Poem by Robert Burns

The Tarbolton Lasses (“In Tarbolton ken, there are proper young men…”)

IN Tarbolton, ye ken, there are proper young men,
  And proper young lasses and a’, man;
But ken ye the Ronalds that live in the Bennals,
  They carry the gree frae them a’, man.

Their father’s a laird, and weel he can spare’t,
  Braid money to tocher them a’, man;
To proper young men, he’ll clink in the hand
  Gowd guineas a hunder or twa, man.

There’s ane they ca’ Jean, I’ll warrant ye’ve seen
  As bonnie a lass or as braw, man;
But for sense and guid taste she’ll vie wi’ the best,
  And a conduct that beautifies a’, man.

The charms o’ the min’, the langer they shine,
  The mair admiration they draw, man;
While peaches and cherries, and roses and lilies,
  They fade and they wither awe, man.

If ye be for Miss Jean, tak this frae a frien’,
  A hint o’ a rival or twa, man;
The Laird o’ Blackbyre wad gang through the fire,
  If that wad entice her awa, man.

The Laird o’ Braehead has been on his speed,
  For mair than a towmond or twa, man;
The Laird o’ the Ford will straught on a board,
  If he canna get her at a’, man.

Then Anna comes in, the pride o’ her kin,
  The boast of our bachelors a’, man:
Sae sonsy and sweet, sae fully complete,
  She steals our affections awa, man.

If I should detail the pick and the wale
  O’ lasses that live here awe, man,
The fault wad be mine, if they didna shine,
  The sweetest and best o’ them a’, man.

I lo’e her mysel, but darena weel tell,
  My poverty keeps me in awe, man;
For making o’ rhymes, and working at times,
  Does little or naething at a’, man.

Yet I wadna choose to let her refuse,
  Nor ha’e ‘t in her power to say na, man;
For though I be poor, unnoticed, obscure,
  My stomach’s as proud as them a’, man.

Though I canna ride in weel-booted pride,
  And flee o’er the hills like a craw, man,
I can haud up my head wi’ the best o’ the breed,
  Though fluttering ever so braw, man.

My coat and my vest, they are Scotch o’ the best,
  O’ pairs o’ guid breeks I ha’e twa, man,
And stockings and pumps to put on my stumps,
  And ne’er a wrang steek in them a’, man.

My sarks they are few, but five o’ them new,
  Twal’ hundred, as white as the snaw, man,
A ten-shillings hat, a Holland cravat;
  There are no mony poets sae brew, man.

I never had frien’s, weel stockit in means,
  To leave me a hundred or twa, man;
Nae weel tochered aunts, to wait on their drants,
  And wish them in hell for it a’, man.

I never was canny for hoarding o’ money,
  Or claughtin’t together at a’, man,
I’ve little to spend, and naething to lend,
  But deevil a shilling I awe, man.

  *     *     *     *    *     *     *     *     *     *

1. I Gaed a Waefu' Gate Yestreen
2. Blythe Was She
3. Farewell to Ballochmyle
4. Lines Written under the Picture of Miss Burns
5. Young Jamie, Pride of A’ the Plain

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