· Sal-alkali o' midge-tail-clippings. And mony mae.' Waes me for Johnny Ged's Hole now,' Quoth I, if that thae news be true, His braw calf-ward whare gowans grew, 'Sae white and bonny, 'Nae doubt they'll rive it wi' the plew; The creature grain' "They'll ruin Johnny" rich laugh, And says, 'Ye needna yoke the pleugh, 1 Kirkyards will soon be till'd eneugh, 'Tak ye nae fear: 'They'll a' be trench'd wi' mony a sheugh, "In twa-three year. 'Whare I kill'd ane a fair strae death, 'By loss o' blood or want o' breath, This night I'm free to tak my aith, "That Hornbook's skill 'Has clad a score i' their last claith, • By drap an' pill. 'An honest wabster to his trade, 'Whase wife's twa nieves were scarce well bred, Gat twopence worth to mend her head, Then it was sair ; The grave-digger.. 'The wife slade cannie to her bed, 'But ne'er spak mair. 'A countra laird had ta'en the batts, An' pays him well. • The lad, for twa gude gimmer pets, "Was laird himsel. A bonny lass, ye kend her name, 'Some ill-brewn drink had hov'd her wame; She trusts hersel, to hide the shame, "In Hornbook's care; • Horn sent her aff to her lang hame, To hide it there. "That's just a swatch o' Hornbook's way; goes he on frae day to day, C 5 Thus 'Thus does he poison, kill, an' slay, 'An's weel paid for❜t; Yet stops me o' my lawfu' prey, 'Wi' his d-mn'd dirt. But, hark! I'll tell you of a plot, As dead's a herrin; "Niest time we meet, I'll wad a groat, 'He gets his fairin.' But just as he began to tell, The auld kirk-hammer strak the bell Which rais'd us baith: I took the way that pleas'd mysel, And sae did Death. A |