The Rantin' Dog The Daddie O 'T

by Robert Burns

I.

O wha my babie-clouts will buy?
O wha will tent me when I cry?
Wha will kiss me where I lie? -
The rantin' dog the daddie o 't.

II.

O wha will own he did the fau't?
O wha will buy the groanin' maut?
O wha will tell me how to ca 't? -
The rantin' dog the daddie o 't.

III.

When I mount the creepie chair,
Wha will sit beside me there?
Gie me Rob, I'll seek nae mair,
The rantin' dog the daddie o 't.

IV.

Wha will crack to me my lane?
Wha will mak' me fidgin' fain?
Wha will kiss me o'er again? -
The rantin' dog the daddie o 't.

Notes to the poem:

The subject of this fine and humorous ditty was a girl of the name of Elizabeth Paton, a servant in his mother's house. She was the mother of the child he addressed as- "My sonsie, smirking, dear-bought Bess." "I composed it," says the poet, "pretty early in life, and sent it to a young girl, a very particular acquaintance of mine, who was at the time under a cloud."