As I stood by yon roofless tower – Song——{As I stood by yon roofless tower} –

As I stood by yon roofless tower,
Where the wa'-flower scents the dewy air,
Where the howlet mourns in her ivy bower,
And tells the midnight moon her care:
Chorus
A lassie all alone was making her moan,
Lamenting our lads beyond the sea;
In the bluidy wars they fa’, and our honour ‘s gane
And broken-hearted we maun die.----

The winds were laid, the air was still,
The stars they shot alang the sky;
The tod was howling on the hill,
And the distant-echoing glens reply.--
The lassie &c.

The stream, adown its hazelly path,
Was rushing by the ruin'd wa',
Hasting to join the sweeping Nith,
Whase roaring seem’d to rise and fa'.--------
The lassie &c.

The cauld, blae north was streaming forth
Her lights, wi' hissing, eerie din;
Athort the lift they start and shift,
Like Fortune's favors, tint as win.------
The lassie &c.

Now, looking over the firth and fauld,
Her horn the pale-faced Cunthia rear’d
When, lo, in form of Minstrel auld,
A stern and stalwart ghaist appear’d.----------
The lassie &c.

By heedless chance I turn'd mine eyes,
And, by the moon-beam shook, to see
A stern and stalwart ghaist arise,
Attir'd as Minstrels wont to be.

Had I a statue been o' stane,
His daring look had daunted me;
And on his bonnet grav'd was plain,
The sacred posy----------Liberty!

And frae his harp sic strains did flow,
Might rous'd the slumbering Dead to hear;
But Oh, it was a tale of woe,
As ever met a Briton's ear.----
The lassie &c.

He sang wi' joy his former day,
He, weeping wail’d his latter times:
But what he said it was nae play,
I winna ventur 't in my rhymes.------
The lassie &c.