Page:Elegy in memory of that valiant champion, Sir R. Grierson, late Laird of Lag, who died Dec. 23d, 1733.pdf/8

8 And cruel murders many a way,

Because they from my laws did stray:

But kindness he did ever bear,

No Pope in Rome did ever dwell,

That could this noble prince excell,

For in a word he did advance,

My kingdom more than Rome or France:

Neither Spain nor Germany,

Had so much true zeal for me.

He reigned long but at the last.

His brother York gave him a cast.

He poison'd him and made him die,

And sent him home to my country;

To Tophet that's both wide and large,

Which he chus'd for his heritage,

Great Middleton, that man of might,

My service he did never slight:

To work he furiously did go,

The covenants to overthrow;

He like Nehustan did them treat,

Like almanacks that's out of date,

He did rescind their force and power,

And solemly did them abjure,

He nullified all acts and laws,

That favoured the scripture cause;

And ruin'd many a family,

For nought but non-conformity

If hirelings they would not hear,

Their purse he punish'd most severe;

He made the south of Scotland feel,

His griping claws were made of steel,

They were so crooked, hard, and sharp,

They pierc'd men's substance to the heart,

The king's commission while he did bear,