Hooly and fairly

Oh! what had I ado for to marry!
My wife she drinks naething but sack and canary,
I to her friends complain'd right early,
  O! gin my wife wou'd drink hooly and fairly.
  Hooly and fairly; hooly and fairly,
  O! gin my wife wou'd drink hooly and fairly.

[...]

And when she comes hame, she lays on the lads,
The lasses she ca's baith limmers and jades,
And ca's mysel' ay an auld cuckold carlie;
  O gin my wife, &c.

Translation(s): FRE

List of language codes

Glossary

Gin = if only
Hooly = slowly
Limmers = strumpets
Jades = familiar term among country folks for giddy young girls
Auld cuckold carlie = little old man

Submitted by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Authorship

• by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) [ author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Hooly and fairly", JHW. XXXII/3 no. 241, Hob. XXXIa no. 237. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Oh pourquoi ai-je pris la peine de me marier !", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website: 2009-08-27.
Last modified: 2014-07-28 11:30:14
Line count: 11
Word count: 80

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