Tam o' Shanter

When chapman billies leave the street,chapman a pedler

And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;drouthy thirsty

As market days are wearing late,

And folk begin to tak the gate,tak take · gate way

While we sit bousing at the nappy,nappy ale

An’ getting fou and unco happy,An’ and · fou fow

We think na on the lang Scots miles,na nae · lang long

The mosses, waters, slaps and stiles,

That lie between us and our hame,hame home

Where sits our sulky, sullen dame,

Gathering her brows like gathering storm,

Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.

This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter,fand found · o’ of

As he frae Ayr ae night did canter:frae from · ae one

(Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses,Auld old · wham whom

For honest men and bonie lasses).bonie bonnie

O Tam! had’st thou but been sae wise,sae so

As taen thy ain wife Kate’s advice!taen taken · ain own

She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,tauld told · weel well

A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;blellum a babbler

That frae November till October,till to

Ae market-day thou was na sober;

That ilka melder wi’ the Miller,melder a grinding corn · wi’ with

Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;siller silver

That ev’ry naig was ca’d a shoe onnaig a nag

The Smith and thee gat roarin’ fou on;gat got

That at the Lord’s house, ev’n on Sunday,

Thou drank wi’ Kirkton Jean till Monday,

She prophesied that late or soon,

Thou wad be found, deep drown’d in Doon,wad would

Or catch’d wi’ warlocks in the mirk,mirk dark

By Alloway’s auld, haunted kirk.kirk church

Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,greet to weep

To think how mony counsels sweet,

How mony lengthen’d, sage advices,

The husband frae the wife despises!

But to our tale: Ae market night,

Tam had got planted unco right,unco remarkably

Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,ingle the fire

Wi reaming saats, that drank divinely;

And at his elbow, Souter Johnie,Souter cobbler

His ancient, trusty, drougthy crony:

Tam lo’ed him like a very brither;lo’ed loved · brither brother

They had been fou for weeks thegither.thegither together

The night drave on wi’ sangs an’ clatter;clatter noise

And aye the ale was growing better:

The Landlady and Tam grew gracious,

Wi’ favours secret, sweet, and precious:

The Souter tauld his queerest stories;

The Landlord’s laugh was ready chorus:

The storm without might rair and rustle,rair to roar

Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.

Care, mad to see a man sae happy,

E’en drown’d himsel amang the nappy.E’en even · himsel himselfk

As bees flee hame wi’ lades o’ treasure,flee to fly

The minutes wing’d their way wi’ pleasure:

Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,

O’er a’ the ills o’ life victorious!a’ all

But pleasures are like poppies spread,

You seize the flow’r, its bloom is shed;

Or like the snow falls in the river,

A moment white—then melts for ever;

Or like the Borealis race,

That flit ere you can point their place;flit to shift

Or like the Rainbow’s lovely form

Evanishing amid the storm.—

Nae man can tether Time nor Tide,

The hour approaches Tam maun ride;maun must

That hour, o’ night’s black arch the key-stane,

That dreary hour he mounts his beast in;

And sic a night he taks the road in,sic such

As ne’er poor sinner was abroad in.

The wind blew as ’twad blawn its last;blawn blown

The rattling showers rose on the blast;

The speedy gleams the darkness swallow’d;

Loud, deep, and lang, the thunder bellow’d:

That night, a child might understand,

The deil had business on his hand.deil devil

Weel-mounted on his grey mare, Meg,

A better never lifted leg,

Tam skelpit on thro’ dub and mire,dub puddle

Despising wind, and rain, and fire;

Whiles holding fast his gude blue bonnet,gude good

Whiles crooning o’er some auld Scots sonnet,crooning humming

Whiles glow’rin round wi’ prudent cares,

Lest bogles catch him unawares;

Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh,

Where ghaists and houlets nightly cry.

By this time he was cross the ford,

Where in the snaw the chapman smoor’d;snaw snow · smoor’d smothered

And past the birks and meikle stane,meikle mickle · stane stone

Where drunken Charlie brak’s neck-bane;brak’s broke his

And thro’ the whins, and by the cairn,whins furze

Where hunters fand the murder’d bairn;bairn child

And near the thorn, aboon the well,aboon above up

Where Mungo’s mither hang’d hersel’.mither mother

Before him Doon pours all his floods,

The doubling storm roars thro’ the woods,

The lightnings flash from pole to pole,

Near and more near the thunders roll,

When, glimmering thro’ the groaning trees,

Kirk-Alloway seem’d in a bleeze,bleeze blaze

Thro’ ilka bore the beams were glancing,bore a chink

And loud resounded mirth and dancing.

Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!

What dangers thou canst make us scorn!

Wi’ tippenny, we fear nae evil;

Wi’ usquabae, we’ll face the devil!usquabae usquebae

The swats sae ream’d in Tammie’s noddle,swats new ale

Fair play, he car’d na deils a boddle,boddle a farthing

But Maggie stood, right sair astonish’d,sair sore

Till, by the heel and hand admonish’d,

She ventur’d forward on the light;

And, wow! Tam saw an unco sight!

