The Song Book No. 4/The Ewie Wi' the Crooked Horn
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For other versions of this work, see The Ewie wi' the Crooked Horn (Skinner).
THE EWIE WI' THE CROOKED HORN.
O were I able to rehearse,My ewie's praise in proper verse,⟨I'd⟩ blaw it out as loud and fierse,As ever piper's drone could blaw.The ewie wi' the crooked horn,Weel deserved baith grass and corn,Sic a ewie ne'er was born,Here about, nor far awa'.
⟨I⟩ neither needed tar nor keel,To mark upo' her hip or heel;Her crooked horn it did as well,To ken her by amo' them a'.The ewie, &c.
A better, nor a thriftier beast,Nae honest man cou'd weel hae wist, For, silly thing, she never mistTo hae ilk year a lamb or twa.The ewie, &c.
The first she had I gae to Jock,To be to him a kind of stock,And now the laddie has a flock,O' mair than thirty head to ca',The ewie &c.
The neist I gae to Jean, and nooThe bairn's sae bra', has fauld sae fa',That lads sae thick come her to woo,They're fain to sleep on hay or straw,The ewie, &c.
Yet Monday last, for a' my keeping,I canna' speak it without greeting,A villian came, whed I was sleeping,An' staw my ewie, horn an a',The ewie, &c.
I sought her sair upon the morn,And down beneath a buss o' thornI got my ewe's crooked horn;But, ah! my ewie was awa'The ewie, &c.
But gin I had the loon that did it:I've sworn and band as well as said it,Tho' a' the world shou'd forbid it,I wad gie his neck a thraw,The ewie, &c.
O had she died o crook or cauld,As ewies die whon they are auld,It wad na been, by many fauld,Sae sair a heart to nane o's a,The ewie, &c.
For a' the claith that we hae worn,Frae her and hers, sae aften shorn,The loss o' her we cou'd hae born.Had fair strae death taen her 'awa.The ewie, &c.
But this poor thing to lose her life,Aneath a greedy villian's knife,I'm really fear'd that our gudewifeSall never win aboon't aya.The ewie, &c.