But when he saw the Highland lads
Wi' tartan trews and white cockades,
Wi' swords and guns, and rungs[93] and gauds,[94]
O Johnnie took wing in the morning.
Hey, Johnnie Cope, etc.
On the morrow when he did rise,
He look'd between him and the skies;
He saw them wi' their naked thighs,
Which fear'd him in the morning.
Hey, Johnnie Cope, etc.
O then he fled into Dunbar,
Crying for a man of war;
He thought to have pass'd for a rustic tar,
And gotten awa in the morning.
Hey, Johnnie Cope, etc.
Sir John then into Berwick rade,
Just as the deil had been his guide;
Gi'en him the world, he wadna staid
T' have foughten the boys in the morning.
Hey, Johnnie Cope, etc.
Said the Berwickers unto Sir John,
"O what's become of all your men?"
"In faith," says he, "I dinna ken;
I left them a' this morning."
Hey, Johnnie Cope, etc.
Says Lord Mark Kerr, "Ye are na blate,[95]
To bring us the news o your ain[96] defeat,
I think you deserve the back o' the gate;
Get out o' my sight this morning."
Hey, Johnnie Cope, etc.
FOOTNOTES:
[92] Written after the Battle of Prestonpans.
[93] Cudgels.
[94] Rods.