Of a’ the airts the wind can blaw

A certain sign that makin roadsIs no this people’s study:Altho’ Im not wi’ Scripture cram’d,I’m sure the Bible saysThat heedless sinners shall be damn’d,Unless they mend their ways.

And traced its bonie howes and haughs,Where linties sang and lammies play’d,I sat me down upon a craig,And drank my fill o’ fancy’s dream,When from the eddying deep below,Up rose the genius of the stream.Dark, like the frowning rock, his brow,And troubled, like his wintry wave,And deep, as sughs the boding windAmang his caves, the…

Is he to Abra’m’s bosom gane?—Igo, and ago,Or haudin Sarah by the wame?—Iram, coram dago.Is he south or is he north?—Igo, and ago,Or drowned in the river Forth?—Iram, coram dago.Is he slain by Hielan’ bodies?—Igo, and ago,And eaten like a wether haggis?—Iram, coram, dago.Where’er he be, the Lord be near him!—Igo, and ago,As for the…

Torn from that lovely shore, and must never see it more,And alas! I am weary, weary O!Torn from &c.All on that charming coast is no bitter snow and frost,Like the lands of Virginia-ginia O;There streams for ever flow, and there flowers for ever blow,And alas! I am weary, weary O!There streams &c.The burden I must…

Green be your woods, and fair your flowers,Your waters never drumlie!There Simmer first unfald her robes,And there the langest tarry:For there I took the last FareweelO’ my sweet Highland Mary.How sweetly bloom’d the gay, green birk,How rich the hawthorn’s blossom;As underneath their fragrant shade,I clasp’d her to my bosom!The golden Hours, on angel wings,Flew o’er…

I grant thee thy calm-blooded, time-settled pleasures,But Folly has raptures to give.

An’ hing us owre the ingle,I set me down to pass the time,An’ spin a verse or twa o’ rhyme,In hamely, westlin jingle.While frosty winds blaw in the drift,Ben to the chimla lug,I grudge a wee the great-folk’s gift,That live sae bien an’ snug:I tent less, and want lessTheir roomy fire-side;But hanker, and canker,To see…

At Yarico’s sweet nor of griefThe rock with tears had flow’d.

Some people tell me gin I fa’,Ae way or ither,The breaking of ae point, tho’ sma’,Breaks a’ thegither.I hae been in for’t ance or twice,And winna say o’er far for thrice;Yet never met wi’ that surpriseThat broke my rest;But now a rumour’s like to rise—A whaup’s i’ the nest!

Ca’ them where the burnie rows,My bonnie dearie.Hark! the mavis’ evening sangSounding Clouden’s woods amang,Then a-faulding let us gang,My bonnie dearie.We’ll gae down by Clouden side,Through the hazels spreading wide,O’er the waves that sweetly glideTo the moon sae clearly.Yonder Clouden’s silent towers,Where at moonshine midnight hoursO’er the dewy bending flowersFairies dance sae cheery.Ghaist nor bogle…

Ye favourèd, enlighten’d few,Companions of my social joy;Tho’ I to foreign lands must hie,Pursuing Fortune’s slidd’ry ba’;With melting heart, and brimful eye,I’ll mind you still, tho’ far awa.Oft have I met your social band,And spent the cheerful, festive night;Oft, honour’d with supreme command,Presided o’er the sons of light:And by that hieroglyphic bright,Which none but Craftsmen…

Down from the rivulets, red with dashing rains,The gathering floods burst o’er the distant plains;Beneath the blast the leafless forests groan;The hollow caves return a hollow moan.Ye hills, ye plains, ye forests, and ye caves,Ye howling winds, and wintry swelling waves!Unheard, unseen, by human ear or eye,Sad to your sympathetic glooms I fly;Where, to the…