And my mither was left with me and six other bairns to care for.

'Twas but little schoolin' I had.
After my faither deed I went to work.

The law would not let me gie up my schoolin' altogether.

But three days a week I learned to read and write and cipher, and the other three I worked in a flax mill in the wee Forfarshire town of Arboath.

Do ye ken what I was paid?
Twa shillin' the week.