THE COCK-LAIRD.* TUNE-A Cock-Laird. A COCK-LAIRD, fou cadgie, Thou'se be my ain lemmane, If I gae alang wi' thee, To feast me wi' caddels Is na bannocks and dribly-beards † Gin I gang alang wi' you, I maun hae a silk hood, A cockernonie. Hout awa, thou's gane wud, I trow, Jennie! quo' he. Gin ye'd hae me look bonnie, And shine like the moon, period generally assigned to the composition is 1710, when Forbes was a very young man. The woods around Kilravock house are said to have been the favourite resort of this interesting pair. *Such is the epithet usually given in Scotland to a very small proprietor. † Otherwise laber-beards; i. e. long stripy pieces of the herb called kail, which, on being raised by the spoon from a plate of broth, generally beslabber [Scottice, laber,] the chin of the individual who is supping them. I maun hae katlets and patlets, And I maun hae pinners, And a waistcoat o' brown. For curches and kirtles My lairdship can yield me And guid knockit bear; But, havin' nae tenants, The borrowstown merchants The fools are set free, When we mak' them lairds In the Abbey, ‡ quo she.§ Cloths for the throat, and rings for the ears. + Probably paduasoy. Abbey-laird is a cant phrase for the unfortunate persons who are obliged to elude the prosecutions of their creditors, by taking refuge in the well-known Sanctuary of the Abbey of Holyrood. The version here given of "the Cock-Laird" is partly from the Orpheus Caledonius, (1733,) and partly from a more recent copy. ARGYLE IS MY NAME. SAID TO BE BY JOHN DUKE OF ARGYLE AND Greenwich-[Born 1678—died 1743.] TUNE-Bannocks o' Barley Meal. ARGYLE is my name, and you may think it strange, I will quickly lay down my sword and my gun, I'll buy a rich garment to gie to my dear, Gin Maggie should chance to bring me a son, And there we will live by our industry, Then fare ye weel, citizens, noisy men, And nae langer will live in hurry and strife; www MY WIFE HAS TA'EN THE GEE. TUNE-My Wife has ta'en the Gee. A FRIEND o' mine cam here yestreen, To drink a bottle o' ale wi' him In the neist burrows town: But oh, indeed, it was, sir, Sae far the waur for me; For, lang or e'er that I cam hame, gee. We sat sae late, and drank sae stout, That, lang or e'er the midnicht cam, My wife sits at the fireside, And the tear blinds aye her ee; But sit and tak' the gee. * From Herd's Collection, 1776. Another conjecture or tradition gives this song to James Boswell. In the mornin' sune, when I cam doun, I'll never do the like again, If you'll ne'er tak the gee. When that she heard, she ran, she flang And twenty kisses, in a crack; THE BONNIE LASS O' BRANKSOME. ALLAN RAMSAY. TUNE-The Bonnie Lass o' Branksome. As I cam in by Teviot side, And by the braes of Branksome, Life glow'd upon her lip and cheek, * From Herd's Collection, 1776. |