And should some Patron be so kind,
As bless you wi' a kirk,

I doubt na, Sir, but then we'll find,
Ye're still as great a Stirk.

But, if the Lover's raptur'd hour
Shall ever be your lot,
Forbid it, ev'ry heavenly Power,
You e'er should be a Stot!

Tho', when some kind, connubial Dear
Your But-and-ben adorns,
The like has been that you may wear
A noble head of horns.

And, in your lug, most reverend J-
To hear you roar and rowte,

Few men o' sense will doubt your claims
To rank amang the Nowte.

And when ye're number'd wi' the dead, Below a grassy hillock,

Wi' justice they may mark your head'Here lies a famous Bullock!'

THE VISION.

STANZAS INTRODUCED AT CLOSE OF DUAN FIRST, IN THE AUTHOR'S SECOND EDITION, AND RETAINED THEREAFTER AS A PORTION OF THE TEXT. -See ante, page 44.

By stately tow'r, or palace fair,

Or ruins pendent in the air,

Bold stems of Heroes, here and there,

I could discern;

Some seem'd to muse, some seem'd to dare,
With feature stern.

My heart did glowing transport feel,
To see a Race* heroic wheel,

And brandish round the deep-dy'd steel
In sturdy blows;

While back-recoiling seem'd to reel

Their Suthron foes.

His COUNTRY'S SAVIOUR,† mark him well!
Bold Richardton's heroic swell;

The Chief on Sark § who glorious fell,

In high command;

And He whom ruthless Fates expel

* The Wallaces.-(R. B. 1787.)

+ William Wallace.-(R. B. 1787.)

His native land. ||

Adam Wallace of Richardton, cousin to the immortal Preserver of Scottish Independence. (R. B. 1787.)

Wallace Laird of Craigie, who was second in command, under Douglas Earl of Ormond, at the famous battle on the banks of Sark, fought anno, 1448. That glorious victory was principally owing to the judicious conduct and intrepid valour of the gallant Laird of Craigie, who died of his wounds after the action. -(R. B. 1787.)

Here, in the Stair MS., four suppressed stanzas are introduced. (See p. 159.)

*

There, where a sceptr'd Pictish shade
Stalk'd round his ashes lowly laid,
I mark'd a martial Race, pourtray'd

In colours strong; †

Bold, soldier-featur'd, undismay'd

They strode along. ‡

Thro' many a wild, romantic grove, §
Near many a hermit-fancy'd cove,
(Fit haunts for Friendship or for Love,
In musing mood)

An aged Judge, I saw him rove,

Dispensing good. ||

With deep-struck, reverential awe, ¶
The learned Sire and Son I saw,
To Nature's God and Nature's law

They gave their lore,

This, all its source and end to draw,

That, to adore. **

Brydon's brave Ward†† I well could spy,
Beneath old Scotia's smiling eye;

Who call'd on Fame, low standing by,

To hand him on,

Where many a Patriot-name on high

And Hero shone.

*Coilus King of the Picts, from whom the district of Kyle is said to take its name, lies buried, as tradition says, near the family-seat of the Montgomeries of Coilsfield, where his burial place is still shown.-(R. B. 1787.)

†The Montgomeries of Coilsfield.

Var. in MS.-"stalked along."

§ Barskimming, the seat of the Lord Justice Clerk.-(R. B. 1787.)

Here, in the Stair MS., four suppressed stanzas are introduced. (See p. 160.) ¶ Catrine, the seat of the late Doctor, and present Professor Stewart.-(R. B. 1787.)

** Here, in the Stair MS., five suppressed stanzas are introduced. (See p. 160.) †† Colonel Fullarton.-(R. B. 1787.)

SUPPRESSED STANZAS OF "THE VISION."

[The poet in his letter to Mrs. Dunlop of 15th January, 1787, refers to the foregoing seven stanzas, a copy of which he encloses to her with these words:-"I have not composed anything on the great Wallace, except what you have seen in print and the enclosed, which I will print in this edition. When I composed my Vision long ago, I had attempted a description of Kyle, of which these stanzas are a part as it originally stood." The entire poem, in the poet's handwriting, is inserted in a MS. of ten leaves, which he transcribed and presented to Mrs. Stewart of Stair about the month of August, 1786. Besides The Vision, it contains The Lass of Ballochmyle, and six other pieces not printed in the Kilmarnock edition, then just published. This interesting manuscript, which the grandson of Mrs. Stewart sold to the late John Dick, bookseller in Ayr, is not to be confounded with another MS. collection which the poet presented to the same lady in 1791, containing the song, Craigieburn Wood, and other pieces. We will afterwards refer to this collection, which is still in the possession of William Allason Cuninghame, Esq., of Logan House.

Chambers properly observes regarding the suppressed stanzas of The Vision:"It is a curious and valuable document, but for an unexpected reason, namely, its proving what might otherwise have been doubted, that Burns was not incapable of writing weakly. The whole of the unedited stanzas are strikingly of this character; but perhaps there is, after all, a second and a greater importance in the document, as showing how, with the capability to write ineffectively, his taste was so unerring as to prevent him from publishing a single line that was not fitted to command respect, for every one of the poor stanzas has been thrown out on his sending the poem to the press."]

*Here the poet shows a remarkable forecast of the after interest taken by the public in the "cottage of his birth."

+ Sundrum.-(R. B.) Mr. Hamilton of Sundrum being married to a sister of Colonel Montgomery of Coilsfield, Burns felt a great interest in the family. Misses Lillias and Margaret Hamilton were the female pair referred to.

Stair.-(R. B.)

These words are written over the original in another hand,

*Captain James Montgomery, Master of St. James's Lodge, Tarbolton, to which the author has the honour to belong.—(R. B.)

† Auchinleck.-(R. B.) The poet here pays a compliment to the Boswell family, and particularly to the biographer of Johnson.

Ballochmyle. The Whitefoords were at this time parting with the property. § Mauchline.

Originally written "only."

A compliment to Miss Wilhelmina Alexander, the "Bonie Lass of Ballochmyle."

** Cumnock.-(R. B.)

†† Mr. Farquhar Gray.-(R. B.)