Page:Christ's kirk on the green (1).pdf/24

 24 CHRIST'S KIRK, &c. Canto III.

Ithers frae aff the bunkers fank, Wi' een like collops ſcor'd; Some ram'd their noddles wi' a clank, E'en like a thick-ſcul'd lord, 184 On poſts that day.

The young good-man to bed did clim, His dear the door did lock in : Crap down ayont him, and the rim O'er wame he clap'd his dock on, She ſand her lad was not in trim, And be this fame good token, That ilka member, lith and limb, Was ſouple like a doken, 192 'Bout him that day.

Notwithſtanding all this my public ſpirited pains: I am well aſſured, there are a few heavy heads, who will bring down the thick of their cheeks to the fides of their mouths, and richly ſtu- pid. alledge, that ſome things in it have a meaning. Well, I own it, and think it handſomer in a few lines to ſay ſomething, than talk o great deal, and mean nothing. Pray, is there any thing vicious or unbecoming, in ſaying, Mens' liths and links are ſouple when intoxicated?' Does it not ſhew, that exceſſive drinking enervates and unhinges a man's conſtitution, and makes him uncapable of performing divine or natural duties. There is the moral. And believe me, I could raiſe many uſeful notes from every character, which the ingenious will preſently find out. ' Great wits ſometimes may gloriouſly offend, ' And riſe to faults true critics dare not mend; ' From vulgar bounds with brave diſorder part, ' And Snatch a grace beyond the reach of art. Pope. Thus have I perſued theſe comical characters, having gentle- mens' health and pleaſure, and the good manners of the vulgar in view : the main design of comedy being to repreſent the for lies and miſtakes of low life in a juſt tight, making them ap- pear as ridiculous as they really are, that each who is a ſpecta- tar, may evite his being the object of laughter. Any body that Gas a mind to look four upon it, may uſe their freedom. ' Not laugh, beaſts, Athes, fowls, nor reptiles can: ' That's the peculiar happineſs of man: ' When govern'd with a prudent chearful grace, ' 'Tis one of the firſt beauties of the face.

Glaſgow, Printed by J. & M. Robertſon, Saltmarket, 1806.