Provided by: Mark Thompson
Source: “The Live Wire – Collection of Prohibition Songs” compiled by Dr J B Herbert and published by The Rodeheaver Company, Gospel Music Publishers, Chicago.
Date: published 1914
Tune: written by JP Crawford, arranged by “JBH”
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A wee bit raggit laddie gangs wand’rin' thro’ the street
He’s wadin’ ‘mang the snaw wi’ his wee hackit feet
He’s shiv’rin’ in the cauld blast an greetin’ wi’ the pain
O wha’s the puir wean caa’in? He’s a drunkard’s raggit wean
Chorus:
Then surely we micht try an’ turn that sinful faither’s hairt
An’ try tae get him back again, tae act a faither’s part
An’ make him leave the drunkard’s cup, an’ never taste again
An’ cherish wi’ a parent’s care his puir wee raggit wean
O see the wee bit bairnie, his heart is unco fou
The sleet is blawin’ caul, an’ he’s dreepit thro’ and thro’
He’s cryin’ for his mither, but O, his mither’s gan
And there is nane to guide the bairn, the drunkard’s raggit wean
He kens no faither’s love, an’ he kens no mither’s care
Tae sooth his wee bit so-orr-ows, or comb his tautit hair
To kiss him when he wakens, or smooth his bed at e’en
An’ O, he fears his faither’s face, the drunkard’s raggit wean
