Robert Burns (1759-1796). Willie Brewed a Peck o' Maut. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1909. The Book of Georgian Verse

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William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.

Willie Brewed a Peck o’ Maut

By Robert Burns (1759–1796)


O WILLIE 1 brewed a peck o’ maut,
And Rob and Allan cam’ to see;
Three blither hearts, that lee-lang night,
Ye wad na find in Christendie.

We are na fu’, we’re nae that fu’,	5
But just a drappie in our e’e;
The cock may craw, the day may daw,
And aye we’ll taste the barley bree.

Here are we met, three merry boys,
Three merry boys I trow are we;	10
And mony a night we’ve merry been,
And mony mae we hope to be! We are na fu’, etc.

It is the moon—I ken her horn—
That’s blinkin’ in the lift sae hie;
She shines sae bright to wile us hame,	15
But, by my sooth, she’ll wait a wee! We are na fu’, etc.

Wha first shall rise to gang awa’,
A cuckold coward loon is he!
Wha last beside his chair shall fa’,
He is the king amang us three! We are na fu’, etc.	20

Note 1. The circumstance of this poem (“a little masterpiece of drunken fancy” as Henley calls it), occurred in the autumn of 1789. The “three blithe hearts” were William Nicol, of the High School in Edinburgh, Allan Masterton, writing-master to the Edinburgh High School, and Burns. [back]

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