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