The Taylor

The Taylor - meaning Summary

Youthful Courtship and Craft

This short Scots-ballad depicts a confident tailor who visits a young woman under the pretext of sewing and steadily courts her. The repeated chorus emphasizes his skill at winning her affection. Physical details — shaking out his clothes, flies scattering, and the coming of the gloaming — create a lively, slightly comic scene that moves from work to flirtation and suggests a private encounter as night falls. The poem captures rural, everyday courtship with earthy humor and rhythmic refrains that make the tailor both a tradesman and a lover in one gesture.