Tweedmouth Town
Tweedmouth Town - meaning Summary
Raucous Social Encounters
This short comic ballad sketches social life near Tweedmouth through three sets of women—maids, wives, and widows—who gather to drink, gossip, or lament. A chorus-like refrain of reunion recurs. The mood shifts when nine northern men cross the Tweed and engage in a bawdy, transactional encounter with the women, after which they return. The poem uses brisk narrative and repetition to present themes of communal ritual, desire, and earthy humor, foregrounding casual sex and social custom rather than psychological depth.
Read Complete AnalysesNear Tweedmouth town there liv'd three maids, Who used to tope good ale; An' there likewise liv'd three wives, Who sometimes wagged their tale; They often met, to tope an' chat, And tell odd tales of men; Crying, when shall we meet again, an' again, Crying, when shall we meet again. Not far from these there liv'd three widows, With complexions wan an' pale, Who seldom used to tope an' bouse, An' seldom wagged their tale. They sigh'd, they pin'd, they griev'd, they whin'd, An' often did complain, Shall we, quo they, ne'er sport or play Nor wag our tails again, an' again. Nor wag our tails again. Nine northen lads with their Scots plaids, By the Union, British call'd, All nine-inch men, to a bousing came, Wi' their brawny backs I'm tald. They all agreed, to cross the Tweed, An' ease them of their pain; They laid them all down, An' they fucked them all round, An' cross'd the Tweed again, an' again. An' cross'd the Tweed again.
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