The Ploughman's Lament,
by W.D. Cocker

I'm fee'd to a fermer in Fife,
I'se warrant we pairt at the term;
I was ne'er sae hard wrocht in my life,
It's muir like a jile than a ferm,

The bothy is waur than a sty,
The caff bed wi' loupers is rife,
Ye're no' as weel hoosed as the kye
When fee'd tae a fermer in Fife.

I'm fee'd tae a fermer in Fife,
A Renfrewshire laid kens the differ;
It's oh, for a sicht o' the Gryffe,
Or a blink o' the Braes o' Gleniffer!

There wark wi' the daylight is dune,
An' at e'en there's some pleesure in life;
But ye toil by the licht o' the mune
When fee'd tae a fermer in Fife.

I'm fee'd tae a fermer in Fife,
But that's no' the warst o' ma tale,
He's gotten a jaud o' a wife,
That grudges ye saut tae yer kail

Gey scrimp is the fare at ilk meal,
An' she flytes wi' a tongue like a knife,
Oh, ploomen, tak arles frae the de'il,
But haud clear o' the fermers o' Fife!

Return to Scottish Poetry