![]() ![]() ![]() ``I like that the best o' a' my sangs,'' continued the maniac, ``because he made it. `I am Queen of the Wake, and I'm Lady of May, And I lead the blithe ring round the May-pole to-day The wildfire that flashes so fair and so free, Was never so bright, or so bonny, as me.' `I'm Madge of the country, I'm Madge of the town, And I'm Madge of the lad I am blithest to own- The Lady of Beeve in diamonds may shine, But has not a heart half so lightsome as mine. May gang farther and fare waur-but that's a' ane to the sang, * from a distance.-Mixen signifies dunghill. * A homely proverb, signifying better wed a neighbour than one fetched ![]() He might hae dune waur than married me that night as he promised-better wed over the mixen as over the moor, as they say in Yorkshire-he I wot that wasna true of your tittie's and mine but these are sad tales to tell.-I maun just sing a bit to keep up my heart- It's a sang that Gentle George made on me lang syne, when I went with him to Lockington wake, to see him act upon a stage, in fine clothes, with the player folk. Madge stopped, looked at her gravely and fixedly, and then broke into a great fit of laughing-``Aha, lass,-catch me if you can-I think it's easy to gar you trow ony thing.-How suld I ken onything o' your sister's wean? Lasses suld hae naething to do wi' weans till they are married-and then a' the gossips and cummers come in and feast as if it were the blithest day in the warld.-They say maidens' bairns are weel guided. ``In the name of heavenly mercy,'' said Jeanie, forgetting the line of conduct which she had hitherto adopted, ``tell me but what became of that unfortunate babe, and''. ``Ay but your sister had, though-and I ken what came o't too.'' ``It's a queer thing,'' she said, ``but whiles I can speak about the bit bairn and the rest of it, just as if it had been another body's, and no my ain and whiles I am like to break my heart about it-Had you ever a bairn, Jeanie?'' Madge, therefore, uninterrupted, went on with the wild disjointed chat which her rambling imagination suggested a mood in which she was much more communicative respecting her own history, and that of others, than when there was any attempt made, by direct queries, or cross-examinations, to extract information on these subjects. The track led in that direction, and Jeanie, therefore, resolved, while Madge continued to pursue it, that she would ask her no questions having had the penetration to observe, that by doing so she ran the risk of irritating her guide, or awakening suspicions, to the impressions of which, persons in Madge's unsettled state of mind are particularly liable. Pursuing the path which Madge had chosen, Jeanie Deans observed, to her no small delight, that marks of more cultivation appeared, and the thatched roofs of houses, with their blue smoke arising in little columns, were seen embosomed in a tuft of trees at some distance. Are ye madiens with your downcast eyes free#So free from danger, free from fear They crossed the court-right glad they were. inventory #42904.STARN: Scots Teaching and Resource Networkīack to The Heart of Midlothian contents The Heart of Midlothian Chapter Thirtieth Tahar Ben Jelloun's tale, written in fluid, lyrical prose and set against the majestic backdrop of North Africa and Europe, is at once an unforgettable account of the trials of deracination and a stirring tribute to the meaning of heritage and home. Born under the weight of a great and chilling prophecy - that the salvation of her Berber community depends on her alone - and raised in a credulous, intransigent world of responsibility and honor, she decides to leave Paris at last and return to North Africa to fulfill her destiny. Jelloun s young heroine, who with her family has fled from an impoverished Berber village to the extravagant city of Paris, finds herself disoriented, torn between the sophistication of an unfamiliar society and the vibrant, mystical culture that is her true spiritual inheritance. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Hailed internationally as the acclaimed North African novelist Tahar Ben Jelloun's finest work to date, With Downcast Eyes recounts the powerful story of a young Moroccan girl's confrontation with the twin challenges of exile and immigration. ![]()
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