with critical observations and biographical notices, by Robert Burns

66
What pass'd, I guess, was harmless play,
And naething sure unmeet
For, ganging hame, I heard them say,
They lik'd a walk sae sweet
And that they aften should return.
Sic pleasure to renew
Quoth Mary, Love, I like the burn.
And ay shall follow you.*
BLINK O ER THE BURN, SWEET BETTY.
The old words, all that I remember, are,—
Blink over the burn, sweet Betty,
It is a cauld winter night ;
It rains, it hails, it thunders, •
The moon she gies nae light
It's a' for the sake o' sweet Betty,
That ever I tint my way ;
Sweet, let me lie beyond thee.
Until it be break o' day.
^ The last four lines of the third stanza, being somewhat ob-
j actionable in point of delicacy, are omitted. Bums altered
these lines. Had his alteration been attended with his usual
success, it would have been adopted.