"Na na!" quo' the panky auld wife, "I trow,
You'll fash na' your head wi' a youthfu' gilly,
As wild and as skeigh as a muirland filly,
Black Madge is far better and fitter for you
He hem'd and he haw'd and be screw'd in his mouth,
And he squeez'd his blue bonnet his twa hands between,
For wooers that come when the sun's in the south,
Are mair aukwart than wooers that come at e'en.
"Black Madge she is prudent."—"What's that to me?"
"She is eident and sober, has sense in her noddle,
Is douse and respeckit."—"I care na a boddle.
I'll baulk na' my luive, and my fancy's free."
Madge toss'd back her head wi' a saucy slight,
And Nanny ran laughing out to the green;
For wooers that come whan the sun shines bright,
Are no like the wooers that come at e'en.
Awa' flung the laird and loud muttered he,
"All the daughters of Eve, between Orkney and Tweed, O,
Black and fair, young and old, dame, damsel and widow,
May gang wi' their pride to the deil for me!"
But the auld gudewife and her Mays sae tight,
For a' his loud banning cared little, I ween;
For a wooer that comes in braid day-light,
Is no like a wooer that comes at e'en.
Old King Coul.
[This song is to be found in Herd's collection of 1776. Burns made some slight alterations on it for Johnson's Museum. Old king Coul, according to fabulous Scottish history, flourished in the fifth century, and was father of the giant Fin M'Coul. Coila (Ayrshire) was under his sway.]
Old King Coul was a jolly old soul,
And a jolly old soul was he;
And old King Coul he had a brown bowl,
And they brought him in fiddlers three;
And every fiddler was a very good fiddler,
And a very good fiddler was he.
Fiddle-diddle, fiddle-diddle, went the fiddlers three:
And there's no a lass in a' Scotland,
Compar'd to our sweet Marjorie.
Old King Coul was a jolly old soul,
And a jolly old soul was he;
Old King Coul, he had a brown bowl,
And they brought him in pipers three:
Ha-diddle, how-diddle, ha-diddle, how-diddle went the pipers three;
Fiddle-diddle, fiddle-diddle, went the fiddlers three:
And there's no a lass in a' the land,
Compar'd to our sweet Marjorie.
Old King Coul was a jolly old soul,
And a jolly old soul was he;
Old King Coul, he had a brown bowl,
And they brought him in harpers three:
Twingle-twangle, twingle-twangle, went the harpers;
Ha-diddle, how-diddle, ha-diddle, how-diddle, went the pipers;
Fiddle-diddle, fiddle-diddle, went the fiddlers three:
And there's no a lass in a' the land,
Compar'd to our sweet Marjorie.
Old King Coul was a jolly old soul,
And a jolly old soul was he;
Old King Coul, he had a brown bowl,
And they brought him in trumpeters three:
Twarra-rang, twarra-rang, went the trumpeters;
Twingle-twangle, twingle-twangle, went the harpers;
Ha-diddle, how-diddle, ha-diddle, how-diddle, went the pipers;
Fiddle-diddle, fiddle-diddle, went the fiddlers three:
And there's no a lass in a' Scotland,
Compar'd to sweet Marjorie.
Old King Coul was a jolly old soul,
And a jolly old soul was he;
Old King Coul, he had a brown bowl,
And they brought him in drummers three:
Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, went the drummers;
Twarra-rang, twarra-rang, went the trumpeters;
Twingle-twangle, twingle-twangle, went the harpers;
Ha-diddle, how-diddle, ha-diddle, how-diddle, went the pipers;
Fiddle-diddle, fiddle-diddle, went the fiddlers three:
And there's no a lass in a' the land,
Compar'd to sweet Marjorie.
