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They steek their een, and graip and wale
For muckle anes, and straight anes.
Poor hav'rel Will fell aff the drift,
And wander'd through the Bow-kail,
And pou't, for want o' better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail,
Sae bow't that night.
For muckle anes, and straight anes.
Poor hav'rel Will fell aff the drift,
And wander'd through the Bow-kail,
And pou't, for want o' better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail,
Sae bow't that night.
Then, straught or crooked, yird or nane,
They roar and cry a' throu'ther;
The vera wee things, toddlin, rin,
Wi' stocks out-owre their shouther,
And if the castock's sweet or sour
Wi' jocktelegs they taste them;
Syne coziely aboon the door,
Wi' cannie care they've plac'd them,
To lie that night.
They roar and cry a' throu'ther;
The vera wee things, toddlin, rin,
Wi' stocks out-owre their shouther,
And if the castock's sweet or sour
Wi' jocktelegs they taste them;
Syne coziely aboon the door,
Wi' cannie care they've plac'd them,
To lie that night.
The lasses staw frae 'mang them a',
To pou their stalks o' corn[1];
But Rab slips out, and jinks about
Behint the muckle thorn:
To pou their stalks o' corn[1];
But Rab slips out, and jinks about
Behint the muckle thorn:
- ↑ They go to the barn-yard, and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the top-pickle, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed anything but a Maid.
Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brings into the house, are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question.
