3 Weel kens the gudewife, that the pleughs require
A heartsome meltith,[14] an' refreshin' synd[15]
O' nappy liquor, owre a bleezin' fire:
Sair wark an' poortith downa[16] weel be joined.
Wi' butter'd bannocks now the girdle[17] reeks;
I' the far nook the bowie[18] briskly reams;
The readied kail[19]stands by the chimley cheeks,
An' haud the riggin' het wi' welcome streams,
Whilk than the daintiest kitchen[20]nicer seems.
4 Frae this, lat gentler gabs[21] a lesson lear:
Wad they to labouring lend an eident[22]hand,
They'd rax fell strang upo' the simplest fare,
Nor find their stamacks ever at a stand.
Fu' hale an' healthy wad they pass the day;
At night, in calmest slumbers dose fu' sound;
Nor doctor need their weary life to spae,[23]
Nor drogs their noddle and their sense confound,
Till death slip sleely on, an' gie the hindmost wound.
5 On siccan food has mony a doughty deed
By Caledonia's ancestors been done;
By this did mony a wight fu' weirlike bleed
In brulzies[24]frae the dawn to set o' sun.
'Twas this that braced their gardies[25] stiff an' strang;
That bent the deadly yew in ancient days;
Laid Denmark's daring sons on yird[26] alang;
Garr'd Scottish thristles bang the Roman bays;
For near our crest their heads they dought na raise.
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