Song—My Collier Laddie

Whare live ye, my bonie lass?
  And tell me what they ca' ye;
My name, she says, is mistress Jean,
  And i follow the Collier laddie.
                My name, she says, &c.

See you not yon hills and dales
  The sun shines on sae brawlie;
They a' are mine, and they shall be thine,
  Gin ye'll leave your Collier laddie.
                They a' are mine, &c.

Ye shall gang in gay attire,
  Weel buskit up sae gaudy;
And ane to wait on every hand,
  Gin ye'll leave your Collier laddie.
                And ane to wait, &c.

Tho' ye had a' the sun shines on,
  And the earth conceals sae lowly,
I wad turn my back on you and it a',
  And embrace my Collier laddie.
                I wad turn my back, &c.

I can win my five pennies in a day,
  An' spen't at night fu' brawlie:
And make my bed in the collier's neuk,
  And lie down wi' my Collier laddie.
                And make my bed, &c.

Love for love is the bargain for me,
  Tho' the wee cot-house should haud me;
And the warld before me to win my bread,
  And fair fa' my Collier laddie!
                And the warld before me, &c.
Song—My Collier Laddie

by Robert Burns, 1792
