The Merry Muses of Caledonia/Can ye Labour Lea, Young Man?

by Robert Burns

CAN YE LABOUR LEA, YOUNG MAN?

Tune—"Sir Arch. Grant's Strathspey."

An old song, of which there are many versions. The title appears to have been a favourite with the old rhymers.

 
O can ye labour lea, young man?
O can ye labour lea?
Gae back the road ye came again,
Ye ne'er shall scorn me.


I fee'd a man at Martinmas,
Wi' arle pennies three,
But a' the faut I had to him,
He couldna labour lea.

O can ye, &c.

A stibble rig is easy ploughed,
And fallow land is free,
But what a silly coof is he,
That couldna labour lea.

O can ye, &c.

The bonny bush and benty knowe,
The ploughman points his sock in,
He sheds the roughness, lays it by.
And bauldly ploughs his yoking.

O can ye, &c.