Give Me a Lass with a Lump of Land

Give Me a Lass with a Lump of Land

Original Text
Allan Ramsay, Poems (Edinburgh: Thomas Ruddiman for the author, 1728).
1Gi'e me a lass with a lump of land,
2    And we for life shall gang thegither;
3Tho' daft or wise I'll never demand,
4    Or black or fair it maks na whether.
5I'm aff with wit, and beauty will fade,
6    And blood alane is no worth a shilling;
7But she that's rich her market's made,
8    For ilka charm about her is killing.
9  Gi'e me a lass with a lump of land,
10    And in my bosom I'll hug my treasure;
11Gin I had anes her gear in my hand,
12    Should love turn dowf, it will find pleasure.
13Laugh on wha likes, but there's my hand,
14    I hate with poortith, tho' bonny, to meddle;
15Unless they bring cash or a lump of land,
16    They'se never get me to dance to their fiddle.
17  There's meikle good love in bands and bags,
18    And siller and gowd's a sweet complexion;
19But beauty, and wit, and virtue in rags,
20    Have tint the art of gaining affection.
21Love tips his arrows with woods and parks,
22    And castles, and riggs, and moors, and meadows;
23And naithing can catch our modern sparks,
24    But well-tocher'd lasses or jointur'd widows.

Notes

12] dowf: dull. Back to Line
14] poortith: poverty. Back to Line
20] tint: lost. Back to Line
22] riggs: ridges. Back to Line
24] well-tocher'd: well-dowered. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1728
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.644; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme
ababcdcd