O wives, be mindful, ance yoursel
How bonnie lads ye wanted,
An' dinna for a kebbuck-heel
Let lasses be affronted
On sic a day! [such]

Now Clinkumbell, wi' rattlin' tow, [Bell-ringer, rope]
Begins to jow an' croon; [swing, toll]
Some swagger hame the best they dow, [can]
Some wait the afternoon.
At slaps the billies halt a blink, [gaps, kids]
Till lasses strip their shoon;
Wi' faith an' hope, an' love an' drink, [shoes]
They're a' in famous tune
For crack that day. [chat]

How mony hearts this day converts
O' sinners and o' lasses!
Their hearts o' static, gin night, are gane [before]
As saft as ony flesh is.
There's some are fou o' love divine,
There's some are fou o' brandy;
An' mony jobs that day begin,
May end in houghmagandie [fornication]
Some ither day.

[20] The rationalism of the New Lights.

It must be admitted that, as we pass from poem to poem, Scottish
manners are becoming freer, Scottish drink is more potent, Scottish