Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Lyric gems of Scotland

147
JENNY'S BAWBEE.
Words by Sir Alexander Boswell.
-It-
met four chaps yon Turks a-mang, Wi' hing - ing lugs and
fa - ces lang : I spier'd at nee - hour Baul-dy Strang, Wha's they I
as the deil, And here they cam'
The first, a Captain to his trade,
Wi' skull ill-lined, but back weel-clad,
March'd round the barn, and by the shed,
And pappit on his knee:
Quo' he, "My goddess, nymph, and queen,
Your beauty's dazzled baith my een ! "
But deil a beauty he had seen
But— Jenny's bawbee.
A Lawyer neist, wi' blatherin' gab,
Wha speeches wove like ony wab,
In ilk ane's corn aye took a dab,
And a' for a fee.
Accounts he owed through a' the toun,
And tradesmen's tongues nae mair could
drown,
But now he thocht to clout his gown
Wi' Jenny's bawbee.
A Norland Laird neist trotted up,
Wi' bawsand naig and siller whup,
Cried, " There's my beast, lad, haud the
Or tie't till a tree; [g™P»
What's gowd to me? — I've walth o' Ian'!
Bestow on ane o' worth your han' ! " —
Pie thocht to pay what he w r as awn
Wi' Jenny's bawbee.
to steal Jen-ny's baw-bee.
Drest up just like the knave o' clubs,
A thing came neist, (but life has rubs,)
Foul were the roads, and fu' the dubs,
And jaupit a' was he.
He danc'd up, squinting thro' a glass,
And grinn'd, " I' faith, a bonnie lass ! "
He thought to win, wi' front o' brass,
Jenny's bawbee.
She bade the Laird gae kame his wig,
The Sodger no to strut sae big,
The Lawyer no to be a prig,
The fool, he cried, " Tehee !
I kenn'd that I could never fail ! ' '
But she preen'd the dishclout to his
tail,
And soused him wi' the water- pail,
And kept her bawbee.
* Then Johnnie cam', a lad o' sense,
Although he had na mony pence ;
And took young Jenny to the spence,
Wi' her to crack a wee.
Now Johnnie was a clever chiel,
And here his suit he press' d sae weel,
That Jenny's heart grew saft as jeel,
And she birled her bawbee.
* As the last stanza does not appear in the copies of this song published during the lifetime
of Sir Alexander Boswell, it is uncertain whether he is the author of it.