Rev. James Muirhead, D.D., of Logan, was born in Buittle Parish, in 1742. Licensed by the Presbytery of Kirkcudbright in 1765. In 1769 he was presented to the parish of Urr, and was ordained minister of that parish on 28th June, 1770. He received the degree of D.D. from Edinburgh University in 1796, and died 16th May, 1808. He was a mathematician and a naturalist, and his scholarship was extensive. Being a proprietor and a freeholder in the Stewartry, he was lampooned in an election ballad by Burns, and retorted with one of Martial's Latin epigrams, giving a free translation touching on Burns's private affairs, which the poet, it is said, felt keenly. (Bards of Galloway)

Gawkie - Thoughtless or foolish
Dawtie - Sweetheart or darling

Bess the Gawkie

Blythe young Bess to Jean did say,
"Will ye gang to yon sunny brae,
Whare flocks do feed, and herds do stray,
    And sport a while wi' Jamie?"
"Ah, na, lass ! I'll no gang there,
Nor about Jamie tak' a care,
Nor about Jamie tak' a care,
    For he's ta'en up wi' Maggie.

"For hark, and I will tell you, lass,
Did I not see young Jamie pass,
Wi' meikle blytheness in his face,
    Out owre the muir to Maggie.
I wat he ga'e her monie a kiss,
And Maggie took them nae amiss:
'Tween ilka smack pleased her wi' this,
    That Bess was but a gawkie.

"'For when a civil kiss I seek,
She turns her head and thraws her cheek,
And for an hour she'll hardly speak:
    Wha'd no ca' her a gawkie?
But sure my Maggie has mair sense,
She'll gie a score without offence;
Now gie me ane into the mense,
    And ye shall be my dawtie.'

"'O Jamie, ye hae monie ta'en,
But I will never stan' for ane
Or twa when we do meet again,
    So ne'er think me a gawkie."
'Ah, na, lass, that canna be;
Sic thoughts as thae are far frae me,
Or ony thy sweet face that see,
    E'er to think thee a gawkie.'"

"But, whist, nae mair o' this we'll speak,
For yonder Jamie does us meet:
Instead o' Meg he kissed sae sweet
    I trow he likes the gawkie."
"O dear Bess, I hardly knew,
When I cam' by, your gown sae new;
I think you've got it wet wi' dew."
    Quoth she, " That's like a gawkie.

"It's wat wi' dew, and 'twill get rain,
And I'll get gowns when it is gane;
Sae ye may gang the gate ye came,
    And tell it to your dawtie."
The guilt appeared in Jamie's cheek:
He cried, " O cruel maid, but sweet,
If I should gang anither gate,
    I ne'er could meet my dawtie."

The lasses fast frae him they flew;
And left poor Jamie sair to rue
That ever Maggie's face he knew,
    Or yet ca'd Bess a gawkie.
As they gaed owre the muir they sang,
The hills and dales wi' echoes rang,
The hills and dales wi' echoes rang,
    "Gang o'er the muir to Maggie."

The following is scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', volume 1,  by James Johnson, published Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853.