And pu'd the gowans fine; [pulled, daisies]
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin' auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidled i' the burn, [waded, brook]
From morning sun till dine; [noon]
But seas between us braid hae roar'd [broad]
Sin' auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere, [comrade]
And gie's a hand o' thine; [give me]
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught, [draught of good will]
For auld lang syne.

A more remarkable case of patchwork is _A Red, Red Rose_. Antiquarian
research has discovered in chap-books and similar sources four songs,
from each of which a stanza, in some such form as follows, seems to
have proved suggestive to Burns:

(1) Her cheeks are like the Roses
That blossom fresh in June,
O, she's like a new strung instrument
That's newly put in tune.

(2) Altho' I go a thousand miles
I vow thy face to see,
Altho' I go ten thousand miles
I'll come again to thee, dear Love,
I'll come again to thee.

(3) The seas they shall run dry,
And rocks melt into sands;
Then I'll love you still, my dear,
When all those things are done.

(4) Fare you well, my own true love,
And fare you well for a while,
And I will be sure to return back again,
If I go ten thousand mile.

The genealogy of the lyric is still more complicated than these
sources imply, but the specimens given are enough to show the nature
of the ore from which Burns extracted the pure gold of his well-known
song:

MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED RED ROSE

O, my love is like a red red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O, my love is like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry. [go]

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love,
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my love,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Of the songs already quoted, the germ