Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.
The Bush aboon TraquairJohn Campbell Shairp (18191885)
W
To the bush aboon Traquair?
Owre the high Minchmuir we ’ll up and awa’,
This bonny simmer noon,
While the sun shines fair aboon,
And the licht sklents saftly doun on holm and ha’.
At the bush aboon Traquair?
A lang dreich road, ye had better let it be;
Save some old scrunts o’ birk
I’ the hill-side that lirk
There ’s nocht i’ the world for man to see.’
‘The Bush aboon Traquair,’
I need nae mair, it ’s eneuch for me;
Owre my cradle its sweet chime
Cam sughin’ frae auld time,
Sae, tide what may, I’ll awa’ and see.
At the bush aboon Traquair?
Or what did ye hear that was worth your heed?’
—I heard the cushies croon
Thro’ the gowden afternoon,
And the Quair burn singing down to the Vale o’ Tweed.
Wi’ grey moss bearded owre,
The last that are left o’ the birken shaw,
Whar mony a simmer e’en
Fond lovers did convene,
They bonny bonny gloamings that are lang awa’.
By muirland, holm and glen,
They came ane hour to spen’ on the greenwood sward;
But lang ha’e lad an’ lass
Been lying ’neath the grass,
The green green grass o’ Traquair Kirkyard.
When they held their trysting there,
Amang thae greenest hills shone on by the sun;
And then they wan a rest,
The lonest and the best,
I’ Traquair Kirkyard when a’ was done.
Name o’ luvers be forgot,
Nae lads and lasses there ony mair convene;
But the blythe lilt o’ yon air
Keps the bush aboon Traquair,
And the luve that ance was there, aye fresh and green.