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THOU’S 1 welcome, wean; mishanter fa’ me,
If thoughts o’ thee, or yet thy mamie,
Shall ever daunton me or awe me,
My bonie lady,
Or if I blush when thou shalt ca’ me
Tyta or daddie.
Tho’ now they ca’ me fornicator,
An’ tease my name in kintry clatter,
The mair they talk, I’m kent the better,
E’en let them clash;
An auld wife’s tongue’s a feckless matter
To gie ane fash.
Welcome! my bonie, sweet, wee dochter,
Tho’ ye come here a wee unsought for,
And tho’ your comin’ I hae fought for,
Baith kirk and queir;
Yet, by my faith, ye’re no unwrought for,
That I shall swear!
Wee image o’ my bonie Betty,
As fatherly I kiss and daut thee,
As dear, and near my heart I set thee
Wi’ as gude will
As a’ the priests had seen me get thee
That’s out o’ h—ll.
Sweet fruit o’ mony a merry dint,
My funny toil is now a’ tint,
Sin’ thou came to the warl’ asklent,
Which fools may scoff at;
In my last plack thy part’s be in’t
The better ha’f o’t.
Tho’ I should be the waur bestead,
Thou’s be as braw and bienly clad,
And thy young years as nicely bred
Wi’ education,
As ony brat o’ wedlock’s bed,
In a’ thy station.
Lord grant that thou may aye inherit
Thy mither’s person, grace, an’ merit,
An’ thy poor, worthless daddy’s spirit,
Without his failins,
’Twill please me mair to see thee heir it,
Than stockit mailens.
For if thou be what I wad hae thee,
And tak the counsel I shall gie thee,
I’ll never rue my trouble wi’ thee,
The cost nor shame o’t,
But be a loving father to thee,
And brag the name o’t.
Note 1. Burns never published this poem. [back]
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Copyright © 2003-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson, Poetry Connection. All Rights Reserved.
The original title to this poem is "Welcome To A Bastart Wean". Burns wrote it for one of his daughters conceived out of wedlock with a woman other than his wife. Admiringly, his wife Jean took in this child as the mother was unable to look after the baby herself.
In Burns time, he would have been expected to disown the child and its mother because they weren't married - however Burns has profoundly acknowledged both their existence in this poem which was quite a remarkable thing to do in his society. The main concerns of the poem are that it doesn't matter where you are from - what matters is the person you grow to be. He lovingly refers to the child as his "bonie sweet wee dochter" and "sweet fruit o monie a many dint" and calls the mother his "bonie Betty" - indicating pride of his actions. However he know that he was irresponsible as he calls himself "worthless" but he doesn't regret the child coming into the world as he also says: "My funny toil is no a' tint" - tint meaning shade or darkness i.e. the result of this affair wasn't a bad one. He doesn't care about what his community thinks as he refers to their gossip as "An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter". Even nowadays what an old wife has to say isn't very important which indicates he doesn't think the gossip of his community about him is worth bothering about. This is quite a personal poem from Burns and further analysis reveals a lot about his character.
Sarah Mo from United Kingdom