The Book of Scottish Song/O Tibbie
O Tibbie.
[This was written by Burns in 1776, when he was only about seventeen years of age. The subject of the song is said to have been Isabella Steven, the daughter of a small laird near Lochlee.—Tune, "Invercauld's Reel."]
O Tibbie! I ha'e seen the day
Ye wadna been sae shy;
For lack o' gear ye lightly me,
But ne'er a hair care I.
Yestreen I met you on the moor,
Ye spak' na, but gaed by like stoure;
Ye geck at me because I'm poor,
But ne'er a hair care I.
I doubt na, lass, but ye may think,
Because ye ha'e the name o' clink,
That ye can please me wi' a wink,
Whene'er ye like to try.
But sorrow take him that's sae mean,
Although his pouch o' coin were clean,
Wha follows ony saucy quean,
That looks sae proud and high.
Although a lad were e'er sae smart,
If he but want the yellow dirt,
Ye'll cast your head anither airt,
And answer him fu' dry.
But if he ha'e the name o' gear,
Y'ell fasten to him like a brier,
Though hardly he, for sense or lear,
Be better than the kye.
There lives a lass in yonder park,
I wadna gi'e her in her sark
For thee, wi' a' thy thousand mark;
Thou needna look sae high.