D. I. Harker, ed., Songs from the Manuscript Collection of John Bell [1783-1864] (Leamington Spa: James Hall, 1985), p. 208:

                              
                      AS I GAED TO THE WELL AT E’EN
   
    As I gaed to the well at e'en,
    As any honest auld woman will do,
    The Carle he followed me bedeen,
    As auld carles will do.

       He woo'd me and loo'd me,
       A-wally how he woo'd me!
       But yet I winna tell to you,
       How the carle woo'd me.


    As I gae'd out to ser the gryce
    The auld carle was wi me in a trice

    As I gaed out to look the byre
    The carle he follow'd fierce as fire

    As I sat wi' my wheel to spin
    The carle wad s[t]ay the temper pin

    As I might hap to give a hitch
    The Carle he wad fadge and fitch

    As I might hap to claw my wame
    The carle he wad do the same

    As I leaned to rest my flanks
    The carle he wad shed my shanks

    As I gaed to my bed to sleep
    The carle wad me waukin' keep.

Carle = a man, esp. if low-born or old

Bedeen = immediately

Winna = will not

Ser = feed

Gryce = a young pig

Byre = a cow-shed

Temper pin = pin that regulates the speed of a spinning wheel

Hitch = a sudden movement

Fadge and fitch = fidget around

Claw my wame = scratch my belly

Shed = separate

Waulkin = waking


Bell received the text from the self-educated Roxburghshire shepherd James Telfer (1800-1862), perhaps in the 1840s.