[Page 184]

THE MERRY BACHELOR,

(FOUNDED ON THE OLD SCOTCH SONG OF WILLIE WAS A WANTON WAG.)

1 WILLIE was a wanton wag,
2 The blithest lad that e'er I saw;
3 Of field and floor he was the brag,
4 And carried a' the gree
* Gree, honour or preference.
awa'.
5 And was na' Willie stark and keen,
6 When he gaed to the weapon-shaw;
7 He won the prizes on the green,
8 And cheered the feasters in the ha'.
9 His head was wise, his heart was liel,
10 His truth was fair without a flaw;
11 And aye by every honest chiel
12 His word was holden as a law.
[Page 185]
13 And was na' Willie still our pride
14 When, in his gallant gear arrayed,
15 He wan the bruise
* Bruise, a race at a wedding, the winner being rewarded with the first kiss of the Bride, and the first ladle-pot of broth.
and kist the bride,
16 While pipes the wedding welcome played.
17 And aye he led the foremost dance,
18 Wi' winsom maidens buskit braw,
19 And gave to each a merry glance
20 That stole, a while, her heart awa' .
21 The bride forgot her simple groom,
22 And every lass her trysted
+ Tristed, met by appointment.
Joe;
23 Yet nae man's brow on Will could gloom,
24 They liked his rousing blitheness so.
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25 Our good Mess John laughed wi' the laive;
26 The dominie for a' his lair
27 Could scarcely like himsell behave,
28 While a' was glee and revel there.
29 A joyous sight was Willie's face,
30 Baith far and near in ilka spot;
31 In ha' received wi' kindly grace,
32 And welcomed to the lowly cot.
33 The carlin left her housewife's wark,
34 The bairnies shouted Willie's name;
35 The colley too would fidge and bark
36 And wag his tail when Willie came.
37 But Willie now has crossed the main,
38 And he has been sae lang awa' !
39 Oh! would he were returned again
40 To drive the dourness
* Doufness, dullness.
frae us a'!

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Title (in Source Edition): THE MERRY BACHELOR, (FOUNDED ON THE OLD SCOTCH SONG OF “WILLIE WAS A WANTON WAG.”)
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Genres: song

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Baillie, Joanna, 1762-1851. Fugitive Verses. By Joanna Baillie, author of “Dramas on the Passions,“ etc. London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street. MDCCCXL., 1840, pp. 184-186.  (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [40.17].)

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Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

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