DEDICATION TO THE SECOND EDITION.

TO THE NOBLEMEN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CALEDONIAN HUNT.

MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN—

A SCOTTISH Bard, proud of the name, and whose highest ambition is to sing in his Country's service-where shall he so properly look for patronage as to the illustrious names of his native Land-those who bear the honors and inherit the virtues of their Ancestors? The Poetic Genius of my Country found me, as the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha-at the plough; and threw her inspiring mantle over me. She bade me sing the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of my native soil in my native tongue. I tuned my wild, artless notes as she inspired. She whispered me to come to this ancient Metropolis of Caledonia, and lay my songs under your honored protection.

Though much indebted to your goodness, I do not approach you, my Lords and Gentlemen, in the usual style of Dedication, to thank you for past favors. That path is so hackneyed by prostituted learning, that honest rusticity is ashamed of it. Nor do I present this address with the venal soul of a servile Author, looking for a continuation of those favors. I was bred to the plough, and am independent. I come to claim the common Scottish name with you, my illustrious countrymen; and to tell the world that I glory in the title. I come to congratulate my Country that the blood of her ancient heroes still runs uncontaminated; and that from your courage, knowledge, and public spirit, she may expect protection, wealth, and liberty. In the last place, I come to proffer my warmest wishes to the great Fountain of honor, the Monarch of the universe, for your welfare and happiness.

When you go forth to waken the Echoes, in the ancient and favorite amusement of your forefathers, may Pleasure ever be of your party; and may social Joy await your return! When harassed in courts or camps with the jostlings of bad men and bad measures, may the honest consciousness of injured worth attend your return to your native Seats; and may domestic Happiness, with a smiling welcome, meet you at your gates! May Corruption shrink at your kindling, indignant glance! and may Tyranny in the Ruler, and Licentiousness in the People, equally find you an inexorable foe!

I have the honor to be,

With the sincerest gratitude, and highest respect,

My Lords and Gentlemen,

Your most devoted, humble Servant,

ROBERT BURNS.

Edinburgh, April 4, 1787.

POEMS,

CHIEFLY SCOTTISH.

THE TWA DOGS.

A TALE.

'Twas in that place o" Scotland's isle,
That bears the name o' Auld King Coil,
Upon a bonnie day in June,

When wearing thro' the afternoon,
Twa dogs that were na thrang at hame,'
Forgather'd3 ance upon a time.

The first I'll name, they ca'd him Cæsar,
Was keepit for his honor's pleasure;
His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,*
Show'd he was nane o' Scotland's dogs,
But whalpit some place far abroad,
Where sailors gang to fish for cod.

His locked, letter'd, braw" brass collar,
Show'd him the gentleman and scholar;
But though he was o' high degree,
The fient a pride nae pride had he;
But wad haeR spent an hour caressin',
Ev'n wi' a tinkler-gipsy's messin":"
At kirk or market, mill or smiddie,1
Nae tawted" tyke,12 tho' e'er sae duddie,"
But he wad stan't," as glad to see him,
And stroan't15 on stanes and hillocks16 wi' him.

The tither" was a ploughman's collie,'

A rhyming, ranting, roaring billie,"

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1 Of 2 Had nothing to do at home.-3 Met.-4 Ears.-5 Whelped.6 Large, handsome.-7 Fiend, devil.-8 Would have.- A small dog.10 Smithy, or smith's workshop.-11 Having the hair matted together.12 Dog.-13 Ragged.-14 Stand, or stop.-15 To piss.-16 Stones and little hills.-17 The other.-18 A country cur.-19 A young fellow.

Wha for his friend an' comrade had him,
And in his freaks had Luath ca'd him,
After some dog in Highland sang,1

6

5

Was made lang syne2-Lord knows how lang.
He was a gash3 and faithful tyke,
As ever lap a sheugh or dyke.
His honest, sonsie, baws'nt' face,
Ay gat him friends in ilka place.
His breast was white, his touzie' back
Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black;
His gawcie1 tail, wi' upward curl,
Hung o'er his hurdies" wi' a swirl."

Nae doubt but they were fain o' ither,"
An' unco pack and thick" thegither;

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Wi' social nose whyles15 snuff't and snowkit,"
Whyles" mice and moudieworts they howkit;10
Whyles scour'd awa in lang excursion,
An' worried ither in diversion;
Until wi' daffin'20 weary grown,
Upon a knowe" they sat them down,
And there began a lang digression

About the Lords o' the Creation.

CÆSAR.

I've aften wonder'd, honest Luath,
What sort o' life poor dogs like you have;
An' when the gentry's life I saw,

What way poor bodies liv'd ava.

Our laird gets in his racked rents,

His coals, his kain,23 and a' his stents:24
He rises when he likes himsel;

His flunkies 25 answer at the bell:

He ca's his coach, he ca's his horse;

He draws a bonnie silken purse

As lang 's my tail, where, thro' the steeks,"
The yellow-letter'd Geordie keeks.28

1 Cuchullin's dog in Ossian's Fingal. -2 Long since. 3 Sagacious.4 Leaped.-5 Trench, or sluice.-6 Engaging.-7 Having a white stripe down the face.-8 Every.-9 Shaggy. -10 Large.-11 Loins.-12 Curve.-13 Fond of each other. -14 And very intimate. -15 Sometimes.-16 Scented.— 17 Sometimes.-18 Moles.-19 Digged.-20 Merriment, foolishness.-21 A small hillock.-22 At all.-23 Fowls, &c., paid as rent by a farmer.-24 Tribute, dues of any kind.-25 Livery-servants.-26 Calls.-27 Stitches.-28 Peeps.

Frae morn to e'en it's nought but toiling,
At baking, roasting, frying, boiling;
An' tho' the gentry first are stechin','
Yet ev❜n the ha' folk' fill their pechan3
Wi' sauce, ragouts, and sic like thrastrie,
That's little short o' downright wastrie.
Our whipper-in, wee* blastits wonner,
Poor worthless elf, it eats a dinner,
Better than onie tenant man

His honor has in a' the lan':

6

An' what poor cot-folk pit' their painchs in,
I own it's past my comprehension.

LUATH.

Trowth, Cæsar, whyles they 're fasht' eneugh,
A cotter howkin1 in a sheugh,"

12

Wi' dirty stanes biggin' a dyke,
Baring a quarry, and sic like,
Himself, a wife, he thus sustains,
A smytrie1s o' wee duddie weans,"
An' nought but his han' darg,15 to keep
Them right and tight in thack an' rape.1
An' when they meet wi' sair disasters,
Like loss o' health or want o' masters,
Ye maist wad think a wee touch langer,
An' they maun" starve o' cauld and hunger.
But how it comes I never kenn'd yet,
They're maistly wonderfu' contented;
And buirdly chiels, and clever hizzies,19
Are bred in sic a way as this is.

18

CÆSAR.

But then to see how ye 're negleckit,
How huff'd, and cuff'd, and disrespeckit!
L-d, man, our gentry care but little
For delvers, ditchers, and sic cattle;
They gang as saucy by poor folk,
As I wad by a stinking brock.20

1 Cramming.-2 Hall-folk, servants.-3 Stomach.-4 Little.-5 Blasted.• A contemptuous appellation.-7 Put.-8 Paunch.-9 Troubled.-10 Digging. -11 Trench.-12 Building.-13 A numerous collection of small individuals. -14 Ragged children.-15 Day's work.-16 Clothing, necessaries.—17 Must. -18 Stout-made young men.-19 Hussies, young women.-20 A badger.