Come then, my love! O, come along!
And feed me with thy charms;
Come, fair inspirer of my song!
Oh, fill my longing arms!
A flame like mine can never die,
While charms so bright as thine,
So heavenly fair, both please the eye,
And fill the soul divine!
Ower Bogie.
["Ower Bogie" is a term applied to irregular or runaway marriages. The tune so called is a fine old one, but used to be sung to very indifferent words. The following is Ramsay's version. The first four lines are all that belong to the original song.]
I will awa' wi' my love,
I will awa' wi' her,
Though a' my kin had sworn and said,
I'll ower bogie wi' her.
If I can get but her consent,
I dinna care a strae;
Though ilka ane be discontent,
Awa' wi' her I'll gae.
For now she's mistress o' my heart,
And wordy o' my hand;
And, weel I wat, we shanna part
For siller or for land.
Let rakes delight to swear and drink,
And beaux admire fine lace;
But my chief pleasure is to blink
On Betty's bonnie face.
There a' the beauties do combine,
Of colour, treats, and air;
The saul that sparkles in her een
Makes her a jewel rare;
Her flowin' wit gives shining life
To a' her other charms;
How blest I'll be when she's my wife,
And lock'd up in my arms!
There blythely will I rant and sing,
While o'er her sweets I'll range;
I'll cry, Your humble servant, king,
Shame fa' them that wad change,
A kiss of Betty and a smile,
A'beit ye wad lay down
The right ye ha'e to Britain's Isle,
And offer me your crown.
Bonnie Jean.
[The tune called "Bonnie Jean" is a very old Scottish melody. Its full name was originally "Bonnie Jean of Aberdeen," and there was an old song with these words as a burthen, but it is now supposed to be lost. The following was written by Ramsay to the old air: both the words and music appear in the Orpheus Caledonius, 1725.]
Love's goddess, in a myrtle grove,
Said, Cupid, bend thy bow with speed,
Nor let thy shaft at random rove,
For Jeany's haughty heart maun bleed.
The smiling boy with art divine,
From Paphos shot an arrow keen,
Which flew, unerring, to the heart,
And kill'd the pride of bonnie Jean.
Nae mair the nymph, wi' haughty air,
Refuses Willie's kind address;
Her yielding blushes show nae care,
But too much fondness to suppress.
Nae mair the youth is sullen now,
But looks the gayest on the green,
Whilst ev'ry day he spies some new
Surprising charms in bonnie Jean.
A thousand transports crowd his breast,
He moves as light as fleeting wind;
His former sorrows seem a jest,
Now when his Jeany is turn'd kind:
Riches he looks on wi' disdain;
The glorious fields of war look mean;
The cheerful hound and horn give pain,
If absent from his bonnie Jean.
The day he spends in amorous gaze,
Which ev'n in summer shorten'd seems:
When sunk in downs, wi' glad amaze,
He wonders at her in his dreams.
A' charms disclos'd, she looks more bright
Than Troy's fair prize, the Spartan queen;
Wi' breaking day he lifts his sight,
And pants to be wi' bonnie Jean.
