depend,
A mystery.

But sprang shoo up fra royal blood,
Or some poor slave beyond the Flood,
Mi blessing on the sooap an' sud
Shoo did invent;
Her name sall renk ameng the good,
If aw get sent.

If nobbut in a rainy dub,
Shoo did at furst begin ta skrub,
Or hed a proper weshin' tub--
It's all the same;
Aw'd give a crahn, if aw'd to sub,
To get her name.

I' this wide world aw'm set afloat,
Th' poor regg'd possessor of one coat;
Yet linen clean, aw on tha dote,
An' thus assert,
Tha'rt worthy o' great Shakespeare's note--
A clean lin' shirt.

Low is mi lot, an' hard mi ways,
While paddlin' thro' life's stormy days;
Yet aw will sing t'owd lass's praise,
Wi' famous glee;
Tho' rude an' rough sud be mi lays,
Shoo's t'lass for me.

Bards hev sung the fairest fair,
Their rosy cheeks an' auburn hair;
The dying lover's deep despair,
Their harps hev rung;
But useful wimmin's songs are rare,
An' seldom sung.

In a Pleasant Little Valley.

In a pleasant little valley near the ancient town of Ayr,
Where the laddies they are honest, and the lassies they are fair;
Where Doon in all her splendour ripples sweetly through the wood,
And on its banks not long ago a little cottage stood;
'Twas there, in all her splendour, on a January morn,
Appeared old Coila's genius--when Robert Burns was born.

Her mantle large of greenish hue and robe of tartan shone,
And round its mystic border seen was Luger, Ayr, and Doon;
A leaf-clad holly bough was twined so graceful round her brow,
She was the darling native muse of Scotia then, as now:
So grand old Coila's genius on this January morn,
Appeared in all her splendour when Robert Burns was born.

She vowed she ne'er would leave him till he sung old Scotia's plains--
The daisy, and the milk-white thorn he tuned in lovely strains;
And sung of yellow autumn, or some lovely banks and braes:
And make each cottage home resound with his sweet tuneful lays,
And sing how Coila's genius, on a January morn,
Appeared in all her splendour when Robert Burns was born.

She could not teach him painting like her Cunningham at home,
Nor could she teach him sculpturing like Angelo of Rome;
But she taught him how to wander her lovely hills among,
And sing her bonny burns and glens in simple rustic song;
This old Coila's genius did that January morn,
Vow in all her splendour when Robert Burns was born.

And in the nights