Ye're welcome to Janet jo,
Janet, my jo.

The suitor then advances gaily to his sweetheart, and the affair ends in
a scramble for kisses.

* * * * *

"~The Goloshans.~" This is a Hogmanay play, and not confined to children
alone, which for that, as well as other reasons, will not inaptly close
this chapter. In some parts it was called "The Galatians," to be sure, I
say _was_, because one never sees it now-a-days, though fifty years ago,
under the one designation or the other, it was played annually by the
Hogmanay guizards, who, dressed for the occasion, set it forth with
deliciously unsophisticated swagger and bluster in every house they
visited that had a kitchen floor broad and wide enough for the
operation. It formed the material of a chap-book which was regularly on
sale at the "Johnnie-a'-thing" shops in the middle of last century,
though now, I suppose, a copy could scarcely be had for love or money.
Sir Walter Scott, who delighted to keep up old customs, and could
condescend to simple things without losing genuine dignity, invariably
had a set of guizards to perform the play before his family both at
Ashestiel and at Abbotsford. The _dramatis personae_ of "The Goloshans,"
after the character in the title-role--who was inevitable on all
occasions--differed somewhat in the various districts. Chambers gives a
fairly adequate version in his _Popular Rhymes of Scotland;_ but the
fullest and best I have seen is contained in _Proverbs and Proverbial
Expressions_, edited by "Andrew Cheviot," and recently published by Mr.
Alexander Gardner, of Paisley, and which I take the liberty of quoting
mainly, though part also is taken from Chambers's version. The
characters are Sir Alexander; Farmer's Son; Goloshan; Wallace; Dr.
Brown; and Beelzebub.

Enter Sir Alexander, and speaks:--

Haud away rocks, and haud away reels,
Haud away stocks and spinning-wheels;
Redd room for Gorland, and gie us room to sing,
And I will show you the prettiest thing
That ever was seen in Christmas time.
Muckle-head and Little-wit stand ahint the door:
But sic a set as we are ne'er were seen before.

Enter next Farmer's Son:--

Here come I, the farmer's son,
Although I be but young sir,
I've got a spirit brave.
And I'll freely risk my life,
My country for to save.

Goloshan appears:--

Here come I, Goloshan--Goloshan is my name,
With sword and pistol by my side, I hope