Poem by Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne

* * *

Air — "Hey the Rantin' Murray's Ha'."

Hey the rantin' Murray's ha'!
Mirth and glee amang them a'!
The courtly laird, the leddy braw,
They'll welcome ye to Murray's ha'.
Come ye hungry, come ye dry.
Nane had ever need to wait;
Come ye brisk, or come ye shy,
They'll meet ye or ye're at the yett.

Some were feasting in the ha',
Some at sports upon the green,
Peggy, flower amang them a',
Dancin' like a Fairy Queen.
Blithest o' my blithesome days
I ha'e spent at Murray's ha',
But oh, my heart was like to break
When I saw Peggy gang awa.

Whaur she gaed or why gaed she,
Few were there that weel could tell;
I thought it was to lightlie me —
She maybe scarcely kenn'd hersel'.
They said a ghaist was in the wa',
Sometimes aneath, sometimes aboon;
A' body heard — nae body saw,
But a' were sure they'd see it soon

Some say the General, honest man,
That fear'd na bullets, great or sma',
Wad rather face the Mons Meg gun
Than meet the ghaist o' Murray's ha'.
'Tis no the gate I think ava,
To lay a ghaist wi' mirth and glee;
Scholar'd lads and lasses braw
Need nae ghaist nor goblin dree.

1. The Lass o’ Gowrie
2. Cauld Kail in Aberdeen
3. Gude Nicht, and Joy Be Wi' Ye A'
4. Her Home She Is Leaving
5. Fell He on the Field of Fame

Print

1114 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version