Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch (1800)/Merry May the Maid Be
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MERRY MAY the MAID BE.
MERRY may the maid be,
that marries the miller,
For foul day and fair day,
he's ay bringing till her;
Has ay a penny in his purse,
for dinner and for supper;
And gin she please, a good fat cheese,
and lumps of yellow butter.
When Jamie first did woo me,
I spier'd what was his calling,
Fair maid, says he, O come and see,
you're welcome to my dwelling:
Though I was shy, yet I could spy,
the truth of what he told me;
And that his house was warm and couth,
and room in it to hold me.
Behind the door a bag of meal,
and in the kist was plenty
Of good hard cakes, his mither bakes,
and bannocks were na' scanty;
A good fat sow, a sleeky cow
were standing in the byre;
Whilst lazy puss, with mealy mouse,
were playing at the fire.
Good signs are these, my mither says,
and bids me tak the miller;
For foul day and fair day,
he's ay bringing till her:
For meal and ma't she disna want,
nor ony thing that's dainty,
And now an then a keckling hen,
to lay her eggs in plenty.
In winter when the wind and rain
blaws o'er the barn and byre;
The miller by a clean hearth-stane,
beside a ranting fire,
He sits and cracks, and tells his tale,
o'er ale that is right nappy;
Who'd be a Queen that gaudy thing,
when a miller's wife's sae happy.
Glasgow, Printed by J. & M. Robertson,
Saltmarket, 1799.