Chorus.—Ca’the yowes to the knowes,
Ca’ them where the heather grows,
Ca’ them where the burnie rowes,
My bonie Dearie.
Hark the mavis’ e’ening sang,
Sounding Clouden’s woods amang;
Then a-faulding let us gang,
My bonie Dearie.
Ca’ the yowes, &c.
We’ll gae down by Clouden side,
Thro’ the hazels, spreading wide,
O’er the waves that sweetly glide,
To the moon sae clearly.
Ca’ the yowes, &c.
Yonder Clouden’s silent towers,^1
Where, at moonshine’s midnight hours,
O’er the dewy-bending flowers,
Fairies dance sae cheery.
Ca’ the yowes, &c.
Ghaist nor bogle shalt thou fear,
Thou’rt to Love and Heav’n sae dear,
Nocht of ill may come thee near;
My bonie Dearie.
Ca’ the yowes, &c.
Fair and lovely as thou art,
Thou hast stown my very heart;
I can die—but canna part,
My bonie Dearie.
Ca’ the yowes, &c.
[Footnote 1: An old ruin in a sweet situation at the
confluence of the Clouden and the Nith.—R. B.]
She Says She Loes Me Best Of A’
Tune—“Oonagh’s Waterfall.”
Sae flaxen were her ringlets,
Her eyebrows of a darker hue,
Bewitchingly o’er-arching
Twa laughing e’en o’ lovely blue;
Her smiling, sae wyling.
Wad make a wretch forget his woe;
What pleasure, what treasure,
Unto these rosy lips to grow!
Such was my Chloris’ bonie face,
When first that bonie face I saw;
And aye my Chloris’ dearest charm—
She says, she lo’es me best of a’.
Like harmony her motion,
Her pretty ankle is a spy,
Betraying fair proportion,
Wad make a saint forget the sky:
Sae warming, sae charming,
Her faultless form and gracefu’ air;
Ilk feature—auld Nature
Declar’d that she could do nae mair:
Hers are the willing chains o’ love,
By conquering Beauty’s sovereign law;
And still my Chloris’ dearest charm—
She says, she lo’es me best of a’.
Let others love the city,
And gaudy show, at sunny noon;
Gie me the lonely valley,
The dewy eve and rising moon,
Fair beaming, and streaming,
Her silver light the boughs amang;
While falling; recalling,
The amorous thrush concludes his sang;
There, dearest Chloris, wilt thou rove,
By wimpling burn and leafy shaw,
And hear my vows o’ truth and love,
And say, thou lo’es me best of a’.