There's a Youth in This City
written in 1789
There's a Youth in This City - meaning Summary
Charm, Courtship, and Money
The poem sketches a celebrated young man admired for his looks, dress, and social standing. Several local women—Meg, Susie, and Nancy—compete for his attention, yet the speaker reveals his real motive: he is chiefly driven by money. What reads as light, humorous description becomes a quiet satirical notice of materialism and matchmaking in a small community. The tone mixes playful admiration with a knowing aside that wealth, not affection, governs his choices, so the poem reads as social observation wrapped in familiar, colloquial praise.
Read Complete AnalysesThere's a youth in this city, it were a great pity That he from the lasses should wander awa'; For he's bonie an braw, weel-favor'd with a', An' his hair has a natural buckle an' a'. His coat is the hue o' his bonnet sae blue, His fecket is white as the new-driven snaw, His hose they are blae, and his shoon like the slae, And his clear siller buckles, they dazzle us a'. For beauty and fortune the laddie's been courtin; Weel-featur'd, weel-tocher'd, weel-mounted, an' braw, But chiefly the siller that gars him gang till her - The penny's the jewel that beautifies a'! There's Meg wi' the mailen, that fain wad a haen him. And Susie, wha's daddie was laird of the Ha', There's lang-tocher'd Nancy maist fetters his fancy; But the laddie's dear sel he loes dearest of a'.
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