Page:Posthumous poems (IA posthumousswinb00swin).pdf/78

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
 
POSTHUMOUS POEMS
Yestreen my maids took off the sheet
To wash i' the Westland Well,
And lest the bonny web suld ravel,
I set a hand mysel.

We washed the blue thread and the brown,
The white thread and the black;
And sae cam ben your fause bloodhound,
And bit me in the back.

Sae sair it rent and bit, mither,
Sae sair it bit and clang,
And ever I hope in God, mither,
Ye'll gar that bloodhound hang.

What's this o't now, maiden Janet?
What's this o't now? quo' she;
There's nae such hound that bites women,
There's nae such langs to me.

Tell me now, Janet, she says,
And I winna gar ye lee,
Is this a hound's tooth or a child's shaping
That mars your straight body?

O where your cheek was red, Janet,
Your cheek is sick and wan;
And where your back was right and flat,
It bows like a loaden man.

46