Robert Nicoll

DOWN by the wood
When daylight is breaking,
And the first breath of dawn
The green leaves is shaking,…

DONALD fought in France and Spain,
Donald mony men hath killed,
And frae the pouches o' the slain
Aft has he his spleuchan filled.…

I WlNNA bide in your castle ha's,
Nor yet in your lofty towers,—
My heart is sick o' your gloomy hame,
An' sick o' your darksome bowers;…

JANET MACBEAN a public keeps,
An' a merry auld wife is she;
An' she sells her ale wi' a jaunty air,
That would please your heart to see.…

A HAPPY bit hame this auld world would be,
If men, when they're here, could make shift to agree,
An' ilk said to his neighbour, in cottage an' ha',
"Come, gi'e me your hand—we are brethren a'."I ken na why ane wi' anither should fight,…

WHERE ance the cozie fire was bien
The winter rain-drap owrie fa's;
My father's floor wi' grass is green,
And roofless are the crumblin' wa's.…

A WEE raggit laddie he cam' to our toun,
Wi' his hair for a bannet—his taes through his shoon:
An' aye when we gart him rise up in the morn,
The ne'er do-well herdit the kye 'mang the corn:…

I WINNA sing o' bluidy deeds an' waefu' war's alarms;
For glancin' swords an' prancin' steeds, for me possess nae
charms;
But I will sing o' happiness which fireside bosoms feel,…

O! the rose is like her ruby lip,
And the lily like her skin;
And her mouth like a faulded violet,
Wi' the scented breath within;…

A BARE-LEGGIT callant came out o' the north,
And set himself down in our borough,
The loon had a dour and a miserly look,
Folk said he'll no leave in a hurry.…

Ochtergaen, so provincially named, is Auchtergaven,
a village midway between Perth and Dunkeld.HAPPY, happy be their dwallin’s,
By the burn an’ in the glen,—
Cheerie lasses, cantie callans,…

WE'LL a' go pu' the heather—
Our byres are a' to theek:
Unless the peat-stack get a hap,
We'll a' be smoored wi' reek.…

WHERE the purple heather blooms
Amang the rocks sae gray—
Where the moorcock's whirring flight,
Is heard at break of day—…

HALE be thy honest trusty heart,
And hale thy beld and snawy pow,
The hand of eld ne'er furrowed o'er
A baulder or a manlier brow.…

IN Scotland's cause—for Scotland's gude,
We'll blithely shed our dearest bluid,—
An' stand or fa' as freeman should,
As we hae done before.…

A SONSY auld carline is Janet Dunbar—
A donsy auld carline is Janet Dunbar;
For a gash skilly body, weel kent near and far,
Through the hale kintra side, cantie Janet Dunbar.Folk speer her advice, baith the greatest and least,…

THOUGH overly proud, she was bonnie an' young,
And, in spite o' her jeers an' her scornin',
I lo'ed her as weel, or mair than mysel';
An' I followed her e'enin' an' mornin'.…

O! I HA'E loved the heather hills,
Where summer breezes blaw;
An' I ha'e loved the glades that gang
Through yonder greenwood-shaw!…

Fu' ripe, ripe was her rosy lip,
And raven was her hair;
And white, white was her swan-like neck—
Her een like starnies were!…

AMANG the hills, the rocky hills,
Where whirs the moorcock, waves the heather,
Ae bonnie morn, in lightsome June,
I wi’ a lassie did foregather.…

WE maun wear awa', Robbie, we needna repine,
This head lang has lain in that bosom of thine;
We are auld, we are frail, we are lanely and a',
Nae mane will we mak' though we're wearin' awa'!Frae our auld cottar-house, it winna be lang…

DOWN the street the Bailie comes—
Faith he keeps the causey-crown,
He bans the sergeants black and blue,
The bellman gets the name o' loon.…

CHIEF of the household gods
Which hallow Scotland's lowly cottage-homes!
While looking on thy signs
That speak, though dumb, deep thought upon me…

HE was a carle in his day,
And siccar bargains he could mak',
When o'er a bicker he was set,
And deep in a twa-handed crack.…