Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Songs. II. Caller Herrin’Carolina, Lady Nairne (1766–1845)
W
They’re bonnie fish and halesome farin’;
Wha’ll buy my caller herrin’,
New drawn frae the Forth?
Dream’d ye aught o’ our puir fellows,
Darkling as they faced the billows,
A’ to fill the woven willows?
They’re no brought here without brave daring;
Buy my caller herrin’,
Haul’d through wind and rain.
Oh, ye may ca’ them vulgar farin’,
Wives and mithers maist despairing,
Ca’ them lives o’ men.
Ladies, clad in silks and laces,
Gather in their braw pelisses,
Cast their heads and screw their faces.
Ye can trip the spring fu’ tightlie,
Spite o’ tauntin’, flauntin’, flingin’,
Gow has set you a’ a-singing.
When the bonny fish ye’re sellin’,
At ae word be in yere dealin’—
Truth will stand when a’ thing’s failin’.
They’re bonny fish and halesome farin’;
Wha’ll buy my caller herrin’,
New drawn frae the Forth?