The Canongate Burns (25 page)
Read The Canongate Burns Online
Authors: Robert Burns
He whistl'd up
Lord Lenox' March
,
         To keep his courage cheery;
165
Altho' his hair began to arch,
stand with fear
         He was sae fley'd an' eerie;
so frightened
Till presently he hears a squeak,
         An' then a grane an' gruntle;
groan, grunt
He by his shouther gae a keek,
shoulder gives, look
170
         An' tumbl'd wi' a wintle
somersault
                                    Out-owre that night.
over
He roar'd a horrid murder-shout,
         In dreadfu' desperation!
An' young an' auld come rinnan out,
old, running
175
         An' hear the sad narration:
He swoor âtwas hilchin
Jean M'Craw
,
halting
         Or crouchie
Merran Humphie
â
hunchback
Till stop! she trotted thro' them a';
         An' wha was it but Grumphie
who, the pig
180
                      Asteer that night?
moving about
Meg
fain wad to the Barn gaen,
content, would have gone
         To
winn three wechts o' naething
;
11
dry corn, baskets, nothing
But for to meet the Deil her lane,
all alone
         She pat but little faith in:
put
185
She gies the herd a pickle nits,
gives, shepherd, few
         An' twa red-cheeket apples,
two, -cheeked
To watch, while for the
Barn
she sets,
goes
         In hopes to see
Tam Kipples
                           That vera night.
very
190
She turns the key wi' cannie thraw,
gentle, twist
         An' owre the threshold ventures;
over
But first on
Sawnie
gies a ca',
Satan, gives, call
         Syne bauldly in she enters:
once boldly
A ratton
rattl'd up the wa',
rat, wall
195
         An' she cry'd, Lord preserve her!
An' ran thro' midden-hole an' a',
dung-hole
         An' pray'd wi' zeal and fervour
                           Fu' fast that night.
They hoy't out
Will
, wi' sair advice;
urged, sore
200
         They hecht him some fine braw ane;
promised, fine one
It chane'd the
Stack
he
faddom't thrice
,
12
fathomed
         Was timmer-propt for thrawin:
wood stacked, support
He taks a swirlie, auld
moss-oak
twisted, old
         For some black gruesome Carlin;
old hag
205
An' loot a winze, an' drew a stroke,
cursed, swiped
         Till skin in blypes cam haurlin
shreds, peeling
                           Aff's nieves that night.
off his fists
A wanton widow
Leezie
was,
         As cantie as a kittlen;
lively, kitten
210
But Och! that night, amang the shaws,
among, large leaves & branches
         She gat a fearfu' settlin!
got, severely unsettled
She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn,
gorse bushes
         An' owre the hill gaed scrievin;
over, went careering
Whare
three Lairds' lands met at a burn
,
13
where
215
         To dip her
left sark-sleeve
in
shirt-
                                    Was bent that night.
Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays,
whiles over, waterfall, burns falls
         As thro' the glen it wimpl't;
meandered
Wyles round a rocky scaur it strays,
jutting rocky edge
220
         Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't;
whiles eddy
Whyles glitter'd to the nightly rays,
reflected
         Wi' bickerin, dancin dazzle;
running fast
Whyles cookit underneath the braes,
whiles hid
         Below the spreading hazel
225
                        Unseen that night.
Amang the brachens, on the brae,
ferns, hillside
         Between her an' the moon,
The Deil, or else an outler Quey,
stray young cow
         Gat up an' gae a croon:
got, gave, moan
230
Poor
Leezie's
heart maist lap the hool;
almost leaped, sheath
         Near lav'rock-height she jumpet,
lark-flying level, jumped
But mist a fit, an' in the
pool
missed a foot
         Out-owre the lugs she plumpet
-over, ears, plummeted
                           Wi' a plunge that night.
235
In order, on the clean hearth-stane,
-stone
         The
Luggies
14
three are ranged;
dishes
And ev'ry time great care is taen
taken
         To see them duly changed:
Auld uncle
John
, wha
wedlock's joys
,
old, who
240
         Sin
Mar's-year
15
did desire,
since
Because he gat the toom dish thrice,
got, empty
         He heav'd them on the fire
                                In wrath that night.
Wi' merry sangs, an' friendly cracks,
songs, conversation
245
   I wat they did na weary;
know, not
And unco tales, an' funnie jokes,
wondrous
             Their sports were cheap an' cheary:
Till
butter'd Sow'ns
,
16
wi' fragrant lunt,
sour oat pudding, steam
         Set a' their gabs a-steerin;
tongues, wagging
250
Syne, wi' a social glass o' strunt,
whisky
         They parted aff careerin
off/away
                                  Fu' blythe that night.
Mackay's edition omits the poet's detailed notes to this work. They serve to assist the general reader in understanding the superstitious rural beliefs associated with Halloween. Due to the broad Scots language of the poem and its description of various superstitious rituals associated with peasant belief, much of the poem is unintelligible without the poet's notes as in the Kilmarnock edition. Kinsley (no. 73) gives the notes but without indicating that they are Burns's. The prose explanations of Burns reveal another example of his extraordinary talent for turning prose into poetry within the body of
Halloween
.
1
Cassilis Downans â Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the Earls of Cassilis. R.B.
2
A noted cavern near Colean [Culzean] House, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed, in country story, for being a favourite haunt of the fairies. R.B.
3
The famous family of that name, the ancestors of ROBERT, the great Deliverer of his country, were Earls of Carrick. R. B.
4
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 â the husband or wife. If any
yird
, or earth, stick to the root, that is
tocher
, or fortune; and the taste of the
custoc
, 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. R.B.
5
They go to the barnyard, and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the âtop-pickle', that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage bed anything but a Maid. R.B.
6
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 â
Fause-house
'. R.B.
7
Burning the nuts is a favourite charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire, and acccordingly as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the Courtship will be. R.B.
8
Whoever would, with success, try this spell must strictly observe these directions: Steal out all alone, to the kiln, and, darkling, throw into the pot a clew of blue yarn; wind it in a new clew off the old one; and, towards the latter end, something will hold the thread: demand
Wha hauds?
, i.e. Who holds? And answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the Christian and Sirname of your future Spouse. R.B.
9
Take a candle and go alone to a looking glass; eat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjugal companion,
to be
, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder. R.B.Â
10
Steal out unperceived and sow a handful of hemp-seed, harrowing it with anything you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat, now and then â âHemp-seed I saw [sow] 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, âCome after me, and shaw thee', that is, show thyself; in which case, it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say, âCome after me, and harrow thee.' R.B.
11
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 that is 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 âwecht', 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.
12
Take an opportunity of going, unnoticed, to a âbear-stack' [stack of bere or bigg, a kind of barley] 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 yolk-fellow. R.B.
13
You go out, one or more, for this is a social spell, to a south-running spring, or rivulet, where âthree Lairds' lands' meet, and dip your left shirt- sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet sleeve before it to dry. Ly awake, and sometime near midnight, an apparition, having the exact figure of the grand object in question, will come and turn the sleeve, as if to dry the other side of it. R.B.
14
Take three dishes, put clean water in one, foul water in another, leave the third empty; blindfold a person and lead him to the hearth where the dishes are ranged; he (or she) dips the left hand: if by chance in the clean water, the future husband (or wife) will come to the bar of Matrimony a Maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretells with equal certainty, no marriage at all. It is repeated three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered. R.B.
15
Mar's-year: This was the year 1715, when the 11th Earl of Mar, John Erskine (1675â1732) spear-headed the Jacobite revolt to proclaim the Stuart Pretender King.
16
Sowens, with butter instead of milk, to them, is always the Halloween
Supper. R.B.