Note 346:A — Chapter IX
Reading edition
The powers of description which Burns has evinced in one of the stanzas, while relating the effects of this spell, are truly great:—
"A wanton widow Leezie was As canty as a kittlen; But och! that night, among the shaws, She got a fearfu' settlin! She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn, An' owre the hill gaed scrievin, Where three lairds lands met at a burn, To dip her left sark-sleeve in, Was bent that night. Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays As thro' the glen it wimpl't; Whyles round a rocky scar it strays; Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't; Whyles glitter'd to the nightly rays, Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle; Whyles cookit underneath the braes, Below the spreading hazle, Unseen that night. Among the brachens, on the brae, Between her an' the moon, The deil, or else an outler quey, Gat up an' gae a croon: Poor Leezie's heart maist lap the hool; Near lav'rock-height she jumpit, But mist a fit, an' in the pool, Out-owre the lugs she plumpit, Wi' a plunge that night."