Her banks an braes, her dens an' dells, Aft bure the gree, as story tells, Frae Southron billies. At Wallace name what Scottish blood Still pressing onward, red-wat shod, O sweet are Coila's haughs an' woods, While thro' the braes the cushat croods Ev'n winter bleak has charms to me, Are hoary gray; Or blinding drifts wild furious flee, Dark'ning the day! O Nature. a' thy shows an' forms Or winter howls, in gusty storms, The Muse, nae Poet ever fand" her, f Obtained the victory. The motion of a hare in running, when not frightened. The dove coos. a Found And no think lang:▾ O sweet to stray and pensive ponder The warly race may drudge an' drive Shali let the busy, grumbling hive Bums owre their treasure. Fareweel, my rhyme-composing brither!" May Envy wallop in a tether," Black fiend, infernal! While Highlandmen hate tolls an' taxes; Diurnal turns, Count on a friend, in faith an' practice, POSTSCRIPT. My memory 's no worth a preen ;* You bade me write you what they mean 'Bout which our herds sae aft hae been Maist like to fight. o And not think the time long, or be weary. p Justle with the shoulder. s To hum. 9 Justle. r Describe t Unknown to each other Struggle as an animal, whose tether gets entangled. w Morbid sheep. A pin. New-light, a cant phrase in the west of Scotland for those religious opinions which Dr. Taylor of Norwich defended so strenuously In days when mankind were but callans They took nae pains their speech to balance, But spak their thoughts in plain, braid Lallans, In thaeb auld times they thought the moon, Gaed past their viewin', An' shortly after she was done, They gat a new one. This past for certain, undisputed, An' ca'd it wrang; An' muckle din there was about it, Baith loud an' lang. Some herds, weel learn'd upo' the beuk, She grew mair bright. This was denied-it was affirm'd The herds and hissels were alarm'd; The rev'rend gray-beards rav'd an' storm'd, That beardless laddies Should think they better were inform'd Than their auld daddies. Frae less to mair it gaed to sticks; Frae words an' aiths to cloursk an' nicks; a The Seottish dialect. ¿'These. e Book. c A shirt Maintain by dint of assertion. g Coiner. i So many cattle as one person can attend. A wound occasioned by a blow. And monie a fallow gat his licks, Wi' hearty crunt; An' some to learn them for their tricks, 1 nis game was play'd in monie lands, The lairds forbade, by strict command, But new-light herds gat sic a cowe,p Till now amaist on ev'ry knowe, Ye 'll find ane plac'd; An' some their new-light fair avow, Just quite barefac'd. Nae doubt the auld-light flocks are bleatin'; Wi' girnin' spite, To hear the moon sae sadly lied on But shortly they will cowe the louns! And stay ae month amang the moons Guid observation they will gie them; 7 A blow on the head with a cudgel. m Burnt. Literally ticket-porters, or trusty persons who are employed on errands, but the appellation is frequently used in a more general way, and applied to other persons. o Did bear. p A fright or beating. + Hillock. & Weeping. q Altogether. With rage, or agony of spirit. u Both in conversation and books. W The hindmost shaird, they'll fetch it wi' them, An' when the new-light billies see them, Sae, ye observe that a' this clatter I hope we bardies ken some better, Than mind sic brulzie. TO JOHN GOUDIE, KILMARNOCK, O GOUDIE! terror o' the Whigs, Girnina looks back, Wishin' the ten Egyptian plagues Wad seize you quick. Poor gapin', glowrin'b Superstition, Alas! there's ground o' great suspicion Auld Orthodoxy lang did grapple, See how she fetches at the thrapple, Enthusiasm 's past redemption, w A shred. z A broil. b Staring. z Brethren. y To quarrel. a Twisting the features in agony. e Great weakness in the back, or loins. d That the prayers of the congregation may be offered up in her beha'. |