He roar'd a horrid murder-shout,
In dreadfu' desperation!
In dreadfu' desperation!
Robert Burns - Poems and Songs
]
"Ye little skelpie-limmer's face!
I daur you try sic sportin,
As seek the foul thief ony place,
For him to spae your fortune:
Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
Great cause ye hae to fear it;
For mony a ane has gotten a fright,
An' liv'd an' died deleerit,
On sic a night.
"Ae hairst afore the Sherra-moor,
I mind't as weel's yestreen--
I was a gilpey then, I'm sure
I was na past fyfteen:
The simmer had been cauld an' wat,
An' stuff was unco green;
An' eye a rantin kirn we gat,
An' just on Halloween
It fell that night.
"Our stibble-rig was Rab M'Graen,
A clever, sturdy fallow;
His sin gat Eppie Sim wi' wean,
That lived in Achmacalla:
He gat hemp-seed,^11 I mind it weel,
An'he made unco light o't;
But mony a day was by himsel',
He was sae sairly frighted
That vera night. "
[Footnote 11: Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of
hemp-seed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently
draw after you. Repeat now and then: "Hemp-seed, I saw thee,
hemp-seed, I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my
true love, come after me and pou thee. " Look over your left
shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person
invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions
say, "Come after me and shaw thee," that is, show thyself;
in which case, it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing,
and say: "Come after me and harrow thee. "--R. B. ]
Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck,
An' he swoor by his conscience,
That he could saw hemp-seed a peck;
For it was a' but nonsense:
The auld guidman raught down the pock,
An' out a handfu' gied him;
Syne bad him slip frae' mang the folk,
Sometime when nae ane see'd him,
An' try't that night.
He marches thro' amang the stacks,
Tho' he was something sturtin;
The graip he for a harrow taks,
An' haurls at his curpin:
And ev'ry now an' then, he says,
"Hemp-seed I saw thee,
An' her that is to be my lass
Come after me, an' draw thee
As fast this night. "
He wistl'd up Lord Lennox' March
To keep his courage cherry;
Altho' his hair began to arch,
He was sae fley'd an' eerie:
Till presently he hears a squeak,
An' then a grane an' gruntle;
He by his shouther gae a keek,
An' tumbled wi' a wintle
Out-owre that night.
He roar'd a horrid murder-shout,
In dreadfu' desperation!
An' young an' auld come rinnin out,
An' hear the sad narration:
He swoor 'twas hilchin Jean M'Craw,
Or crouchie Merran Humphie--
Till stop! she trotted thro' them a';
And wha was it but grumphie
Asteer that night!
Meg fain wad to the barn gaen,
To winn three wechts o' naething;^12
But for to meet the deil her lane,
She pat but little faith in:
[Footnote 12: This charm must likewise be performed
unperceived and alone. You go to the barn, and open both
doors, taking them off the hinges, if possible; for there is
danger that the being about to appear may shut the doors,
and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in
winnowing the corn, which in our country dialect we call a
"wecht," and go through all the attitudes of letting down
corn against the wind. Repeat it three times, and the third
time an apparition will pass through the barn, in at the
windy door and out at the other, having both the figure in
question, and the appearance or retinue, marking the
employment or station in life. --R. B. ]
She gies the herd a pickle nits,
An' twa red cheekit apples,
To watch, while for the barn she sets,
In hopes to see Tam Kipples
That vera night.
She turns the key wi' cannie thraw,
An'owre the threshold ventures;
But first on Sawnie gies a ca',
Syne baudly in she enters:
A ratton rattl'd up the wa',
An' she cry'd Lord preserve her!
An' ran thro' midden-hole an' a',
An' pray'd wi' zeal and fervour,
Fu' fast that night.
They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice;
They hecht him some fine braw ane;
It chanc'd the stack he faddom't thrice^13
Was timmer-propt for thrawin:
He taks a swirlie auld moss-oak
For some black, grousome carlin;
An' loot a winze, an' drew a stroke,
Till skin in blypes cam haurlin
Aff's nieves that night.
