THE DEIL'S AWA WI' THE EXCISEMAN. The deil cam fiddling through the town, And danc'd awa wi' the exciseman; We wish you luck o' the prize, man. There's threesome reels, and foursome reels, mony thanks to the muckle black deil At a convivial meeting of the excisemen at Dumfries, Burns was called on for a song: the poet had a strong and manly, but not a very melodious voice. He declined singing; but handed this very characteristic song to the chairman written on the back of a letter: it was sung with great enthusiasm. Burns was much esteemed in his official capacity for his moderation and kindness of heart. All the country shopkeepers and ale-house wives delight in recalling him to their remembrance. Some of the more devout add to their commendations of the poet as an excise officer-"He was warst to himsel, puir fellow." THE GLOOMY NIGHT. The gloomy night is gathering fast, The autumn mourns her ripening corn Across her placid, azure sky, She sees the scowling tempest fly; 'Tis not the surging billow's roar, But round my heart the ties are bound, That heart transpierc'd with many a wound; Farewell, old Coila's hills and dales, Farewell, my friends! Farewell, my foes! few "I had been for some days skulking from covert to covert under all the terrors of a jail; as some ill-advised people had uncoupled the merciless pack of the law at heels. I had taken the last farewell of my my friends; my chest was on the road to Greenock; and I had composed the last song I should ever measure in Caledonia The gloomy night is gathering fast." Such is the history which Burns gives of this touching lyric-one of the most mournful of all his compositions, inasmuch as we associate it with his early history and his untimely death. O, FOR ANE AND TWENTY, TAM. They snool me sair, and haud me down, And gar me look like bluntie, Tam! And then comes ane and twenty, Tam. An hey, sweet ane and twenty, Tam ! my An I saw ane and twenty, Tam. A glebe o' land, a claut o' gear, An I saw ane and twenty, Tam. They'll hae me wed a wealthy coof, An hey, sweet ane and twenty, Tam! I'll learn my kin a rattlin sang An I saw ane and twenty, Tam. Tam had the good fortune to be beloved by a very lively and opulent young lady. Her account of her hopes and her affections is very confidential, and her confidence has been rewarded by public favour. The "Moudiework," from which this admirable song accepted only the aid of the air, is a very old and very free lyric; which cannot well be quoted, and certainly can far less be sung. "This song is mine," is the brief claim which Burns makes to this production in the Reliques. THE LASS OF ARRANTEENIE. Far lone, amang the Highland hills, Are nought to me, when gaun to thee, Yon mossy rose-bud down the howe, Obscurely blooms my Jeanie, |