THERE'S naethin like the honest nappy! | I've seen me daez't upon a time;
Whaur'll ye e'er see men sae happy,
Or women sonsie, saft an' sappy,
'Tween morn an' morn,
As them wha like to taste the drappie
In glass or horn.

I scarce could wink or see a styme;
Just ae hauf muchkin does me prime,
Ought less is little,
Then back I rattle on the rhyme
As gleg's a whittle!

FRAGMENT.

Now health forsakes that angel face,
Nae mair my Dearie smiles;
Pale sickness withers ilka grace,
And a' my hopes beguiles.

The cruel powers reject the prayer
I hourly mak for thee;

Ye Heavens, how great is my despair,
How can I see him die!

EPIGRAM ON A NOTED COXCOMB.

LIGHT lay the earth on Billy's breast,

His chicken heart so tender;

But build a castle on his head,

His scull will prop it under.

'IN VAIN WOULD PRUDENCE?

IN vain would Prudence, with decorous sneer,
Point out a cens'ring world, and bid me fear;
Above that world on wings of love I rise,
I know its worst- and can that worst despise.
'Wrong'd, injur'd, shunn'd; unpitied, unredrest,
The mock'd quotation of the scorner's jest.'
Let prudence' direst bodements on me fall,
Clarinda, rich reward! o'erpays them all!

'THOUGH FICKLE FORTUNE?

THOUGH fickle Fortune has deceiv'd me,

She promis'd fair and perform'd but ill;
Of mistress, friends, and wealth bereav'd me,
Yet I bear a heart shall support me still. —

I'll act with prudence as far's I'm able,
But if success I must never find,

Then come misfortune, I bid thee welcome,
I'll meet thee with an undaunted mind. —

THE LOYAL NATIVES' VERSES.

YE Sons of sedition, give ear to my song,
Let Syme, Burns, and Maxwell pervade every throng,
With Crackn the attorney, and Mundell the quack,
Send Willie the monger to hell with a smack.

These verses were handed over the table to Burns at a convivial meeting, and he indorsed the subjoined reply:

BURNS-EXTEMPORE.

YE true 'Loyal Natives,' attend to my song,
In uproar and riot rejoice the night long;
From envy and hatred your corps is exempt;

But where is your shield from the darts of contempt?

'I BURN, I BURN.

'I BURN, I burn, as when thro' ripen'd corn,
By driving winds the crackling flames are borne,'
Now maddening, wild, I curse that fatal night;
Now bless the hour which charm'd my guilty sight.
In vain the laws their feeble force oppose:

Chain'd at his feet they groan, Love's vanquish'd foes;
In vain religion meets my sinking eye;

I dare not combat - but I turn and fly;

Conscience in vain upbraids th' unhallowed fire;
Love grasps his scorpions - stifled they expire!
Reason drops headlong from his sacred throne,
Your dear idea reigns and reigns alone:
Each thought intoxicated homage yields,
And riots wanton in forbidden fields!

By all on high adoring mortals know!
By all the conscious villain fears below!
By your dear self! - the last great oath I swear;
Nor life nor soul were ever half so dear!

TAM THE CHAPMAN.

As Tam the Chapman on a day

Wi' Death forgather'd by the way,

Weel pleas'd, he greets a wight sae famous,

And Death was nae less pleased wi' Thomas,

Wha cheerfully lays down the pack,

And there blaws up a hearty crack;

His social, friendly, honest heart,

Sae tickled Death they could na part:

Sae after viewing knives and garters,

Death takes him hame to gie him quarters.

TO DR. MAXWELL.

ON MISS JESSY STAIG'S RECOVERY.

MAXWELL, if merit here you crave,
That merit I deny:

You save fair Jessy from the grave!
An Angel could not die.

TRAGIC FRAGMENT.

'ALL devil as I am, a damned wretch,
'A harden'd, stubborn, unrepenting villain,
'Still my heart melts at human wretchedness;
'And with sincere tho' unavailing sighs
'I view the helpless children of distress.
'With tears of indignation I behold th' oppressor
'Rejoicing in the honest man's destruction,
'Whose unsubmitting heart was all his crime.
'Even you, ye helpless crew, I pity you;

Ye, whom the seeming good think sin to pity;
'Ye poor, despis'd, abandon'd vagabonds,
'Whom Vice, as usual, has turn'd o'er to Ruin.
'O but for kind, tho' ill-requited friends,
'I had been driven forth like you forlorn,

'The most detested, worthless wretch among you!
O injur'd God! thy goodness has endow'd me
'With talents passing most of my compeers,
'Which I in just proportion have abus'd,
'As far surpassing other common villains,
'As Thou in natural parts hadst given me more.'

EXTEMPORE.

PINNED TO A LADY'S COACH.

IF you rattle along like your mistress's tongue,

Your speed will out-rival the dart:

But, a fly for your load, you'll break down on the road,

If your stuff be as rotten's her heart.

LINES

ON BEING ASKED WHY GOD HAD MADE MISS DAVIES SO LITTLE AND MRS. *** SO LARGE.

Written on a Pane of Glass in the Inn at Moffat.

Ask why God made the gem so small,
An' why so huge the granite?

Because God meant mankind should set
The higher value on it.

FRAGMENTS.