A MAN'S A MAN FOR A' THAT

For a' that, an' a' that.

Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that;

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A Man's a Man for a' that:

For a' that, and a' that,

Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,

Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that :
For a' that, an' a' that,

His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa'd that!
For a' that, an' a' that,

Their dignities an' a' that;

The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)

That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.

For a' that, an' a' that,

It's coming yet for a' that,

That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

A coarse.

b fellow.

• blockhead.

a try.

• pre-eminence.

THE LEAGUE AND COVENANT

Craigieburn Wood.1

SWEET fa's the eve on Craigieburn,
And blythe awakes the morrow;
But a' the pride o' Spring's return
Can yield me nocht but sorrow.

I see the flowers and spreading trees,
I hear the wild birds singing;
But what a weary wight can please,
And Care his bosom wringing!

Fain, fain would I my griefs impart,
Yet dare na for your anger;
But secret love will break my heart,
If I conceal it langer.

If thou refuse to pity me,

If thou shalt love another,

When yon green leaves fade frae the tree,
Around my grave they'll wither.

Versicles of 1795.

The solemn League and Covenant.a

THE Solemn League and Covenant
Now brings a smile, now brings a tear;
But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs : 3
If thou'rt a slave, indulge thy sneer.

1 A recast of an earlier piece by Burns. Written in vol. xiii. of The Statistical Account of Scotland, s.v. Balmaghie. The writer of the pages on Balmaghie had remarked on the rude rhymes of a Covenanting epitaph. As a rule, Burns preferred Dundee to the Covenanters, who, if they wished to be "free" them

selves, were equally anxious to deny freedom to everyone who disagreed with them.

* Cunningham gives these two lines

as:

"

"Cost Scotland blood, cost Scotland tears; But it sealed Freedom's sacred cause.'

MR GABRIEL RICHARDSON

Compliments to John Syme of Ryedale.1

Lines sent with a Present of a Dozen of Porter.

O HAD the malt thy strength of mind,
Or hops the flavour of thy wit,
"Twere drink for first of human kind,
A gift that even for Syme were fit.

JERUSALEM TAVERN, DUMFRIES.

Inscription on a Goblet.
THERE'S Death in the cup, so beware!
Nay, more there is danger in touching;
But who can avoid the fell snare,

The man and his wine's so bewitching!

Apology for declining an Invitation
to dine.

No more of your guests, be they titled or not,
And cookery the first in the nation;
Who is proof to thy personal converse and wit,
Is proof to all other temptation.

Epitaph for Mr Gabriel Richardson."
HERE Brewer Gabriel's fire's extinct,
And empty all his barrels:

He's blest-if, as he brew'd, he drink,
In upright, honest morals.

1 Mr Syme was Burns's companion on a tour in Galloway. Mr Scott Douglas quotes a remark of his to some one who regretted the loss of literature in Burns's death. "No, no, he could have done nothing more: he was burnt to a cinder!" Mr Syme was the source of an anecdote about Burns and a

sword-cane, which is of no importance, and, like the other tale concerning the composition of Scots Wha Hae on the Galloway tour, is probably apocryphal. Unluckily Scott published it in the Quarterly Review.

2A Dumfries brewer, later Provost of the town.

BONIE PEG-A-RAMSAY

Epigram on Mr James Gracie.1

GRACIE, thou art a man of worth,
O be thou Dean for ever!
May he be d-d to hell henceforth,
Who fauts thy weight or measure!

Inscription at Friars' Carse Hermitage,

To the Memory of Robert Riddell.2

TO RIDDELL, much lamented man,
This ivied cot was dear;

Wand'rer, dost value matchless worth?
This ivied cot revere.

Bonie Peg-a-Ramsay.

CAULD is the e'enin blast,
O' Boreas o'er the pool,

An' dawin it is dreary,

When birks are bare at Yule.

Cauld blaws the e'enin blast,
When bitter bites the frost,
And, in the mirk and dreary drift,
The hills and glens are lost:

Ne'er sae murky blew the night
That drifted o'er the hill,
But bonie Peg-a-Ramsay
Gat grist to her mill.

a finds fault with.

1 Mr Gracie was a local Banker.

2 Written on a window-pane in the aforesaid Hermitage.

"Malvolio's a Peg-a-Ramsay," but the history of Peg is lost: like her character.

O AYE MY WIFE SHE DANG ME

There was a bonie Lass.1

THERE was a bonie lass, and a bonie, bonie lass,
And she lo'ed her bonie laddie dear;

Till War's loud alarms tore her laddie frae her arms,
Wi' mony a sigh, and a tear.

Over sea, over shore, where the cannons loudly roar,
He still was a stranger to fear;

And nocht could him quail, or his bosom assail,
But the bonie lass he lo'ed sae dear.

Wee Willie Gray.

Tune-"Wee Totum Fogg."

WEE Willie Gray, and his leather wallet,
Peel a willow wand to be him boots and jacket;
The rose upon the breir will be him trews an' doublet,
The rose upon the breir will be him trews an' doublet.

Wee Willie Gray, and his leather wallet,

Twice a lily-flower will be him sark and cravat;
Feathers of a flee wad feather up his bonnet,
Feathers of a flee wad feather up his bonnet.

O aye my Wife she dang Me.3

Chorus-O aye my wife she dang me,
An' aft my wife she bang'd me,
If ye gie a woman a' her will,

1 "Words for Music."

Gude faith! she'll soon o'er-gang ye.

■ beat.

2 A child's song with an appearance

8 This is not to be taken as the "lyric cry" of personal emotion.

of popular antiquity.