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. The Banks o’ Glaizart
2. Fare Ye Weel, My Auld Wife
3. Kitty of Coleraine
4. King Cormac’s Crown
5. Gathering of Atholl

Print

1209 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version