Classic Poem

Tune, Cumnock Psalms —

As I stood by yon roofless tower,
Where the wa'-flower scents the dewy air.
Where the houlet mourns in her ivy bower,
And tells the midnight moon her care:

Chorus

A lassie all alone was making her moan,
Lamenting our lads beyond the sea;
In the bluidy wars they fa', and our honor 's gane and a',
And broken-hearted we maun die. —

The winds were laid, the air was still,
The stars they shot alang the sky;
The tod was howling on the hill,
And the distant-echoing glens reply. —
The lassie &c.

The burn, adown its hazelly path,
Was rushing by the ruin'd wa',
Hasting to join the sweeping Nith
Whase roarings seem'd to rise and fa'. —
The lassie &c.

The cauld, blae north was streaming forth
Her lights, wi' hissing, eerie din;
Athort the lift they start and shift,
Like Fortune's favors, tint as win. —
The lassie &c.

Now, looking over firth and fauld,
Her horn the pale-fac'd Cynthia rear'd,
When, lo, in form of Minstrel auld,
A stern and stalwart ghaist appear'd. —
The lassie &c.

And frae his harp sic strains did flow,
Might rous'd the slumbering Dead to hear;
But Oh, it was a tale of woe,
As ever met a Briton's ear. —
The lassie &c.

He sang wi' joy his former day,
He weeping wail'd his latter times:
But what he said it was nae play,
I winna ventur 't in my rhymes. —
The lassie &c.