CCXXII.
Reading edition
OH, WERT THOU IN THE CAULD BLAST.
Tune—“Lass o’ Livistone.”
[Tradition says this song was composed in honour of Jessie Lewars, the Jessie of the poet’s death-bed strains. It is inserted in Thomson’s collection: variations occur in several manuscripts, but they are neither important nor curious.]
I.
Oh, wert thou in the cauld blast, On yonder lea, on yonder lea, My plaidie to the angry airt, I’d shelter thee, I’d shelter thee: Or did misfortune’s bitter storms Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, Thy bield should be my bosom, To share it a’, to share it a’.
II.
Or were I in the wildest waste, Sae black and bare, sae black and bare, The desert were a paradise, If thou wert there, if thou wert there: Or were I monarch o’ the globe, Wi’ thee to reign, wi’ thee to reign, The brightest jewel in my crown Wad be my queen, wad be my queen.