Willie was a wabster guid, Could stown a clew wi' ony bodie. He had a wife was dour and din, weaver stolen harsh and noisy O Tinkler Madgie was her mither; Sic a wife as Willie had, I wadna gie a button for her. She has an e'e—she has but ane, besides A clapper-tongue wad deave a miller: deafen A whiskin' beard about her mou', Her nose and chin they threaten itherSic a wife as Willie had, I wadna gie a button for her. She's bough-houghed, she's hein-shinned,1 The twin o' that upon her shouther I wadna gie a button for her. Auld baudrons by the ingle sits, And wi' her loof her face a-washin'; But Willie's wife is nae sae trig, *shoulder the cat pali She dights her grunzie wi' a wipes-pig-mouth hushion; 1 bow-legged: thin-shinned (?) cushion —dung Her walie nieves like midden- huge fists creels, Her face wad fyle the Logan Water Sic a wife as Willie had, I wadna gie a button for her. baskets THE SMILING SPRING. TUNE- The Bonny Bell. THE smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, Now crystal clear are the falling waters, o'er the mountains breaks forth the morning, The evening gilds the ocean's swell; All creatures joy in the sun's returning, And I rejoice in my bonny Bell. The flowery Spring leads sunny Summer, But never ranging, still unchanging, THE GALLANT WEAVER. TUNE The Weaver's March. WHERE Cart rins rowin' to the sea, OI had wooers aucht or nine, rolling They gied me rings and ribbons fine; My daddie signed my tocher-band, dowry-bond While birds rejoice in leafy bowers; While corn grows green in simmer showers, SHE'S FAIR AND FAUSE. TUNE- She's Fair and Fause. SHE'S fair and fause that causes my smart, false I lo'ed her meikle and lang; She's broken her vow, she's broken my heart, And I may e'en gae hang. A coof cam in wi' routh o' gear, fool-abundance And I hae tint my dearest dear; Whae'er ye be that woman love, To this be never blind : Nae ferlie 'tis though fickle she prove, A woman has❜t by kind. O woman, lovely woman fair! An angel form's fa'n to thy share; lost wonder nature 'Twad been owre meikle to gien thee mair, have given I mean an angel mind.1 1 In a song, entitled The Address, which appears in The Lark (2 vols., 1765), there is a passage which perhaps suggested the thought in the fourth stanza of the above song: 'Twixt pleasing hope and painful fear MY WIFE'S A WINSOME WEE THING. "In the air My Wife's a Wanton Wee Thing, if a few lines smooth and pretty can be adapted to it, it is all you can expect. The following were made extempore to it; and though, on further study, I might give you something more profound, yet it might not suit the light-horse gallop of the air so well as this random clink." ― Burns to Mr. Thomson, Nov. 8, 1792. SHE is a winsome wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine. With artless look and soul sincere, For Celia thus my heart has moved, I've liked before, but never loved, My fate before your feet I lay, Sentence your willing slave; To bless is Heaven's peculiar grace, And since you wear an angel's face, O show an angel's mind! 1 Manuscript - "She is a winsome wee thing." The alteration was by Mr. Thomson. |