bonnie lands of Lochwood, which your forefathers lost. No, no, Mary Halliday, take a bonnie Annanwater lad, and let the Southron gang."
There's bonnie lads on fairy Nith,
And cannie lads on Dee,
And stately lads on Kinnel side,
And by Dalgonar tree:
The Nithsdale lads are frank and kind,
But lack the bright blue ee
Of the bonnie Annanwater lads,
The wale of lads for me.
There's Willie Watson of Witchstone,
Dick Irving of Gowktree,
Frank Forest of the Houlet-ha,
Jock Bell of Lillylea;
But give to me a Halliday,
The witty, bauld, and free,
The frackest lads of Annanbank,
The Hallidays for me.
The Johnstone is a noble name,
The Jardine is a free,
The Bells are bauld, the Irvings good,
The Carlyles bear the gree,
Till the gallant Hallidays come in
With minstrel, mirth, and glee,
Then hey! the lads of Annanbank,
The Hallidays for me.
This old rude rhyme was sung with considerable archness and effect: the songstress then came towards the place where we stood, not with a regular direct step, but a sidelong hop and skip, waving, as she came, her bonnet and feathers from side to side, accompanying every motion with a line of an old song. Old Prudence Caird seemed scandalized at the extravagant demeanour of the poor girl, and, advancing towards her, waving her hands to be gone, exclaimed:
"In the name of all aboon, what are ye skipping and skirling there for, ye born gowk and sworn gomeral? Ye'll fall belly-flaught, breadth and length, on the lily-white linen that has cost such a cleansing. Away to the woods like another gowk, away, else I'se kirsen ye with a cupful of scalding water, my sooth shall I;" and, partly suiting the action to the word, she came forward with a cupful of water in her hand.
The singular person to whom these bitter words were
