"Will you wear the short clothes,
Or will you wear the side;
Or will you walk to your wedding,155
Or will you till it ride?"
"I will not wear the short clothes,
But I will wear the side;
I will not walk to my wedding,
But I to it will ride."160
When he was set upon the horse,
The lady him behind,
Then cauld and eerie were the words
The twa had them between.
She said, "Good e'en, ye nettles tall,165
Just there where ye grow at the dike;
If the auld carline my mother was here,
Sae weel's she would your pates pike.
"How she would stap you in her poke,
I wot at that she wadna fail;170
And boil ye in her auld brass pan,
And of ye mak right gude kail.
"And she would meal you with millering
That she gathers at the mill,
And mak you thick as any daigh;175
And when the pan was brimful,
"Would mess you up in scuttle dishes,
Syne bid us sup till we were fou;
Lay down her head upon a poke,
Then sleep and snore like any sow."180
"Away! away! you bad woman,
For all your vile words grieveth me;
When ye heed so little for yourself,
I'm sure ye'll heed far less for me.