Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Poet's Welcome to his Illegitimate Child

Robert Burns

“The Poet's Welcome to his Illegitimate Child” as printed in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887).

Robert Burns: Collected Lyrics Text 404 1887 · historical text
Public domainScottish songSong lyrics
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of Robert Burns, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Thou's welcome, wean! mishanter fa' me,

If ought of thee, or of thy mammy,

Shall ever danton me, or awe me,

My sweet wee lady,

Or if I blush when thou shalt ca' me

Tit-ta or daddy.

Verse 2

Wee image of my bonie Betty,

I fatherly will kiss and daut thee,

As dear and near my heart I set thee

Wi' as gude will,

As a' the priests had seen me get thee

That's out o' hell.

Verse 3

What tho' they ca' me fornicator,

An' tease my name in kintra clatter:

The mair they talk I'm kent the better,

E'en let them clash;

An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter

To gie ane fash.

Verse 4

Sweet fruit o' monie a merry dint,

My funny toil is now a' tint,

Sin' thou came to the world asklent,

Which fools may scoff at;

In my last plack thy part's be in't—

The better haff o't.

Verse 5

An' if thou be what I wad hae thee,

An' tak the counsel I shall gie thee,

A lovin' father I'll be to thee,

If thou be spar'd;

Thro' a' thy childish years I'll ee thee,

An' think't weel war'd.

Verse 6

Gude grant that thou may aye inherit

Thy mither's person, grace, an' merit,

An' thy poor worthless daddy's spirit,

Without his failins,

'Twill please me mair to hear an' see't,

Than stockit mailins.

Credits

Written by Robert Burns

Words by Robert Burns. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of Robert Burns (1887), “The Poet's Welcome to his Illegitimate Child”

Every text in this 1887 collected edition is by Robert Burns (1759-1796), who died more than 230 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination and a pre-1931 United States publication.

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 2026-10-25. 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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