Poem by Anonymous

My Wife Has Ta'en the Gee

A friend of mine came here yestreen,
⁠     And he would ha'e me down
To drink a bottle of ale wi' him
⁠     In the neist burrows town.
But, O! indeed it was. Sir,
⁠     Sae far the waur for me;
For lang or e'er that I came hame
     ⁠My wife had ta'en the gee.

We sat sae late, and drank sae stout,
     ⁠The truth I'll tell to you,
That ere the middle o' the night,
     ⁠We were a' roaring fou.
My wife sits at the fire-side,
⁠     And the tear blinds aye her e'e,
The ne'er a bed will she gae to,
⁠     But sit and tak' the gee.

In the morning soon, when I came down,
     ⁠The ne'er a word she spake,
But monie a sad and sour look,
⁠     And aye her head she'd shake.
My dear, quoth I, what aileth thee,
     ⁠To look sae sour on me?
I'll never do the like again,
⁠     If ye'll ne'er tak' the gee.

When that she heard, she ran, shy flang
⁠     Her arms about my neck;
And twenty kisses in a crack,
⁠     And, poor wee thing, she grat.
If ye'll ne'er do the like again,
⁠     But bide at hame wi' me,
I'll lay my life I'se be the wife
⁠     That's never tak' the gee.

1. Now, Robin, Lend to Me Thy Bow
2. The Guard-Chamber
3. The Enchanted Island
4. Ettrick Banks
5. The Battle of Otterbourne

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