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