When I was barely ten years auld I left the parish schule
My parents feed me to the Mains, to chew his milk
And meal
I first put on my narrow breeks to hap my spinnel trams
And buskit roond my nappin’ knees a pair o’ Nicky Tams
It’s first I gaed for bailey’s loon and syne I got for third
And syne of course I had to get the horseman’s grip and word
A loaf o’ breid to be my piece and a bottle for drinking drams;
You couldna get through the cattle coort without your Nicky Tams
The fairmer I am wi’ the noo he’s wealthy but he’s mean;
Tho’ corn’s cheap his horses thin, his harness fairly done;
He gars us load our cairts ower fu’, his conscience has nae qualms
When breist straps break there’s naithing like a pair o’ Nicky Tams
I’m coortin’ bonnie Annie, noo, tho’ damsel ticht she be
She is five-and-forty and I’m but seventeen;
She clorts a muckle piece to me wi’ different kinds o’ jams
And tells me ilka nicht that she admires my Nicky Tams
Ae mornin’ I put on my claes, the kirk for to gang
My collar it was unco ticht, my breeks were nane ower lang;
I had my bible in my hand, likewise my buik o’ psalms
When Annie roars, “Ye muckle gowk, tak’ aff your Nicky Tams!”
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Ewan MacColl Lyrics – Nicky Tams