Wide o'er the naked world declare

The worth we've lost!

Mourn him, thou Sun, great source of light!
Mourn, empress of the silent night!

And you, ye twinkling starnies bright,
My Matthew mourn!

For through your orbs he's taen' his flight,
Ne'er to return.

O Henderson! the man! the brother!
And art thou gone, and gone forever?
And hast thou cross'd that unknown river,
Life's dreary bound?

Like thee, where shall I find another,
The world around?

Go to your sculptured tombs, ye great,
In a' the tinsel trash o' state!
But by thy honest turf I'll wait,

Thou man of worth!

And weep the ae best fellow's fate
E'er lay in earth.

ЕРІТАРН.

STOP, passenger! my story's brief;
And truth I shall relatê, man;
I tell nae common tale o' grief,
For Matthew was a great man.

If thou uncommon merit hast,

Yet spurn'd at Fortune's door, man; A look of pity hither cast,

For Matthew was a poor man

If thou a noble sodger art,

That passest by this grave, man, There moulders here a gallant heart, For Matthew was a brave man.

If thou on men, their works and ways, Canst throw uncommon light, man; Here lies wha weel had won thy praise, For Matthew was a bright man.

1 Taken.

If thou at friendship's sacred ca"
Wad' life itself resign, man;
Thy sympathetic tear maun fa','
For Matthew was a kind man.
If thou art stanch without a stain,
Like the unchanging blue, man;
This was a kinsman o' thy ain,

For Matthew was a true man.

If thou hast wit, and fun, and fire,
And ne'er guid wine did fear, man;
This was thy billie,' dam, and sire,
For Matthew was a queer man.
If onie whiggish, whingin" sot,
To blame poor Matthew dare, man;
May dool and sorrow be his lot,
For Matthew was a rare man.

TAM SAMSON'S ELEGY.

An honest man's the noblest work of God.-Pope.

HAS auld K********* seen the Deil?
Or great M'*******8 thrawn' his heel?
Or R*******10 again grown weel,
To preach an' read?

"Na, waur" than a'!" cries ilka" chiel,
"Tam Samson's dead!"

K********* lang may grunt and grane,
An' sigh, an' sab, an' greet her lane,"

13

1 Call.-2 Would.-3 Fall.-4 Brother.-5 Fretful.-6 Lamentation. 7 When this worthy old sportsman went out last muirfowl season, he sup posed it to be, in Ossian's phrase, "the last of his fields;" and expressed an ardent wish to die and be buried in the muirs. On this hint the Author composed his Elegy and Epitaph.

8 A certain preacher, a great favorite with the million. Vide the Ordination, stanza ii.- Sprained.

10 Another preacher, an equal favorite with the few, who was at that time ailing. For him, see also the Ordination, stanza ix.

11 Worse.-12 Every.-13 Weep alone.

An' cleed her bairns,1 man, wife, an' wean,'
In mourning weed;

To death she's dearly paid the kane,
Tam Samson's dead!

5

The brethren of the mystic level,
May hing their head in wofu' bevel,
While by their nose the tears will revel,
Like onie bead;

Death's gien the lodge an unco devel;"
Tam Samson 's dead!

When Winter muffles up his cloak,
And binds the mire up like a rock;
When to the lochs' the curlers flock,
Wi' gleesome speed,

Wha will they station at the cock?9
Tam Samson's dead!

He was the king o' a' the core,
To guard, or draw, or wick" a bore,
up the rink" like Jehu roar

Or

In time o' need;

But now he lags on death's hog-score,"

Tam Samson's dead!

Now safe the stately sawmont13 sail,
And trouts bedropp'd wi' crimson hail,
And eels weel kenn'd for souple tail,
And geds for greed,"

Since dark in death's fish-creelis we wail

Tam Samson dead!

1 Clothe her children.-2 A young child.-3 Rent, paid in fowls.-—4 Hang. -5 In sorrowful posture.—6 An awkward blow.-? A large pond, or sheet of water.

