ADDRESS

TO THE

UNCO GUID,

OR THE

RIGIDLY RIGHTEOUS.

My son, these Maxims make a rule,
And lump them ay thegither;
The Rigid Righteous is a fool,
The Rigid Wise anither:

The cleanest corn that e'er was dight
May hae some pyles o' caff in:
So ne'er a fellow-creature slight,

For random fits o' daffin.

SOLOMON.-Eccles. ch. vii. ver. 16.

I.

OYE wha are sae guid yoursel,

Sae pious and sae holy,

Ye've nought to do but mark and tell,

Your Neebor's fauts and folly!

ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID, &c.

Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill,
Supply'd wi' store o' water,
The heapet happer's ebbing still,
And still the clap plays, clatter.

II.

Hear me, ye venerable Core,

As counsel for poor mortals.
That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door,
For glaikit Folly's portals;

I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes,
Would here propone defences,

Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes,.....

Their failings and.mischances.

III.

Ye see your state wi' their's compar'd,

And shudder at the niffer,

But cast a moment's fair regard,

What maks the mighty differ?
Discount what scant occasion gave,
That purity ye pride in,

And (what's aft mair than a' the lave)
Your better art o' hiding.

ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID, &c.

TV.

"Think, when your castigated pulse,

Gies now and then a wallop,
What ragings must his veins convulse,
That still eternal gallop;

"Wï' wind and tide fair i̇' your tail,
Right on ye scud your sea-way;
But in the teeth o' baith to sail,

It maks an unco lee-way.

V.

See Social life and Glee sit down,

All joyous and unthinking, Till, quite transmugrify'd, they're grown, Debauchery and Drinking:

*O would they stay to calculate

Th' eternal consequences;

Or your more dreaded hell to state,

D-mnation of expences!

VI.

Ye high, exalted, virtuous Dames,

Ty'd up in Godly laces,

Before ye gie poor Frailty names,
-Suppose a change o' cases;

ADDRESS TO THE UNCO GUID, &c.

A dear-lov'd lad, convenience snug,
A treacherous inclination-
But, let me whisper i' your lug
Ye're aiblins nae temptation.

VII.

Then gently scan your brother Man,
Still gentler sister Woman;

Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang,
To step aside is human:

One point must still be greatly dark,
The moving Why they do it:
And just as lamely can ye mark,
How far perhaps they rue it.

VIII.

Who made the heart, 'tis He alone

Decidedly can try us,

He knows each chord, its various tone,
Each spring its various bias:

Then at the balance let's be mute,

We never can adjust it;

What's done we partly may compute,

But know not what's resisted.

DESPONDENCY,

AN ODE.

I.

OPPRESS'D with grief, oppress'd with care,

A burden more than I can bear,
I set me down an' sigh;

O life! thou art a galling load,
Along a rough, a weary road,
To wretches, such as I!
Dim-backward as I cast my view,
What sick'ning Scenes appear!
What sorrows yet may pierce me thro',

Too justly I may fear!

Still caring, despairing,

Must be my bitter doom;

My woes here, shall close ne'er
But with the closing tomb!
X

VOL I.