O That I Had Ne'er Been Married
written in 1795
O That I Had Ne'er Been Married - meaning Summary
Marriage Brings Domestic Burdens
Burns presents a speaker who regrets marrying because domestic responsibilities and dependents bring constant wants and worry. In plain, dialectal lines the poem turns a simple household refrain—Ance crowdie, twice crowdie
—into a weary complaint about poverty, hunger and the strain of providing for a wife and children. The repeated chorus creates a cyclical sense of need, while the speaker’s fear of "Waefu' Want and Hunger" emphasizes how precarious rural subsistence feels. The tone mixes wry resignation and anxious foreboding rather than moralizing or sentimental consolation.
O that I had ne'er been married, I wad never had nae care, Now I've gotten wife an' weans , An' they cry " Crowdie " evermair . Chorus: Ance crowdie , twice crowdie , Three times crowdie in a day Gin ye crowdie ony mair , Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away. Waefu' Want and Hunger fley me, Glowrin' by the hallan en' ; Sair I fecht them at the door, But aye I'm eerie they come ben . Ance crowdie , &c.
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