[give one annoyance]

Welcome, my bonnie, sweet wee dochter--
Tho' ye come here a wee unsought for,
An' tho' your comin' I hae fought for
Baith kirk an' queir; [choir]
Yet, by my faith, ye're no unwrought for!
That I shall swear!

Sweet fruit o' mony a merry dint,
My funny toil is no a' tint, [not all lost]
Tho' thou came to the warl' asklent, [askew]
Which fools may scoff at;
In my last plack thy part's be in't-- [a small coin]
The better half o't.

Tho' I should be the waur bested, [worse off]
Thou's be as braw an' bienly clad, [finely, comfortably]
An' thy young years as nicely bred
Wi' education,
As ony brat o' wedlock's bed
In a' thy station.

Wee image of my bonnie Betty,
As fatherly I kiss and daut thee, [pet]
As dear an' near my heart I set thee
Wi' as guid will,
As a' the priests had seen me get thee
That's out o' hell.

Gude grant that thou may aye inherit [God]
Thy mither's looks and gracefu' merit,
An' thy poor worthless daddy's spirit,
Without his failins;
'Twill please me mair to see thee heir it,
Than stockit mailins. [farms]

An' if thou be what I wad hae thee, [would have]
An' tak the counsel I shall gie thee,
I'll never rue my trouble wi' thee--
The cost nor shame o't--
But be a loving father to thee,
And brag the name o't.

At Mossgiel the Burns family was no more successful than in either of
its previous farms. Bad seed and bad weather gave two poor harvests,
and by the summer of 1786 the poet's financial condition was again
approaching desperation. His situation was made still more
embarrassing by the consequences of another of his amours. Shortly
after moving to the parish of Mauchline he had fallen in love with
Jean Armour, the daughter of a mason in the village. What was for
Burns a prolonged courtship ensued, and in the spring of 1786 he
learned that Jean's condition was such that he gave her a paper
acknowledging her as his wi