玛格丽特·辛普森是艾尔郡一个出身卑微的家庭的女儿，有着清秀的身段和难得的美貌，正当她成年的时候，嫁给了渔夫约翰·鲁阿特。约翰的财产包括他的独木舟、三把桨和他的渔具。除了他最爱的两个粗壮的儿子约翰和詹姆斯。不管风怎么吹，雨怎么下，鱼怎么少，约翰一点也不难过。坐在他家明亮的壁炉旁，四周都是笑容满面的面孔，全都是他自己的。但大儿子约翰却不听父亲的话，约翰·鲁阿认为这是最严重的冒犯。所以他的父亲试图阻止他，但一切都没用，约翰加入了一艘税收船，成为船员之一;当他的父亲听到后，他痛苦地呻吟着，并愤怒地禁止他永远不要回家。就在詹姆斯没有征得父母的同意就离家出海后不久，约翰·鲁阿特变得郁郁寡欢，非常悲伤。但是有一天他收到一封信，说他的儿子约翰死了，当他读到这个悲伤的消息时，所有的安慰都消失了。不久之后，他的儿子詹姆斯被枪杀了，因为他让一个逃兵逃跑了，这就是他的命运; And through the death of his two sons he felt dejected, And the condolence of kind neighbours by him was rejected. 'Twas near the close of autumn, when one day the sky became o'ercast, And John Rouat, contrary to his wife's will, went to sea at last, When suddenly the sea began to roar, and angry billows swept along, And, alas! the stormy tempest for John Rouat proved too strong. But still he clutched his oars, thinking to keep his coble afloat, When one 'whelming billow struck heavily against the boat, And man and boat were engulfed in the briny wave, While the Storm Fiend did roar and madly did rave. When Margaret Rouat heard of her husband's loss, her sorrow was very great, And the villagers of Bute were moved with pity for her sad fate, And for many days and nights she wandered among the hills, Lamenting the loss of her husband and other ills. Until worn out by fatigue, towards a ruinous hut she did creep, And there she lay down on the earthen Roor, and fell asleep, And as a herd boy by chance was passing by, He looked into the hut and the body of Margaret he did espy. Then the herd boy fled to communicate his fears, And the hut was soon filled with villagers, and some shed tears. When they discovered in the unhappy being they had found Margaret Rouat, their old neighbour, then their sorrow was profound. Then the men from the village of Bute willingly lent their aid, To patch up the miserable hut, and great attention to her was paid. And Margaret Rouat lived there in solitude for many years, Although at times the simple creature shed many tears. Margaret was always willing to work for her bread, Sometimes she herded cows without any dread, Besides sometimes she was allowed to ring the parish bell, And for doing so she was always paid right well. In an old box she kept her money hid away, But being at the kirk one beautiful Sabbath day, When to her utter dismay when she returned home, She found the bottom forced from the box, and the money gone. Then she wept like a child, in a hysteric fit, Regarding the loss of her money, and didn't very long survive it. And as she was wont to descend to the village twice a week, The villagers missed her, and resolved they would for her seek. Then two men from the village, on the next day Sauntered up to her dwelling, and to their dismay, They found the door half open, and one stale crust of bread, And on a rude pallet lay poor Margaret Rouat cold and dead.