The gossip keekit in his loof, [peeped, palm] Quo' scho, 'Wha lives will see the proof, [Quoth she] This waly boy will be nae coof, [choice, dolt] I think we'll ca' him Robin. [call]
'He'll hae misfortunes great an' sma', But aye a heart aboon them a'; [above] He'll be a credit till us a', [to] We'll a' be proud o' Robin.
'But sure as three times three mak nine, I see by ilka score and line, [each] This chap will dearly like our kin', [sex] So leeze me on thee, Robin. [blessing on]
'Guid faith,' quo' scho, 'I doubt you, stir, [sir] Ye gar the lasses lie aspar, [make, aspread] But twenty fauts ye may hae waur, [faults, worse] So blessings on thee, Robin!'
Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair, [cheerful] Whene'er I forgather wi' Sorrow and Care, [meet] I gie them a skelp, as they're creepin' alang, [spank] Wi' a cog o' gude swats, and an auld Scottish sang. [bowl of good ale]
I whyles claw the elbow o' troublesome thought; [sometimes] But man is a soger, and life is a faught: [soldier, fight] My mirth and gude humour are coin in my pouch, [pocket] And my freedom's my lairdship nae monarch daur touch. [dare]
A towmond o' trouble, should that be my fa', [twelvemonth, lot] A night o' gude fellowship sowthers it a'; [solders] When at the blythe end of our journey at last, Wha the deil ever thinks o' the road he has past? [Who the devil]
Blind Chance, let her snapper and stoyte on her way, [stumble, stagger] Be't to me, be't frae me, e'en let the jad gae: Come ease or come travail, come pleasure or pain, My warst word is--'Welcome, and welcome again!'
My Father was a Farmer upon the Carrick border, O, And carefully he bred me in decency and order, O; He bade me act a manly part, though I had ne'er a farthing, O, For without an honest manly heart, no man was worth regarding, O.
Then out into the world my course I did determine, O; Tho' to be rich was not my wish, yet to be great was charming, O: My talents they were not the worst, nor yet my education, O; Resolv'd was I, at least to try, to mend my situation, O.
In many a way, and vain essay, I courted Fortune's favour, O: Some cause unseen still stept between to frustrate each endeavour, O; Sometimes by foes I was o'erpower'd, sometimes by friends forsaken, O; And when my hope was at the top, I still was worst mistaken, O.