Isaac Bickerstaff. 1735-1787. John Bartlett, comp. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed.

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Isaac Bickerstaff. (1735–1787)

Hope! thou nurse of young desire.

Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 1.

    There was a jolly miller once,
  Lived on the river Dee;
He worked and sung from morn till night:
  No lark more blithe than he.

Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 2.

    And this the burden of his song
  Forever used to be,—
I care for nobody, no, not I,
  If no one cares for me. 1

Love in a Village. Act i. Sc. 2.

Young fellows will be young fellows.

Love in a Village. Act ii. Sc. 2.

Ay, do despise me! I ’m the prouder for it; I like to be despised.

The Hypocrite. Act v. Sc. 1.

Note 1.
If naebody care for me,
I ’ll care for naebody.
Robert Burns: I hae a Wife o’ my Ain. [back]