Robert Burns (1759–1796). Poems and Songs.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

302 . Elegy on Willie Nicol’s Mare

PEG NICHOLSON was a good bay mare,

As ever trod on airn;

But now she’s floating down the Nith,

And past the mouth o’ Cairn.

Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare,

An’ rode thro’ thick and thin;

But now she’s floating down the Nith,

And wanting even the skin.

Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare,

And ance she bore a priest;

But now she’s floating down the Nith,

For Solway fish a feast.

Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare,

An’ the priest he rode her sair;

And much oppress’d and bruis’d she was,

As priest-rid cattle are,—&c. &c.