THE LUM HAT WANTIN THE CROON
[by David Rorie]

1.
The burn was big wi' spate,
An there cam tumblin doun
Tapsalteerie half o a gate
An auld fish-hake, an a great muckle skate,
An a lum hat wantin the croon.

2.
An auld wife stood on the bank
As they gaed swirlin roun,
She took a guid look, and syne says she,
There's food an there's firin gaun tae the sea
An a lum hat wantin the croun.

3.
She gruppet the branch o a saugh,
An she kicket aff ane o her shoon,
And she stuck oot her fit, but it caught i the gate,
An awa she went wi the great muckle skate
An the lum hat wantin the croon.

4.
She floated for mony a mile
Past cottage a village an toun,
She'd an awfu time astride o the gate
Though it seemed to gree fine wi the great muckle skate
An the lum hat wantin' the croon.

5.
A fisher was walkin the deck
By the light o his pipe an the moon,
When he sees an auld body astride o a gate
Come bobbin alang in the waves wi a skate
An a lum hat wantin the croon.

6.
There's a man overboard, cried he.
Ye leear, quo she, I'll droon!
A man on a board? It's a wife on a gate,
It's auld Mistress Mackintosh here wi a skate
An a lum hat wantin the croon.

7.
Was she nippit to daith at the Pole?
Has India bakit her broun?
I canna tell that, but whatever her fate,
I'll wager ye'll find it was shared by a gate
An a lum hat wantin the croon.

8.
There's a moral attached to my sang:
On greed ye should aye gie a froon,
When ye think o the wife that was lost for a gate,
An auld fish hake, an a great muckle skate
An a lum hat wantin the croon.