Page:Penelope's Progress.djvu/146

132 emulates her distinguished ancestor Sir William Hamilton, who always fell off his own chair in fits of laughter when he was composing verses."

With this inspiring introduction I read my lines as follows:—

I canna thole my ain toun, Sin' I hae dwelt i' this; To bide in Edinboro' reek, Wad be the tap o' bliss. Yon bonnie plaid aboot me hap, The skirlin' pipes gae bring, With thistles fair tie up my hair, While I of Scotia sing.

The collops an' the cairngorms, The haggis an' the whin, The 'Stablished, Free, an' U. P. kirks, The hairt convinced o' sin,— The parritch an' the heather-bell. The snawdrap on the shaw, The bit lam's bleatin' on the braes,— How can I leave them a'! How can I leave the marmalade An' bonnets o' Dundee? The haar, the baddies, an' the brose, The East win' blawin' free! How can I lay my sporran by, An' sit me doun at hame, Wi'oot a Hieland philabeg Or hyphenated name?