with critical observations and biographical notices, by Robert Burns

40
Tho' we hae nae horses or menzie at command.
We will toil on our foot, and we'll work wi* our hand ;
And when wearied without rest, we'll find it sweet in
any spot.
And we'll value not the gear and the blaithrie o't.
If we hae ony babies, we'll count them as lent ;
Hae we less, hae we mair, we will ay be content
For they say they hae mair pleasure that wins but a
groat.
Than the miser wi' his gear and the blaithrie o't.
I'll not meddle wi' th' affairs o' the kirk or the queen
They're nae matters for a sang, let them sink let them
swim.
On your kirk I'll ne'er encroach, but I'll hold it still
remote,
Sae tak this for the gear and the blaithrie o't.
THE BLAITHRIE O T.
When I think on this warld's pelf,
And the little wee share I have o't to myself,
And how the lass that wants it is by the lads forgot,
May the shame fa' the gear and the blaithrie o't !*
* Shame fall the geer and the blad'ry o't, is the turn of an old
Scotish song, spoken when a young handsome girl marries an
old man, upon the account of his wealth.
Kelly's Scots Proverbs.