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BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY.
O Bessy Bell -aiul Mary Gray,
They were twa bonny lasses;
They bigg'd a house on yon burn brae,
And theek’d it o’er wi’ rashes.
Fair Bessy Bell I lo’ed yestreen,
And thought t ne’er could alter;
But Mary Gray’s twa pawky een,
They gar my fancy falter.
Now Bessy’s hair’s like a lint-tap;
She smiles like a May morning.
When Phoebus starts frae Thetis’ lap,
* The hills with rays adorning;
White is her neck, saft is her hand,
Her wjist and feet’s fu’ genty;
With ilka grace she can command;
Her lips, O wow! they’re dainty.
And Mary’s locks are like a craw,
Her een like diamonds glances;
She’s ay sae cleafi, redd up, and braw,
She kills whene’er she dances;
Blythe as a kid, with wit at will,
She blooming, tight, and tall is,
And guides her airs sae gracefu’ still,
O Jove, she’s like thy Pallas.
O Bessy Bell -aiul Mary Gray,
They were twa bonny lasses;
They bigg'd a house on yon burn brae,
And theek’d it o’er wi’ rashes.
Fair Bessy Bell I lo’ed yestreen,
And thought t ne’er could alter;
But Mary Gray’s twa pawky een,
They gar my fancy falter.
Now Bessy’s hair’s like a lint-tap;
She smiles like a May morning.
When Phoebus starts frae Thetis’ lap,
* The hills with rays adorning;
White is her neck, saft is her hand,
Her wjist and feet’s fu’ genty;
With ilka grace she can command;
Her lips, O wow! they’re dainty.
And Mary’s locks are like a craw,
Her een like diamonds glances;
She’s ay sae cleafi, redd up, and braw,
She kills whene’er she dances;
Blythe as a kid, with wit at will,
She blooming, tight, and tall is,
And guides her airs sae gracefu’ still,
O Jove, she’s like thy Pallas.
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Chapbooks printed in Scotland > Diseases > Bessy Bell and Mary Gray > (2) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/108876786 |
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Description | Over 3,000 chapbooks published in Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries. Subjects include courtship, humour, occupations, fairs, apparitions, war, politics, crime, executions, Jacobites, transvestites, and freemasonry. Chapbooks are small booklets of 8, 12, 16 and 24 pages, often illustrated with crude woodcuts. Produced cheaply and sold by peddlars on the streets, they formed the staple reading material of the common people, along with broadsides. |
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