Classic Poem

I

They hae trappit a hundred milk-white rats,
They hae poisoned a hundred black;
They hae loosened a hundred brinded cats
Because of an Auld Wife's clack.
The cats hae gone to the North and East —
And West, where the big rats breed —
But they never sall find sae muckle a beast
As the Rat we've got in our heid!

II

They hae setted a hundred specklt hens,
They hae setted a hundred white;
They hae setted a hundred coal-black hens,
An' a' i' the mirk midnight.
When the chicks come out and the Spring cams back
An' the hens a' lay once more,
They never sall raise sae muckle a clack
As the clack of the wife next door!

III

The cats cam back from the North and East
By anes and twas — or mair;
The cats cam hame from the North and West,
An' their tails were pu'd fu' sair
In the rabbit traps and the barbed wire fence —
An' some in the kitchen door —
But nane o' them had sae lang a tail
As the tale of the wife next door!