Honour's war we strongly wagèd,
But the heavens denied success.

Ruin's wheel has driven o'er us,

Not a hope that dare attend:
The wide world is all before us
But a world without a friend!

THE YOUNG HIGHLAND ROVER.

TUNE-Morag.

LOUD blaw the frosty breezes,

The snaws the mountains cover;
Like winter on me seizes,

Since my young Highland Rover 1
Far wanders nations over.

Where'er he go, where'er he stray,
May Heaven be his warden,
Return him safe to fair Strathspey,
And bonny Castle-Gordon!

The trees now naked groaning,

Soon shall wi' leaves be hinging,

1 The Highland Rover is evidently meant for Prince Charles Stuart.

The birdies dowie moaning,
Shall a' be blithely singing,
And every flower be springing.
Sae I'll rejoice the lee-lang day,

When by his mighty warden
My youth's returned to fair Strathspey,
And bonny Castle-Gordon.

sadly

RAVING WINDS AROUND HER BLOWING.

TUNE- Macgregor of Ruara's Lament.

"I composed these verses on Miss Isabella M'Leod of Raasay, alluding to her feelings on the death of her sister, and the still more melancholy death (1786) of her sister's husband, the late Earl of Loudon, who shot himself out of sheer heart-break at some mortifications he suffered owing to the deranged state of his finances." B.

RAVING winds around her blowing,
Yellow leaves the woodlands strowing,
By a river hoarsely roaring,

Isabella strayed deploring:
"Farewell hours that late did measure
Sunshine days of joy and pleasure;
Hail, thou gloomy night of sorrow,
Cheerless night that knows no morrow!

"O'er the past too fondly wandering,
On the hopeless future pondering,
Chilly Grief my life-blood freezes,
Fell Despair my fancy seizes.
Life, thou soul of every blessing,
Load to Misery most distressing,
Gladly how would I resign thee,
And to dark oblivion join thee!"

MUSING ON THE ROARING OCEAN.

TUNE Druimion Dubh.

"I composed these verses out of compliment to a Mrs. Maclachlan, whose husband is an officer in the East Indies.” — B.

MUSING on the roaring ocean,

Which divides my love and me,
Wearying Heaven in warm devotion,
For his weal where'er he be ;

Hope and Fear's alternate billow
Yielding late to Nature's law,
Whisp'ring spirits round my pillow
Talk of him that's far awa'.

Ye whom sorrow never wounded,
Ye who never shed a tear,
Care-untroubled, joy-surrounded,
Gaudy Day to you is dear.

Gentle Night, do thou befriend me,
Downy Sleep, the curtain draw;
Spirits kind, again attend me,
Talk of him that's far awa'!

BONNY PEGGY ALISON.

TUNE - Braes o' Balquhidder.

CHORUS.

I'LL kiss thee yet, yet,

And I'll kiss thee o'er again,

And I'll kiss thee yet, yet,
My bonny Peggy Alison!

Ilk care and fear, when thou art near,
I ever mair defy them, O!
Young kings upon their hansel

throne
Are no sae blest as I am, O!

newly-gained

When in my arms, wi' a' thy charms,
I clasp my countless treasure, O,

I seek nae mair o' heaven to share
Than sic a moment's pleasure, O!

And by thy e'en, sae bonny blue,

I swear I'm thine for ever, O!
And on thy lips I seal my vow,
And break it shall I never, O!1

TO CLARINDA,

WITH A PRESENT OF A PAIR OF DRINKING-GLASSES.

FAIR Empress of the Poet's soul,
And Queen of Poetesses,
Clarinda, take this little boon,
This humble pair of glasses.

And fill them high with generous juice,
As generous as your mind,

And pledge me in the generous toast
"The whole of human kind!"

1 Mr. William Douglas, whose expiscation of the mysterious story of Highland Mary entitles him to be heard with respect on any subject connected with Burns, is strongly of opinion that both Mary Morison and Bonny Peggy Alison refer to Ellison Begbie, the poet's early sweetheart, whose rejection of him just before his going to Irvine caused him so much discomfiture during that period of his life.