At ev'n, when beans their fragrance shed, Ye maukins whiddin thro' the glade, Come join my wail. Mourn, ye wee songsters o' the wood; Ye grouse that crap the heather bud; Ye curlews calling thro' a clud; Ye whistling plover! And mourn, ye whirring paitrick brood; He's gane for ever! Mourn, sooty coots, and speckled teals ;-Ye fisher herons, watching eels; Ye duck and drake, wi' airy wheels Circling the lake; Ye bitterns, till the quagmire reels, Rair for his sake. Mourn, clam'ring craiks at close o' day, Mang fields o' flow'ring clover gay; And when ye wing your annual way Frae our cauld shore, Tell thae far warlds, wha lies in clay, Wham we deplore. Ye houlets, frae your ivy bow'r, Wail thro' the dreary midnight hour Till waukrife morn 4 O rivers, forests, hills, and plains! But tales of woe; And frae my een the drapping rains Mourn, spring, thou darling of the year; Thou, simmer, while each corny spear Thy gay, green, flow'ry tresses shear, Thou, autumn, wi' thy yellow hair, The roaring blast, Wide o'er the naked world declare The worth we've lost! Mourn him, thou sun, great source of light! Mourn, empress of the silent night! And you, ye twinkling starnies bright, My Matthew mourn! For through your orbs he's ta'en his flight, Ne'er to return. O Henderson! the man! the brother! Like thee, where shall I find another, The world around! Go to your sculptur'd tombs, ye Great; In a' the tinsel trash o' state ! But by thy honest turf I'll wait, Thou man of worth! And weep the ae best fellow's fate THE EPITAPH. STOF, passenger! my story's brief; I tell nae common tale o' grief, If thou uncommon merit hast, Yet spurn'd at fortune's door, man ; A look of pity hither cast, For Matthew was a poor man. If thou a noble sodger art, That passest by this grave, man, There moulders here a gallant heart ; For Matthew was a brave man. If thou on men, their works and ways, Canst throw uncommon light, man ; Here lies wha weel had won thy praise, For Matthew was a bright man. If thou at friendship's sacred ca If thou art staunch without a stain, If thou hast wit, and fun, and fire, If ony whiggish whingin sot, To blame poor Matthew dare, man; LAMENT OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, ON THE APPROACH OF SPRING. Now Nature hangs her mantle green And spreads her sheets o' daisies white Now Phoebus cheers the crystal streams, And glads the azure skies; But nought can glad the weary wight That fast in durance lies. Now lav'rocks wake the merry morǹ, The merle, in his noontide bow'r, Now blooms the lily by the bank, The meanest hind in fair Scotland I was the Queen o' bonnie France, Fu' lightly raise I in the morn, And never ending care. |