Traditional: Collected Lyrics
86 / 291
Public-domain lyrics

Come hame to your lingels

Traditional

“Come hame to your lingels” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 86 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

Come hame to your lingels, ye ne'er-do-weel loon,

You're the king o' the dyvours, the talk o' the town,

Sae soon as the Munonday morning comes in,

Your wearifu' daidling again maun begin.

Gudewife, you're a skillet, your tongue's just a bell,

To the peace o' gude fallows it rings the death-knell,

But clack till ye deafen auld Barnaby's mill,

The souter shall aye ha'e his Munonday's yill.

Come hame to your lap-stane, come hame to your last,

It's a bonnie affair that your family maun fast,

While you and your crew here a-guzzling maun sit,

Ye daised drunken gude-for-nocht heir of the pit,

Just leuk, how I'm gaun without stocking or shoe,

Your baims a' in tatters, an' fotherless too,

An' yet, quite content, like a sot, ye'll sit still,

Till your kyte's like to crack, wi' your Munonday's yill.

I tell you, gudewife, gin you haud na your clack,

I'll lend you a reestle wi' this owre your back;

Maun we be abused an' affronted by you,

Wi' siccan fool names as "loon," "dyvour," an' "crew?"

Come hame to your lingels, this instant come hame,

Or I'll redden your face, gin ye've yet ony shame,

For I'll bring a' the bairns, an' we'll just ha'e our fill,

As weel as yoursel', o' your Munonday's yill.

Gin that be the gate o't, sirs, come, let us stir,

What need we sit here to be pestered by her?

For she'll plague an' affront us as far as she can;

Did ever a woman sae bother a man?

Frae yill house to yill house she'll after us rin,

An' raise the hale town wi' her yelpin' and din;

Come, ca' the gudewife, bid her bring in her bill,

I see I maun quat takin' Munonday's yill.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. 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, “Come hame to your lingels”

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.
Keep tracing

More from Traditional: Collected Lyrics.

01A good old SongPublic-domain lyrics02I canna be fashedPublic-domain lyrics03It's weel it's nae waurPublic-domain lyrics04'Twas na her bonnie blue e'ePublic-domain lyrics