BESS THE GAWKIE.
Blythe young Bess to Jean did say,
Will ye gang to yon sunny brae,
Where flocks do feed, and herds do stray,
And sport a while wi' Jamie?
Ah, na! lass, I'll no gang there,
Not about Jamie tak a care,
Nor about Jamie tak a care,
For he's ta'en up wi' Maggie,
For hark, and I will tell you, lass,
Did I not see young Jamie pass,
Wi' meikle blytheness in his face,
Out o'er the muir to Maggie:
I wat he gae her mony a kiss,
And Maggie took them nae amiss;
'Tween ilka smack pleas'd her wi' this--
That Bess was but a gawkie.
For when a civil kiss I seek,
She turns her head, and thraws her cheek,
And for an hour she'll hardly speak;
Wha'd no ca' her a gawkie?
But sure my Maggie has mair sense,
She'll give a score with an offence;
Now gie me ane into the mense,
And ye shall be my dawtie.
O Jamie, ye hae mony ta'en,
But I will never stand for ane,