Afton Water.
[Written by Burns, and inserted in Johnson's Museum. Afton Water is a small stream in Ayrshire, on the banks of which stands Afton Lodge, the residence of Mrs. Stewart, who forms the subject of this song. Currie says, "the song was presented to her in return for her notice, the first he ever received from a person in her rank." Burns, in a single couplet, has left an unfading testimony to the virtues of Mrs. Stewart—then residing at Stair. In the "Brigs o' Ayr," she is introduced as one of the allegorical beings who interrupt the conversation between the Brigs:—
"Benevolence, with mild benignant air,
A female form came from the towers of Stair."]
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream;
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Thou stock-dove, whose echo resounds through the glen,
Ye wild whistling blackbirds, in yon flowery den,
Thou green-crested lap-wing, thy screaming forbear,
I charge you, disturb not my slumbering fair.
How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighbouring hills,
Far mark'd with the courses of clear-winding rills;
There daily I wander, as morn rises high,
My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.
How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below,
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
There oft. as mild evening creeps o'er the lea,
The sweet-scented birk shades my Mary and me,
Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
And winds by the cot where my Mary resides!
How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
As, gath'ring sweet flow'rets, she stems thy clear wave!
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes;
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays;
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.