"To leave a fupper that was dight
"To brownies*, or a ghaist,
"To eat or day."

On whomelt tubs lay twa lang dails,
On them stood mony a goan,
Some fill'd wi' brachan, fome wi' kail,
And milk het frae the loan.

Of daintiths they had routh and wale,
Of which they were right fon;
But naithing wad gae down but ale

Wi' drunken Donald Don,

The fmith, that day.

Twa times aught bannocks in a heap,
And twa good junts of beef,
Wi' hind and fore fpaul of a sheep,
Drew whittles frae ilk fheath:

Wi' gravie a' their beards did dreep,
They kempit wi' their teeth;

A keb

* Many whimfical ftories are handed down to us, by old women, of these brownies: they tell us, they were a kind of drudging fpirits, who appeared in the fhape of rough men, would have lain familiarly by the fire all night, threshed in the barn, brought a midwife at a time, and done many fuch kind offices: but none of them have been feen in Scotland, fince the Reformation, as faith the wife John Brown.

1

A kebbuck fyn that maift could creep

Its lane pat on the fheaf *,

In ftons that day.

The bride was now laid in her bed,
Her left leg ho was flung † ;
And Geordie, Gib was fidgen glad,
Because it hit Jean Gunn :

She was his jo, and aft had faid,

Fy, Geordie, had your tongue, "Ye's ne'er get me to be your

bride :"

But chang'd her mind when bung,
That very day.

Tehee ! quoth Touzie, when fhe faw

The cathel coming ben;

It pyping het ged round them a';

The bride she made a fen,
To fit in wylicoat fae braw,
Upon her nether en;

Her

* A cheese full of crawling mites crowned the feaft.

The practice of throwing the bridegroom or the bride's stocking when they are going to bed, is well known: the perfon whom it lights on is to be next married of the company.

An interjection of laughter.

The fouter, miller, fmith, and Dick,
Lawrie, and Hutchon bauld,
Carles that keep nae very strict

Be hours, tho' they were auld:
Nor cou'd they e'er leave aff that trick;
But whare good ale was fald,

They drank a' night, e'en tho' auld nick Should tempt their wives to fcald

Them for 't nieft day.

Was ne'er in Scotland heard or feen

Sic banqueting and drinkin,

Sic revelling and battles keen,
Sic dancing and fic jinkin,
And unco wark that fell at e'en,
Whan laffes were haff winkin,

They loft their feet and baith their een,
And maidenheads gaed linkin

Aff a' that day.

A hatching hen.

A

1718.

CANTO III. *

Now frae th' eaft nook of Fife † the dawn

Speel'd weftlines up the lift,

Carles wha heard the cock had craw'n,

Begoud to rax and rift;

And greedy wives wi' girning thrawn,

Cry'd laffes up to thrift;

Dogs barked, and the lads frae hand

Bang'd to their breeks like drift,
Be break of day.

But

* Curious to know how my bridal folks would look next day after the marriage, I attempted this third Canto, which opens with a description of the morning; then the friends come and prefent their gifts to the new-married couple; a view is taken of one girl (Kirsh) who had come fairly off, and of Mause who had stumbled with the laird; next a scene of drinking is represented, and the young good-man is creeled; then the character of the fmith's ill-natured fhrew is drawn, which leads in the defcription of riding the ftang; next Maggy Murdy has an exemplary character of a good wife wife; deep drinking and bloodlefs quarrels make an end of an old tale.

Where day muft break upon my company, if, as I have obferved, the scene is at Lefly church.-The fact is, that Ramfay was mistaken in fuppofing that the fcene lay near Lefly in Fife, instead of Lefly in Aberdeenshire. G. C.

But fome who had been fou yeftreen,

Sic as the letter-gae,

Air up had nae will to be feen,

Grudgin their groat to pay *.
But what aft frifted 's no forgeen,
When fouk has nought to say;

Yet fweer were they to rake their een † ;
Sic dizzy heads had they,

And het that day.

Be that time it was fair foor days ‡,
As fou 's the house could pang,
To fee the young fouk ere they raise,
Goffips came in ding dang,

And wi' a fofs aboon the claiths §,
Ilk ane their gifts down flang:
Twa toop-horn-fpoons down Maggy lays,
Baith muckle mow'd and lang,

For kale or whey.

Her

* Payment of the drunken groat is very peremptorily demanded by the common people next morning; but if they frankly confefs the debt due, they are paffed for two pence. Broad day-light.

+ Rub open their eyes.

They commonly throw their gifts of household furniture. above the bed-clothes where the young folks are lying.