O fy! gar ride, and fy gar rin,

And haste ye find these traitors again;
For she's be burnt, and he's be slain,

The wearifu' Gaberlunzie-man.

Some rade upo' horse, some ran a foot,
The wife was wude, and out o' her wit,
She cou'd na gang, nor yet cou'd she sit,
But ay did curse and did ban.

Meantime far hind out o'er the lea,
Fu' snug in a glen where nane could see,
The twa, with kindly sport and glee,
Cut frae a new cheese a whang.

The priving was good; it pleased them baith;
To lo'e her for ay, he gae her his aith:
Quo' she, to leave thee I will be laith,
My winsome Gaberlunzie-man.

O kend, my minnie, I were wi' you,
Ill-fardly wad she crook her mou',
Sic a poor man she'd never trow,
After the Gaberlunzie-man.

My dear, quo' he, ye're yet o'er young,
And ha' nae learned the beggar's tongue,
To follow me frae town to town,

And carry the gaberlunzie on.

Wi' cauk and keel I'll win your bread,
And spindles and whorles for them wha need,
Whilk is a gentle trade indeed,

To carry the gaberlunzie on.

I'll bow my leg, and crook my knee,
And draw a black clout o'er my ee;

A cripple, or blind, they will ca' me,
While we shall be merry and sing.

[This very graphic song is printed as the composition of James V. of Scotland-" a prince," says Percy," whose character for wit and libertinism bears a great resemblance to that of his gay successor Charles II. He was noted," the bishop adds, " for strolling about his dominions in disguise, and for his frequent gallantries with country girls. Two adventures of this kind he hath celebrated with his own pen, viz. in the Gaberlunzie-man, and The Jolly Beggar."

The verbal variations of the Gaberlunzie-man are very numerousthe Editor has been guided by George Chalmers' copy, printed in the Poetic Remains of the Scottish Kings, 1824.

"I know not where a more lively picture of living life, or a story of rustic intrigue, told with such naiveté and discretion is to be found.” ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.]

THE JOLLY BEGGAR.

KING JAMES V.

There was a jolly beggar,

And a begging he was boun',
And he took up his quarters,
Into a landart town:
He wadna lie into the barn,
Nor wad he in the byre,
But in ahint the ha' door,

Or else afore the fire.

And we'll gang nae mair a roving,

A roving in the night;

We'll gang nae mair a roving,

Let the moon shine e'er so bright.

The beggar's bed was made at e'en,
Wi' gude clean straw and hay,
And in ahint the ha' door

"Twas there the beggar lay.

Up rose the gudeman's daughter,
All for to bar the door,

And there she saw the beggar-man
Standing on the floor.

He took the lassie in his arms,
Fast to the bed he ran-
O hoolie, hoolie wi' me, Sir,
Ye'll wauken our gudeman.
The beggar was a cunning loon,
And ne'er a word he spak-
But long afore the cock had crawn,
Thus he began to crack.

Is there any dogs into this town?
Maiden tell me true-

And what wad ye do wi' them
My hinny and my dow?
They'll rive a' my meal-powks,
And do me mickle wrang.-
O dool for the doing o't,
Are ye the puir man?

Then she took up the meal-powks,
And flang them o'er the wa',
The deil gae wi' the meal-powks
My maiden fame and a' :-

I took ye for some gentleman,
At least the Laird o' Brodie-

O dool for the dooin' o't,

Are ye the poor bodie?

He took the lassie in his arms,

And gae her kisses three,

And four-and-twenty hunder merk,

He took a wee horn frae his side,
And blew baith loud and shrill,
And four-and-twenty beltit knights,
Came skipping o'er the hill.

And he took out his little knife,
Loot a' his duddies fa'

And he was the brawest gentleman

That was amang them a'.
The beggar was a clever loon,

And he lap shouther height,

O ay for siccan quarters

As I gat yesternight.

And we'll gang nae mair a roving,

A roving in the night;

We'll gang nae mair a roving,

Let the moon shine e'er so bright.

[Mr. Allan Cuningham in his Edition of the Songs of Scotland has very happily added a variation in the chorus to this lively and ludicrous exhibition of a royal intrigue.

2.

And we'll go no more a roving,

A roving in the night,

Though maids be e'er so loving,

And the moon shine e'er so bright.

3.

And we'll go no more a roving,

A roving in the night,

Save when the moon is moving,

And the stars are shining bright.

4.

And we'll go no more a roving,

A roving in the night,

Nor sit a sweet maid loving,

By coal or candle light.

The scrupulous Ritson has allowed this song to be the production of King James.]

TAK YOUR AULD CLOAK ABOUT YE.

In winter, when the rain rain'd cauld,
And frost and snaw on ilka hill,
And Boreas, wi' his blasts sae bauld,
Was threat'ning a' our kye to kill;
Then Bell, my wife, wha lo'es nae strife,
She said to me right hastily.

Get up, gudeman, save Crumie's life,
And tak your auld cloak about ye.

My Crumie is a usefu' cow,

And she is come of a gude kin';
Aft has she wet the bairns' mou',
And I am laith that she should tyne.

Get up, gudeman, it is fu' time,
The sun shines in the lift sae hie;
Sloth never made a gracious end,
Gae tak your auld cloak about ye.