Now thou's turn'd out for a' thy trouble, To thole1 the winter's sleety dribble, But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane, And lea'e us nought but grief and pain Still thou art blest, compared wi' me! And forward, though I canna see, I guess and fear. HALLOWEEN. THE following poem will, by many readers, be well enough understood; but for the sake of those who are unacquainted with the manners and traditions of the country where the scene is cast, notes are added, to give some account of the principal charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland. The passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature in its rude state, in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind, if any such should honour the author with a perusal, to see the remains of it among the more unenlightened in our own.-B. 1 Endure. "Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain, The simple pleasures of the lowly train; -GOLDSMITH. UPON that night, when fairies light To sport that night. Among the bonny winding banks Where Doon rins, wimplin', clear, Where Bruce‡ ance ruled the martial ranks, * Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the Earls of Cassilis.-B. † A noted cavern near Colean-house, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed in country story for being a favourite haunt of fairies.-B. The famous family of that name, the ancestors of Robert Bruce, the great deliverer of his country, were Earls of Carrick.-B. 1 Pull. 2 Trim. Some merry, friendly, country-folks To burn their nits, and pou1 their stocks, Fu' blithe that night. 4 The lasses feat,2 and cleanly neat, Then, first and foremost, through the kail, Sae bow't that night. Then, straught or crooked, yird or nane, Wi' cannie care, they've placed them The lasses staw 12 frae 'mang them a' *The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a stock or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any yird, or earth, stick to the root, that is tocher, or fortune, and the taste of the custoc, that is, the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposi tion. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brings into the house, are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question.-B. oats. They go to the barn-yard and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of If the third stalk wants the top-pickle, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed anything but a maid.-B. But Rab slips out, and jinks about, The auld guidwife's weel-hoordit nits Jean slips in twa wi' tentie ee; He bleezed owre her, and she owre him, Poor Willie, wi' his bow-kail runt, Mall's nit lap out wi' pridefu' fling, And her ain fit it brunt it; While Willie lap, and swore, by jing, Nell had the fause-house in her min' 1 Shrieked. 2 Cuddling. 3 Agreeably. 4 Chimney. 5 Pet. When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being too green or wet, the stackbuilder, by means of old timber, &c., makes a large apartment in his stack, with an opening in the side which is fairest exposed to the wind: this he calls a fause-house.-B. + Burning the nuts is a famous charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire, and, accordingly as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be.-B. She whisper'd Rob to leuk for't: Unseen that night. But Merran sat behint their backs, She through the yard the nearest taks, And aye she win't, and aye she swat, To spier that night. Wee Jenny to her grannie says, "Ye little skelpie-limmer's face! A purely literal rendering here is of no use. "She leaves them in the full tide of confident talk" may nearly convey the poet's meaning. t Whoever would, with success, try this spell, must strictly observe these directions:-Steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and darkling, throw into the pot a clue of blue yarn; wind it in a new clue off the old one; and, towards the latter end, something will hold the thread. Demand "Wha hauds?"-1.e., who holds. An answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the Christian and surname of your future spouse.-B. Take a candle, and go alone to a looking-glass: eat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjugal companion to be will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder.-B. Then up gat fechtin' Jamie Fleck, For it was a' but nonsense. The auld guidman raught down the pock, Syne bade him slip frae 'mang the folk, Steal out unperceived, and sow a handful of hemp-seed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then, "Hempseed, I saw thee; hemp-seed, I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my true love, come after me and pou thee.' Look over your left shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, "Come after me and shaw thee," that is, show thyself: in which case it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say, "Come after me, and harrow thee." -B. |