My Wife's a Wanton Wee Thing
written in 1790
My Wife's a Wanton Wee Thing - fact Summary
About Jean Armour
This short, vernacular song presents a speaker’s comic, bawdy account of his "wanton" wife: her defiant, merry behavior, drunkenness, and a physical reprimand that ends with the birth of a fine child. Written in 1790, the poem reflects Robert Burns’s observations and personal experiences concerning his wife, Jean Armour. It uses repetition and folk diction to create a lively, oral quality typical of Burns’s domestic songs. The tone mixes affectionate exasperation and rural humor rather than moral judgment.
Read Complete AnalysesMy wife's a wanton, wee thing, My wife's a wanton, wee thing, My wife's a wanton, wee thing, She winna be guided by me. She play'd the loon or she was married, She play'd the loon or she was married, She play'd the loon or she was married, She'll do it again or she die. She sell'd her coat and she drank it, She sell'd her coat and she drank it, She row'd hersell in a blanket, She winna be guided for me. She mind't na when I forbade her, She mind't na when I forbade her, I took a rung and I claw'd her, And a braw gude bairn was she.
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