The Spaewife

O, I wad like to ken - to the beggar-wife says I -
Why chops are guid to brander and nane sae guid to fry.
An' siller, that's sae braw to keep, is brawer still to
gi'e.
- IT'S GEY AN' EASY SPIERIN', says the beggar-wife to me.

O, I wad like to ken - to the beggar-wife says I -
Hoo a' things come to be whaur we find them when we try,
The lasses in their claes an' the fishes in the sea.
- IT'S GEY AN' EASY SPIERIN', says the beggar-wife to me.

O, I wad like to ken - to the beggar-wife says I -
Why lads are a' to sell an' lasses a' to buy;
An' naebody for dacency but barely twa or three
- IT'S GEY AN' EASY SPIERIN', says the beggar-wife to me.

O, I wad like to ken - to the beggar-wife says I -
Gin death's as shure to men as killin' is to kye,
Why God has filled the yearth sae fu' o' tasty things to
pree.
- IT'S GEY AN' EASY SPIERIN', says the beggar-wife to me.

O, I wad like to ken - to the beggar wife says I -
The reason o' the cause an' the wherefore o' the why,
Wi' mony anither riddle brings the tear into my e'e.
- IT'S GEY AN' EASY SPIERIN', says the beggar-wife to me.