Poem by Robert Burns

The Collier Laddie

O WHARE live ye my bonnie lass,
  And tell me how they ca’ ye?
My name, she says, is Mistress Jean,
  And I follow my Collier laddie.

O see ye not yon hills and dales
  The sun shines on sae brawly:
They a’ are mine, and they shall be thine,
  If ye’ll leave your Collier laddie.

And ye shall gang in rich attire,
  Weel buskit up fu’ gaudy;
And ane to wait at every hand,
  If ye’ll leave your Collier laddie.

Tho’ ye had a’ the sun shines on,
  And the earth conceals sae lowly;
I would turn my back on you and it a’,
  And embrace my Collier laddie.

I can win my five pennies in a day,
  And spend it at night full brawlie;
I can mak my bed in the Collier’s neuk,
  And lie down wi’ my Collier laddie.

Love for love is the bargain for me,
  Tho’ the wee cot-house should haud me;
And the warld before me to win my bread,
  And fare fa’ my Collier laddie!

1. Sleep’st Thou, or Wak’st Thou
2. It Is Na, Jean, Thy Bonnie Face
3. Simmer’s a Pleasant Time
4. Fairest Maid on Devon Banks
5. The Bonnie Wee Thing

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