Your Luath, Cæsar bites right sair; Or when ye turn, An' sing the follies o' the Fair, How sweet ye mourn! Let Coila's plains wi' me rejoice, An' praise the worthy Bard, whose lays Their worth an' beauty high doth raise To lasting fame; His works, his worth will ever praise, Brave Ramsay now an' Fergusson, Quiet i' their urns, Since Fame, in justice, gies the crown Hail! happy Bard! ye're now confest That ye're, when try'd by Nature's test, Gude sterlin' coin. Sing on my frien'; your fame's secur'd, To blast your fame; mair just reward But tho' the tout o' fame may please you, Letna the flatt'rin ghaist o'erheeze you: Nier flyte nor fraise tae gar fock roose you: For men o' skill When ye write weel, will always praise you Great numbers on this earthly ba', An' straught forgot Forbid that ever this should fa' To be your lot. I ever had an anxious wish; Forgive me, Heav'n! if 'twas amiss, It from the cruel tyrant's crush, Beyond the grave. Tho' th' fastest liver soonest dies, An' length o' days sud mak ane wise; An' spur your horse; Sae to conclude, auld Frien' an' Neebor, Whase soun' shall reach ayont the Tiber SILLAR'S VERSES OCCASIONED BY A REPLY TO BURNS' CALF, BY AN UNCO calf. Vide Vol. 1. p. 56, 57. A preachin' Ca'f-a Poet wearin' cloots- WERE Father Adam now tae rise, Tho' in his days mischief there was, Balaam, 'twas strange, an ass he heard, But surely cloots upon a Bard, An' preachin' calves, are stranger. For Gude's sake, Sirs, your flytin' cease, Lest calves an' stirks, by keepin' peace, But if ye winna cease tae rair, Gae satire vice; let men alane, I'm sorry, Sirs, I hae't tae say, But, Sirs, mair sorry I am still, Then for the future let's be mute, Wi' such as we, let's not dispute, Sae rout or no, just tak your will, Affront the human race. LAPRAIK'S REPLY TO BURNS' EPISTLE. Vide Vol. I. p. 187. O FAR fam'd Rab! my silly Muse, When she did scarce ken verse by prose, Now dares to spread her wing. Unconscious of the least desert, When sitting lanely by myself, And when I was amaist half-drown'd Or when I met a chiel like you, |