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Song—Sic a Wife as Willie had

by Robert Burns, 1792

Willie wastle dwalt on Tweed,
  The spot they ca'd it Linkumdoddie;
Willie was a wabster gude,
  Could stown a clue wi' ony body:
He had a wife was dour and din,
  O Tinkler Maidgie was her mither;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
  I wad na gie a button for her!

She has an e'e, she has but ane,
  The cat has twa the very colour;
Five rusty teeth, forbye a stump,
  A clapper tongue wad deave a miller:
A whiskin beard about her mou',
  Her nose and chin they threaten ither;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
  I wadna gie a button for her!

She's bow-hough'd, she's hein-shin'd,
  Ae limpin leg a hand-breed shorter;
She's twisted right, she's twisted left,
  To balance fair in ilka quarter:
She has a lump upon her breast,
  The twin o' that upon her shouther;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
  I wadna gie a button for her!

Auld baudrons by the ingle sits,
  An' wi' her loof her face a-washin;
But Willie's wife is nae sae trig,
  She dights her grunzie wi' a hushion;
Her walie nieves like midden-creels,
  Her face wad fyle the Logan Water;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
  I wadna gie a button for her!

Published in Poems and Songs of Robert Burns
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