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The Rantin' Dog

THE RANTIN' DOG, THE DADDIE O'T.

Tune--"_East nook o' Fife._"

[The heroine of this humorous ditty was the mother of "Sonsie,
smirking, dear-bought Bess," a person whom the poet regarded, as he
says, both for her form and her grace.]


I.

O wha my babie-clouts will buy?
O wha will tent me when I cry?
Wha will kiss me where I lie?--
The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

II.

O wha will own he did the fau't?
O wha will buy the groanin' maut?
O wha will tell me how to ca't?
The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

III.

When I mount the creepie chair,
Wha will sit beside me there?
Gie me Rob, I'll seek nae mair,
The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

IV.

Wha will crack to me my lane?
Wha will make me fidgin' fain?
Wha will kiss me o'er again?--
The rantin' dog, the daddie o't.

Robert Burns


Poetry