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

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TAM O
THE BALLOCH.
I trust to climb a far higher tree,
And hen-y a far richer nest
Tak' this advice o' me, bonnie lass,
Humility wad set thee best.
These lines were contributed by Burns to Johnson's Museum.
He took
them from recitation.
They are evidently old.
Cam 0'
t$e iSallocf).
In the Nick o' the Balloch lived Muirland Tam,
Weel stentit wi' brochan and braxie-ham
A briest like a buird, and a back like a door.
And a wapping wame that hung down afore.
But what's come ower ye, Muirland Tam
For your leg's now grown like a wheel-barrow tram ;
Your ee it's faun in— your nose it's faun out,
And the skin o' your cheek's like a dirty clout.
ance, like a yaud, ye spankit the bent,
Wi' a fecket sae fou, and a stocking sae stent,
The strength o' a stot—the wecht o' a cow
Now, Tammy, my man, ye're grown Uke a grew.
1 mind sin' the blink o' a canty quean
Could watered your mou and Uchtit your een
Now ye leuk like a yowe, when ye should be a ram
O what can be wrang wi* ye, Muii-land Tam
Has some dowg o' the yirth set your gear abreed
Hae they broken your heart or broken your head
Hae they rackit wi' rungs or kittled wi' steel
Or Tammy, my man, hae ye seen the deil
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