OOR AE WEE ROVT WEAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 63

OOR AE WEE ROVT WEAN.

We hae a wee bit lassockie 'at oor hoose at hame, Bat for the credit o' the clan I winna- tell her

name : O % a' the steerin' gilpies 'roond that ever I hae seen, There's nane can come upsides wi' her, oor ac wee royt wean. Rampaugin' through the hoose a' day, deavin's wi' her din, She's just a wee deil's-buckie — ay, if ever there

waa yin: An' when she taks a tantrum she winna hod her tongue, Though I skelp her wi' a raip's end, or yerk her wi' a rung. In mischief oot o' doors an' a', she's foremost o' the ranks. An' lang complaints we aften hear aboot her bairn-like pranks; — She's aff wi' Jockie's barrow, or, if Davie has a toy, She nails't, if e'er she gets a chance : she should hae been a boy! The- dowgs an' cats, the cauves an' lambs, and beast o' every sort, She pets or teases, as she likes, whilkever offers sport. She'll ride a coo as sune's a horse withoot the slightest fear; An' mony an ughsome tum'le gets, an' never sheds a tear. Folk say a niuckle family's a weary fecht an' toil ; But oor ac wee royt wean hersel' keeps baith o's in a broil : Though neebours say the lassie's wild frae bein' made a pet, For a' the toil an' trouble o' er we wouldna

want her yet. What neebours say aboot her, troth! it's no me that contradicks ; There's mony a time, I'm positeeve, she should lists ha-en her licks : I've seen a royster lassockie grow up a gey dooce woman ; For noticin'- ocht oot o' place her sharpness is uncommon. We'll try to keep "the enemy" frae her wee crap o' corn ; We ken her kind, an' have the houp she"rl yet draw in her torn : We'll do the best we can, atweel, to keep oor chris'aiin' vows ; An' aye we'll ettle 'er fau'ts to mend, till woman-leuth she grows. — Alec Alah. Clarksville, May 22.