EPISTLE TO DR BLACKLOCK Still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes, Where is thy place of blissful rest? Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast? Epistle to Dr Blacklock.1 ELLISLAND, 21st Oct., 1789. Wow, but your letter made me vauntie!" Wad bring ye to: Lord send you aye as weel's I want ye! The ill-thief blaw the Heron 2 south! He tauld myself by word o' mouth, e And bade nae better. But aiblins, honest Master Heron And holy study; And tired o' sauls to waste his lear on, But what d'ye think, my trusty fere, EPISTLE TO DR BLACKLOCK Parnassian queans, I fear, I fear, Ye'll now disdain me! And then my fifty pounds a year Ye glaikit, gleesome, dainty damies, That strang necessity supreme is ’Mang sons o men. I hae a wife and twa wee laddies; But I'll snedd besoms, thraw saugh woodies, Lord help me thro' this warld o' care! I'm weary sick o't late and air! Not but I hae a richer share Than mony ithers; But why should ae man better fare, Come, Firm Resolve, take thou the van, Wha does the utmost that he can, Will whiles do mair. But to conclude my silly rhyme To weans and wife, That's the true pathos and sublime THE FIVE CARLINS My compliments to sister Beckie, As e'er tread clay; And gratefully, my gude auld cockie, I'm yours for aye. ROBERT BURNS. ⚫ mother-hen. The Five Carlins, An Election Ballad.1 Tune-"Chevy Chase." THERE was five Carlins in the South, To send a lad to London town, Nor only bring them tidings hame, There was Maggy by the banks o' Nith,2 And Marjory o' the mony Lochs,3 And blinkin Bess of Annandale,1 And whisky Jean, that took her gill, bold wives (The Five Dumfries Boroughs). 1 Westerha represents the line of a very active persecutor, under Charles II. and James II. Burns, on this occasion, was cautious in his politics. 2 Dumfries. ⚫ perhaps. 1 Sanquhar. THE FIVE CARLINS And black Joan, frae Crichton Peel,1 Five wighter Carlins were na found To send a lad to London town, And mony a knight, and mony a laird, O mony a knight, and mony a laird, But nae ane could their fancy please, The first ane was a belted Knight, And he wad do their errands weel, The neist cam in a Soger youth,3 He wad na hechtb them courtly gifts, a stouter. 2 Sir James Johnston of Westerhall. The King. THE FIVE CARLINS Then, wham to chuse, and wham refuse, For some had Gentlefolks to please, Then out spak mim-mou'd Meg o' Nith, And she wad send the Soger youth, For the auld Gudeman o' London court1 She didna care a pin; But she wad send the Soger youth, To greet his eldest son.2 Then up sprang Bess o' Annandale, "For far-off fowls hae feathers fair, Says black Joan frae Crichton Peel, "The auld Gudeman, and the young Gudeman, For fools will prate o' right or wrang, While knaves laugh them to scorn; But the Soger's friends hae blawn the best, a prim-mouthed. 2 The Prince of Wales. 3 A manuscript variation is : "And swore a deadly aith, b stern. Says 'I will send the Border Knight 4 The same proverb occurs on p. 12. |