Now in Sutherlandshire, as in many other parts of the Highlands, the chief object of singing in company is to establish a chorus; and the audience, no matter whether they have heard the air or not, so soon as it begins, proceed to beat time with hand and heel, forming a kind of accompanying tramp, as it were; so that by the time the end of the first verse is reached, if they have not quite caught the tune, at least they can make some kind of rhythmic noise with the refrain. And on this occasion, if the words were new—and Ronald, on evil intent, took care to pronounce them clearly—the air was sufficiently like ’Jenny dang the Weaver’ for the general chorus to come in, in not more than half a dozen keys. This was what Ronald sang—and he sang it in that resonant tenor of his, and in a rollicking fashion—just as if it were an impromptu, and not a weapon that he had carefully forged long ago, and hidden away to serve some such chance as the present: _O lasses, lasses, gang your ways,_ _And dust the house, or wash the claes,_ _Ye put me in a kind o’ blaze—_ _Ye’ll break my heart among ye!_ The girls rather hung their heads—the imputation that they were all setting their caps at a modest youth who wanted to have nothing to do with them was scarcely what they expected. But the lads had struck the tune somehow; and there was a roaring chorus, twice repeated, with heavy boots marking the time— _Ye’ll break my heart among ye!_ And then the singer proceeded—gravely— _At kirk or market, morn or e’en,_ _The like o’ them was never seen,_ _For each is kind, and each a queen;—_ _Ye’ll break my heart among ye!_ And again came the roaring chorus from the delighted lads— _Ye’ll break my heart among ye!_ There was but one more verse— _There’s that one dark, and that one fair,_ _And yon has wealth o’ yellow hair;_ _Gang hame, gang hame—I can nae mair—_ _Ye’ll break my heart among ye!_ Yellow hair? The allusion was so obvious that the pretty Nelly blushed scarlet—all the more visibly because of her fair complexion; and when the thunder of the thrice-repeated refrain had ceased, she leant forward and said to him in a low voice, but with much terrible meaning— ’My lad, when I get you by yourself, I’ll give it to you!’