Original Scottish dialect: Standardized English:
Duncan Gray cam here to woo Duncan Gray came here to woo,
(Ha, ha, the wooing o’t!—repeated refrain) (Ha, ha, such was the wooing of it!)
On blythe Yule-Night when we were fou On merry Christmas Even when we were drunk,
Maggie coost her head fu’ high, Maggie cast her head full high, (raised her head)
Look’d asklent and unco skeigh, Looked askance (scornfully) and very skittish,
Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh – Made poor Duncan stand off
Duncan fleech’d, and Duncan pray’d Duncan wheedled/beseeched, and prayed
Meg was deaf as Ailsa Craig Meg was deaf as Ailsa Craig (a rocky island)
Duncan sigh’d baith out and in, Duncan sighed both out and in,
Grat his een baith bleer’t an’ blin’, Wept his eyes both bleary and blind,
Spak o’ lowpin o’er a linn – Spoke of leaping over a waterfall