VERSES WRITTEN AT SELKIRK.
AULD chuckie Reekied 's sair distrest,
Down droops her ance weel burnisht crest,
Nae joy her bonnie buskite nest

Can yield ava,

Her darling bird that she lo'es best,
Willie's awa!

O Willie was a witty wight,8
And had o' things an uncoh slight;
Auld Reekie ay he keepit tight,

And trig an' braw:1

But now they'll buskk her like a fright,
Willie 's awa!

The stiffest o' them a' he bow'd,
The bauldest o' them a he cow'd ;'
They durst nae mair than he allow'd,
That was a law:

We 've lost a birkiem weel worth gowd
Willie 's awa!

Now gawkies, tawpies, gowks and fools,"
Frae colleges, and boarding schools,
May sprout like simmer puddock-stools,"
In glen or shaw ;p

He who could brush them down to mools,
Willie 's awa!

The brethren o' the Commerce-chaumer
May mourn their loss wi' doolfu' clamour;
He was a dictionar and grammar

Amang them a';

I fear they'll now mak mony a stammer,
Willie 's awa!

c To William Creech, Esq. Edinburgh, author of Fugitive Pieces,' &c. and the Poet's worthy publisher.

e Dressed. At all. g A superior genius. i Spruce and fine. k Dress. Frightened.

m Clever fellow. n Foolish, thoughtless young persons.

d Edinburgh,

à Very great.

o Mushrooms.

was secretary.

p A small wood in a hollow.

7 Dust.

The Chamber of Cominerce of Edinburgh, of which Mr. C.

Nae mair we see his levee door
Philosophers and poets pour,
And toothy critics by the core,

In bloody raw!

The adjutant o' a' the score,

Willie 's awa!

Now worthy Gregory's Latin face,
Tytler's and Greenfield's modest grace;
M'Kenzie, Stuart, such a brace,

As Rome ne'er saw;

They a' maunt meet some ither place,
Willie 's awa!

Poor Burns-e'en Scotch drink canna quicker,
He cheeps" like some bewilder'd chicken,
Scar'd frae its minniew and the clecken*
By hoodie-craw ;y

Grief's gien his heart an unco kickin',
Willie 's awa!

Now ev'ry sour-mou'd, girnin'a blellum,b
And Calvin's fock are fit to fell him;
And self-conceited critic skellumd

His quill may draw;

He wha could brawliee ward their bellum,'
Willie 's awa!

Up wimpling, stately Tweed I 've sped,
And Eden scenes on chrystal Jed,
And Etrick banks now roaring red,
While tempests blaw;

But ev'ry joy and pleasure 's fled,
Willie 's awa!

May I be slander's common speech;

A text for infamy to preach;

Many literary gentlemen were accustomed to meet at Mr

C's house at breakfast.

w Mother. r Brood.

t Must.

u Chirps.

c People. Their ill nature.

y The pewit-gull. z Given. talking fellow.

a Grinning. b A
d A worthless fellow. e Finely.
g Meandering.

And, lastly, streekith out to bleach
In winter snaw;

When I forget thee! Willie Creech,
Tho' far awa!

May never wicked fortune touzle him!
May never wicked men bamboozle him!
Until a pow1 as auldk 's Methusalem!
He canty claw !!

Then to the blessed, new Jerusalem,
Fleet wing awa!

LIBERTY.-A FRAGMENT.

THEE, Caledonia, thy wild heaths among-
Thee fam'd for martial deed and sacred song-
To thee I turn with swimming eyes;
Where is that soul of freedom fled?
Immingled with the mighty dead!

Beneath that hallow'd turf where Wallace lies!
Hear it not, Wallace, in thy bed of death!
Ye babbling winds in silence sweep;
Disturb not ye the hero's sleep,

Nor give the coward secret breath.-
Is this the power in freedom's war
That wont to bid the battle rage?
Behold that eye which shot immortal hate,
Crushing the despot's proudest bearing,
That arm which, nerved with thundering fate,
Braved usurpation's boldest daring!

Upon a time, Sir Abece the great,
In all his pedagogic powers elate,

His awful chair of state resolves to mount,
And call the trembling vowels to account.

First enter'd A, a grave, broad, solemn wight, But, ah! deform'd, dishonest to the sight! His twisted head look'd backward on his way, And flagrant from the scourge, he grunted, ai! Reluctant, E stalk'd in; with piteous grace The justling tears ran down his honest face! That name, that well-worn name, and all his own, Pale he surrenders at the tyrant's throne! The pedant stifles keen the Roman sound Not all his mongrel diphthongs can compound; And next the title following close behind, He to the nameless, ghastly wretch assign'd. The cobweb'd gothic dome resounded Y! In sullen vengeance, I, disdain'd reply: The pedant swung his felon cudgel round, And knock'd the groaning vowel to the ground! In rueful apprehension enter'd O, The wailing minstrel of despairing woe; Th' Inquisitor of Spain the most expert, Might there have learnt new mysteries of his art So grim, deform'd, with horrors entering U, His dearest friend and brother scarcely knew! As trembling U stood staring all aghast, The pedant in his left hand clutch'd him fast, In helpless infant's tears he dipp'd his right, Baptiz'd him eu, and kick'd him from his sight.

FRAGMENT,

Inscribed to the Right Hon. C. J. Fox.

How wisdom and folly meet, mix, and unite; How virtue and vice blend their black and their

white;

How genius, the illustrious father of fiction,

Confounds rule and law, reconciles contradiction-

1 sing: If these mortals, the critics, should bustle, I care not, not I, let the critics go whistle. [glory But now for a patron, whose name and whose At once may illustrate and honour my story.

Thou first of our orators, first of our wits; Yet whose parts and acquirements seem mere lucky hits;

With knowledge so vast, and with judgment so strong,

No man with the half of 'em e'er went far wrong;
With passions so potent, and fancies so bright,
No man with the half of 'em e'er went quite right;
sorry, poor misbegot son of the Muses,

A