Tak your auld cloak about ye (3)/Tak Your Auld Cloak About Ye

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TAK YOUR AULD CLOAK ABOUT YE.

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In winter when the rain rain'd cauld,
⁠And frost and snaw on ilka hill,
And Boreas, wi’ bis blasts sae bauld,
⁠Was threat’ning a’ our kye to kill:
Then Bell, my wife, wha loves nae strife,
⁠She said to me, right hastily,
Get up, gudeman! save Crummy’s life,
⁠And tak’ your auld cloak about ye!

My Crummy is an usefu’ cow,
{{em}And she is come of a good kin’;
Aft has she wet the bairns’s moa’,
⁠And I am laith that she should tine,
Get up, gudeman t it is fn’ time,
⁠The sun shines i' the lift sae hie;
Sloth never made a gracious erft!,
⁠Gae, tak’ your auld cloak about ye.

My cloak was once a gude grey cloak,
⁠When it was fitting for my wear,
But now it s scanty worth a groat,
⁠For I hae worn t this thirty year.
Let's spend the gear that we hae worn,
⁠We little ken the day we’ll hae;
Then I'll be proud, wife I hae sworn;
To hae a new cloak about me.

In days when our-king Robert rang;
⁠His trews they cost but half-a-crown;
He said they were a groat owre dear,
⁠An' ca'd the tailor thief and loun.
. He was the king that wore a crown,
⁠And thou'rt a man o' low degree;
It's pride puts a' the country down,
⁠Sae tak' your auld cloak about ye.

Ev'ry land has its ain laugh,
⁠Ilk kind of' corn has its ain hool;
I think the world is a' run wrang,
⁠When ilka wife her man wad rule.
Do you not see Bob, Jock, and Hab,
⁠How they are girded gallantly,
While I sit hurklin in the ase?
⁠I'll hae a new cloak about me!

Gudeman! I wat 'tis thirty year,
⁠Sin' we did ane anither ken;
And we hae had, atween us twa,
⁠O'lads and bonny lasses ten:
Now they are women grown and men,
⁠I wish and pray weel may they be;
And if you prove a good husband,
E'en tak' your auld cloak about ye,

Bell, my wife, she lo'es nae strife,
⁠But she wad guide me if she can;
And to maintain an easy life,
⁠I aft man yield, tho' I'm gudeman.
Nought's to be won at woman's hand,
⁠Unless ye gie her a' the plea;
Then I'll leave aff whare I began,
And tak my auld cloak about me.