The cantie Spring scarce rear'd her head,
And Winter yet did blaud her,
When the Ranter came to Anster fair,
And speir'd for Maggie Lauder;
A snug wee house in the East Green,[22]
Its shelter kindly lent her;
Wi' canty ingle, clean hearth-stane,
Meg welcomed Rob the Ranter!
Then Rob made bonnie Meg his bride,
And to the kirk they ranted;
He play'd the auld "East Nook o' Fife;"
And merry Maggie vaunted,
That Hab himsel' ne'er play'd a spring,
Nor blew sae weel his chanter,
For he made Anster town to ring--
And wha 's like Rob the Ranter?
For a' the talk and loud reports,
That ever gaed against her,
Meg proves a true and carefu' wife,
As ever was in Anster;
And since the marriage-knot was tied,
Rob swears he coudna want her;
For he loves Maggie as his life,
And Meg loves Rob the Ranter.
[21] These stanzas are an appropriate addition to the well-known song of
"Maggie Lauder," composed by Francis Semple, about 1660.
[22] The _East Green_ of Anstruther is now a low street connecting the
town with the adjoining village of Cellardyke. The site of Maggie
Lauder's house,--which is said to have been a cot of one storey,--is
pointed out in a small garden opposite a tannery, and on the north side
of the street. Maggie Lauder is the heroine of Dr Tennant's poem of
"Anster Fair."