8 Those who play at the game of curling. Curling is a game of high celebrity in Scotland, and in some degree resembles the game of coits, or bowls.An iron pin, called a cock, is driven into the ice as a mark, at which heavy pieces of stone (with an iron handle fixed in the upper part, and having a flat and smooth surface at the bottom, so as to glide on the ice) are hurled.-The party who lodge their stones nearest to the cock are the victors.

The winning place in curling.-10 To strike a stone in an oblique directior.-11 The course of the stones at the game of curling.-12 A kind of listance line, in curling, drawn across the rink.-13 Salmon.-14 Pike.5 Greediness.-16 Fish-basket.

Rejoice, ye birring paitricks' a';
Ye cootie' muircocks crousely craw;
Ye maukins,* cock your fud fu' braw,"
Withouten dread;

Your mortal fae is now awa',

Tam Samson's dead!

That waefu' morn be ever mourn'd,
Saw him in shootin' graith adorn'd,
While pointers round impatient burn'd,
Frae couples freed;

But, och! he gaed and ne'er return'd,
Tam Samson's dead!'

In vain auld age his body batters;
In vain the gout his ankles fetters;
In vain the burns' came down like waters
An acre braid!®

Now every auld wife, greetin" clatters,
"Tam Samson's dead!"

Owre many a weary hag1 he limpit,"
An' ay the tither shot he thumpit,
Till coward Death behind him jumpit,
Wi' deadly feide;12

Now he proclaims, wi' tout13 o' trumpet,
"Tam Samson's dead!"

When at his heart he felt the dagger,
He reel'd his wonted bottle-swagger,
But yet he drew the mortal trigger,

Wi' weel-aim'd heed;

"Lord, five!" he cried, and owre did stagger;
Tam Samson's dead!

Ilk hoary hunter mourn'd a brither;
Ilk sportsman youth bemoan'd a father;
Yon auld gray stane, amang the heather,
Marks out his head,

Whare Burns has wrote, in rhyming blether,
"Tam Samson's dead!"

1 Partridges.-2 Birds which have feathers on the legs are said to be cootie. -3 Crow courageously.-4 Hares.-5 Cock your tail handsomely - Accoutrements.-7 Rivulets.- Broad.-9 Crying.-10 A scar or gulf in mosses or noors.-11 Limped, or hobbled.-12 Feud, enmity.-13 Blast.-14 An exclamation at finding he had killed five birds.

There low he lies, in lasting rest;
Perhaps upon his mouldering breast
Some spitefu' muirfowl bigs' her nest,
To hatch an' breed;

Alas! nae mair he 'll them molest!

Tam Samson's dead!

When August winds the heather wave,
And sportsmen wander by yon grave,
Three volleys let his memory crave
O' pouther an' lead,

Till Echo answer frae her cave,

"Tam Samson's dead!"

Heaven rest his saul, where'er it be!
Is the wish o' monie mae' than me;
He had twa faults, or maybe three,
Yet what remead ?3

Ae social, honest man want we:

Tam Samson's dead!

THE EPITAPH.

TAM SAMSON'S weel-worn clay here lies;
Ye canting zealots, spare him!
If honest worth in heaven rise,
Ye'll mend or ye win1 near him.

PER CONTRA.

Go, Fame, and canter like a filly
Thro' a' the streets an' neuks o' Killie,"
Tell every social, honest billie

To cease his grievin',

For yet, unskaith'd' by Death's gleg gullie,"
Tam Samson's livin'.

ON A SCOTTISH BARD,

Gone to the West Indies.

A'YE wha live by soups o' drink,
A' ye wha live by crambo-clink,"
A' ye wha live and never think,

Builds.-2 Many more.-3 Remedy.-4 Get.-5 Kilmarnock.-6 Honest fe.low. Unhurt.-8 Sharp knife.-9 Rhymes; doggerel verses.