Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Songs of Scotland prior to Burns

198 SONGS OF SCOTLAND.
My bonnie white mittens I wore on my hands,
Wi' her neibour's wife she laid them in pawns ;
My bane-headed staff that I lo'ed sae dearly —
Oh, gin my wife wad drink hooly and fairly !
I never was for wranglin' nor strife,
Nor did I deny her the comforts o' life ;
For when there 's a war, I 'm aye for a parly —
Oh, gin my wife wad drink hooly and fairly !
When there 's ony money she maun keep the purse ;
If I seek but a bawbee she '11 scold and she '11 curse ;
She lives like a queen — I but scrimpit and sparely —
Oh, gin my wife wad drink hooly and fairly !
A pint wi' her cummers I wad her allow ;
But when she sits down, she gets hersel fou,
And when she is fou she is unco camstarie —
Oh, gin my wife wad drink hooly and fairly !
When she comes to the street she roars and she rants,
Has nae fear o' her neibours, nor minds the house wants ;
She rants up some fule-sang, like, Up your heart, Charlie
Oh, gin my wife wad drink hooly and fairly !
When she comes haine she lays on the lads,
The lasses she ca's baith [taupies] and jauds,
And ca's mysel an auld cuckle-carlie —
Oh, gin my wife wad drink hooly and fairly !
It is perhaps not unworthy of notice, that the two last verses
have supplied to Scott the humour of a scene in Waverley,
where the smith's wife, a tippler and a Jacobite, creates the riot
which ends in the arrest of the hero.