I've noticed, on our laird's court-day,
And monie a time my heart's been wae,
Poor tenant bodies, scant o' cash,
How they maun thole' a factor's snash :"
He'll stamp an' threaten, curse an' swear,
He'll apprehend them, poind3 their gear;
While they maun stan', wi' aspect humble,
An' hear it a', an' fear an' tremble!
I see how folk live that hae riches
But surely poor folk maun be wretches?
They 're nae sae wretched 's ane wad think;
Tho' constantly on poortith's brink:
They 're sae accustom'd wi' the sight,
The view o't gies them little fright.
Then chance an' fortune are sae guided,
They're ay in less or mair provided;
An' tho' fatigued wi' close employment,
A blink o' rest's a sweet enjoyment.
The dearest comfort o' their lives,
Their grushie' weans an' faithfu' wives;
The prattling things are just their pride,
That sweetens a' their fireside.
An' whyles twalpennie-worth o' nappie'
Can make the bodies uncoR happy;
They lay aside their private cares,
To mind the kirk and state affairs;
They'll talk o' patronage and priests,
Wi' kindling fury in their breasts,
Or tell what new taxation's comin',
An' ferlie' at the folk in Lon❜on.
As bleak-faced Hallowmas returns,
They get the jovial, rantin' kirns,10
When rural life o' every station,
Unite in common recreation:
Love blinks, wit slaps, and social mirth,
Forgets there's care upo' the earth.
That merry day the year begins,
They bar the door on frosty winds;
1 Suffer, endure.-2 Abuse.-3 To seize for rent.-4 Poverty.-5 Of thriving growth.—6 Children.-7 Ale.-8 Very.-9 Wonder.-10 The harvest supper.
The nappie reeks wi' mantling ream,1
And sheds a heart-inspiring steam;
The luntin" pipe, and sneeshin' mill,3
Are handed round wi' right guid will;
The cantie* auld folks cracking crouse,
The young anes ranting thro' the house-
My heart has been sae fain to see them,
That I for joy hae barkit' wi' them.
Still it's owres true that ye hae said,
Sic game is now owre aften play'd.
There's monie a creditable stock
O' decent, honest, fawsont folk,
Are riven out baith root and branch,
Some rascal's pridefu' greed" to quench,
Wha thinks to knit himsel the faster
In favor wi' some gentle master,
Wha, aiblins," thrang a-parliamentin',
For Britain's guid1? his saul indentin"
Haith," lad, ye little ken about it;
For Britain's guid! guid faith I doubt it :
Say rather, gaun1 as Premiers lead him,
An' saying aye or no's they bid him:
At operas an' plays parading,
Mortgaging, gambling, masquerading;
Or maybe, in a frolic daft,18
To Hague or Calais takes a waft,
To make a tour, and tak a whirl,
To learn bon ton, an' see the worl'.
There at Vienna or Versailles,
He rives his father's auld entails;
Or by Madrid he takes the rout,
To thrum guitars, an' fecht' wi' nowt;19
Or down Italian vista startles,
Wh-re-hunting among groves o' myrtles:
Then bouses drumly20 German water,
To mak himsel look fair and fatter,
1 To foam, or froth.-2 Smoking.-3 Snuff-box.-4 Cheerful.-5 Conversing merrily. Glad, happy.-7 Shouted, hallooed.-8 Over.-9 Respectable.10 Avarice, selfishness.-11 Perhaps.-12 Good.-13 Making a bargain, or selling his vote for seven years.-14 A petty oath.-15 Going.—16 Mad, foolish.17 Divides and squanders.-18 Fight.-19 Black cattle; in allusion to the Spanish bull-fights.-20 Muddy.
An' clear the consequential sorrows,
Love-gifts of carnival signoras.
For Britain's guid! for her destruction!
Wi' dissipation, feud, an' faction.
Hech' man! dear sirs! is that the gate2
They waste sae monie a braw3 estate!
Are we sae foughten an' harass'd
For gear to gang that gate at last!
O, would they stay aback frae courts,
An' please themselves wi' countra sports,
It wad for ev'ry ane be better,
The laird, the tenant, an' the cotter!"
For thae' frank, rantin', ramblin' billies,
Fient haet o' them 's ill-hearted fellows:
Except for breakin' o' their timmer,10
Or speakin' lightly o' their limmer,
Or shootin' o'a hare or moor-cock,
The ne'er a bit they're ill to poor folk.
