Volume Ii Part 11 (2/2)

O try and cheer us with your strains Ere many twelvemonths be, And let us hear that voice again, So loved, so dear to me!

[67] This lay of affection is dated September 1820, when the author received a visit from her eldest son, who was then settled as a merchant in London. Mr George Lyon, the subject of the song, and the only surviving member of the family, is now resident at Snowdoun House, Stirling.

ROBERT LOCh.o.r.e.

Robert Loch.o.r.e was descended from a branch of a Norman family of that name, long established in the neighbourhood of Biggar, and of which the representative was the House of Loch.o.r.e de Loch.o.r.e in Fifes.h.i.+re. He was born at Strathaven, in the county of Lanark, on the 7th of July 1762, and, in his thirteenth year, was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Glasgow.

He early commenced business in the city on his own account. In carrying on public improvements he ever evinced a deep interest, and he frequently held public offices of trust. He was founder of the ”Annuity Society,”--an inst.i.tution attended with numerous benefits to the citizens of Glasgow.

Mr Loch.o.r.e devoted much of his time to private study. He was particularly fond of poetical composition, and wrote verses with facility, many of his letters to his intimate friends being composed in rhyme. His poetry was of the descriptive order; his lyrical effusions were comparatively rare. Several poetical tales and songs of his youth, contributed to different periodicals, he arranged, about the beginning of the century, in a small volume. The greater number of his compositions remain in MS. in the possession of his family. He died in Glasgow, on the 27th April 1852, in his ninetieth year. Of a buoyant and humorous disposition, he composed verses nearly to the close of his long life; and, latterly, found pleasure in recording, for the amus.e.m.e.nt of his family, his recollections of the past. He was universally beloved as a faithful friend, and was deeply imbued with a sense of religion.

NOW, JENNY La.s.s.

TUNE--_”Garryowen.”_

Now, Jenny la.s.s, my bonnie bird, My daddy 's dead, an' a' that; He 's snugly laid aneath the yird, And I 'm his heir, an' a' that; I 'm now a laird, an' a' that; I 'm now a laird, an' a' that; His gear an' land 's at my command, And muckle mair than a' that.

He left me wi' his deein' breath, A dwallin' house, an' a' that; A burn, a byre, an' wabs o' claith-- A big peat-stack, an' a' that.

A mare, a foal, an' a' that; A mare, a foal, an' a' that; Sax guid fat kye, a cauf forby, An' twa pet ewes, an' a' that.

A yard, a meadow, lang braid leas, An' stacks o' corn, an' a' that-- Enclosed weel wi' thorns an' trees, An' carts, an' cars, an' a' that; A pleugh, an' graith, an' a' that; A pleugh, an' graith, an' a' that; Guid harrows twa, c.o.c.k, hens, an' a'-- A grecie, too, an' a' that.

I 've heaps o' claes for ilka days, For Sundays, too, an' a' that; I 've bills an' bonds on lairds an' lands, And siller, gowd, an' a' that.

What think ye, la.s.s, o' a' that?

What think ye, la.s.s, o' a' that?

What want I noo, my dainty doo, But just a wife to a' that.

Now, Jenny dear, my errand here Is to seek ye to a' that; My heart 's a' loupin', while I speer Gin ye 'll tak me, wi' a' that.

Mysel', my gear, an' a' that; Mysel', my gear, an' a' that; Come, gie 's your loof to be a proof, Ye 'll be a wife to a' that.

Syne Jenny laid her neive in his-- Said, she 'd tak him wi' a' that; An' he gied her a hearty kiss, An' dauted her, an' a' that.

They set a day, an' a' that; They set a day, an' a' that; Whan she 'd gang hame to be his dame, An' haud a rant, an' a' that.

MARRIAGE, AND THE CARE O'T.

TUNE--_”Whistle o'er the lave o't.”_

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