C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray

OH, Bessy Bell and Mary Gray!

They are twa bonny lasses;

They bigged a bower on yon burn-brae,

And thecked it o’er with rashes:

Fair Bessy Bell I looed yestreen,

And thought I ne’er could alter,

But Mary Gray’s twa pawky een

They gar my fancy falter.

Now Bessy’s hair’s like a lint tap,

She smiles like a May morning,

When Phœbus starts frae Thetis’s lap,

The hills with rays adorning;

White is her neck, saft is her hand,

Her waist and feet’s fou genty,

With ilka grace she can command;

Her lips, oh, wow! they’re dainty.

And Mary’s locks are like the craw,

Her eyes like diamonds glances;

She’s ay sae clean red up and braw,

She kills whene’er she dances;

Blyth as a kid, with wit at will,

She blooming, tight, and tall is;

And guides her airs sae graceful still,

O Jove! she’s like thy Pallas.

Dear Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,

Ye unco sair oppress us;

Our fancies jee between you twae,

Ye are sic bonny lasses:

Wae’s me! for baith I canna get,—

To ane by law we’re stinted;

Then I’ll draw cuts, and take my fate,

And be with ane contented.