"Siller" is the Scots word for silver and, by extension, money, and it appears throughout Scots verse in its dual sense. In Burns it is often contrasted with true worth — "the rank is but the guinea's stamp" — and it represents the materialist values that genuine human worth transcends. The word's glittering sound is mildly ironic, making money sound beautiful while the poetry questions its importance. "Siller" is central to Scots verse's ongoing democratic argument about the true nature of value and human dignity.

Siller is one of the most poetically resonant of the Scots material words, naming both the metal and the money in a way that keeps the physical reality of wealth visible. "Siller" does not let us forget that money is a thing, with weight and shine and the possibility of being counted in the hand. Burns uses it throughout his social and satirical verse to demystify wealth and expose its power. In song tradition, siller appears in contexts of dowry, bribery, and the corrupting influence of money on love and honour. Students should note how "siller" functions in a poem about social class or economic power — its concreteness is often a deliberate counter to the abstractions by which wealth disguises itself.