On the Poet's Father

On my Ever-honoured Father

YE whose cheek the tear of pity stains,

O Draw near with pious rev'rence and attend!

Here lie the loving husband's dear remains,
The tender father, and the gen'rous friend;
The pitying heart that felt for human woe;
The dauntless heart that fear'd no human pride;
The friend of man, to vice alone a foe;
For "ev'n his failings lean'd to virtue's side."

H

On John Dove

INNKEEPER, MAUCHLINE

ERE lies Johnny Pigeon;

What was his religion

Wha e'er desires to ken,

To some other warl'

Maun follow the carl,

For here Johnny Pigeon had nane!

Strong ale was ablution,

Small beer persecution,

A dram was memento mori;

But a full flowing bowl

Was the saving his soul,

And port was celestial glory.

On John Bushby, Esq.

OF TINWALD

ERE lies John Bushby, honest man!

H Cheat him, Devil-if you can!

L

For James Smith

AMENT him, Mauchline husbands a',
He aften did assist ye;

For had ye staid whole weeks awa,
Your wives they ne'er had miss'd ye.
Ye Mauchline bairns, as on ye pass
To school in bands thegither,
O tread ye lightly on his grass—
Perhaps he was your father.

On an Innkeeper Nicknamed "The Marquis "

WHO DESIRED BURNS TO WRITE AN EPITAPH ON HIM

H

ERE lies a mock Marquis whose titles were shamm'd,

If ever he rise, it will be to be damn'd.

For Walter Riddel

IC a reptile was Wat, sic a miscreant slave,
That the worms ev'n damn'd him when laid

in his grave.

"In his flesh there's a famine," a starv'd reptile

cries;

“And his heart is rank poison," another replies.

H

On William Graham, Esq.

On Mr. W. Cruikshank

OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, EDINBURGH

ONEST Will to Heaven's away,

And monie shall lament him;

His faults they a' in Latin lay,

In English nane e'er kent them.

The subject is poison, no reptile will touch it."

On William Graham, Esq.

OF MOSSKNOWE

"Sas Willy drew his latest breath; "STO As

TOP thief!" Dame Nature call'd to Death,

"How shall I make a fool again?

My choicest model thou hast taʼen!”

On a Cursing Coxcomb

ERE cursing, swearing Burton lies-
A buck, a beau, or "Dem my eyes!"

Who in his life did little good,

And his last words were, "Dem my blood!"

A Bard's Epitaph

S there a whim-inspirèd fool,

Is

Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule, Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool,

Let him draw near;

And owre this grassy heap sing dool,
And drap a tear.

Is there a Bard of rustic song,
Who, noteless, steals the crowds among,
That weekly this area throng,
O, pass not by!

But, with a frater-feeling strong,

Here, heave a sigh.

Is there a man whose judgment clear,
Can others teach the course to steer,
Yet runs, himself, life's mad career,
Wild as the wave;

Here pause—and, thro' the starting tear,
Survey this grave.

The poor Inhabitant below

Was quick to learn and wise to know,
And keenly felt the friendly glow,
And softer flame;

But thoughtless follies laid him low,

And stain'd his name!

Reader, attend! whether thy soul
Soars Fancy's flights beyond the Pole,
Or darkling grubs this earthly hole
In low pursuit ;

Know, prudent, cautious self-control

Is Wisdom's root.

NOTES TO VOL. I

(Burns's own Notes are indicated by his initials.)

Page 1. Gavin Hamilton, a writer, or lawyer, in Mauchline, was a man for whom Burns entertained a feeling of warm regard, and is frequently alluded to in his poems. P. 4, line 3. Mrs. Hamilton was a Kennedy.

P. 5, 1. 7. "Cæsar," the Newfoundland, was invented for the purpose of the poem.

P. 5, 1. 27. Cuchullin's dog in Ossian's "Fingal."-R. B. "Luath" was the Poet's dog. It was wantonly killed the night before Burns's father died. Greatly moved, Burns said he would like to confer immortality upon his friend— with what success all the world knows.

P. 13, 13. "Clad in massy, siller weed," i.e. the gentry

drink ale out of massive silver mugs.

P. 15, 1. 19. This was the whisky of a privileged distillery in Cromartyshire, which belonged to Forbes of Culloden. The privilege was abolished by Parliament in 1785, the year in which the poem was written.

P. 16. This was wrote before the Act anent the Scotch Distilleries, of Session 1786; for which Scotland and the author return their most grateful thanks.-R. B.

P. 17, 1. 31. The Montgomeries of Coilsfield.

P. 17, 1. 32. The immortal Jamie.

P. 18, 1. 13. The persons named in this and the next stanza were M.P.s of more or less note. They were George Dempster of Dunnichen; Sir Adam Ferguson of Kilkerran ; the Marquis of Graham, eldest son of the Duke of Montrose; the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, M. P. for the county of Edinburgh, Treasurer of the Navy, afterwards Viscount Melville; Thomas, afterwards Lord Erskine, the famous Lord Chancellor; Lord Frederick Campbell, second brother of the Duke of Argyll; Islay Campbell, Lord Advocate and afterwards Lord President of the Court of Session; and Sir William Augustus Cunningham of Livingstone.

P. 18, 1. 30. Some of the clauses in the Scots Militia Bill were so objectionable that the measure was thrown out.

P. 19, 1. 23. William Pitt was the grandson of Robert Pitt of Boconnoc, near Lostwithiel, in Cornwall.

P. 19, 1. 25. A worthy old hostess of the author's in Mauchline, where he sometimes studies politics over a glass of guid auld Scotch Drink.-R. B.