Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

These lines are from Robert Burns’s Scots-language “Selkirk Grace,” a short table blessing associated with Burns’s visit to the Earl of Selkirk at St Mary’s Isle, near Kirkcudbright, in the late 18th century. Burns is said to have been asked to “say grace” before a meal and offered this succinct, vernacular thanksgiving. The verse reflects the social realities Burns knew well—sharp contrasts between those who possess food but cannot enjoy it and those who hunger without having it—while also fitting the convivial, communal setting of a shared table. It has since become one of the best-known graces in Scotland and beyond.

The grace turns a simple act of thanks into a moral reflection on inequality and human limitation. “Some hae meat and canna eat” points to abundance without the capacity to enjoy it (illness, age, or circumstance), while “some wad eat that want it” evokes poverty and hunger. The speaker then locates the diners’ good fortune in the present—“we hae meat, and we can eat”—and concludes with gratitude rather than complacency. In Burns’s plain Scots diction, the blessing emphasizes humility and awareness: enjoyment of life’s basics is neither universal nor guaranteed, so the proper response is thankful recognition of shared vulnerability and contingent luck.

1) “Some hae meat and canna eat, / And some wad eat that want it; / But we hae meat and we can eat, / And sae the Lord be thankit.”
2) “Some have meat and cannot eat, / And some would eat that want it; / But we have meat and we can eat, / And so the Lord be thanked.”
3) “Some hae meat and canna eat, / And some wad eat who want it; / But we hae meat and we can eat, / And sae the Lord be thankit.”