The night I was in Inver
there was a spate in Conglas;
far have they heard the account
of the turmoil I experienced;
far have they heard the account
of the turmoil I experienced.

I rested at the outset
in a murky house of sorts,
and took an unobtrusive seat
until I shifted quarters;
and took an unobtrusive seat, &c.

When the moon was at its height,
'twas then I had the feeling
that I would need to make a move
to the village nearest me.

The roof of the house was uncovered,
and water dripped on the floor;
there was a small fire and much smoke,
and the rascals kept their eyes shut.

First there was Yellow John's daughter,
and not to gain credit for herself;
she belonged not to that region,
though she brought the basest fashion there.

Why stayed she not away from us,
and act her natural part,
by dwelling in a wretched hut,
and having skin brogues on her feet?

What made her vain and flighty,
a poor wage-earning lass,
untutored save in tending kine?
He found her picking bark, in fact.

She is a perfect laughing stock
for mockers and for humorists;
she does not feel a sense of shame
though all should see her horsemanship.

And he who lies beside her
has no kinship with the Macintyres;
if he were of their kindred,
it would always have dishonoured them.

He is not like the MacDougalls,
As he is rude and brutish;
his door is ever closed,
and he duplicates the locks on it.

The Sinclairs are tired of him,
though they are strong and numerous;
while he is living in the vineyard,
they possess a withered branch.

Since they are a friendly, kindly clan,
both here and in Caithness yonder,
'tis disastrous for them that the fellow
had not perished, ere he was baptized.

Amidst others he resembles
hemlock in a garden,
which spoils the growing space required
for the most pleasing flowering plants.

Acquaintances compare him
with the coarse growth of the midden:
though at first it springs up grandly,
'tis a crop that will not fructify.

Gentility is a thing unknown
to Yellow John's daughter and Calum there:
she is a downright hussy,
and a blackguard he who partners her.

Since they are grim and boorish,
they have not gained the fame of hosts;
'twas never heard that one received
entertainment on those premises.

The gentry will not stay with them,
and farmers they will not tolerate;
'tis pitiful, by all hearsay,
that no virtue is ascribed to them.

A trio with baleful habits,
without esteem, they and the hangman are;
the poor take no delight in them,
no fonder are the rich of them.

They incur friends' ire incessantly,
they have foes in unsuspected parts;
the whole world abhors them,
and not a soul feels love for them.

'Tis a sorry name they will bequeath —
they are quite unlike their parents;
I trust their children will not ape
the basest of these practices.

We saw them, to begin with,
without esteem, good name or fortune,
in a mean, starving dwelling —
'tis poverty was stored therein.

What they have gained by bargains,
swindling folk by trickery,
will vanish, being so acquired:
'tis not wealth to be coveted.

I found it proved concerning them
that they would geld the fleas,
to try if they might get some cash
in the market for their testicles.

Frugal and hard in this world's affairs,
they will keep tally of the whelks,
since 'tis easier to scatter them
than to find them on the sea-shores.

They are stingy-hearted people,
who are bound up in avarice;
if they were put outwith the bounds,
this region would be cleared of weeds.

We shall see the couple yet,
with the drums at their hind quarters,
being sent to Barbados,
and neither of them ever coming home.