Warlocks and witches in a dance:

Nae cotillon, brent new frae France,brent smooth

But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels,

Put life and mettle in their heels.

A winnock-bunker in the east,

There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast;

A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,tyke a dog

To gie them music was his charge:gie to give

He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl,skirl to cry or sound shrilly

Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl.—dirl to vibrate

Coffins stood round, like open presses,

That shaw’d the Dead in their last dresses;

And (by some devilish cantraip sleight)cantraip magic

Each in its cauld hand held a light.cauld cold

By which heroic Tam was able

To note upon the haly table,haly holy

A murderer’s banes, in gibbet-airns;

Twa span-lang, wee, unchristened bairns;Twa two

A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,

Wi’ his last gasp his gabudid gape;

Five tomahawks, wi’ blude red-rusted:

Five scimitars, wi’ murder crusted;

A garter which a babe had strangled:

A knife, a father’s throat had mangled.

Whom his ain son of life bereft,

The grey-hairs yet stack to the heft;

Wi’ mair of horrible and awfu’,mair more

Which even to name wad be unlawfu’.

As Tammie glowr’d, amaz’d, and curious,

The mirth and fun grew fast and furious;

The Piper loud and louder blew,

The dancers quick and quicker flew,

The reel’d, they set, they cross’d, they cleekit,cleekit linked arms

Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,carlin carline a middle-aged · swat sweated

And coost her duddies to the wark,duddies dim. of duds · wark work

And linkit at it in her sark!sark a shirt

Now Tam, O Tam! had they been queans,

A’ plump and strapping in their teens!

Their sarks, instead o’ creeshie flainen,creeshie greasy

Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linen!—hunder a hundred

Thir breeks o’ mine, my only pair,Thir these · breeks breeches

That ance were plush o’ guid blue hair,ance once · guid gude

I wad hae gien them off my hurdies,hae have · gien given

For ae blink o’ the bonie burdies!blink a glance · burdies dim. of bird or burd (a lady)

But wither’d beldams, auld and droll,

Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,Rigwoodie lean · spean to wean

Louping an’ flinging on a crummock.flinging kicking out in dancing · crummock cummock

I wonder did na turn thy stomach.

But Tam kent what was what fu’ brawlie:fu’ full · brawlie finely

There was ae winsome wench and wauliewaulie jolly

That night enlisted in the core,core corps

Lang after ken’d on Carrick shore;

(For mony a beast to dead she shot,

And perish’d mony a bonie boat,

And shook baith meikle corn and bear,baith both

And kept the country-side in fear);

Her cutty sark, o’ Paisley harn,cutty short · harn coarse cloth

That while a lassie she had worn,

In longitude tho’ sorely scanty,

It was her best, and she was vauntie.vauntie proud

Ah! little ken’d thy reverend grannie,grannie graunie

That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,coft bought

Wi twa pund Scots (’twas a’ her riches),

Wad ever grac’d a dance of witches!

But here my Muse her wing maun cour,

Sic flights are far beyond her power;

To sing how Nannie lap and flang,lap leapt · flang flung

(A souple jade she was and strang),souple supple · strang strong

And how Tam stood, like ane bewithc’d,ane one

And thought his very een enrich’d:een eyes

Even Satan glowr’d, and fidg’d fu’ fain,fain fond

And hotch’d and blew wi’ might and main:hotch’d jerked

Till first ae caper, syne anither,syne since · anither another

Tam tint his reason a thegither,tint lost

And roars out, “Weel done, Cutty-sark!”

And in an instant all was dark:

And scarcely had he Maggie rallied.

When out the hellish legion sallied.

As bees bizz out wi’ angry fyke,bizz a flurry · fyke fret

When plundering herds assail their byke;byke a bees’ nest

As open pussie’s mortal foes,

When, pop! she starts before their nose;

As eager runs the market-crowd,

When “Catch the thief!” resounds aloud;

So Maggie runs, the witches follow,

Wi’ mony an eldritch skreich and hollow.eldritch unearthly

Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou’ll get thy fairin!fairin a present from a fair

In hell, they’ll roast thee like a herrin!

In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!

Kate soon will be a woefu’ woman!

Now, do thy speedy-utmost, Meg,

And win the key-stone o’ the brig;brig bridge

There, at them thou thy tail may toss,

A running stream they dare na cross.

But ere the keystane she could make,

The fient a tail she had to shake!fient fiend

For Nannie, far before the rest,

Hard upon noble Maggie prest,

And flew at Tam wi’ furious ettle;ettle aim

But little wist she Maggie’s mettle!

Ae spring brought off her master hale,hale hail

But left behind her ain grey tail:

The carlin claught her by the rump,claught clutched

And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

Now, wha this tale o’ truth shall read,wha who

Ilk man and mother’s son, take heed:Ilk ilka

Whene’er to Drink you are inclin’d,

Or Cutty-sarks rin in your mind,rin to run

Think ye may buy the joys o’er dear;

Remember Tam o’ Shanter’s mare.