The Book of Scottish Song/The bonnie brucket lassie
The bonnie brucket lassie.
[The two first lines of this song are old. The rest is by James Tytler, commonly called "Balloon Tytler," the editor and principal compiler of the original Encyclopedia Britannica. He was a native of Brechin, and during his life was engaged in many literary speculations. He died in the province of Massachusetts, North America, in 1805, aged fifty-eight.]
The bonnie brucket lassie,
She's blue beneath the een;
She was the fairest lassie
That danced on the green.
A lad he loo'd her dearly;
She did his love return:
But he his vows has broken.
And left her for to mourn.
My shape, she says, was handsome,
My face was fair and clean;
But now I'm bonnie brucket,
And blue beneath the een.
My eyes were bright and sparkling,
Before that they turned blue;
But now they're dull with weeping,
And a', my love, for you.
My person it was comely;
My shape, they said, was neat:
But now I am quite changed;
My stays they winna meet.
A' nicht I sleeped soundly;
My mind was never sad;
But now my rest is broken
Wi' thinking o' my lad.
O could I live in darkness,
Or hide me in the sea,
Since my love is unfaithful,
And has forsaken me!
No other love I suffered,
Within my breast to dwell,
In nought I have offended,
But loving him too well.
Her lover heard her mourning,
As by he chanced to pass:
And pressed unto his bosom
The lovely brucket lass.
My dear, he said, cease grieving;
Since that you lo'ed so true,
My bonnie brucket lassie,
I'll faithful prove to you.