A Waukrife Minnie
written in 1789
Whare are you gaun, my bony lass, Whare are you gaun, my hiney. She answered me right saucilie, An errand for my minnie. O whare live ye, my bony lass, O whare live ye, my hiney. By yon burnside, gin ye maun ken, In a wee house wi' my minnie. But I foor up the glen at e'en, To see my bony lassie; And lang before the grey morn cam, She was na hauf sae saucey. O weary fa' the waukrife cock, And the foumart lay his crawin! He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep, A wee blink or the dawin. An angry wife I wat she raise, And o'er the bed she brought her; And wi' a meikle hazel rung She made her a weel-pay'd dochter. O fare thee weel, my bony lass! O fare thee well, my hinnie! Thou art a gay an' a bony lass, But thou has a waukrife minnie.
A Waukrife Minnie - meaning Summary
Courtship Foiled by a Mother
This short Scots ballad presents a would-be lover's late-night visit to a bony lass. She replies saucily that she lives with her mother; the narrator returns at evening but finds her demeanor changed before dawn. The household cock wakes the mother, who angrily confronts and beats her daughter with a hazel rod. The speaker ends with a rueful farewell, noting the girl's attractiveness but lamenting her waukrife (overwatchful) mother. The poem uses a colloquial, comic voice to show how parental authority curtails youthful courtship.
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