CCIII.
Reading edition
ADOWN WINDING NITH.
[“Mr. Clarke,” says Burns to Thompson, “begs you to give Miss Phillis a corner in your book, as she is a particular flame of his. She is a Miss Phillis M’Murdo, sister to ‘Bonnie Jean;’ they are both pupils of his.” This lady afterwards became Mrs. Norman Lockhart, of Carnwath.]
I.
Adown winding Nith I did wander, To mark the sweet flowers as they spring; Adown winding Nith I did wander, Of Phillis to muse and to sing. Awa wi’ your belles and your beauties, They never wi’ her can compare: Whaever has met wi’ my Phillis, Has met wi’ the queen o’ the fair.
II.
The daisy amus’d my fond fancy, So artless, so simple, so wild; Thou emblem, said I, o’ my Phillis, For she is simplicity’s child.
III.
The rose-bud’s the blush o’ my charmer, Her sweet balmy lip when ’tis prest: How fair and how pure is the lily, But fairer and purer her breast.
IV.
Yon knot of gay flowers in the arbour, They ne’er wi’ my Phillis can vie: Her breath is the breath o’ the woodbine, Its dew-drop o’ diamond, her eye.
V.
Her voice is the song of the morning, That wakes thro’ the green-spreading grove, When Phœbus peeps over the mountains, On music, and pleasure, and love.
VI.
But beauty how frail and how fleeting, The bloom of a fine summer’s day! While worth in the mind o’ my Phillis Will flourish without a decay. Awa wi’ your belles and your beauties, They never wi’ her can compare: Whaever has met wi’ my Phillis Has met wi’ the queen o’ the fair.