Whan midnicht cam', the mither rase--
She wad gae see and hear.
Back she cam' wi' a glowerin' face,
And sloomin' wi' verra fear.
* A wood-shaving.
"There's ane o' them sittin' afore the fire!
Janet, gang na to see:
Ye left a chair afore the fire,
Whaur I tauld ye nae chair sud be."
Janet she smiled in her mother's face:
She had brunt the roddin reid;
And she left aneath the birken chair
The spale frae a coffin-lid.
She rase and she gaed butt the hoose,
Aye steekin' door and door.
Three hours gaed by or her mother heard
Her fit upo' the floor.
But whan the grey cock crew, she heard
The sound o' shoeless feet;
Whan the red cock crew, she heard the door,
And a sough o' wind and weet.
And Janet cam' back wi' a wan face,
But never a word said she;
No man ever heard her voice lood oot,
It cam' like frae ower the sea.
And no man ever heard her lauch,
Nor yet say alas or wae;
But a smile aye glimmert on her wan face,
Like the moonlicht on the sea.
And ilka nicht 'tween the Sancts and the Souls,
Wide open she set the door;
And she mendit the fire, and she left ae chair,
And that spale upo' the floor.
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