The Jolly Gauger
The Jolly Gauger - meaning Summary
Unexpected Match of Classes
A playful, bawdy song in Scots dialect about a government gauger who meets and quickly pairs with a beggar woman by the river. The narrator celebrates their liaison and the beggar’s good fortune, repeatedly insisting they will "gang nae mair a rovin' wi' ladies tae the wine" now that a lowly woman proves so attractive and useful. The poem reverses class expectations with comic intimacy, using a jaunty refrain and rustic imagery to turn social hierarchy into humorous domestic advantage.
Read Complete AnalysesThere was a jolly gauger, a gaugin' he did ride, And he has met a beggar doon by yon river side. And we'll gang nae mair a rovin' wi' ladies tae the wine, When a beggar wi' her meal-pocks can fidge her tail sae fine. Amang the broom he laid her; amang the broom sae green, And he's fa'n to the beggar, as she had been a queen. And we'll gang nae mair a rovin' wi' ladies tae the wine, When a beggar wi' her meal-pocks can fidge her tail sae fine. My blessings on thee, laddie, thou's done my turn sae weel, Wilt thou accept, dear laddie, my pock and pickle meal? And we'll gang nae mair a rovin' wi' ladies tae the wine, When a beggar wi' her meal-pocks can fidge her tail sae fine. Sae blythe the beggar took the bent, like ony bird in spring, Sae blythe the beggar took the bent, and merrily did sing, And we'll gang nae mair a rovin' wi' ladies tae the wine, When a beggar wi' her meal-pocks can fidge her tail sae fine. My blessings on the gauger, o' gaugers he's the chief, Sic kail ne'er crost my kettle, nor sic a joint o' beef, And we'll gang nae mair a rovin' wi' ladies tae the wine, When a beggar wi' her meal-pocks can fidge her tail sae fine.
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