[Tea-Table Miscellany Contents]

To ilka lovely British lass,
Frae ladies Charlotte, Anne, and Jean,
Down to ilk bony singing Bess,
Wha dances barefoot on the green.
–
DEAR LASSES,
YOUR most humble slave,
Wha ne’er to serve you shall decline,
Kneeling wad your acceptance crave,
When he presents this sma’ propine.
–
Then take it kindly to your care,
Revive it with your tunefu’ notes:
Its beauties will look sweet and fair,
Arising saftly through your throats.
–
The wanton wee thing will rejoice,
When tented by a sparkling eye,
The spinnet tinkling with her voice,
It lying on her lovely knee.
–
While kettles dringe on ingles dour,
Or clashes stay the lazy lass;
Thir sangs may ward you frae the sowr,
And gayly vacant minutes pass.
–
E’en while the tea’s fill’d reeking round,
Rather than plot a tender tongue,
Treat a’ the circling lugs wi’ sound,
Syne safely sip when ye have sung.
–
May happiness had up your hearts,
And warm you lang with loving fires:
May pow’rs propitious play their parts,
In matching you to your desires.
–
Edinb. January
1. 1724.
A. RAMSAY.
Thank you for publishing this – I’m a flutist studying James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion and the Tea Table Miscellany is a great primary source for lyrics to so many Scots airs – it’s interesting to see what Robert Burns did with them much later, too, but this is one of the sources that Oswald would have known and drawn upon. It makes a big difference playing the tune if you have the verse in your head!