The Merry Muses of Caledonia/She Rose and Loot me in
SHE ROSE AND LOOT ME IN.
| The old version is by Semple of Beltrees, and appears in Ramsay's "Tea-Table Miscellany," the "Orpheus Caledonius," and "Herd's Collection." In the Glenriddel MS. Burns says, "The old set of this song, which is still to be found in printed collections, is much prettier than this; but somebody (I believe it was Ramsay) took it into his head to clear it of some seeming indelicacies, and made it at once more chaste and more dull." On 7th April, 1793, he writes to Thomson—"I shall be extremely sorry if you set any other song to the air 'She rose and loot me in,' except the song of that title. It would be cruel to spoil the allusion in poor, unfortunate M'Donald's pretty ode." The amended version first appeared in a collection called "The Blackbird," in 1764. |
The night her silent sable wore,
An' gloomin' was the skies;
O' glittrin' stars appeared no more
Than those in Nelly's eyes:
When at her father's gate I knocked,
Where I had often been;
Shrouded only in her smock,
She rose and loot me in.
Fast lock'd within my fond embrace,
She tremblin' stood asham'd;
Her glowin' lips an' heaving breasts,
At every touch enflam'd;
My eager passion I obeyed,
Resolved the fort to win;
An' she, at last, gave her consent
To yield an' let me in.
O then! what bliss beyond compare,
I knew no greater joy;
Enroll'd in heavenly happiness,
So bless't a man was I;
An' she, all ravished with delight,
Bad me aft come again,
An' kindly vow'd, that ev'ry night
She'd rise and let me in.
But ah! at last she prov'd wi' bairn,
An' sat baith sad and dull,
An' I wha was as much concerned
Looked e'en just like a fool;
Her lovely eyes wi' tears ran o'er,
Repentin' her rash sin;
An' ay she cursed the fatal hour
That e'er she loot me in.
But who could from such beauty go,
Or yet from Nelly part;
I lov'd her dear, an' cou'dna leave
The charmer of my heart,
We wedded and conceal'd our crime,
Then all was weel again,
An' she doth bless the happy night
She rose an' loot me in