ADDRESS TO THE DEIL. ADDRESS TO THE DEIL.' Oh Prince! Oh Chief of many throned Pow'rs, O THOU! Whatever title suit thee, Closed under hatches, Spairges about the brunstane cootie," To scaud poor wretches! Hear me, auld Hangie, for a wee, Ev'n to a deil, To skelp' an' scaud poor dogs like me, Great is thy pow'r, an' great thy fame;* An' faith! thou's neither lag nor lame, Whyles, ranging like a roarin lion, Whyles on the strong-wing'd tempest flyin, Whyles in the human bosom pryin, Unseen thou lurks. I've heard my reverend Graunie say, In lanely glens ye like to stray; It was, I think, in the winter, as we were going together with carts for coal to the family fire (and I could yet point out the par. ticular spot), that the author first repeated to me the "Address to the Deil." The curious idea of such an address was suggested to him by running over in his mind the many ludicrous accounts and representations we have from various quarters of this august personage.-G. B. 2 Dashest. 3 Wooden dish. 4 Strike. The third stanza was originally Lang syne in Eden's happy scene, My dearest part, A dancin', sweet, young, handsome quean • Flaming pit. Wi' guileless heart. "Neither bashful nor apt to be scared. • Uncovering. 337 Or where auld ruin'd castles, gray, Ye fright the nightly wand'rer's way, Wi' eldritch croon.' When twilight did my Graunie summon, Or, rustlin, thro' the boortries' comin, Ae dreary, windy, winter night, The stars shot down wi' sklentinʻ light, Ayont the lough; Ye, like a rash-bush, stood in sight, Wi' waving sugh. The cudgel in my nieveR did shake, 8 Awa ye squatter'd, like a drake, On whistling wings. And in kirk-yards renew their leagues, 12 Thence, countra wives, wi' toil an' pain, By witching skill; An' dawtit, 13 twal-pint" Hawkie's gaen As yell's1 the bill.1 Thence, mystic knots mak great abuse, By cantraip" wit, Is instant made no worth a Just at the bit. 1 Frightful moan. 2 Humming. shrub elder, common in the hedges of barn-yards. Slant Magical. ADDRESS TO THE DEIL. When thowes' dissolve the snawy hoord,' Then Water-kelpies haunt the foord, By your direction, An' nighted Trav'llers are allur'd To their destruction. An' aft your moss-traversing Spunkies Till in some miry slough he sunk is, When Mason's mystic word an' grip, The youngest Brother ye wad whip Aff straught to hell. Lang syne, in Eden's bonnie yard, The raptur'd hour, Sweet on the fragrant, flow'ry swaird, Then you, ye auld, snec-drawing dog! Ye came to Paradise incog, An' play'd on man a cursed brogue," (Black be you fa!) An' gied the infant warld a shog," 'Maist ruin'd a'. D'ye mind that day, when in a bizz,' 'Mang better folk, An' sklented10 on the man of Uzz Your spitefu' joke? An' how ye gat him i' your thrall, While scabs an' blotches did him gall, Wi' bitter claw, An' lows'd" his ill-tongu'd, wicked Scawl," 4 Trick-contriving. Stunted periwig is of all. But a' your doings to rehearse, Wad ding' a' Lallan tongue, or Erse, In prose or rhyme. An' now, auld Cloots, I ken ye're thinkin, Some luckless hour will send him linkin,* 5 But, faith! he'll turn a corner jinkin, But, fare you weel, auld Nickie-ben! Still hae a stake¬ I'm wae to think upo' yon den, Ev'n for your sake! THE DEATH AND DYING WORDS OF POOR MAI LIE, THE AUTHOR'S ONLY PET YOWE. 7 AN UNCO MOURNFU' TALE. As Mailie an' her lambs thegither, Wi' glowrin een, an' lifted han's, Perhaps. 3 Worst. 4 Tripping. 6 Dodging. The circumstances of the poor sheep were pretty much as he has described them: he had, partly by way of frolic, bought a ewe and two lambs from a neighbour, and she was tethered in a field adjoining the house at Lochlie. He and I were going out with our teams, and our two younger brothers to drive for us, at mid-day; when Hugh Wilson, a curious-looking, awkward boy, clad in plaiding, came to us, came to us, with much anxiety in his face, with the information that the ewe had entangled herself in the tether, and was lying in the ditch. Robert was much tickled with Huoc's appearance and postures on the occasion. Poor Mailie was set to rights, and when we returned from the plough in the evening, he re peated to me her "Death and Dying Words," pretty much in th way they now stand.-G. B. 9 Cast. 10 Loop. 11 Wrestled. 12 A neibor herd-callan.-R. B. 8 Hoof. THE DEATH OF POOR MAILIE. "O thou, whase lamentable face Wool. "O, bid him save their harmless lives, 7 To slink thro' slaps, an' reave an' steal, An' bairns greet 10 for them when they're dead. To pit some havins" in his breast! 41 4 Handfuls • Live comfortably. • Small quantities. • Rove. Forefathers. 11 Ram. 13 Good manners. 10 Weep. 18 Ewe. |