Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Duncan Gray
1Duncan Gray came here to woo,
2 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
3On blythe Yule night when we were fou,
4 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
5Maggie coost her head fu high,
6Look'd asklent and unco skeigh,
7Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh;
8 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
9Duncan fleech'd, and Duncan pray'd,
10 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
11Meg was deaf as Ailsa Craig,
12 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
13Duncan sigh'd baith out and in,
14Grat his een baith bleer't and blin',
15Spak o' lowpin owre a linn;
16 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
17Time and chance are but a tide,
18 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
19Slighted love is sair to bide,
20 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
21"Shall I, like a fool," quoth he,
22"For a haughty hizzie die?
23She may gae to--France for me!"--
24 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
25How it comes let doctors tell,
26 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
27Meg grew sick as he grew hale,
28 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
29Something in her bosom wrings,
30For relief a sigh she brings;
31And O! her een, they spak sic things
32 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
33Duncan was a lad o' grace,
34 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
35Maggie's was a piteous case,
36 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
37Duncan could na be her death,
38Swelling pity smoor'd his wrath;
39Now they're crouse and cantie baith;
40 Ha, ha, the wooin o't!
Notes
1] The second of two versions.
3] Yule: Christmas.
fou: full, drunk.
5] coost: cast.
6] Look'd askance and very skittish.
7] gart: made.
abiegh: aloof.
9] fleech'd: wheedled.
11] Ailsa Craig: a rocky islet near Ayr.
14] Grat: wept.
15] Leaping over the waterfall.
19] sair to bide: hard to endure.
22] hizzie: hussy.
39] crouse and cantie: brisk and jolly.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: George Thomson, A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, vol. 1 of 2 vols. (1798-99: London: T. Preston, 1803). musi Fisher Rare Book Library (Toronto) (held in MUSI).
First publication date:
1798
RPO poem editor: G. G. Falle
RP edition: 3RP 2.320.
Recent editing: 4:2002/3/15
Composition date:
1792
Rhyme: ababcccb
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