Fit only for a doited Monkish race, Or frosty maids forsworn the dear embrace, AULD BRIG. O ye, my dear-remember'd, ancient yealings, Were ye but here to share my wounded feelings! Ye worthy Proveses, an' mony a Bailie, Wha in the paths o' righteousness did toil ay; Ye dainty Deacons, an' ye douce Conveeners, To whom our moderns are but causey-cleaners ; Ye godly Councils wha hae blest this town; Ye godly Brethren of the sacred gown, Wha meekly gie your hurdies to the smiters; And (what would now be strange) ye godly Writers: A' ye douce folk I've borne aboon the broo, And agonizing, curse the time and place ye begat the base, degen'rate race! Meet owre a pint, or in the Council-house ; But staumrel, corky-headed, graceless Gentry, The herryment and ruin of the country; Men, three-parts made by taylors and by barbers, Wha waste your well-hain'd gear on d---d new Brigs and Harbours! NEW BRIG. Now haud you there! for faith ye've said enough, And muckle mair than ye can mak to through, As for your Priesthood, I shall say but little, Corbies and Clergy are a shot right kittle: But, under favor o' your langer beard, Abuse o' Magistrates might weel be spar'd: To liken them to your auld-warld squad, I must needs say, comparisons are odd. In Ayr, Wag-wits nae mair can hae a handle To mouth a Citizen,' a term o' scandal: Nae mair the Council waddles down the street, In all the pomp of ignorant conceit; Men wha grew wise priggin owre hops an' raisins, Or gather'd lib'ral views in Bonds and Seisins. If haply Knowledge, on a random tramp, Had shor'd them with a glimmer of his lamp, And would to Common-sense, for once betray'd them, Plain, dull Stupidity stept kindly in to aid them. What What farther clishmaclaver might been said, Adown the glitt'ring stream they featly danc'd ; Or when they struck old Scotia's melting airs, inspir'd! No guess could tell what instrument appear'd, appears, The Genius of the stream in front His * A well known performer of Scottish music on the violin. His hoary head with water-lilies crown'd, By Hospitality with cloudless brow. Next follow'd Courage with his martial stride, From where the Feal wild-woody coverts hide; Benevolence, with mild benignant air, A female form, came from the tow'rs of Stair :* Learning and Worth in equal measures trode From simple Catrine, their long-lov'd abode : Last, white-rob'd Peace, crown'd with a hazle wreath, To rustic Agriculture did bequeath The broken iron instruments of death; At sight of whom our Sprites forgat their kindling wrath. THE The Poet alludes here to Mrs. Stewart of Stair.Stair was then in her possession. She afterwards removed to Afton-Lodge, on the banks of the Afton, a stream which he afterwards celebrated in a song entitled "Afton Water."-See a letter to Mrs. Stewart, vol. ii. p. 23. The song, Afton Water, vol. iv. p. 331. E. THE ORDINATION. For sense they little owe to Frugal Heav'n.- I. KILMARNOCK Wabsters fidge an' claw, An' pour your creeshie nations; An' ye wha leather rax an' draw, Swith to the Laigh Kirk, ane an' a', An' there tak up your stations; Then aff to B-gb--'s in a raw, For joy this day, II. Curst |