On Cessnock Banks — Song

ON Cessnock banks a lassie dwells;
Could I describe her shape and mein;
Our lasses a' she far excels,
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

She's sweeter than the morning dawn
When rising Phoebus first is seen,
And dew-drops twinkle o'er the lawn;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

She's stately, like yon youthful ash
That grows the cowslips braes between
And drinks the stream with vigour fresh;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

She's spotless, like the flow'ring thorn
With flow'rs so white and leaves so green
When purest in the dewy morn;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her looks are like the vernal May
When ev'ning Phoebus shines serene
While birds rejoice on every spray;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her hair is like the curling mist
That climbs the mountain sides at e'en,
When flow'r-reviving rains are past;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her forehead 's like the show'ry bow
When gleaming sunbeams intervene
And gild the distant mountain's brow;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her cheeks are like yon crimson gem,
The pride of all the flowery scene,
Just opening on its thorny stem;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her teeth are like the nightly snow
When pale the morning rises keen
While hid the murmuring streamlets flow;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her teeth are like a flock of sheep,
With fleeces newly washen clean,
That slowly mount the rising steep
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her lips are like yon cherries ripe
That sunny walls from Boreas screen;
They tempt the taste and charm the sight;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her breath is like the fragrant breeze
That gently stirs the blossom'd bean,
When Phoebus sinks behind the seas;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

Her voice is like the ev'ning thrush
That sings on Cessnock banks unseen,
While his mate sits nestling in the bush;
An' she has twa sparkling, rogueish een.

But it's not her air, her form, her face,
Though matching beauty's fabled Queen;
'Tis the mind that shines in ev'ry grace,
An' chiefly in her rogueish een.