Anonymous

“ Scornfu' Nancy.
[This humorous and once popular song appears in the first edition of the Orpheus Caledonius, along with the music, in 1725. It is, however, of much earlier date, as Ramsay, in his Miscellany, marks it as one, even in his day, of an unknown age. Gay, the poet, selected the air (which goes by the name of Nancy's to the greenwood gane,) for one of his songs, beginning,
"In war we'e nought but death to fear."] ”

“ It appears in the Tea Table Miscellany, (1724—1733) but belongs to an earlier period than that. The Ettrick is a river in Selkirkshire, but, from the allusions of the song, the lover of the nymph seems to have resided on the banks of Loch Erne in Perthshire. ”

“ My wife has ta'en the gee.
[First printed in Herd's Collection, 1769. The words have been set to different airs, but the original is to be found in Gow's fifth collection of Reels.]
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 ”

“ And fare ye weel, my auld wife;
⁠Sing bum, bee, berry, bum;
Fare ye weel, my auld wife;
⁠Sing bum, bum, bum.
Fare ye weel, my auld wife,
The steerer up o' sturt and strife.
The maut 's abune the meal the nicht,
⁠Wi' some, some, some. ”

“ This song is to be found in Herd's collection of 1776. Burns made some slight alterations on it for Johnson's Museum. Old king Coul, according to fabulous Scottish history, flourished in the fifth century, and was father of the giant Fin M'Coul. ”

“ I'll get my wee wifie fu' neat an' fu' clean,
Wi' a bonnie wee bairnie upon her knee,
That'll cry papa or daddy to me.
⁠Sae bide ye yet, &c.
An' if there should ever happen to be
A difference atween my wee wifie and me,
In hearty good humour, altho' she be teased,
I'll kiss her an' clap her until she be pleased. ”