When She Cam Ben She Bobbed
written in 1792
When She Cam Ben She Bobbed - meaning Summary
Affection Across Class
A light, teasing song celebrating a working‑class woman whose confidence and attractiveness unsettle a gentleman, Cockpen. The speaker recounts how she bobbed in, kissed Cockpen, then playfully denied it, while others remark on the boldness of a lord’s daughter being supplanted by a collier’s lass. The poem praises the lass’s natural beauty and thrift — her homemade clothes and lack of fine fabrics do not lessen her worth. Overall it affirms affection and personal worth over rank, using playful tone and Scots speech to undercut social pretension.
Read Complete AnalysesO when she cam ben she bobbed fu' law, O when she cam ben she bobbed fu' law; And when she cam ben she kiss'd Cockpen, And syne deny'd she did it at a'. And was na Cockpen right saucy with a', And was na Cockpen right saucy with a', In leaving the dochter of a lord, And kissin a Collier-lassie an' a'. O never look down, my lassie at a', O never look down, my lassie at a'; Thy lips are as sweet and thy figure compleat, As the finest dame in castle or ha'. Tho' thou has nae silk and holland sae sma, Tho' thou has nae silk and Holland sae sma, Thy coat and thy sark are thy ain handywark And Lady Jean was never sae braw.
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