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George MacDonald - Ower The Hedge
Work rating: Low

I.

"Bonny lassie, rosy lassie,
Ken ye what is care?
Had ye ever a thought, lassie,
Made yer hertie sair?"

Johnnie said it, Johnnie seekin
Sicht o` Mally`s face,
Keekin i` the hedge o` holly
For a thinner place.

"Na," said Mally, pawky smilin,
"Nought o` care ken I;
Gien I meet the gruesome carline,
I s` hand weel ootby!"

"Lang be licht o` hert, Mally,
As o` fut and ban`!
Lang be ready wi` sic answer
To ony speirin man!"

"Ay, the men `ll aye be speirin!
Troth, it`s naething new!
There`s yersel wi` queston, queston—
And there`s mair like you!"

"Deed ye wadna mock me, Mally,
Wi` yer lauchin ee,
Gien ye saw the thing aye muvin
I` the hert o` me!"

"Troth, I`m no sae pryin, laddie,
Yon`s no my concern!
Jist as sune I wud gang speirin
What`s intil yon cairn!"

"Still and on, there`s ae thing, Mally,
Yont yer help, my doo—
That`s to haud my hert frae lo`in
At the hert o` you!"

II.

Johnnie turned and left her,
Listit for the war;
In a year cam limpin
Hame wi` mony a scar.

Wha was that was sittin
On the brae, sae still?
Worn and wan and altert,
Could it be hersel?

Cled in black, her eelids
Reid wi` greitin sair—
Was she wife and widow
In a towmond bare?

Mally`s hert played wallop,
Kenned him or he spak:
"Are ye no deid, Johnnie?
Is`t yersel come back?"

"Are ye wife or widow?
Tell me in a breath;
Lanely life is fearsome,
Waur nor ony death!"

"Wha cud be a widow
Wife was never nane?
Noo, gien ye will hae me,
Noo I will be ane!"

Crutch awa he flang it,
Clean forgot his hairms,
Cudna stan` withoot it,
Fell in Mally`s airms.
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