LXXII.

MY BONNIE MARY.

Tune-" Go fetch to me a pint o' wine."

[Concerning this fine song, Burns in his notes says, "This air is Oswald's: the first half-stanza of the song is old, the rest is mine." It is believed, however, that the whole of the song is from his hand in Hogg and Motherwell's edition of Burns, the starting lines are supplied

from an olden strain: but some of the old strains in that work are to be regarded with suspicion.]

I.

Go fetch to me a pint o' wine,
An' fill it in a silver tassie;
That I may drink, before I go,

A service to my bonnie lassie ;
The boat rocks at the pier o' Leith;

Fu' loud the wind blaws frae the ferry; The ship rides by the Berwick-law,

And I maun leave my bonnie Mary.

II.

The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
The glittering spears are ranked ready;
The shouts o' war are heard afar,

The battle closes thick and bloody;
It's not the roar o' sea or shore

Wad make me langer wish to tarry; Nor shouts o' war that's heard afarIt's leaving thee, my bonnie Mary.

II.

How long have I liv'd, but how much liv'd in vain!

How little of life's scanty span may remain! What aspects, old Time, in his progress, has worn!

What ties cruel Fate in my bosom has torn! How foolish, or worse, till our summit is gain'd! And downward, how weaken'd, how darken'd, how pain'd!

Life is not worth having with all it can giveFor something beyond it poor man sure must live.

LXXIV.

THE CAPTAIN'S LADY.

Tune-"O mount and go."

[Part of this song belongs to an old maritime strain, with the same title: it was communicated, along with many other songs, made or amended by Burns, to the Musical Museum.]

CHORUS.

O mount and go,

Mount and make you ready;

O mount and go,

And be the Captain's Lady.

I.

WHEN the drums do beat,

And the cannons rattle,

Thou shall sit in state,