All hail, religion! maid divine! Thus daurs to name thee; To stigmatize false friends of thine Can ne'er defame thee. Tho' blotch't an' foul wi' mony a stain, With trembling voice I tune my strain To join with those, Who boldly dare thy cause maintain In spite of foes: In spite o' crowds, in spite o' mobs, In spite o' dark banditti stabs At worth an' merit, By scoundrels, even wi' holy robes, But hellish spirit. O Ayr, my dear, my native ground, A candid lib'ral band is found Of public teachers, As men, as christians too renown'd An' manly preachers. Sir, Sir, in that circle you are nam'd; An' some, by whom your doctrine's blam'd Even Sir, by them your heart's esteem'd, Pardon this freedom I have ta'en, Whase heart ne'er wrang'd ye, But to his utmost would befriend Ought that belang'd ye. Το To GAVIN HAMILTON, Esq. MAUCHLINE. (RECOMMENDING A BOY.) Mosgaville, May 3, 1786. I HOLD it, Sir, my bounden duty Was here to hire yon lad away 'Bout whom ye spak the tither day, An' wad hae don't aff han': But lest he learn the callan tricks, Like scrapin' out auld Crummie's nicks, An' tellin' lies about them; As lieve then I'd have then, Your clerkship he should sair, If sae be, ye may be Not fitted otherwhere. Altho *Master Tootie then lived in Mauchline; a dealer in Cows. It was his common practice to cut the nicks or markings from the horns of cattle, to disguise their age.-He was an artful trick-contriving character; hence he is called a Snick-drawer. In the Poet's "Address to the Deil," he styles that august personage an auld, snick-drawing dog! E. Altho' I say't, he's gleg enough, The boy might learn to swear; Ye'll catechise him every quirk, An' An' shore him weel wi' hell; gar him follow to the kirk-Ay when ye gang yoursel. If ye then, maun be then Frae hame this comin Friday, Then please sir, to lea'e sir, My word of honor I hae gien, In Paisley John's, that night at e'en, To meet the Warld's worm; To try to get the twa to gree, An' name the airles* an' the fee, In legal mode an' form: I ken he weel a Snick can draw, An' if a Devil be at a', In faith he's sure to get him. *The Airles-Earnest money. Το To MR. M'ADAM, OF CRAIGEN-GILLAN, IN ANSWER TO AN OBLIGING LETTER HE SENT IN THE COMMENCEMENT OF MY POETIC CAREER. SIR, o'er a gill I gat your card, I trow it made me proud; Now deil-ma-care about their jaw, 'Twas noble, Sir; 'twas like yoursel, To grant your high protection: great man's smile ye ken fu' well, ay a blest infection. A Is * Tho', by his banes wha in a tub Match'd Macedonian Sandy! On my ain legs thro' dirt and dub, I independent stand ay.— And when those legs to gude, warm kail, Wi welcome canna bear me; A lee dyke-side, a sybow-tail, And barley-scone shall cheer me. * Diogenes. Tho' |