Wi' quaffing and laughing, as any fortuitous assembly in the higher orders of life. The group, it must be observed, is of Scottish character, ' and doubtless our northern brethren are more familiar with ' its varieties than we are; yet the distinctions are too well 'marked to escape even the South'ron. The most promi'nent persons are a maimed soldier and his female companion, a hackneyed follower of the camp, a stroller, late the consort of an Highland ketterer or sturdy beggar,- " but weary fa' the waefu' woodie !"-Being now at liber ty, she becomes an object of rivalry between a pigmy scraper with his fiddle,' and a strolling tinker. The lat ter, a desperate bandit, like most of his profession, terri'fies the musician out of the field, and is preferred by the damsel of course. A wandering ballad-singer, with a 'brace of doxies, is last introduced upon the stage. Each of these mendicants sings a song in character, and such a collection of humorous lyrics, connected by vivid poetical "description, is not, perhaps, to be paralleled in the Eng'lish language. As the collection and the poem are very little known in England, and as it is certainly apposite to 'the Reliques of Robert Burns, we venture to transcribe the concluding ditty, chaunted by the ballad-singer at the request First, neist the fire, in auld red rags, And knapsack a' in order; request of the company, whose mirth and fun have now grown fast and furious,' and set them above all sublunary 'terrors of jails, stocks, and whipping posts. It is cer 'tainly far superior to any thing in the Beggars Opera, where alone we could expect to find its parallel. "Then owre again the jovial thrang, "The poet did request, "To lowse his pack and wale a sang, "A ballad o' the best," &c. &c. 'We are at a loss to conceive any good reason why Dr Currie did not introduce this singular and humorous cantata into his collection. It is true, that in one or two passages the Muse has trespassed slightly upon decorum, ( where, in the language of Scottish song, "High kilted was she "As she gaed owre the lea." Something however is to be allowed to the nature of the ( subject, and something to the education of the poet; and if, from veneration to the names of Swift and Dryden, we 'tolerate the grossness of the one, and the indelicacy of the 6 other, the respect due to that of Burns, may surely claim ( indulgence for a few light strokes of broad humour. The same collection contains Holy Willie's Prayer,' a piece 'of satire more exquisitely severe than any which Burns after wards wrote.'-QUARTELRY REVIEW, NO. I. p. 20-22. His doxy lay within his arm, An' ay he gies the tozie drab Ilk smack still, did crack still, AIR-SOLDIER'S JOY. I. I am a son of Mars who have been in many wars, And show my cuts and scars wherever I come; This here was for a wench, and that other in a trench, When welcoming the French at the sound of the drum. Lal de daudle, &c. II. II. My prenticeship I past where my leader breath'd his last, When the bloody die was cast on the heights of Abram ; I served out my trade when the gallant game was play'd, And the Moro low was laid at the sound of the drum. Lal de daudle, &c. III. I lastly was with Curtis, among the floating batt'ries, And there I left for witness an arm and a limb; Yet let my country need me, with Elliot to head me, I'd clatter on my stumps at the sound of a drum. Lal de daudle, &c. IV. And now tho' I must beg with a wooden arm and leg, And many a tatter'd rag hanging over my bum, I'm as happy with my wallet, my bottle and my callet, As when I us'd in scarlet to follow a drum. Lal de daudle, &c. V. What tho' with hoary locks, I must stand the win ter shocks, Beneath the woods and rocks oftentimes for a home, When the tother bag I sell, and the tother bottle tell, I could meet a troop of hell, at the sound of the drum. Lal de daudle, &c. RECITATIVO. He ended; and the kebars sheuk, Aboon the chorus roar; While frighted rattons backward leuk, A fairy fiddler frae the neuk, AIR SOLDIER LADDIE, I. I once was a maid, tho' I cannot tell when, And still my delight is in proper young men ; |