with critical observations and biographical notices, by Robert Burns

16
And she came tripping down the stair^
And a' her maids before her ;
As soon as they saw her weelfar'd face^
They coost the glamer o'er her.
" Gar tak fra me this gay mantile^
And bring to me a plaidie
For if kith and kin and a' had sworn,
ril follow the gypsie laddie.
" Yestreen 1 lay in a well-made bed,
And my good lord beside me ;
This night I'll ly in a tenant's barn^
Whatever shall betide me."
Culzean Castle. It remains to be mentioned, that the ford, by
which the lady and her lover crossed the river Doon from a wood
near Cassilis-house, is still denominated the Gypsies' Steps.
" There seems to be no reason for identifying the hero with
Johnie Faa, who was king of the gypsies about the year 159a.
The coincidence of names, and the disguise assumed by the
lover, is perhaps the foundation on which popular tradition has
raised the structure. Upon authority so vague, nothing can be
assumed; and indeed I am inclined to adopt the opinion of a
correspondent, that the whole story may have been the inven-
tion of some feudal or political rival, to injure the character and
hurt the feelings of an opponent ; at least, after a pretty diligent
search, I have been able to discover nothing that in the slightest
degree confirms the popular tale."