Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed music > Songs of Scotland prior to Burns

154 SONGS OF SCOTLAND.
Nancy 's to the greenwood gane,
To hear the gowdspihk chatt'ring ;
And Willie he has follow'd her,
To gain her love by flatt'ring :
But, a' that he could say or do,
She geck'd and scorned at him ;
And, aye when he began to woo,
She bad him mind wha gat him.
"What ails ye at my dad, quoth he,
My minnie or my auntie 1
Wi' crowdy-mowdy 1 they fed me,
Lang-kale and ranty-tanty: 2
Wi' bannocks o' guid barley-meal,
Of thae there was richt plenty,
Wi' chappit stocks fu' butter'd weeh
And was not that richt dainty ?
Although my father was nae laird,
'Tis damn to be vaunty,
He keepit aye a guid kale-yard,
A ha' house, and a pantry :
A guid blue bonnet on his head,
An owerlay 'bout his craigie ; 3
And aye, until the clay he dee'd,
He rade on guid shanks-naigie. 4
Now wae and wonder on your snout,
Wad ye hae bonnie Nancy ?
Wad ye compare yoursel to me —
A docken till a tanzie ?
1 A mess composed of milk and meal boiled together.
2 The broad-leafed sorrel, so called, used to be gathered by our frugal
ancestresses in spring, and added to the cabbage or kail in the dinner
broth.
3 A cravat about his neck.
4 A jocular way of stating that he used his limbs in moving about.