Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.
The Folk o Ochtergaen
By Robert Nicoll (18141837)
H
By the burn an’ in the glen,—
Cheerie lasses, cantie callans,
Are they a’ in Ochtergaen.
Rantin’ was my boyhood’s hour;
A’ the winsome ways about them
Now, when gane, I number o’er.
Couthie hame an’ muirland fauld,—
Ilka sonsie, cheerfu’ mither,
An’ ilk father douce an’ auld!
Lads and lasses used to ha’e,—
Moonlight trysts an’ Sabbath wanders
O’er the haughs an’ on the brae.
Never danced beneath the moon;
Love an’ Friendship dwelt amang them,
An’ their daffin ne’er was done.
But to greet would bairnly be:
Better sing, an’ wish kind Heaven
Frae a’ dule may keep them free.
Ae thing sure,—I winna mane
If I meet wi’ hands an’ hearts
Like those o’ cantie Ochtergaen.