The Book of Scottish Song/We're a' noddin'
We're a' noddin'.
I.
[There are various readings of this old doggrel. Part of it can be traced in Bishop Percy's MS. as far back as 1560. We give here, first, the version which Burns furbished up for Johnson's Museum. Miss Stephens, we believe, has the praise or blame of introducing the tune, and a modified version of the words, into fashionable society more than twenty years ago.]
Gude'en to you, kimmer,
And how do ye do?
Hiccup, quo' kimmer,
The better that I'm fou.
We're a' noddin',
Nid, nid, noddin',
We're a' noddin',
At our house at hame.
Kate sits i' the neuk,
Suppin' hen broo;
Deil tak' Kate,
An' she be na noddin' too!
We're a' noddin', &c.
How's a' wi' you, kimmer,
And how do ye fare?
A pint o' the best o't,
And twa pints mair.
We're a' noddin', &c.
How's a' wi' you, kimmer,
And how do ye thrive?
How mony bairns ha'e ye?
Quo' kimmer, I ha'e five.
We're a' noddin', &c.
Are they a' Johnny's
Eh! atweel na:
Twa o' them were gotten
When Johnny was awa'.
We're a' noddin', &c.
Cats like milk,
And dogs like broo,
Lads like lasses weel,
And lasses lads too.
We're a' noddin' &c.
II.
[Verses furnished by Allan Cunningham to Thomson's Select Melodies of Scotland.]
Our gudewife's awa',
Now's the time to woo
For the lads like lasses,
And the lasses lads too.
The moon's beaming bright,
And the gowan 's in dew,
And my love 's by my side,
And we're a' happy now.
And we're a' noddin',
Nid, nid noddin',
And we're a' noddin',
At our house at hame.
I have wale of loves,—
Nannie rich and fair,
Bessie brown and bonnie,
And Kate wi' curling hair;
And Bell young and proud,
Wi' gold aboon her brow,
But my Jean has twa e'en
That glow'r me through and through.
And we're a' noddin', &c.
Sair she slights the lads,
Three lie like to dee,
Four in sorrow listed,
And five flew to the sea.
Nigh her chamber door
A' night they watch in dool,
Ae kind word frae my love
Would charm frae yule to yule.
And we're a' noddin', &c.
Our gudewife 's come hame,
Now mute maun I woo;
My true love's bright glances
Shine a' the chamber through;
O, sweet is her voice,
When she sings at her wark,
Sweet the touch of her hand,
And her vows in the dark.
And we're a' noddin', &c.
III.
[Verses to the same air—author unknown. The tune admits of considerable latitude as to the measure of the line.]
Gude'en to ye, kimmer,
And are ye alane?
O, come and see how blythe are we,
For Jamie he's cam' hame,
And O, but he's been lang awa',
And O, my heart was sair
As I sobbed out a lang fareweel—
Maybe to meet nae mair.
Noo we're a' noddin', &c.
O, sair ha'e I fought,
Ear' and late did I toil,
My bairnies for to feed and cleed—
My comfort was their smile;
When I thocht on Jamie far awa',
An' o' his love sae fain,
A bodin' thrill cam' through my heart
We'd maybe meet again.
Noo we're a' noddin', &c.
When he knocket at the door,
I thocht I kent the rap,
And little Katie cried,
"My daddie he's cam' back,"
A stoun gaed through my anxious breast
As thochtfully I sat,
I raise, I gazed, fell in his arms,
And bursted out and grat.
Noo we're a' noddin', &c.