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. 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. They laid the twa i’ the […]

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’?And was na Cockpen right saucy witha’?In leaving the daughter of a lord,And kissin’ a collier lassie an’ […]

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,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 […]

“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, etc. “See you not yon hills and dalesThe 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, […]

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,We’ll send him a year to the college yet,We’ll sew a green ribbon round about […]

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,Hey, and the rue grows bonie wi’ thyme;He met with the Devil, […]

The bairns gat out wi’ an unco shout,The deuks dang o’er my daddie, O!The fien-ma-care, quo’ the feirrie auld wife,He was but a paidlin’ body, O!He paidles out, and he paidles in,rn’ he paidles late and early, O!This seven lang years I hae lien by his side,An’ he is but a fusionless carlie, O. O […]

Chorus–O can ye labour lea, young man,O can ye labour lea?It fee nor bountith shall us twineGin ye can labour lea. I fee’d a man at Michaelmas,Wi’ airle pennies three;But a’ the faut I had to him,He could na labour lea,O can ye labour lea, etc. O clappin’s gude in Febarwar,An’ kissin’s sweet in May;But […]

It was in sweet Senegal that my foes did me enthral,For the lands of Virginia,–ginia, O:Torn from that lovely shore, and must never see it more;And alas! I am weary, weary O:Torn from that lovely shore, and must never see it more;And alas! I am weary, weary O. All on that charming coast is no […]

In simmer, when the hay was mawn,And corn wav’d green in ilka field,While claver blooms white o’er the leaAnd roses blaw in ilka beild!Blythe Bessie in the milking shiel,Says–“I’ll be wed, come o’t what will”:Out spake a dame in wrinkled eild;“O’ gude advisement comes nae ill. “It’s ye hae wooers mony ane,And lassie, ye’re but […]

The deil cam fiddlin’ thro’ the town,And danc’d awa wi’ th’ Exciseman,And ilka wife cries, “Auld Mahoun,I wish you luck o’ the prize, man.” Chorus–The deil’s awa, the deil’s awa,The deil’s awa wi’ the Exciseman,He’s danc’d awa, he’s danc’d awa,He’s danc’d awa wi’ the Exciseman. We’ll mak our maut, and we’ll brew our drink,We’ll laugh, […]

O saw ye bonie Lesley,As she gaed o’er the Border?She’s gane, like Alexander,To spread her conquests farther. To see her is to love her,And love but her for ever;For Nature made her what she is,And never made anither! Thou art a queen, fair Lesley,Thy subjects, we before thee;Thou art divine, fair Lesley,The hearts o’ men […]

Ithers seek they ken na what,Features, carriage, and a’ that;Gie me love in her I court,Love to love maks a’ the sport. Let love sparkle in her e’e;Let her lo’e nae man but me;That’s the tocher-gude I prize,There the luver’s treasure lies.

O Leeze me on my spinnin’ wheel,And leeze me on my rock and reel;Frae tap to tae that cleeds me bien,And haps me biel and warm at e’en;I’ll set me down and sing and spin,While laigh descends the simmer sun,Blest wi’ content, and milk and meal,O leeze me on my spinnin’ wheel. On ilka hand […]

Air–“My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing.” Chorus.–She is a winsome wee thing,She is a handsome wee thing,She is a lo’esome wee thing,This dear wee wife o’ mine. I never saw a fairer,I never lo’ed a dearer,And neist my heart I’ll wear her,For fear my jewel tine,She is a winsome, etc. The warld’s wrack we share […]

When o’er the hill the eastern starTells bughtin time is near, my jo,And owsen frae the furrow’d fieldReturn sae dowf and weary O;Down by the burn, where birken budsWi’ dew are hangin clear, my jo,I’ll meet thee on the lea-rig,My ain kind Dearie O. At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,I’d rove, and ne’er be eerie, […]

Tune–“Katherine Ogie.” Ye banks, and braes, and streams aroundThe castle o’ Montgomery!Green be your woods, and fair your flowers,Your waters never drumlie:There Simmer first unfauld her robes,And there the langest tarry;For there I took the last FarewellO’ my sweet Highland Mary. How sweetly bloom’d the gay, green birk,How rich the hawthorn’s blossom,As underneath their fragrant […]

Dost thou not rise, indignant shade,And smile wi’ spurning scorn,When they wha wad hae starved thy life,Thy senseless turf adorn? Helpless, alane, thou clamb the brae,Wi’ meikle honest toil,And claught th’ unfading garland there–Thy sair-worn, rightful spoil. And wear it thou! and call aloudThis axiom undoubted–Would thou hae Nobles’ patronage?First learn to live without it! […]

Sweet naivete of feature,Simple, wild, enchanting elf,Not to thee, but thanks to Nature,Thou art acting but thyself. Wert thou awkward, stiff, affected,Spurning Nature, torturing art;Loves and Graces all rejected,Then indeed thou’d’st act a part.

[An Occasional Address. Spoken by Miss Fontenelle on her benefit night, November 26, 1792.] While Europe’s eye is fix’d on mighty things,The fate of Empires and the fall of Kings;While quacks of State must each produce his plan,And even children lisp the Rights of Man;Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention,The Rights of Woman […]