The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #10726   Message #3779789
Posted By: leeneia
19-Mar-16 - 09:40 AM
Thread Name: Lyr/Chords Req: My Bonny Moorhen
Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: My Bonny Moorhen
Hello, Guest

If you scroll to the top of the page, you'll see Quick Links. One of them is a Scots Glossary. There you will learn that:

gang = go
but = can mean without
ben = can mean inside

In this poem, ye is formal (rather than plural) you.

So "when ye gang but the house, when ye gang ben..." means when you go out of the house and when you come in.

I suspect that this was an old song that somebody modified to suit a political purpose. Why would Charles be referred to as a moorHEN, a female bird?