The Scottish songs - National Library of Scotland

530
I am gaun to seek a wife,
I am gaun to buy a plaidy
I have three stane o' woo'
Carline,* is thy daughter ready ?
For the sake of somebody, &c.
Betty, lassy, say't thysell,
Though thy dame be ill to shoe t
First we'll buckle,f then we'll tell
Let her flyte, | and syne come to.
What signifies a mother's gloom,
When love and kisses come in play ?
Should we wither in our bloom,
And in simmer mak nae hay ?
;
;
; ; ;
Bonny lad, I carena by,
Though I try my luck wi' thee,
Since ye are content to tie
The half-mark bridal-band § wi' me.
I'll slip hame and wash my feet, ||
And steal on linens fair and clean
Syne at the trysting-place we'll meet,
To do but what my dame has done.
Now my lovely Betty gives
Consent in sic a heartsome gate,
It me frae a' my care relieves.
And doubts that gart me aft look blate.
Then let us gang and get the grace
For they that have an appetite
Should eat ; and lovers should embrace :
If these be faults, 'tis nature's wyte. ^
* Old woman. t Marry. t Scold.
§ A runaway marriage is commonly called a half-mark bridal, in Scotland,
from the sum, probably, which was formerly given as hire to the
clergyman.
H Considered in Scotland an indispensable preliminary to marriage.
From the Tea-Table Miscellany, where it is printed without any sig-
"if
nature, being probably the production of the editor, of whose manner it
bears many marks.