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Another delectable song for
children—also of a subtly didactic character—is:-
Gin ye be for lang kail,
Cowe the nettle, stoo the nettle;
Gill y be for lang kail,
Cowe the nettle early.
Cowe it laich, cowe it
sune,
Cowe it in the month o' June;
Stoo it ere it's in the bloom,
Cowe the nettle early.
Cowe it by the old wa's,
CoNve it where the sun ne'er fa's,
Stoo it when the day daws,
Cowe the nettle early.
Auld henk wi' no ae tooth,
Cowe the nettle, stoo the nettle
Auld gluive wi' leather loof,
Cowe the nettle early.
The following; curious
song, which Mrs. Burns, the wife of the poet, was fond of crooning to
her children, is not yet without some vogue outwith the printed
page—though mainly in this verse, the place of which, by the bye, would
be difficult to fix in the song as printed by Herd:—
The robin cam' to the
wren's door,
And keekit in, and keekit in:
O, blessings on your bonnie pow,
Wad ye be in, woad ye be in?
I wadna let you lie thereout,
And I within, and I within,
As lang's I hae a warm clout,
To row ye in, to row ye in. |
