Allan Ramsay: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Dear Roger, if your Jenny

Allan Ramsay

“Dear Roger, if your Jenny” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Allan Ramsay: Collected Lyrics Text 5 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Dear Roger, if your Jenny geck,

And answer kindness with a slight,

Seem unconcern'd at her neglect,

For women in our vows delight.

But them despise who're soon defeat,

And with a simple face give way

To a repulse; then, be not blate,

Push bauldly on and win the day.

Verse 2

These maidens, innocently young,

Say aften what they never mean;

Ne'er mind their pretty lying tongue,

But tent the language of their een;

If these agree, and she persist

To answer all your love with hate,

Seek elsewhere to be better blest,

And let her sigh when 'tis too late.

Credits

Written by Allan Ramsay

Words by Allan Ramsay. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “Dear Roger, if your Jenny”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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