There, groaning, dying, she did lie, W1 glowrin een, an' lifted han's, Poor Hugboc like a ftatue stan's ; He saw her days were near hand ended, He gaped wide, but naething spak, At length poor Mailic filence brak. O Thou whose lamentable face Appears to mourn my woefu' case! An' bear them to my Master dear. • TELL him, if e'er again he keep As muckle gear as buy a sheep, .0, bid him never tie them mair Wi' wicked strings o' hemp or hair ! * A neibor herd callan: But ca' them out to park or hill An' let them wander at their will: So may his flock increase, and grow To scores o'lambs, an' packs of woo’! “Tell him he was a Master kin', An'ay was guid to me an’mine; *O, BID him save their harmless lives, Frae dogs an' tods an' butcher's knives! But gie them guid cow milk their fill, An' tent them duly, e'en an' morn, « An' may they never learn the gaets Of ither vile, wanrestfu' pets! Το To slink thro' flaps, an'reave an steal, My poor toop-lamb, my son an heir, O, bid him breed him up wi' care! An' if he live to be a beast, To put some havins in his breast ! An' warn him what I winna name, To stay content wi' yowes at hame; An' no to rin an' wear his cloots, Like ither menseless, graceless brutes. * An' niest my yowie, filly thing, Gude keep thee frae a tether string ! O, may O, may thou ne'er forgather up * And now,'my bairns, wi, my last breath, I lea'e my blessin wi' you baith: An' when you think upo' your Mither, Mind to be kind to ane anither. Now, honest Hug boc, dinna fail To tell my Master a' my tale ; An' for thy pains thou’se get my blather.' This said, poor Mailie turn'd her head, An' clos'd her een amang the dead! POOR 1 POOR MAILIE'S ELEGY: LAMENT in ghyme, lament in profe, Our Bardie's fate is at a close, Past a reméad ! The last, fad cape-stane of his woes; Poor Mailie's dead! Its no the loss o' warl's gear, That could sae bitter draw the tear, Or mak our Bardie, dowie, wear The mourning weed: He's loft a friend and neebor dear, In Mailie dead. THRO' a' the town she trotted by him; A lang half-mile she could descry him; Wi' |