For a’ that.
[This is the bard or fiddler's song in Burns's Jolly Beggars. It is sung to the same tune as the foregoing. Part of it appears in the 3d vol. of Johnson's Museum. The first two lines in the chorus belong to an old song.]
I am a bard of no regard
Wi' gentle folks, an' a' that:
But Homer-like, the glowran byke,
Frae town to town I draw that.
For a' that, and a' that,
An' twice as muckle's a' that;
I've lost but ane, I've twa behin',
I've wife enough, for a' that.
I never drank the Muses' stank,
Castalia's burn, and a' that;
But there it streams, and richly reams,
My Helicon I ca' that.
For a' that, &c.
Great love I bear to a' the fair,
Their humble slave, an' a' that;
But lordly Will, I hold it still
A mortal sin to thraw that.
For a' that, &c.
In raptures sweet, this hour we meet,
Wi' mutual love, and a' that:
But for how lang the flee may stang,
Let inclination law that.
For a' that, &c.
Their tricks and craft ha'e put me daft,
They've ta'en me in, and a' that;
But clear your decks, and here's The sex!
I like the jads for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that,
An' twice as muckle's a' that;
My dearest bluid, to do them guid,
They're welcome till't for a' that.