A flowery howm, between twa verdant braes,
Where lasses used to wash and spread their claes,
A trottin' burnie whimpling through the ground,
Its channel peebles, shining, smooth and round :
Here view twa barefoot beauties, clean and clear;
First please your eye, then gratify your ear :
While Jenny what she wishes discommends,
And Meg, wi' better sense, true love defends.
Jenny. Come, Meg, let's fa' to wark upon this green,
This shining day will bleach our linen clean;
The water clear, the lift's unclouded blue,
Will mak them like a lily wet wi' dew.
Peggy. Gae farer up the burn to Habbie's How,
Where a' the sweets o' spring an' simmer grow;
Between twa birks, out o'er a little linn,
The water fa's and maks a singin' din:
A pool breast-deep beneath as clear as glass,
Kisses with easy whirls the bord'ring grass.
We'll end our washing while the morning's cool,
And when the day grows het, we'll to the pool;
There wash oursels-'tis healthfu' now in May,
And sweetly cauler on sae warm a day.