---
title: "Reply to an Announcement by J. Rankine on His Writing to the Poet, That a Girl in That Part of the Country Was with a Child to Him"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Poem"
year: "1784"
location: "Mossgiel"
source: "Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/poems/reply-to-an-announcement-by-j-rankine-on-his-writing-to-the-poet-that-a-girl-in-/"
---

# Reply to an Announcement by J. Rankine on His Writing to the Poet, That a Girl in That Part of the Country Was with a Child to Him

## Poem
I am a keeper of the law  
In some sma’ points, altho’ not a’;  
Some people tell me gin I fa’,  
Ae way or ither,  
The breaking of ae point, tho’ sma’,  
Breaks a’ thegither.

I hae been in for’t ance or twice,  
And winna say o’er far for thrice;  
Yet never met wi’ that surprise  
That broke my rest;  
But now a rumour’s like to rise—  
A whaup’s i’ the nest!

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt)  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/poems/reply-to-an-announcement-by-j-rankine-on-his-writing-to-the-poet-that-a-girl-in-/