[A composite volume : containing The ballads and songs of Ayrshire ...

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RURAL LIBERTY.
And gazing, gath'ring, gratefu' greets
The flowers his roaming yield
The fields—^the fragrant fields—are mine
Whae'er their owners be
Let heartless pomp in castles pine,
But gie the fields to me ;
I'll love t'range the open fields
Until the day I dee.
The daisy peeps out o' the lawn,
The primrose frae the dell,
Wi' simmer morning's earliest dawn
Up springs the proud blue bell
The heather, too, expands it's flower
Whene'er the sun looks down ;
The stately fox-glove courts the shower,
And smiles at Nature's frown
I glory to survey them all,
And think I wear a crown.
The burnie trickles down the hill,
And dives frae rock to linn,
It's bright foam bells are never still
And ceaseless is its din.
Wi' wid'ning wave fast through the glen
It steals wi' modest grace,
While far awa it's winding den
Wi' gladsome ee I trace,
Till in the ocean's heaving breast
It meets a fond embrace.
The feather'd warblers swell their throats
On twig and soaring wing.
In social concert join their notes
A mirthful glee to sing.
The bleating flocks and lowing kine
Carrol upon the lee
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