Page:Elegy on the year eighty-eight.pdf/6

( 6 ) Saul! how we sharpen'd ilka ane

Whan wi' them she came toddlin' ben,

A' pyping like a roasted hen,

Braw healthy eatin'!

Wi' timmer pins at ilka en'

To haud the meat in.

An' than she had the knack sae weel

To taste the gab o' ony chiel',

Wi' spic'ries, braught thro' dangers feil

Frae India's coast,

An' ingans, mixt wi' gude ait meal,

Auld Scotia's boast.

Thus seated round her canty ingle,

O how the knives an' forks wad ringle,

An' cutty-spoons 'mang puddin's mingle,

Hov'd up sae waliy;

An' caps an' trunchers in a jingle

A' scarted brawly!

Did ony relish cauler water?

Na, faith! it was ma in our nature!

We but to ha'e a wee drap creature,

Gude Papish Whisky* —

It beits new life in ilka feature,

An' keeps ane brisk aye!