"THE WEE, WEE GERMAN LAIRDIE" [30] (1714).

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J. Pringle Thomson

Source.—The Jacobite Songs and Ballads of Scotland from 1688 to 1746, p. 65. Edited by Charles Mackay, LL.D. (London and Glasgow: 1861.)

Wha the deil hae we gotten for a King,
 But a wee, wee German lairdie!
 An' when we gaed to bring him hame,
 He was delving in his kail-yairdie[31]:
 Sheughing[32] kail,[33] and laying leeks,
 But[34] the hose and but the breeks;
 Up his beggar duds[35] he cleeks,[36]
 The wee, wee German lairdie!
And he's clapt down in our gudeman's chair,
 The wee, wee German lairdie!
 And he's brought fouth[37] o' foreign trash,
 And dibbled[38] them in his yairdie:
 He's pu'd the rose o' English loons,
 And brake the harp o' Irish clowns,
 But our Scots thristle will jag[39] his thumbs,
 The wee, wee German lairdie.
Come up among the Highland hills,
 Thou wee, wee German lairdie.
 And see how Charlie's lang-kail[40] thrive,
 That he dibbled in his yairdie:
 And if a stock ye daur to pu',
 Or haud the yoking of a pleugh,
 We'll break your sceptre o'er your mou',[41]
 Thou wee bit German lairdie!
Our hills are steep, our glens are deep,
 No fitting for a yairdie;
 And our norlan'[42] thristles winna pu',
 Thou wee, wee German lairdie!
 And we've the trenching blades o' weir,[43]
 Wad lib[44] ye o' your German gear,
 And pass ye 'neath the claymore's shear,
 Thou feckless[45] German lairdie!
He'll ride nae mair on strae sonks,[46]
 For gawing[47] his German hurdies[48];
 But he sits on our gude king's throne,
 Amang the English lordies.
 Auld Scotland! thou'rt owre cauld a hole
 For nursing siccan[49] vermin;
 But the very dogs o' England's court
 Can bark and howl in German!

FOOTNOTES:

[30] Written on the accession of King George I.

[31] Literally, vegetable garden.

[32] Trenching.

[33] Colewort.

[34] Outside.

[35] Shabby clothes.

[36] Grabs.

[37] Abundance.

[38] Planted.

[39] Lacerate.

[40] Unmashed cabbage.

[41] Mouth.

[42] Northland.

[43] War.

[44] Geld.

[45] Incompetent.

[46] Loose straw rubbish.

[47] Chafing.

[48] Buttocks.

[49] Suchlike.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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