Poems, by Robert Louis Stevenson, hitherto unpublished/Sit doon by me, my canty freend
SIT DOON BY ME, MY CANTY FREEND—1874
This drinking song in the Scots dialect is associated with those convivial nights when Stevenson, with some of his fellow students, frequented the taverns of Edinburgh after days generally spent in serious study. It is, of course, the characteristic student drinking song of all ages, with the insistence on the value of tasting the delights of wine, especially in view of the shortness of life.
SIT DOON BY ME, MY CANTY FREEND
Sit doon by me, my canty freend,
Sit doon, an' snuff the licht!
A boll o' bear 's in ilka glass
Ye'se drink wi' me the nicht!
Chorus
Let preachers prate o' soberness
An' brand us ripe for doom,
Yet still we'll lo'e the brimmin' glass,
And still we'll hate the toom.
There's fire an' life in ilka glass,
There's blythesomness an' cheer,
There's thirst an' what'll slocken it,
There's love and laughter here.
O mirk an' black the lee lang gate
That we maun gang the nicht,
But aye we'll pass the brimmin' glass
An' aye we'll snuff the licht.
We'll draw the closer roond the fire
And aye the closer get.
Without, the ways may thaw or freeze,
Within we're roarin' wet!