In the Lothian Collection the first verse of a poem by W. D. Cocker is quoted: The Barn Dance Hey! for the music o' Baldy Bain's fiddle! Redd up the barn, a' we'e gie ye a Reel. In till it, noo! wit a diddle-dum-diddle, Dod! that's the tune to pit springs in your heel. Skirlin' o' lassocks, an' 'Hoochs' frae ilk fellow, Cheers, when the gudeman himsel' taks the flair, Leads Petronella wi' hellicate Bella, Brawest o' dochters, though gey deil-may-care. Hey! for the music o' Baldy Bain's fiddle! Lads frae the bothies, an' herds frae the hill Cleek wi' young lassies, sae jimp roon the middle. Gosh! but some auld anes are soople anes still. Lang Geordie Craddock, the grieve o'Kilmadock, Widowed sae aft he's fain to forget, Wha would jalouse he could loup like a puddock? Faith! but here's spunk in the auld deevil yet! Hey! for the music o' Baldy Bain's fiddle! Syne we'll hae supper, for time's wearin' on; Drinks for the drouthy, an' scones frae the griddle Bella's the lass that can bake a guid scone. Baldy's in fettle, an' sweers he maun ettle Ae hinmaist hoolachan juist for the last. Cast yer coats, callans, an' yoke tae't we' mettle; Dancin' and daffin' days sune will be past. William   Dixon   Cocker   was   a   Scottish   poet,   born   in   Rutherglen   in   1882   who   died   in   Glasgow   in   1970,   aged   87.   He worked   for   Glasgow’s   Daily   Record,   beginning   in   their   accounts   department,   but   also   serving   as   their   drama   critic for   over   twenty   years,   and   then   the   Evening   News,   totalling   over   50   years,   and   retired   aged   74   when   the   Evening News   ceased   publication.   In   WWI   he   served   with   the   9 th    Highland   Light   Infantry   (Glasgow   Highlanders),   then transferred   to   the   Royal   Scots,   and   was   taken   prisoner   in   1917.   He   wrote   a   small   amount   of   war   poetry   (in English)   including   Up   the   Line   to   Poelkapelle,   The   Sniper   and   a   five-part   sonnet   cycle   'Sonnets   in   Captivity'.   Sadly he lost two brothers in the war and both parents died around the same time. He   is   best   known   for   his   humorous   poems   in   Scots,   often   on   Biblical   themes,   such   as   "The   Deluge",   on   the   story   of Noah   and   the   Flood.   Books   of   his   poems   include   "Poems:   Scots   and   English",   Further   Poems",   "New   Poems"   and "Random Rhymes and Ballads" and he also wrote a dozen plays, short stories and several local history books.