Or ftrutted in a Bank and clarkit My cash-account: While here, half-mad, half-fed, half-farkit, Is a' th' amount. I STARTED, mutt'ring, blockhead! coof! And heav'd on high my waukit loof, To fwear by a' yon ftarry roof, Or fome rafh aith, That I, henceforth, would be rhyme-proof Till my laft breath WHEN click! the ftring the fnick did draw; And jee! the door gaed to the wa'; And by my ingle-lowe I faw, Now bleezin bright, A tight, outlandish Hizzie, braw, Come full in fight. YE YE-need na doubt, I held my whisht, The infant aith, half-form'd, was crusht; I glowr'd as eerie's I'd been dusht In fome wild glen; When sweet, like modest Worth, the blufht And ftepped ben. GREEN, flender, leaf-clad Holly-boughs Were twisted, giacefu', round her brows, I took her for fome Scottish Muse, By that fame token; And come to ftop those reeklefs vows, Would foon been broken. AHAIR-brain'd fentimental trace' Was ftrongly marked in her face; A wildly-witty, ruftic grace Shone full upon her; Her Her eye ev'n turn'd on empty space, Beam'd keen with Honor. Down flow'd her robe, a tartan fheen, Till half a leg was ferimply feen; And fuch a leg! my bonie Jean Could only peer it; Sae ftraught, fae taper, tight and clean, Nane elfe came near it. HER Mantle large, of greenish hue, My gazing wonder chiefly drew; Deep lights, and shades bold-mingling, threw A luftre grand; And feem'd, to my aftonifh'd view, A well-known Land.' HERE rivers in the fea were loft; There, mountains to the skies were toft: 3 VOL. I. Here, Here, tumbling billows mark'd the coast, With furging foam, There, distant fhone Art's lofty boast, The lordly dome. HERE, Doon, pour'd down his far fetch'd floods; There, well-fed Irwine ftately thuds: Auld hermit Ayr ftaw thro' his woods, On to the fhore; And many a leffer torrent fcuds, With feeming roar. Low in a fandy valley fpread, An ancient Borough rear'd her head; Still, as in Scottish ftory read, She boafts a Race, To ev'ry nobler virtue bred, And polish'd grace. Br By ftately tow'r, or palace fair, Or ruins pendent in the air, Bold ftems of Heroes, here and there, I could difcern; Some feem'd to mufe, fome feem'd to dare, With feature ftern. My heart did glowing tranfport feel, * To fee a Race heroic wheel, And brandifh round the deep dy'd steel In furdy blows; While back-recoiling feem'd to reel Their Suthron foes. His COUNTRY'S SAVIOUR †, mark him well! Bold Richardton's heroic fwell; 0 2 The The Wallaces. + William Wallace. Adam Wallace of Richardton, cousin to the immortal Pre server of Scottish Independence, |