 | Petition to the Deil |  |
27
THE AULD “RESERVE.”
September 21, 1914.
It was hervest-time,
An' the craps were prime
Up at John Tamson's toun:
Short-goun an' sark
Were hard at the wark,
Nickin' the barley doun.
An' the craps were prime
Up at John Tamson's toun:
Short-goun an' sark
Were hard at the wark,
Nickin' the barley doun.
Pipe-time cam',
An' there was Tam—
Tam wi' the scowl an' the scars!
Tam had spent
Years in the Tent'
Dandy dashin' Huzzars.
An' there was Tam—
Tam wi' the scowl an' the scars!
Tam had spent
Years in the Tent'
Dandy dashin' Huzzars.
Tam the Reserve—
Think o' his nerve!
Auld an' rheumatic an' worn,
Strauchen'd his back,
An' burst on the crack
Wi'—“I'm aff to the wars the morn!”
Think o' his nerve!
Auld an' rheumatic an' worn,
Strauchen'd his back,
An' burst on the crack
Wi'—“I'm aff to the wars the morn!”
28
Led by his “half,”
The women let aff
An angersome skirl o' scorn;
It wauken'd him up
Like the crack o' a whup
Or a toot on a trumpet-horn.
The women let aff
An angersome skirl o' scorn;
It wauken'd him up
Like the crack o' a whup
Or a toot on a trumpet-horn.
“Wha said I was auld?
I'm hale an' I'm bauld!”
But they lauch'd his announcement to scorn.
“Ye're far better here
Than a crock at the weir—
Ye're better at cuttin' the corn.”
I'm hale an' I'm bauld!”
But they lauch'd his announcement to scorn.
“Ye're far better here
Than a crock at the weir—
Ye're better at cuttin' the corn.”
He lap to his feet—
“Ye may lauch, but ye'll see't!
It's women's wark hackin' the corn!
I've the richt to be ca'd,
An' I'll gang tae, be-Gawd!
An' I howp for the summons the morn.”
“Ye may lauch, but ye'll see't!
It's women's wark hackin' the corn!
I've the richt to be ca'd,
An' I'll gang tae, be-Gawd!
An' I howp for the summons the morn.”
John Tamson spak',
An' endit the crack—
“There's half o' my fields to be shorn;
I'll no' say ye're auld,
But the truth maun be tauld—
It's lang sin' the day ye was born!”
An' endit the crack—
“There's half o' my fields to be shorn;
I'll no' say ye're auld,
But the truth maun be tauld—
It's lang sin' the day ye was born!”
| Petition to the Deil | |