There Was A Lad
Norman Buchan
(Written about Robert Burns because there is no memorial
to him
in St Gile’s Cathedral, Edinburgh!)
There was a lad was born in Kyle,
But ye widna ken it in St. Giles,
For there they think na worth their while
Tae hae a plaque for Robin.
For Robin was a rovin’ boy,
A rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’,
Robin was a rovin’ boy,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin!
For Robin was nae Scottish prude
And sometimes he was downright rude,
Especially tae the unco guid,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin
For Robin was a rovin’ boy,
A rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’,
Robin was a rovin’ boy,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin!
For Robin in a pub ye’d find,
Tae slake his drouth he didny mind,
An’ faur ower fond o’ the womankind
Tae hae a plaque for Robin.
For Robin was a rovin’ boy,
A rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’,
Robin was a rovin’ boy,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin!
Ye never saw him on parade,
Wi’ earls an’ dukes an’ counts an’ lairds,
Though he’s done nae bad for the tourist trade,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin.
For Robin was a rovin’ boy,
A rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’,
Robin was a rovin’ boy,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin!
If he’d made his pile frae a whisky still,
We’d ha’ gie’d him a wall – and a pew – tae himsel’,
But they say he only drank it gill by gill,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin.
For Robin was a rovin’ boy,
A rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’,
Robin was a rovin’ boy,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin!
An’ Robin wore nae medals braw,
Nae big-wigged minion of the law,
An’ we doot he wisny keen on the church at a’,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin.
For Robin was a rovin’ boy,
A rantin’, rovin’, rantin’, rovin’,
Robin was a rovin’ boy,
So we’ll hae nae plaque for Robin!
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