ON GIVING HER THE ACCUSTOMED RIPP OF CORN TO HANSEL IN THE NEW
YEAR [welcome with a present]
A guid New-Year I wish thee, Maggie!
Hae, there's a ripp to thy auld baggie: [handful, belly]
Tho' thou's howe-backit now, an' knaggie, [hollow-backed, knobby]
I've seen the day,
Thou could hae gane like ony staggie [colt]
Out-owre the lay. [Across, lea]
Tho' now thou's dowie, stiff, an' crazy, [drooping]
An' thy auld hide's as white's a daisie,
I've seen thee dappled, sleek, an' glaizie, [glossy]
A bonnie gray:
He should been tight that daur't to raize thee, [excite]
Ance in a day. [Once]
Thou ance was i' the foremost rank,
A filly buirdly, steeve, an' swank, [stately, compact, limber]
An' set weel down a shapely shank,
As e'er tread yird; [earth]
An' could hae flown out-owre a stank, [pool]
Like ony bird.
It's now some nine-an-twenty year,
Sin' thou was my guid-father's meere;
He gied me thee, o' tocher dear, [as dowry]
An' fifty mark;
Tho' it was sma', 'twas weel-won gear, [wealth]
An' thou was stark.
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