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Translation
Index

O, That I Had Ne'er Been Married
Tune : Crowdie (Oat-Meal and Water)

 

Burns Original

Standard English Translation

O, That I Had Ne'er Been Married

Chorus
Ance crowdie, twice crowdie,
Three times crowdie in a day!
Gie ye crowdie onie mair,
Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away.
1.
O, that I had ne'er been married,
I wad never had nae care!
Now I've gotten wife an' bairns,
An' they cry ' Crowdie' evermair.
2.
Waefu' Want and Hunger fley me,
Glowrin by the hallan en';
Sair I fecht them at the door,
But ay I'm eerie they come ben.

 

O, That I Had Never Been Married

Chorus
Once oat-meal and water, twice oat-meal and water,
Three times oat-meal and water in a day!
Give you oat-meal and water any more,
You will oat-meal and water all my meal away.

O, that I had never been married,
I would never had no care!
Now I have gotten wife and children,
And they cry ' Oat-meal and water' evermore.

Woeful Want and Hunger scare me,
Glowering by the porch end;
Hard I fight them at the door,
But always I am frightened they come in.

 

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