The Book of Scottish Song/Daft Days
Daft Days.
[Hugh Ainslie.]
"The midnight hour is clinking, lads,
An' the douce an' the decent are winking, lails,
Sae I tell you again,
Be't weel or ill ta'en,
It's time ye were quitting your drinking, lads."
"Gae ben an' mind your gantry, Kate,
Gi'e's mair o' your beer and less bantry, Kate;
For we vow whar we sit,
That afore we shall flit,
We'll be better acquent wi' your pantry, Kate.
"The daft days are but beginning, Kate,
An' we've sworn (wad ye ha'e us be sinning, Kate?)
By our faith an' our houp,
We shall stick by the stoup
As lang as a barrel keeps rinning, Kate.
"Thro' spring an' thro' simmer we moil it, Kate?
Through hay an' through harvest we toil it, Kate;
Sae ye ken, when the wheel
Is beginning to squeal,
It's time for to grease or to oil it, Kate.
"Then score us another drappy, Kate,
An' gi'e us a cake to our cappy, Kate;
For, by spigot an' pin,
It were mair than a sin
To flit when we're sitting sae happy, Kate."