1793
poortith cauld and restless love
tune—“cauld kail in aberdeen.”
o poortith cauld, and restless love,
ye wrack my peace between ye;
yet poortith a' i could forgive,
an 'twere na for my jeanie.
chorus—o why should fate sic pleasure have,
life's dearest bands untwining?
or why sae sweet a flower as love
depend on fortune's shining?
the warld's wealth, when i think on,
it's pride and a' the lave o't;
o fie on silly coward man,
that he should be the slave o't!
o why, &c.