I'll tell you a tale of a Wife,
And she was a Whig and a Saunt;
She liv'd a most sanctify'd life,
But whyles she was fash'd wi' her — . —
Fal lal &c.

2

Poor woman! she gaed to the Priest,
And till him she made her complaint;
"There 's naething that troubles my breast
" Sae sair as the sins o' my — . —

3

" Sin that I was herdin at hame,
" Till now I'm three score and ayont,
" I own it wi' sin and wi' shame
" I've led a sad life wi' my — . —

4

He bade her to clear up her brow,
And no be discourag'd upon 't;
For holy gude women enow
Were mony times waur't wi' their — . —

Song. A stanza quoted casually in a letter to Ainslie, 29 July 1787, is apparently an alternative to ll. 41-4:

Then hey, for a merry good fellow,
And hey, for a glass of good strunt;
May never We Sons of Apollo
E'er want a good friend and a — .

5

It 's naught but Beelzebub's art,
But that 's the mair sign of a saunt,
He kens that ye 're pure at the heart,
Sae levels his darts at your — . —

6

What signifies Morals and Works,
Our works are no wordy a runt!
It 's Faith that is sound, orthodox,
That covers the fauts o' your — . —

7

Were ye o' the Reprobate race
Created to sin and be brunt,
O then it would alter the case
If ye should gae wrang wi' your — . —

8

But you that is Called and Free
Elekit and chosen a saunt,
Will 't break the Eternal Decree
Whatever ye do wi' your — ? —

9

And now with a sanctify'd kiss
Let 's kneel and renew covenant:
It 's this — and it 's this — and it 's this —
That settles the pride o' your — . —

10

Devotion blew up to a flame;
No words can do justice upon 't;
The honest auld woman gaed hame
Rejoicing and clawin her — . —

11

Then high to her memory charge;
And may he who takes it affront,
Still ride in Love's channel at large,
And never make port in a — !!!