dinna gape like gleds wi' greed
To sweel hail bickers down;
Gin Lord send mony ane the morn,
They'll ban fu' sair the time
That e'er they toutit aff the horn
Which wambles thro' their weym
Wi' pain that day.
165
XIV
The Buchan bodies thro' the beechTheir bunch of Findrums cry,
An' skirl out baul', in Norland speech,
“Gueed speldings, fa will buy.”
An', by my saul, they're nae wrang gear
To gust a stirrah's mow;
Weel staw'd wi' them, he'll never spear
The price o' being fu'
Wi' drink that day.
XV
Now wyly wights at Rowly Powl,An' flingin' o' the Dice,
Here brake the banes o' mony a soul
Wi' fa's upo' the ice:
At first the gate seems fair an' straught,
So they had fairly till her;
But wow! in spite o' a' their maught,
They're rookit o' their siller
An' goud that day.
XVI
Around whare'er ye fling your een,The Haiks like wind are scourin';
Some chaises honest folk contain,
An' some hae mony a Whore in;
Wi' rose and lilly, red and white,
They gie themselves sic fit airs,
Like Dian, they will seem perfite;
But its nae goud that glitters
Wi' them thir days.
166
XVII
The LYON here, wi' open paw,May cleek in mony hunder,
Wha geck at Scotland and her law,
His wyly talons under;
For ken, tho' Jamie's laws are auld,
(Thanks to the wise recorder),
His Lyon yet roars loud and bawld,
To had the Whigs in order
Sae prime this day.
XVIII
To town-guard Drum of clangor clear,Baith men and steeds are raingit;
Some liveries red or yellow wear,
And some are tartan spraingit:
And now the red, the blue e'en-now
Bids fairest for the market;
But, 'ere the sport be done, I trow
Their skins are gayly yarkit
And peel'd thir days.
XIX
Siclike in Robinhood debates,Whan twa chiels hae a pingle;
E'en-now some couli gets his aits,
An' dirt wi' words they mingle,
Till up loups he, wi' diction fu',
There's lang and dreech contesting;
For now they're near the point in view;
Now ten miles frae the question
In hand that night.
167
XX
The races o'er, they hale the dools,Wi' drink o' a' kin-kind;
Great feck gae hirpling hame like fools,
The cripple lead the blind.
May ne'er the canker o' the drink
E'er make our spirits thrawart,
'Case we git wharewitha' to wink
Wi' een as blue's a blawart
Wi' straiks thir days!
| The Poems of Robert Fergusson | |