But while death does obsess them, they are in person light, engaging, curious and down to earth. Laughter and levity define them more than grave countenance. Samson’s lyrics echo what the poet ...

cries ilka chiel, "Tam Samson's dead!" Kilmarnock lang may grunt an' grane, An' sigh, an' sab, an' greet her lane, An' cleed her bairns, man, wife, an' wean, In mourning weed; To Death she's ...