362. Jessie, the Flower o’ Dunblane

THE SUN has gane down o’er the lofty Benlomond,

And left the red clouds to preside o’er the scene,

While lanely I stray in the calm simmer gloamin’

To muse on sweet Jessie, the flower o’ Dunblane.

How sweet is the brier, wi’ its saft faulding blossom,

And sweet is the birk, wi’ its mantle o’ green;

Yet sweeter and fairer, and dear to this bosom,

Is lovely young Jessie, the flower o’ Dunblane.

She’s modest as ony, and blythe as she’s bonny;

For guileless simplicity marks her its ain;

And far be the villain, divested o’ feeling,

Wha’d blight, in its bloom, the sweet flower o’ Dunblane.

Sing on, thou sweet mavis, thy hymn to the evening,

Thou’rt dear to the echoes of Calderwood glen;

Sae dear to this bosom, sae artless and winning,

Is charming young Jessie, the flower o’ Dunblane.

How lost were my days till I met wi’ my Jessie,

The sports o’ the city seemed foolish and vain;

I ne’er saw a nymph I would ca’ my dear lassie,

Till charm’d wi’ sweet Jessie, the flower o’ Dunblane.

Though mine were the station o’ loftiest grandeur,

Amidst its profusion I’d languish in pain;

And reckon as naething the height o’ its splendour,

If wanting sweet Jessie, the flower o’ Dunblane.