Five Songs ("Bessy Bell and Mary Gray")/Bessy Bell and Mary Gray

by Allan Ramsay

For other versions of this work, see Bessie Bell and Mary Gray.

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray.

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Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
They are twa bonnie lasses;
They bigg’d a bower on yon bnrn brae,
 And theekit it owr wi’ rashes,
Bessy Bell I loo’d yestreen,
 And thocht I ne’er could alter;
But Mary Gray’s twa pawky een
 They gar my fancy falter.

Bessy’s hair’s like a lint tap,
 She smiles like a May morning;
When Phœbus starts frae Thetis’ lap
 The hills with rays adorning;
White is her neck, saft is her hand,
 Her waist and feet fu’ genty,
With ilka grace she can command;
 Her lips, O wow they’re dainty.

Mary’s locks are like the craw,
 Her eye like diamond glances,
She’s ay sae clean, redd-up, and braw,
 She kills whene’er she dances.
Blythe as a kid, with wit at will,
 She blooming, tight, and tall is;
And guides her airs sae gracefu’ still;
 O Jove, she’s like thy Pallas!

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray
 Ye unco sair oppress us;
Our fancies jee between you twa,
 Ye are sic bonnie lasses.
Waes me, for baith I canna get,
 To ane by law we’re stented;
Then I’ll draw cuts and take my fate,
 And be with ane contented.

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