[Footnote 13: Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a
"bear-stack," and fathom it three times round. The last
fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the
appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow. --R.
"Ye little skelpie-limmer's face!
I daur you try sic sportin,
As seek the foul thief ony place,
For him to spae your fortune:
Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
Great cause ye hae to fear it;
For mony a ane has gotten a fright,
An' liv'd an' died deleerit,
On sic a night.
"Ae hairst afore the Sherra-moor,
I mind't as weel's yestreen--
I was a gilpey then, I'm sure
I was na past fyfteen:
The simmer had been cauld an' wat,
An' stuff was unco green;
An' eye a rantin kirn we gat,
An' just on Halloween
It fell that night.
"Our stibble-rig was Rab M'Graen,
A clever, sturdy fallow;
His sin gat Eppie Sim wi' wean,
That lived in Achmacalla:
He gat hemp-seed,^11 I mind it weel,
An'he made unco light o't;
But mony a day was by himsel',
He was sae sairly frighted
That vera night. "
[Footnote 11: Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of
hemp-seed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently
draw after you. Repeat now and then: "Hemp-seed, I saw thee,
hemp-seed, I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my
true love, come after me and pou thee. " Look over your left
shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person
invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions
say, "Come after me and shaw thee," that is, show thyself;
in which case, it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing,
and say: "Come after me and harrow thee. "--R. B. ]
Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck,
An' he swoor by his conscience,
That he could saw hemp-seed a peck;
For it was a' but nonsense:
The auld guidman raught down the pock,
An' out a handfu' gied him;
Syne bad him slip frae' mang the folk,
Sometime when nae ane see'd him,
An' try't that night.
He marches thro' amang the stacks,
Tho' he was something sturtin;
The graip he for a harrow taks,
An' haurls at his curpin:
And ev'ry now an' then, he says,
"Hemp-seed I saw thee,
An' her that is to be my lass
Come after me, an' draw thee
As fast this night. "
He wistl'd up Lord Lennox' March
To keep his courage cherry;
Altho' his hair began to arch,
He was sae fley'd an' eerie:
Till presently he hears a squeak,
An' then a grane an' gruntle;
He by his shouther gae a keek,
An' tumbled wi' a wintle
Out-owre that night.
He roar'd a horrid murder-shout,
In dreadfu' desperation!
An' young an' auld come rinnin out,
An' hear the sad narration:
He swoor 'twas hilchin Jean M'Craw,
Or crouchie Merran Humphie--
Till stop! she trotted thro' them a';
And wha was it but grumphie
Asteer that night!
Meg fain wad to the barn gaen,
To winn three wechts o' naething;^12
But for to meet the deil her lane,
She pat but little faith in:
[Footnote 12: This charm must likewise be performed
unperceived and alone. You go to the barn, and open both
doors, taking them off the hinges, if possible; for there is
danger that the being about to appear may shut the doors,
and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in
winnowing the corn, which in our country dialect we call a
"wecht," and go through all the attitudes of letting down
corn against the wind. Repeat it three times, and the third
time an apparition will pass through the barn, in at the
windy door and out at the other, having both the figure in
question, and the appearance or retinue, marking the
employment or station in life. --R. B. ]
She gies the herd a pickle nits,
An' twa red cheekit apples,
To watch, while for the barn she sets,
In hopes to see Tam Kipples
That vera night.
She turns the key wi' cannie thraw,
An'owre the threshold ventures;
But first on Sawnie gies a ca',
Syne baudly in she enters:
A ratton rattl'd up the wa',
An' she cry'd Lord preserve her!
An' ran thro' midden-hole an' a',
An' pray'd wi' zeal and fervour,
Fu' fast that night.
They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice;
They hecht him some fine braw ane;
It chanc'd the stack he faddom't thrice^13
Was timmer-propt for thrawin:
He taks a swirlie auld moss-oak
For some black, grousome carlin;
An' loot a winze, an' drew a stroke,
Till skin in blypes cam haurlin
Aff's nieves that night.
[Footnote 13: Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a
"bear-stack," and fathom it three times round. The last
fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the
appearance of your future conjugal yoke-fellow. --R.
