| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | Tam i’ the Kirk | | By Violet Jacob (1863–1946) |
| | | O JEAN, my Jean, when the bell ca’s the congregation | |
| Owre valley an’ hill wi’ the ding frae its iron mou’, | |
| When a’ body’s thochts is set on his ain salvation, | |
| Mine ’s set on you. | |
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| There ’s a reid rose lies on the Buik o’ the Word afore ye | 5 |
| That was growin’ braw on its bush at the keek o’ day, | |
| But the lad that pu’d yon flower i’ the mornin’s glory, | |
| He canna pray. | |
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| He canna pray; but there ’s nane i’ the kirk will heed him | |
| Whaur he sits sae still his lane at the side o’ the wa’, | 10 |
| For nane but the reid rose kens what my lassie gie’d him— | |
| It an’ us twa! | |
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| He canna sing for the sang that his ain he’rt raises, | |
| He canna see for the mist that ’s afore his een, | |
| An’ a voice drouns the hale o’ the psalms an’ the paraphrases, | 15 |
| Cryin’ ‘Jean, Jean, Jean!’ | | | | |
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