My Girl She's Airy
My girl she's airy, she's buxom and gay;
Her breath is as sweet as the blossoms in May;
A touch of her lips it ravishes quite.
She's always good natur'd, good humour'd and free;
She dances, she glances, she smiles with a glee;
Her eyes are the lightenings of joy and delight;
Her slender neck, her handsome waist,
Her hair well buckled, her stays well lac'd,
Her taper white leg with an et, and a, c,
For her a, b, e, d, and her c, u, n, t,
And oh, for the joys of a long winter night!
Tune: Black Joke
Note: The black joke of the tune title, as defined by the 1811
and 1785 dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, was a popular tune of
the time having for its main line "Her black joke and belly so
white:" which is characterised as signifying the monosylable.
Upon checking the definition of 'monosylable' one finds it
defined as a "woman's commodity."
It appears to be an unfinished song with the rhyme scheme of
A,A,B, C,C,B D,D,C?, E,B?. Yet, the original manuscript appears
finished. ARB
Collected (?) by Robert Burns in Merry Muses of Caledonia
ARB
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!