But I have also heard it said,
  And I again it say,
And I would like to see the head
  With tongue in’t to say nay—­
That as these pates lay on the ground
  (As there they yet may lie),
One eye in each cloved head was found
  Fixed on that chamber high.

XX.

THE BALLAD OF GOLDEN COUNSEL.

Come Mary and Martha, Jeanie and Jenny,
And sit down and listen, baith ane and a’,
To me, wha may very weel be your grannie,
And aiblins may ken ae thing or twa.

This world is no so sweet and so bonnie
As you in your young hearts may suppose;
There’s aloes in it as weel as honey,
And aye some prickles on ilka rose.

Young lasses I think are something like fillies
Let out in a field to idle and eat,
To graze by the gowans and drink by the willows,
And never to dream of a bridle a bit.

It’s no what ye eat, it’s no what you drink, dears,
It’s no your bonnets, or ribbons, or skirts,
The trinkets ye wear, or the siller ye clink, dears—­
There’s something, I wean, far nearer your hearts.

Your thoughts are mair of him you will marry,
What the colour may be of his hair,
Whether aye cheery, or sometimes chary,
What his complexion, or dark or fair.

But men they are gude, and men they are ill, dears,
You may get the leal or the lazy loon;
A lover is aft like a gilded pill, dears,
The bitter comes after it’s gulped doon.

I fear ye hae little of power to choose him, The husband is settled for you abune; But you’ve power in holy bands to noose him Before ye let him tak’ aff his shune.

For a maid who is silly and stoops to folly,
And finds ower late that she is betrayed,
I ken nae cure for her melancholy
But a coffin—­and let it be quickly made.

A braw lover cam’ to my minnie’s shieling
When I was as young as you now may be,
Sae saft, like a loon wha’s bent on stealing,
And he tirled and whispered secretlie.

“Oh let me in this ae night, Jenny,
And I will for ever thy true love be;
Oh let me in this ae night, hinny,
And I will come back and marry thee!”

“Gae back and awa, for this my will is,
My mither lies gleg wi’ half-closed ee,
And bids me beware of faithless billies,
Who will steal my heart and awa frae me flee.”

“For mercy’s sake! this ae night, Jenny,
Oh let me scoug frae the wind and rain,
And holy vows I will plight thee, hinny,
That thou wilt be for ever mine ain.”

I opened the door so saft and sleeky,
For fear my mither should hear the din,
And he has ta’en aff his shune so creaky,
And I’ve led him into my cosy ben.

Our speckled cock crew loud and early,
The day was dawing o’er forest green,
And I let him out as wily and warily
As ever I let him in yestreen.