Oh, the gay hearts at Portree WHY SHOULD I SIT AN' SIGH. AIR" Cnochd a Bheanniehd.” WHY should I sit an' sigh When the greenwood blooms sae bonnie? A' but me are cheery. Ochon, O ri! there's something wanting. Ochon, O ri! I'm weary! Nae young, blithe, an' bonnie lad, Comes o'er the knowe to cheer me. Ochon, O ri! there's something wanting, &c. When the day wears away, Sair I look adown the valley, * In a subsequent edition the concluding verse runs thus: Sic a carle, to wear away, An' lye down quiet in the yird, An' brave John o' Brackadale. Ilka sound wi' a stound Sets my heart a-thrilling: When I see the plover rising, Or the curlew wheeling, Then I trow some bonnie lad Is coming to my sheiling. Ochon! O ri! there's something wanting, &c. Come away, come away, Herd or hind, or boatman laddie; I hae cow, kid and ewe, Gowd and gear to gain thee! My wee cot is blessed and happy; O 'tis neat and cleanly! Sweet the brier that blooms beside it, Kind the heart that's lanely: Ochon! O ri! there's something wanting, &c. THE LAST CRADLE SONG. AIR" My Love's shoulders are broad and square." BAWLOO, my bonnie baby, bawlillilu, Bawloo, my bonnie baby, bawlillilu, In valleys beyond the land of the dew, WHAT GARS THE PARTING DAY-BEAM BLUSH. AIR" Gae fetch to me a pint of wine." WHAT gars the parting day-beam blush, Ahint the brier an' willow cowering. An' strews wi' gowd the stream sae glassy; The raven sleeps aboon the rock, An' I wait for my bonnie lassie. Weel may I tent the siller dew, That comes at e'en sae saftly stealing; The silken hue, the bonnie blue Of nature's rich an' radiant ceiling ; The lily lea, the vernal tree; The night breeze owre the broom-wood creeping; The fading day, the milky way, The star-beam on the water sleeping : For gin my Jeanie war but here, Wheels round our bed sae damp an' grassy, O, I'll be happier than a king, Locked in thy arms, my bonnie lassie ! Nae art hast thou, nae pawkie wile, E'er wound thy peace, or evil treat thee? Alas! that love's relucent lowe A bleered regret should ever sloken ! That heavenly gleed, that living glow, Of endless happiness the token. I'll fling my waes upon the wind; Ye warldly cares, I'll lightly pass ye; Nae thought shall waver through my mind But raptures wi' my bonnie lassie. This primrose bank shall be our bed, This briery brake shall guard our heap, I'll ask nae purer joys divine, POOR LITTLE JESSIE. O WHAT gart me greet when I parted wi Willie, It wasna the kiss that he gae me at parting, Nor yet the kind squeeze that he gae to my hand, It wasna the tear frae his blue eye was starting. As slow they war shoving the boat frae the land: The tear that I saw owre his bonnie cheek straying, It pleased me indeed, but it doubled my pain; For something within me was constantly saying, "Ah, Jessie, ye'll never see Willie again!" The bairn's unco wae to be taen frae its mother, The wee bird is wae when bereaved o' its young, But O, to be reft of a dear only brother That feeling can neither be paintit nor sung. An' just at the dawning a friend came to see me, |