And, O! may Heaven their simple lives prevent O Thou! who pour'd the patriotic tide But still the patriot and the patriot bard, The 'Cotter's Saturday Night is, perhaps, of all Burns's pieces, the one whose exclusion from the collection, were such things possible now-a-days, would be the most injurious, if not to the genius, at least to the character, of the man. Loftier dlights he certainly has made, but in these he remained but a short while on tire wing, and effort is too often perceptible; here the motion is easy, gentle, placidly undulating. There is more of the conscious security of power, than in any other of his serious pieces of considerable length; the whole has the appearance of coming in a full stream from the fountain of his heart-a stream that soothes the ear, and has no glare on the surface.'-Lockhart's Life of Burns [The following Poem will, by many readers, be well enough understood; but for the sake of those who are unacquainted with the manners and traditions of the country where the scene is cast, Notes are added, to give some account of the principa charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland. The passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature in its rude state in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind, if any such should honour the Author with a perusal, to see the remains of it among the more unenlightened in our own.] HALLOWEEN.S Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain, The simple pleasures of the lowly train; To me more dear, congenial to my heart, One native charm, than all the gloss of art.-Goldsmith. UPON that night, when fairies light Beneath the moon's pale beams; To sport that night. Amang the bonnie winding banks, Where Doon rins, wimplin',w clear, Where Bruce ance rul'd the martial ranks Some merry, friendly, countra folks, Together did convene, To burn their nits,y an' pouz their stocks, Fu' blythe that night. s Is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings, are all abroad on their baneful, midnight errands; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said on that night to hold a grand anniversary. Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the earls of Cassilis. u A noted cavern near Colean-house, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed in country story for being a favourite haunt of fairies. w Meandering. r The famous family of that name, the ancestors of Robert, the great deliverer of his country, were earls of Carrick. y Nuts. z Pull, or pluck. The lasses feat,a an' cleanly neat, Whyles fast that night. Then first and foremost, thro' the kail, An' wander'd thro' the bow-kail, Sae bow't that night. Then straught or crooked, yirds or nane, The vera wee-things," todlin', rinw a Nice, trim. e Loyal, true, faithful. Discover, or shew themselves. d Kind. e Spruce, neat. h To talk boldly. The garter knotted below the knee with a couple of loops. g Very bashful. i The first ceremony of Halloween is, pulling each a stock, or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with. Its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any yird, or earth, stick to the root, that is tocher, or fortune; and the taste of the custock, that is, the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brings into the house, are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question. A Shut their eyes. Grope and choose, or pick. m For large and straight ones. A half-witted talkative person. o Cabbages. 9 Stem of cabbage, or colewort. With earth, or dirt. u Young children. p Pulled. r Crooked. t Pell-mell, confusedly. w Tottering run. An' gif the custock's sweet or sour, Wi' cannie care, they 've placed them The lasses stawb frae 'mang them a' The auld guidwife's' weel hoordetk nits! Some start awa' wi' saucy pride, 2 If. y The stalk of the kail, or colewort. z A kind of knife. e They go to the barn-yard and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the top-pickle, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed any thing but a maid. d To turn a corner. e Shrieked. f Supposed to have allusion to something of which ladies are said to be very careful. g Cuddling. h When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being too green, or wet, the stack-builder, by means of old timber, &c. makes a large apartment in his stack, with an opening in the side which is fairest exposed to the wind: this he calls a fause-house. i Mistress of the house. k Hoarded. 7 Burning the nuts is a famous charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire, and accordingly as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be. m Lovingly. Jean slips in twa wi' tentie e'e;" She says in to hersel; He bleez'd owre her an' she owre him, An' Jean had e'en a sair heart Poor Willie wi' his bow-kail-runt, Nell had the fause-housey in her min' Till white in asea they 're sobbin'; Unseen that night. But Merran sat behint their backs, She lea'es them gashin's at their cracks, |