THE MERRY BACHELOR, (FOUNDED ON THE OLD SCOTCH SONG OF “WILLIE WAS A WANTON WAG.”) Joanna Baillie Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 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.

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THE MERRY BACHELOR , ( FOUNDED ON THE OLD SCOTCH SONG OF “ WILLIE WAS A WANTON WAG . ” ) WILLIE was a wanton wag , The blithest lad that e'er I saw ; Of field and floor he was the brag , And carried a' the gree Gree , honour or preference . awa ' . And was na ' Willie stark and keen , When he gaed to the weapon-shaw ; He won the prizes on the green , And cheered the feasters in the ha' . His head was wise , his heart was liel , His truth was fair without a flaw ; And aye by every honest chiel His word was holden as a law . And was na ' Willie still our pride When , in his gallant gear arrayed , 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 , While pipes the wedding welcome played . And aye he led the foremost dance , Wi' winsom maidens buskit braw , And gave to each a merry glance That stole , a while , her heart awa ' . The bride forgot her simple groom , And every lass her trysted Tristed , met by appointment . Joe ; Yet nae man's brow on Will could gloom , They liked his rousing blitheness so . Our good Mess John laughed wi' the laive ; The dominie for a' his lair Could scarcely like himsell behave , While a' was glee and revel there . A joyous sight was Willie's face , Baith far and near in ilka spot ; In ha' received wi' kindly grace , And welcomed to the lowly cot . The carlin left her housewife's wark , The bairnies shouted Willie's name ; The colley too would fidge and bark And wag his tail when Willie came . But Willie now has crossed the main , And he has been sae lang awa ' ! Oh ! would he were returned again To drive the dourness Doufness , dullness . frae us a' !