'Gif I rise and let you in--' [If]
'Let me in,' quo' Findlay--
'Ye'll keep me waukin wi' your din;' [awake]
'Indeed will I,' quo' Findlay.
'In my bower if ye should stay--'
'Let me stay,' quo' Findlay--,
'I fear ye'll bide till break o' day;'
'Indeed will I,' quo' Findlay.
'Here this night if ye remain--'
'I'll remain,' quo' Findlay--,
'I dread ye'll learn the gate again;' [way]
'Indeed will I,' quo' Findlay,
'What may pass within this bower--'
'Let it pass,' quo' Findlay--
'Ye maun conceal till your last hour;' [must]
'Indeed will I,' quo' Findlay.
WILLIE'S WIFE
Willie Wastle dwalt on Tweed,
The spot they ca'd it Linkumdoddie;
Willie was a wabster guid, [weaver good]
Cou'd stown a clue wi' ony body. [have stolen]
He had a wife was dour and din, [stubborn, sallow]
O, Tinkler Madgie was her mither; [Tinker]
Sic a wife as Willie had, [Such]
I wad na gie a button for her!
She has an e'e, she has but ane, [eye]
The cat has twa the very colour;
Five rusty teeth, forbye a stump, [besides]
A clapper tongue wad deave a miller; [deafen]
A whiskin beard about her mou, [mouth]
Her nose and chin they threaten ither;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her!
She's bow-hough'd, she's hem-shinn'd, [bandy, crooked]
Ae limpin leg a hand-breed shorter; [One, hand-breadth]
She's twisted right, she's twisted left,
To balance fair in ilka quarter: [either]
She has a hump upon her breast,
The twin o' that upon her shouther;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her!
Auld baudrons by the ingle sits, [Old pussy, fireside]
An' wi' her loof her face a-washin; [palm]
But Willie's wife is nae sae trig, [trim]
She dights her grunzie wi' a hushion; [wipes, snout, stocking-leg]
Her walie nieves like midden-creels, [ample fists, dung baskets]
Her face wad fyle the Logan-water; [dirty]
Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wad na gie a button for her!
The songs written by Burns in connection with politics are often
lively and pointed, but they have little imagination, and the passing
of the issues they dealt with has deprived them of general interest.
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