The Happy Mother

Alexander Laing (1787–1857)

AN’ O! may I never live single again,

I wish I may never live single again;

I hae a gudeman, an’ a hame o’ my ain,

An’ O! may I never live single again.

I ’ve twa bonnie bairnies, the fairest of a’,

They cheer up my heart when their daddie’s awa’;

I ’ve one at my foot, and I ’ve one at my knee;

An’ fondly they look, an’ say “Mammie” to me.

At gloamin’ their daddie comes in frae the plough,

The blink in his e’e, an’ the smile on his brow,

Says, “How are ye, lassie, O, how are ye a’,

An’ how ’s the wee bodies sin’ I gaed awa’?”

He sings i’ the e’ening fu’ cheery an’ gay,

He tells o’ the toil and the news o’ the day;

The twa bonnie lammies he tak’s on his knee,

An’ blinks o’er the ingle fu’ couthie to me.

O happy ’s the father that ’s happy at hame,

An’ blythe is the mither that ’s blythe o’ the name,

The cares o’ the warld they fear na’ to dree—

The warld is naething to Johnny an’ me.

Though crosses will mingle wi’ mitherly cares,

Awa’, bonnie lassies—awa’ wi’ your fears;

Gin ye get a laddie that ’s loving and fain,

Ye ’ll wish ye may never live single again.