NICKY TAMS
(As sung by John McEvoy)

Fan I wis barely twal year auld I left the parish squeel,
Ma faither fee'd me to the Mains to chaw his milk and meal.
First I put on ma nairra breeks ti hap ma spinnel trams,
An' happit roun ma knappin knees a pair o' Nicky Tams.

It's first I gaed on for baillie's loon an' syne I gaed on for third.
An' syne of course I had to get the horseman's grip and word.
A loaf o' breid to be ma piece, a bottle for drinking drams.
- Ye canna win throw the cauf-hoose door athout yuir Nicky Tams.

The fermer I am wi' the noo, he's wealthy but he's mean,
Tho' corn's cheap his horse's thin, his harnesss nearly deen.
He gars us load oor cairts owre fu', his conscience has nae qualms,
Fan breist-straps brek, there's naething like a pair o' Nicky Tams.

I'm coortin' bonnie Annie noo, Rab Tamson's kitchie deem,
She is five-an'-forty and I'm but seventeen.
She clorts a muckle piece to me wi' different kinds o' jams,
An' tells me ilka nicht that she admires ma Nicky Tams.

Ae mornin' I pit on ma claes the kirkie for to gang,
My collar it wis unco ticht, ma breeks were nane owre lang;
I had ma Bible in ma haund, likewise ma buik o' Psalms,
Fan Annie roars, "Ye muckle gyte, tak aff yuir Nicky Tams!"

Tho' unco sweir, I took them aff, the lassie for to please,
But aye ma breeks they lurkit up aroon aboot ma knees.
A wasp gaed crawlin' up ma leg in the middle o' the Psalms,
- Never again will I rig the kirk without ma Nicky Tams.

I've often thocht I'd like to be a bobbie on the Force,
Or maybe just a tramwayman an' drive a pair o' horse,
Fatever it's ma fate to be, a bobbie or on the trams,
I'll never forget the happy days I wore ma Nicky Tams.