But Rab flips.out, an' jinks about, *.

Bebint the muckle thorn ,
He grippet Nelly hard an' fast;

Loud fkirl'da' the laffes.;
But her tap-pickle maist was loft,
When kiutlin i? the Fause-house *

Whim that night.!

VII.
The auld Guidwife's weel-hoordet 'nits † ;

Are round an' round divided,
An' monie lads an' lasses fates

Are there that night decided ; Some kindle, couthie,, fide by side,

An'burn thegither trimly; Some start awa, wi' faucy pride, An' jump out owre the chimlie

Fu' high that night.

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.

* 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 fairelt exposed to the wind : this he calls a Faure-house.

+ Burning the nuts is a favourite charm. . They' name the Tad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire; and according as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the Court-, ' ship will be.

!

VIII. Jean slips in twa, wi? tentie e'e ;

Wha 'twas she wadna tell;
But this is Jock, an' this is me,

She says in to hersel:
He bleez'd owre her, and she owre him,

As they would ne'er mair part,
Till fuff! he started up the lum,
An' Jean had e'en a fair heart

To fee't that night,

IX.
Poor Willie, wil his low-kail runte,

Was brunt wi' primsie Mallie;
An' Mary, nae doubt, took the drunty.

To be compar'd to Willie:
Mall's nit lap out, wi' pridefu’Aing,

An' her ain fit it brunt it;
While Willie lap, an’swoor by jing;
'Twas just the way he wanted

To be that night.

X.
Nell had the Fause-house in her min',.

She pits herself an' Rob in ;
In loving bleeze they sweetly join,

T'ill white in afe they're sobbin:
Nell's heart was dancing at the view,

She whisperd Rob to leuk fort:

Rob, ftowlins, prie’d her body mou',
Fu' cozie in the neuk for't,

Unseen that night.

XI.
But Merran sat behint their backs,

Her thoughts on Andrew Bell!
She lea’es them galhing at their cracks,

An' Nips out by hersel:
She thro' the yard the nearest taks,

An' to the kiln the goes then,
An' darklins grapit for the bauks,
And in the Blue-clue * throws then,

Right fear't that night.

XII.
An'ay she win't, an'ay she swaty

I wat she made nae jaukin;
Till something held within the pat,

Guid L-d! but she was quakin!
But whether 'twas the Deil himself,

Or whether 'twas a bauk-en', Or whether it was Andrew Bell, , She did na wait on talkin

To fpier that night. * Whoever would, with success, try this spell, muft strict ly observe these directions : Steat out, ah alone, to the kilo, and, darkling, throw into the pot a clew of blue yarn; wind it in a new clew of the old one ; and, towards the latter end, something will hold the thread : demand who kauds ? i. e. who holds ? and answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the Christian and Surname of your future Spouse.

XIII. Wee Jenny to her Graunie says,

• Will ye go wi' me graunie? • I'll eat the apple * at the glass,

I gat frae uncle. Johnic:"! She fuff’t her pipe wi'fic a lunt,

In wrath she was fae vap’ring She notic't na, an aizle brunt Her braw new worset apron

Out thro' that night.

XIV. 4 Ye little Skelpielimmers face !

• I daur you trie sic sportin, • As seek the foul Thief ony place, (For him to fpae your

fortune: Nae dout but ye may get a fight!

• Great cause you hae to fear it , * For many a ane has gotten a fright, An' liv'd an' did deleeret,

« On foc a night.

XV. « Ae Hairft afore the Sherra-moor,

• I mind't as weel's yeftreen, I was a gilpy then, I'm sure • I was na past fyfteen :

* Take a candle, and go alone to a looking-glafa; cat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjugal companies to be, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder,

" The Simmer had been cold an' wat,

• An' ftuff was unco green; An'ay a rantin kirn we gat, ". An' just on Halloween

• It fell that night:

XVI.
Our Stibble-rig was Rab M.Graen,
« A clever sturdy fallow;
His Sin gat Eppie Sim wi' wean,

' That liv'd in Achmacalla:
• He gat hemp- eecl*, I'mind it weel,

• An'he made unco light o't; • But monie a day was ly himsel, • He was fae fairly frighted,

· That vera' night:

XVII. Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck,

An' he swoor by his conscience,
That he could faw berp-secd a peck;

For it was a' but nonsense:
The auld guidman raught down the pock, :-

An' out a hanfu gied him; :

* Steal out unperceived, and low a handful of hemp-feed; harrowing it with any thing you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat; now and then, “ Hempseed I saw ibee, Hempó' “ 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, aud 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 barrowing, and say,

come after me and harrow thee,”?