The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Thou minds me o’ departed joys,
Departed, never to return.
‘The Banks o’ Doon’ (1792)
And my fause luver stole my rose,
But ah! he left the thorn wi’ me.
‘The Banks o’ Doon’ (1792)
O saw ye bonnie Lesley
As she gaed o’er the border?
She’s gane, like Alexander,
To spread her conquests farther.
To see her is to love her,
And love but her for ever;
For Nature made her what she is
And never made anither!
‘Bonnie Lesley’ (1798)
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro’ the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body
Need a body cry?
‘Comin thro’ the rye’ (1796)
Contented wi’ little and cantie wi’ mair,
Whene’er I forgather wi’ Sorrow and Care,
I gie them a skelp, as they’re creeping alang,
Wi’ a cog o’ gude swats and an auld Scotish sang.
‘Contented wi’ little’ (1796)
Th’ expectant wee-things, toddlin’, stacher through
To meet their Dad, wi’ flichterin’ noise an’ glee.
‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night’ (1786) st. 3
They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright.
‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night’ (1786) st. 6
The healsome porritch, chief of Scotia’s food.
‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night’ (1786) st. 11
The sire turns o’er, wi’ patriarchal grace,
The big ha’-Bible, ance his father’s pride.
‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night’ (1786) st. 12
From scenes like these old Scotia’s grandeur springs,
That makes her loved at home, revered abroad:
Princes and Lords are but the breath of kings,
‘An honest man’s the noblest work of God.’
‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night’ (1786) st. 19.