Delphi Complete Works of Robert Burns (Illustrated) (Delphi Poets Series) (64 page)
Read Delphi Complete Works of Robert Burns (Illustrated) (Delphi Poets Series) Online
Authors: Robert Burns
365.
ILL-FATED genius! Heaven-taught Fergusson!
What heart that feels and will not yield a tear,
To think Life’s sun did set e’er well begun
To shed its influence on thy bright career.
O why should truest Worth and Genius pine
5
Beneath the iron grasp of Want and Woe,
While titled knaves and idiot-Greatness shine
In all the splendour Fortune can bestow?
366.
Chorus.
— The weary pund, the weary pund,
The weary pund o’ tow;
I think my wife will end her life,
Before she spin her tow.
I BOUGHT my wife a stane o’ lint,
5
As gude as e’er did grow,
And a’ that she has made o’ that
Is ae puir pund o’ tow.
The weary pund, &c.
There sat a bottle in a bole,
10
Beyont the ingle low;
And aye she took the tither souk,
To drouk the stourie tow.
The weary pund, &c.
Quoth I, For shame, ye dirty dame,
15
Gae spin your tap o’ tow!
She took the rock, and wi’ a knock,
She brak it o’er my pow.
The weary pund, &c.
At last her feet — I sang to see’t!
20
Gaed foremost o’er the knowe,
And or I wad anither jad,
I’ll wallop in a tow.
The weary pund, &c.
367.
When she cam ben she bobbed (Song)
O WHEN she cam’ ben she bobbed fu’ law,
O when she cam’ ben she bobbed fu’ law,
And when she cam’ ben, she kiss’d Cockpen,
And syne denied she did it at a’.
And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’?
5
And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’?
In leaving the daughter of a lord,
And kissin’ a collier lassie an’ a’!
O never look down, my lassie, at a’,
O never look down, my lassie, at a’,
10
Thy lips are as sweet, and thy figure complete,
As the finest dame in castle or ha’.
Tho’ thou has nae silk, and holland sae sma’,
Tho’ thou has nae silk, and holland sae sma’,
Thy coat and thy sark are thy ain handiwark,
15
And lady Jean was never sae braw.
368.
THERE was a wife wonn’d in Cockpen,
Scroggam;
She brew’d gude ale for gentlemen;
Sing auld Cowl lay ye down by me,
Scroggam, my dearie, ruffum.
5
The gudewife’s dochter fell in a fever,
Scroggam;
The priest o’ the parish he fell in anither;
Sing auld Cowl lay ye down by me,
Scroggam, my dearie, ruffum.
10
They laid the twa i’ the bed thegither,
Scroggam;
That the heat o’ the tane might cool the tither;
Sing auld Cowl, lay ye down by me,
Scroggam, my dearie, ruffum.
15
369.
WHARE live ye, my bonie lass?
And tell me what they ca’ ye;
My name, she says, is mistress Jean,
And I follow the Collier laddie.
My name, she says, &c.
5
See you not yon hills and dales
The sun shines on sae brawlie;
They a’ are mine, and they shall be thine,
Gin ye’ll leave your Collier laddie.
They a’ are mine, &c.
10
Ye shall gang in gay attire,
Weel buskit up sae gaudy;
And ane to wait on every hand,
Gin ye’ll leave your Collier laddie.
And ane to wait, &c.
15
Tho’ ye had a’ the sun shines on,
And the earth conceals sae lowly,
I wad turn my back on you and it a’,
And embrace my Collier laddie.
I wad turn my back, &c.
20
I can win my five pennies in a day,
An’ spen’t at night fu’ brawlie:
And make my bed in the collier’s neuk,
And lie down wi’ my Collier laddie.
And make my bed, &c.
25
Love for love is the bargain for me,
Tho’ the wee cot-house should haud me;
And the warld before me to win my bread,
And fair fa’ my Collier laddie!
And the warld before me, &c.
30
370.
Sic a Wife as Willie had (Song)
WILLIE WASTLE dwalt on Tweed,
The spot they ca’d it Linkumdoddie;
Willie was a wabster gude,
Could stown a clue wi’ ony body:
He had a wife was dour and din,
5
O Tinkler Maidgie was her mither;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her!
She has an e’e, she has but ane,
The cat has twa the very colour;
10
Five rusty teeth, forbye a stump,
A clapper tongue wad deave a miller:
A whiskin beard about her mou’,
Her nose and chin they threaten ither;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
15
I wadna gie a button for her!
She’s bow-hough’d, she’s hein-shin’d,
Ae limpin leg a hand-breed shorter;
She’s twisted right, she’s twisted left,
To balance fair in ilka quarter:
20
She has a lump upon her breast,
The twin o’ that upon her shouther;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wadna gie a button for her!
Auld baudrons by the ingle sits,
25
An’ wi’ her loof her face a-washin;
But Willie’s wife is nae sae trig,
She dights her grunzie wi’ a hushion;
Her walie nieves like midden-creels,
Her face wad fyle the Logan Water;
30
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wadna gie a button for her!
371.
O LADY Mary Ann looks o’er the Castle wa’,
She saw three bonie boys playing at the ba’,
The youngest he was the flower amang them a’,
My bonie laddie’s young, but he’s growin’ yet.
O father, O father, an ye think it fit,
5
We’ll send him a year to the college yet,
We’ll sew a green ribbon round about his hat,
And that will let them ken he’s to marry yet.
Lady Mary Ann was a flower in the dew,
Sweet was its smell and bonie was its hue,
10
And the longer it blossom’d the sweeter it grew,
For the lily in the bud will be bonier yet.
Young Charlie Cochran was the sprout of an aik,
Bonie and bloomin’ and straught was its make,
The sun took delight to shine for its sake,
15
And it will be the brag o’ the forest yet.
The simmer is gane when the leaves they were green,
And the days are awa’ that we hae seen,
But far better days I trust will come again;
For my bonie laddie’s young, but he’s growin’ yet.
20
372.
THERE lived a carl in Kellyburn Braes,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
And he had a wife was the plague of his days,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
Ae day as the carl gaed up the lang glen,
5
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
He met with the Devil, says, “How do you fen?”
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
I’ve got a bad wife, sir, that’s a’ my complaint,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
10
“For, savin your presence, to her ye’re a saint,”
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
It’s neither your stot nor your staig I shall crave,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
“But gie me your wife, man, for her I must have,”
15
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
“O welcome most kindly!” the blythe carl said,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
“But if ye can match her ye’re waur than ye’re ca’d,”
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
20
The Devil has got the auld wife on his back,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
And, like a poor pedlar, he’s carried his pack,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
He’s carried her hame to his ain hallan door,
25
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
Syne bade her gae in, for a b — , and a w — ,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
Then straight he makes fifty, the pick o’ his band,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme:
30
Turn out on her guard in the clap o’ a hand,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
The carlin gaed thro’ them like ony wud bear,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
Whae’er she gat hands on cam near her nae mair,
35
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
A reekit wee deevil looks over the wa’,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
“O help, maister, help, or she’ll ruin us a’!”
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
40
The Devil he swore by the edge o’ his knife,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
He pitied the man that was tied to a wife,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
The Devil he swore by the kirk and the bell,
45
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
He was not in wedlock, thank Heav’n, but in hell,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
Then Satan has travell’d again wi’ his pack,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
50
And to her auld husband he’s carried her back,
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
I hae been a Devil the feck o’ my life,
Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;
“But ne’er was in hell till I met wi’ a wife,”
55
And the thyme it is wither’d, and rue is in prime.
