The Corries are great, but not necessarily to be followed!
Here's what I get out of my Scottish Song Index:
KATE DALRYMPLE Wm. Watt (d. 1859)
In his Poems (1860), 88. 6x8 lines. In 1st ed. Air, Jinglin' Johnny. First line, "In a wee cot-house far across the muir".
Some other sources give only 4 stanzas.
Complete in Robert Ford, Vagabond Songs & Ballads II (1900), 19 [line one "across yon muir".]
Gavin Greig, Folk-Song of the North-East, article clxxvii, 1, has the last line: "He's wedded to and bidin' noo wi' K.D."
John Greig, Scots Minstrelsie V.174 (+ m., "modern variation of J.J."), has last line:
"He's won the heart an' got the hand o' K.D.", whence the Corries' version.
Ford's text:
In a wee cot-house far across yon muir,
Where peesweeps, plovers, and whaups cry dreary,
There lived an auld maid for mony a lang year,
Wham ne'er a wooer did e'er ca' his dearie.
A lanely lass was Kate Dalrymple,
A thrifty quean was Kate Dalrymple;
Nae music, exceptin' the clear burnie's wimple,
Was heard round the dwellin' o' Kate Dalrymple.
Her face had a smack o' the gruesome and grim,
Whilk did frae the fash o' wooers defend her;
Her lang Roman nose nearly met wi' her chin,
That brang folk in mind o' the auld witch o' Endor.
A weagle in her walk had Kate Dalrymple,
A sneevil in her talk had Kate Dalrymple;
And mony a cornelian and cairngorm pimple
Did bleeze on the dun face o' Kate Dalrymple.
She span tarry woo' the hale winter through,
For Kate ne'er was lazy, but eident and thrifty;
She wrocht 'mang the peats, coil'd the hay, shore the corn,
And supported hersel' by her ain shift aye.
But ne'er a lover cam' to Kate Dalrymple,
For beauty and tocher wanted Kate Dalrymple;
Unheeded was she by baith gentle and simple,
A blank in the warld seemed puir Kate Dalrymple.
But mony are the ups and downs in life,
Aft the dice-box o' fate's jumbled a' tapsalterrie;
Sae Kate fell heiress to a friend's hale estate,
And nae langer for lovers had she cause to weary.
The Squire cam' a-wooin' o' Kate Dalrymple,
The Priest scrapin', booin', fan out Kate Dalrymple;
And on ilk lover's face was seen love's smiling dimple,
And noo she's nae mair Kate,but *Miss Dalrymple*. [that's for italics]
Her auld cutty stool, that she aft used at her wheel,
Is flung-by for the saft gilded sofa sae gaudy;
And noo she's arrayed in her silks and brocade,
And can rank noo for ruffs and muffs wi' ony lady.
Still an unco fash to Kate Dalrymple,
Was dressin' and party clash to Kate Dalrymple;
She thocht a half-marrow, bred in line mair simple,
Wad be a far fitter match for Kate Dalrymple.
She aftentimes thocht, when she dwelt by hersel',
She could wed Willie Speddystool the sarkin weaver;
And now to the wabster she the secret did tell,
And for love or for int'rest, Will did kindly receive her.
He flang by his heddles for Kate Dalrymple,
He burnt a' his treddles doun for Kate Dalrymple;
Though his richt e'e doth skellie, and his lang leg doth limp ill,
He's wedded to and bedded noo wi' Kate Dalrymple.
----
Watt was an excellent singer as well as composer of music, and sang the song into fame himself.
HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 29-May-02.