The Farmer’s Curst Wife
No: 278; variant: 278B
- THE auld Deil cam to the man at the pleugh,
Rumchy ae de aidie
Saying, I wish ye gude luck at the making o yer sheugh.
Mushy toorin an ant tan aira.
- 'It's neither your oxen nor you that I crave;
It's that old scolding woman, it's her I must have.'
- 'Ye're welcome to her wi a' my gude heart;
I wish you and her it's never may part.'
- She jumped on to the auld Deil's back,
And he carried her awa like a pedlar's pack.
- He carried her on till he cam to hell's door,
He gaed her a kick till she landed in the floor.
- She saw seven wee deils a sitting in a raw,
She took up a mell and she murdered them a'.
- A wee reekit deil lookit owre the wa:
'O tak her awa, or she'll ruin us a'.'
- 'O what to do wi her I canna weel tell;
She's no fit for heaven, and she'll no bide in hell.'
- She jumpit on to the auld Deil's back,
And he carried her back like a pedlar's pack.
- She was seven years gaun, and seven years comin,
And she cried for the sowens she left in the pot.