Comin Thro' The Rye

O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,

  Jenny's seldom dry:

She draigl't a' her petticoatie,

  Comin thro' the rye!

Comin thro' the rye, poor body,

  Comin thro' the rye,

She draigl't a' her petticoatie,

  Comin thro' the rye!

Gin a body meet a body

  Comin thro' the rye,

Gin a body kiss a body,

  Need a body cry?

Gin a body meet a body

  Comin thro' the glen,

Gin a body kiss a body,

  Need the warl' ken?

Gin a body meet a body

  Comin thro' the grain;

Gin a body kiss a body,

  The thing's a body's ain.

Most people only know of this through the work of J d salinger but several variants on the verses of this piece are in existance, including the following which were added later by Burns for theatrical purposes.

Gin a body kiss a body

Comin' thro' the grain

Need a body grudge a body

What's a body's ain

Every lassie has her laddie

Nane, they say, ha'e I

yet a' the lads they smile at me

When comin' thro' the Rye

Amang the train, there is a swain

I dearly lo'e mysel'

But whaur his hame, or what his name

I dinna care to tell

Scots of Burns era would NOT drink Rye

Burns writes about kissing somone coming through the rye - that would make them both wet if it was a river

The  last verse talks of grain

From this it is obvious that rye refers to a crop and not a body of water!

ROUGH MINI GLOSSARY

a' weet .................................. all wet

draigl't a' her petticoatie .... dragged her petticoats

Gin a body ........................... If somebodyeed

n the warl' ken? ................... need the whole world know?

The thing's a body's ain ..... it's nobody else's business