Chapter I

My vows I can never fulfil,
Until
I have breakfasted, one way or other;
And I freely protest,
That I never can rest
‘Till I borrow or beg
An egg,
Unless I can come at the ould hen, its mother.
But Maggy, my dear,
While you’re here,
I don’t fear
To want eggs that have just been laid newly;
For och! you’re a pearl
Of a girl,
And you’re called so in _Latin_ most truly.