My boy, Tammy

"Is she fit to soop the house,

My boy, Tammy?

Is she fit to soop the house,

My boy, Tammy?

She 's just as fit to soop the house

As the cat to tak' a mouse;

And yet she 's but a young thine

New come frae her mammy."]

Whar ha'e ye been a' day,

My boy, Tammy?

I've been by burn and flow'ry brae,

Meadow green and mountain grey,

Courting o' this young thing,

Just come frae her mammy.

And whar gat ye that young thing,

My boy, Tammy?

I got her down in yonder howe,

Smiling on a bonnie knowe,

Herding ae wee lamb and ewe,

For her poor mammy.

What said ye to the bonnie bairn,

My boy, Tammy?

I praised her een, sae lovely blue,

Her dimpled cheek and cherry mou';—

I pree'd it aft, as ye may trow;—

She said she'd tell her mammy.

I held her to my beating heart,

My young, my smiling lammie!

I ha'e a house, it cost me dear,

I've wealth o' plenishen and gear;

Ye'se get it a', were't ten times mair,

Gin ye will leave your mammy.

The smile gaed aff her bonnie face—

I maunna leave my mammy.

She's gien me meat, she's gien me claes,

She's been my comfort a' my days:—

My father's death brought monie waes—

I canna leave my mammy.

We'll tak' her hame and mak' her fain,

My ain kind-hearted lammie.

We'll gi'e her meat, we'll gi'e her claise,

We'll be her comfort a' her days.

The wee thing gi'es her hand, and says—

There! gang and ask my mammy.

Has she been to the kirk wi' thee,

My boy, Tammy?

She has been to the kirk wi' me,

And the tear was in her e'e;

For O! she's but a young thing,

Just come frae her mammy.