The Book of Scottish Song/The Hazlewood Witch

The Hazlewood Witch.

[Richard Gall.]

For mony lang year I ha'e heard frae my grannie,
Of brownies an' bogles by yon castle wa',
Of auld wither'd hags, that were never thought cannie.
An' fairies that danced till they heard the cock craw.
I leugh at her tales; an' last owk, i' the gloamin',
I dander'd, alane, down the Hazlewood green:
Alas! I was reckless, an' rue sair my roaming,
For I met a young witch wi' twa bonnie black een.

I thought o' the starns in a frosty night glancing,
Whan a' the lift round them is cloudless and blue;
I look'd again, an' my heart fell a dancing,
Whan I wad ha'e spoken, she glamour'd my mou'.
O wae to her cantraips! for dumpish'd I wander;
At kirk or at market there's nought to be seen;
For she dances afore me wherever I dander,
The Hazlewood Witch wi' the bonnie black een.

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