The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume Iv Part 34

OH, WILL YE WALK THE WOOD WI' ME?[36]

"Oh, will ye walk the wood wi' me?

Oh, will ye walk the green?

Or will ye sit within mine arms, My ain kind Jean?"

"It 's I 'll not walk the wood wi' thee, Nor yet will I the green; And as for sitting in your arms, It 's what I dinna mean."

"Oh! slighted love is ill to thole, And weel may I compleen; But since that better mayna be, I e'en maun thol 't for Jean."

"Gang up to May o' Mistycleugh, Ye saw her late yestreen; Ye'll find in her a lightsome love Ye winna find in Jean."

"Wi' bonny May o' Mistycleugh I carena to be seen; Her lightsome love I'd freely gie For half a blink frae Jean."

"Gang down to Madge o' Miryfaulds, I ken for her ye green; Wi' her ye 'll get a purse o' gowd-- Ye 'll naething get wi' Jean."

"For doity Madge o' Miryfaulds I dinna care a preen; The purse o' gowd I weel could want, If I could hae my Jean."

"Oh, yes! I 'll walk the wood wi' thee; Oh, yes! I 'll walk the green; But first ye 'll meet me at the kirk, And mak' me aye your Jean."

FOOTNOTES:

[36] Portions of the first and second verses of this song are fragments of an older ditty.--_Note by the Author._

I MAUN GAE OVER THE SEA.

"Sweet summer now is by, And cauld winter is nigh, The wan leaves they fa' frae the tree; The hills are white wi' snaw, And the frosty winds blaw, And I maun gie over the sea, Mary, And I maun gie over the sea.

"But winter will gang by, And summer come wi' joy, And Nature again will be free; And wooers you will find, And mair ye 'll never mind The laddie that 's over the sea, Mary, The laddie that 's over the sea."

"Oh, Willie, since it 's sae, My heart is very wae To leave a' my friends and countrie; But wi' thee I will gang, Though the way it be lang, And wi' thee I 'll cross the saut sea, Willie, And wi' thee I 'll cross the saut sea."

"The way is vera far, And terrible is war, And great are the hards.h.i.+ps to dree; And if I should be slain, Or a prisoner ta'en, My jewel, what would come o' thee, Mary?

My jewel, what would come o' thee?

"Sae at hame ye maun bide, And should it sae betide That a bride to another ye be, For ane that lo'ed ye dear Ye 'll whiles drap a tear; I 'll aften do the same for thee, Mary, I 'll aften do the same for thee."

The rowan tear down fell, Her bosom wasna well, For she sabbit most wofullie; "Oure the yirth I wad gang, And never count it lang, But I fear ye carena for me, Willie, But I fear ye carena for me."

Nae langer could he thole, She tore his vera soul, He dighted her bonnie blue e'e; "Oh, what was it you said, Oh my ain loving maid?

I 'll never love a woman but thee, Mary, I 'll never love a woman but thee!"

The fae is forced to yield, And freedom has the field; "Away I will ne'er gang frae thee; Only death shall us part, Keep sic thoughts frae my heart, But never shall part us the sea, Mary, But never shall part us the sea."

METRICAL TRANSLATIONS

FROM

The Modern Gaelic Minstrelsy.

EVAN MACLACHLAN.

One of the most learned of the modern Gaelic song-writers, Evan Maclachlan, was born in 1775, in a small hut called Torracaltuin, in the district of Lochaber. After struggling with many difficulties in obtaining the means of education, he qualified himself for the duties of an itinerating tutor. In this capacity it was his good fortune to live in the families of the substantial tenantry of the district, two of whom, the farmers at Clunes and Glen Pean, were led to evince an especial interest in his welfare. The localities of those early patrons he has celebrated in his poetry. Another patron, the Chief of Glengarry, supplied funds to enable him to proceed to the university, and he was fortunate in gaining, by compet.i.tion, a bursary or exhibition at King's College, Aberdeen. For a Greek ode, on the generation of light, he gained the prize granted for compet.i.tion to the King's College by the celebrated Dr Claudius Buchanan. Having held, during a period of years, the office of librarian in King's College, he was in 1819 elected master of the grammar school of Old Aberdeen. His death took place on the 29th March 1822. To the preparation of a Gaelic dictionary he devoted the most important part of his life. Subsequent to his decease, the work was published in two quarto volumes, by the Highland Society, under the editorial care of Dr Mackay, formerly of Dunoon. The chief amus.e.m.e.nt of Maclachlan's leisure hours was executing translations of Homer into Gaelic. His translation of the third book of the Iliad has been printed. Of his powers as a Gaelic poet, an estimate may be formed from the following specimens in English verse.

A MELODY OF LOVE.

The first stanza of this song was the composition of a lady. Maclachlan completed the composition in Gaelic, and afterwards produced the following version of the whole in English.

Not the swan on the lake, or the foam on the sh.o.r.e, Can compare with the charms of the maid I adore: Not so white is the new milk that flows o'er the pail, Or the snow that is shower'd from the boughs of the vale.

As the cloud's yellow wreath on the mountain's high brow, The locks of my fair one redundantly flow; Her cheeks have the tint that the roses display When they glitter with dew on the morning of May.

As the planet of Venus that gleams o'er the grove, Her blue rolling eyes are the symbols of love: Her pearl-circled bosom diffuses bright rays, Like the moon when the stars are bedimm'd with her blaze.

The mavis and lark, when they welcome the dawn, Make a chorus of joy to resound through the lawn: But the mavis is tuneless, the lark strives in vain, When my beautiful charmer renews her sweet strain.

When summer bespangles the landscape with flowers, While the thrush and the cuckoo sing soft from the bowers, Through the wood-shaded windings with Bella I 'll rove, And feast unrestrained on the smiles of my love.

THE MAVIS OF THE CLAN.

These verses are allegorical. In the character of a song-bird the bard relates the circ.u.mstances of his nativity, the simple habits of his progenitors, and his own rural tastes and recreations from infancy, giving the first place to the delights of melody. He proceeds to give an account of his flight to a strange but hospitable region, where he continued to sing his songs among the birds, the flocks, the streams, and cultivated fields of the land of his sojourn. This piece is founded upon a common usage of the Gaelic bards, several of whom a.s.sume the allegorical character of the "Mavis" of their own clan. Thus we have the Mavis of Clan-ra.n.a.ld by Mac-Vaistir-Allister--of Macdonald (of Sleat) by Mac Codrum--of Macleod, and many others.

Clan Lachlan's tuneful mavis, I sing on the branches early, And such my love of song, I sleep but half the night-tide rarely; No raven I, of greedy maw, no kite of b.l.o.o.d.y beak, No bird of devastating claw, but a woodland songster meek.

I love the apple's infant bloom; my ancestry have fared For ages on the nourishment the orchard hath prepared: Their hey-day was the summer, their joy the summer's dawn, And their dancing-floor it was the green leaf's velvet lawn; Their song was the carol that defiance bade to care, And their breath of life it was the summer's balmiest air.