Musical garland/I'll soon hae a wife o' my ain
I'll soon hae a wife o‘ my ain.
Frae Clyde to the banks o’ sweet Earn,
I’ve travel’d fu’ mony lang mile,
But thoughts o' my dearest sweet Annie,
the wearisome hours did beguile:
The happy wae night that we parted,
she vow’d she wou’d constant remain;
Thy heart strings a’ dirl’d wi' fondness!
I kiss’d, and I kiss’d her again.
Tis no cause her cheeks are like roses,
nor yet for her dark rollin’ e’e,
Tis no for her sweet comely features,
these charms are naething to me.
The storms o’ life may soon blast them,
or sickness make them fade away;
But virtue when fix’d in the bosom,
will flourish, and never decay.
Nae langer I’ll spend a’ my siller,
nae langer I’ll now ly my lane;
Nae langer I'll hunt after hizzies,
I’ll soon ha’e a wife o’ my ain.
⟨For⟩ mony wild foot I ha’e wander’d,
and mony lang night spent in vain,
Wi' drinkin’ and dancin’, and courtin’,
Her mither's ay flytin' and roarin',
I rede you tak‘ tent o‘ that chiel;
He'll no be that canny to live wi‘,
he'll ne'er be like douse, Geordy Steel,
He's courted wi' o'er mony lasses,
to slight them he thinks it gude fun;
He'll mak' but a sober ha'f-marrow,
ye'll best rue before ye be bound.
Tho' Geordy ba laird of a house,
and brags o' his kye and his pelf,
Tho' warld's gear I be right seant o',
a fig for t, as lang's I've my health:
If unee I were kippel'd wi' Annie,
she'll seldom ha'e cause to complain;
We'll jog on through life ay right eanny,
when I get a wife o' my ain.
But if that my Annie prove faithless,
And marry before I return;
I'll no, like a cuiff, greet about her,
nor yet for ae minute will mourn;
Awa' straight to some ither beauty,
without loss o' time I will hie;
And show to the lasses I'm careless,
unless they're as willin' as I.