But will you tell me, master Cæsar,
Sure great folk's life 's a life o' pleasure?
Nae cauld or hunger e'er can steer them,
The very thought o't need na fear them.
L-d, man, were ye but whyles" whare I am,
The gentles ye wad ne'er envy 'em.
It's true they need na starve or sweat,
Thro' winter's cauld, or simmer's heat;
They've nae sair wark to craze their banes,
An' fill auld age wi' gripes an' granes:
But human bodies are sic fools,
For a' their colleges and schools,
That when nae real ills perplex them,
They make enow themsels to vex them;
An' ay the less they hae to sturt13 them,
In like proportion less will hurt them.
A country fellow at the pleugh,
His acre's till'd, he's right eneugh;
A country-girl at her wheel,
1 Oh! strange.-2 The way. -3 Large.-4 Troubled.-5 Country.-6 Cottager. These.-8 Young men.-9 A petty oath of negation. -10 Timber.11 A strumpet, or kept mistress.-12 Sometimes.-13 To trouble or molest.
Her dizzen 's' done, she 's unco weel:2
But gentlemen, an' ladies warst,
Wi' ev'ndown want o' wark are curst;
They loiter, lounging, lank, an' lazy ;
Tho' deil haet ails them, yet uneasy;
Their days insipid, dull, an' tasteless;
Their nights unquiet, lang, an' restless:
An' e'en their sports, their balls, an' races,
Their galloping thro' public places;
There's sic1 parade, sic pomp an' art,
The joy can scarcely reach the heart.
The men cast out in party matches,
Then souther" a' in deep debauches;
Ae night they 're mad wi' drink an' wh-ring,
Niest day their life is past enduring.
The ladies arm-in-arm in clusters,
As great and gracious a' as sisters;
But hear their absent thoughts o' ither,
They 're a' run deils an' jades thegither.
Whyles o'er the wee bit cup an' platie,
They sip the scandal potion pretty:
Or lee-lang1o nights, wi' crabbit leuks,
Pore owre the devil's pictur'd beuks;"
Stake on a chance a farmer's stack-yard,
An' cheat like onie unhang'd blackguard.
There's some exception, man an' woman;
But this is gentry's life in common.
By this, the sun was out o' sight,
An' darker gloaming brought the night;
The bum-clock13 humm'd wi' lazy drone;
The kye1 stood routin' i' the loan;1
When up they gat, and shook their lugs,18
Rejoiced they were na men but dogs;
An' each took aff his several way,
Resolved to meet some ither day.
1 A dozen.-2 Very happy.-3 The deuce of any thing.-4 Such.-5 Solder, cement.-6 One.-7 Next.-8 Right-down devils.- Cup and saucer.10 Live-long.—11 Playing cards.-12 Twilight.-13 A humming beetle that flies in the summer evenings.—14 Cows.—15 Lowing in the place of milking.16 Ears.
Of Brownyis and of Bogilis full is this Buke.—Gawin Douglas.
WHEN chapman billies1 leave the street,
And drouthy neebors neebors meet,
As market-days are wearing late,
An' folk begin to tak the gate;2
While we sit bousing at the nappy,
An' getting fou and unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps, and styles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Whare sits our sulky, sullen dame,
Gath'ring her brows like gath'ring storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
This truth fand honest Tam o' Shanter,
As he, frae Ayr, ae night did canter,
(Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a town surpasses,
For honest men and bonnie lasses.)
O Tam! hadst thou but been sae wise,
As taen thy ain wife Kate's advice!
She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,*
A bleth'ring, blust'ring, drunken blellum;"
That frae November till October,
Ae market-day thou was na sober,
That ilkaR melder,' wi' the miller,
Thou sat as lang as thou had siller:
That every naig was ca'd a shoe on,
The smith and thee gat roaring fou1o on:
That at the L-d's house, ev'n on Sunday,
Thou drank wi' Kirton Jean till Monday.
She prophesied, that, late or soon,
Thou would be found deep drown'd in Doon;
Or catch'd wi' warlocks" in the mirk,12
By Alloway's auld haunted kirk.
1 Hawkers, or peddlers-2 To go their way.-3 Gates.-4 Found.-5 One.• A worthless fellow.-7 A nonsensical, idle-talking fellow.-8 Every.—9 A grist, or small quantity of corn taken to the mill to be ground.-1o Drunk.— 11 Wizards.—12 Dark.
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