XLVI.
Reading edition
THERE WAS A LASS.
Tune—“Duncan Davison.”
[There are several other versions of Duncan Davison, which it is more delicate to allude to than to quote: this one is in the Museum.]
I.
There was a lass, they ca’d her Meg, And she held o’er the moors to spin; There was a lad that follow’d her, They ca’d him Duncan Davison. The moor was driegh, and Meg was skiegh, Her favour Duncan could na win; For wi’ the roke she wad him knock. And ay she shook the temper-pin.
II.
As o’er the moor they lightly foor, A burn was clear, a glen was green, Upon the banks they eas’d-their shanks, And ay she set the wheel between: But Duncan swore a haly aith, That Meg should be a bride the morn, Then Meg took up her spinnin’ graith, And flang them a’ out o’er the burn.
III.
We’ll big a house,—a wee, wee house, And we will live like king and queen, Sae blythe and merry we will be When ye set by the wheel at e’en. A man may drink and no be drunk; A man may fight and no be slain; A man may kiss a bonnie lass, And ay be welcome back again.