Paraffin Lamp Seller       Watt Nicoll

Trottin down the country lanes ,
The pony and the cart
Its a heavy load and a heavy road,
He's heavy in his heart
Crack no whip, he just nods his head ,
tae makes that horse run fast
Wi his wooden dolls and heather brooms
And paraffin lamps of brass

He's got to make the market
to try to sell his wares
To earn the cost of bread and a crust,
While the weathers cold and grey
Been on the road a long long time,
sixty-three years past
Wi his wooden dolls and heather brooms
And paraffin lamps of brass

Its forty years or forty-two,
since Jamie he was as born
And he carved a special wooden doll,
for his first and only son
A happy laughin Jamie,
he's playin on the grass
Wi his wooden dolls and heather brooms
And paraffin lamps of brass

On his right side is a peddlar ,
He's tall he's strong he's young
Sellin dolls and brooms and paraffin
Three for the price of one
The old lad he doesnt sell at all
Till the the young one sells his last
His wooden dolls and heather brooms
And paraffin lamps of brass

Now he's only made a copper,
to buy the pony's grain
His work is done, he leaves this town
and shuts the shop again
Its Jamie's name above the door
but the old man ambles past
The windows full of dolls and heather brooms
And paraffin lamps of brass

Now he died up in the workhouse
And the bell didnt even toll
His last request was do your best
for the pony cos he's old
And the pony never heard it
To another hand he passed
Like the wooden dolls and heather brooms
And paraffin lamps of brass
Rpt last 2 lines