Elegy On Willie Nicol's Mare

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‘Peg Nicholson’ was the name of a horse that Robert Burns acquired from his friend, William Nicol. She was named jocularly after an Englishwoman, Margaret Nicholson, who during a period of mental illness thought she was the rightful monarch and unsuccessfully attempted to stab the King, George the Third. Burns had thought to sell the mare at the Dumfries Fair and was greatly vexed that she died just a few days before the show.

“Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, As ever trod on airn;

But now she's floating down the Nith, And past the mouth o' Cairn.

Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, An' rode thro' thick and thin;

But now she's floating down the Nith, And wanting even the skin.

Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, And ance she bore a priest;

But now she's floating down the Nith, For Solway fish a feast.

Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare, An' the priest he rode her sair;

And much oppress'd and bruis'd she was, As priest-rid cattle are.”

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