Auld Rob Morris.
[This is given in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany, as an old song. Ramsay, however, was obliged to curtail the original ballad on account of its coarseness. The tune of "Auld Rob Morris" is in an old MS. collection, dated 1692, belonging at one time to Mr. Blaikie, engraver, Paisley, called "Jock the Laird's Brother."]
MOTHER.
Auld Rob Morris, that wons in yon glen,
He's the king o' guid fallows, and wale o' auld men;
He has fourscore o' black sheep, and fourscore too;
Auld Rob Morris is the man ye maun lo'e.
DAUGHTER.
Haud your tongue, mother, and let that abee;
For his eild and my eild can never agree:
They'll never agree, and that will be seen,
For he is fourscore, and I'm but fifteen.
MOTHER.
Haud your tongue, dochter, and lay by your pride,
For he is the bridegroom, and ye'se be the bride;
He shall lie by your side, and kiss you too;
Auld Rob Morris is the man ye maun lo'e.
DAUGHTER.
Auld Rob Morris, I ken him fu' weel,
His bac' sticks out like ony peat-creel;
He's out-shinn'd, in-kneed, and ringle-eyed too;
Auld Rob Morris is the man I'll ne'er lo'e.
MOTHER.
Though auld Rob Morris be an elderly man,
Yet his auld brass will buy you a new pan;
Then, dochter, ye should na be sae ill to shoe,
For auld Rob Morris is the man ye maun lo'e.
DAUGHTER.
But auld Rob Morris I never will ha'e,
His back is so stiff, and his beard is grown gray;
I had rather die than live wi' him a year;
Sae mair o' Rob Morris I never will hear.