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

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THE LAIRD
CHANGUE.
" I ken the starns wliilk tell the hours,
As blythely they look down,
And silently speak o' the haly powers
Wha rule and reign aboon.
" There's bless'd St Peter's staff o' strength,
And there's the stams seven,
And our lady's wand an ell o' length,
Whilk metes our deeds in heaven.
" And there's the plough gangs roun' the north,
And tells the time o' night
And the bonny north-pole that sparkles forth
The guide of ilk wandering wight.
" And I ken twa moons in ither's arms
Bode aye o' wind and rain ;
But weel do I like the braid hairst moon,
For she ripens and fills our grain.
" And there's the spunkie, witch and fexy.
And the guid neighbours* dress'd in green ;
And then there's the water kelpie sly,
For I ken them ilka ane.
" And have seen, on the sunny summer days,
On Craiganrarie's hight,
The elves float past on the wee white cluds
Of the gossamer web sae light.
* There is a statute in tlie laws of Fairyland which expressly forbids the
use of the term Fairy by mortal lips. In the north of Scotland, about twenty
years ago, this statute was strictly observed ;
and I recollect, in my boyish
days, that while roaming over the green knowes and valleys in search of flowers,
my youthful companions were perfectly acquainted with its provisions.
The popular form of the statute ran thus
" If ye ca's guid neighbours, guid neighbours we wiU be ;
But if ye ca's fairies, we'll fare you o'er the sea."
And, in order to give weight to this mysterious announcement, it was always
sagely added that they did, on one occasion, make good their threat. Having
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