Dear Sister, I sit doon to write
In answer to your kind invite
To say despite oor present plight
Wi' ordnar care
If weather should be mild and bright
We'll baith be there.

But meantime, if ye dinna mind
Some random thochts I'll try to find
That may in rustic rhyme be twined
In some relation
To what for baith may be defined
The great occasion.

It seems since first the world began
That woman's linked he lot wi' man
And so fulfilled dame nature's plan
Through marriage laws
As Jess and Archie hand in haun
Supports its cause.

A change for them---byordnar great
But still for baith worthwhile to wait
Till noo. November twenty eight
Their task begins
To start their lease and married state
Where Endrick rins.

At first when Adam wed wi' Eve
Her winsome wiles did him deceive
An able lass at mak' believe
Wi' glamour cute
That led him on to pinch and thieve
Forbidden fruit.

And ever since----mere men---alloo
That women are a kittle crew
Excitement and adventuires new
Their chiefest end
Though constant keep their goal in view
---Mair cash to spend.

They promise on their marriage day
To honour cherish and obey
And cooncil that the parsons gae
Has sma' effect
Sniffet oot at the first tiff they hae
Wi' scant respect.

Though this may seem a dootfu' start
If true---it's only sae in part
Since qualities o' head and heart
Are truly theirs
To mind themsels yet watch alert
Their mens' affairs.

And where we see them at their best
Is where wi' ills we're sair distressed
Wi' sympathy they're then obsessed
Baith day and nicht
And sacrifice their sleep and rest
To see us richt.

Withoot them life would lose its trace
O' beauty humour wit and grace
The sun and moon would hide their face
And stop their beamin'
The world a drab unwholesome place
Without the women.

But while we laud the decent wife
That keeps afloat the ship o' life
There's worth and merit rich and rife
Among the men
And hoo they steer their course through strife
Defies my pen.

And as for Archibald and Jess
We wish them a' that brings success
Beyont what they could ever guess
Could be in store
Misfortune trouble and distress
Kept frae their door.

Nae doot they'll meet wi' seasons lean
As in the past they've oftimes been
When profits are a thing unseen
But tides keep turnin'
And times will come again that mean
The hame fires burnin'.

And when lang years and years hae been
And life--its best--to them been gain
And, retrospect, a pleesin' scene
O' blessin's many
The wish o' their maist humble freen
And Auntie Jenny.