But mean revenge, an' malice fause, He'll still disdain, An' then cry zeal for gospel laws, Like some we ken. Then take religion in their mouth; On some puir wight, All hail, Religion! maid divine ! Thus daurs to name thee; To stigmatize false friends of thine Can ne'er defame thee. Tho' blotch't an' foul wi' mony a stain, To join with those, Who boldly dare thy cause maintain In spite of foes: In spite o' crowds, in spite o' mobs, At worth an' merit, By scoundrels, even wi' holy robes, But hellish spirit. Ayr, my dear, my native ground, Of public teachers, As men, as christians too renown'd, An' manly preachers. Sir, in that circle you are nam'd; Sir, in that circle you are fam'd; An' some, by whom your doctrine's blam'd, (Which gies you honour) Even, Sir, by them your heart's esteem'd, Pardon this freedom I have ta'en, Whase heart ne'er wrang'd ye, But to his utmost would befriend Ought that belang'd ye. TO GAVIN HAMILTON, ESQ., MAUCHLINE. (RECOMMENDING A BOY.) Mosgaville, May 3, 1786. I HOLD it, Sir, my bounden duty Was here to hire yon lad away An' wad hae don't aff han': But lest he learn the callan tricks, As faith I muckle doubt him, Like scrapin' out auld Crummie's nicks, As lieve then I'd have then, Not fitted otherwhere. • Master Tootie then lived in Mauchline, a dealer in cows. It was his common practice to cut the nicks or markings from the horns of cattle, to disguise their age.-He was an artful trickcontriving character; hence he is called a Snick-drawer. In the Poet's Address to the Deil,' he styles that august person. age an auld, snick-drawing dog! Reliques, p. 397. Altho' I say't, he's gleg enough, An' bout a house that's rude an' rough, The boy might learn to swear; But then wi' you, he'll be sae taught, An' get sic fair example straught, I, hae na ony fear. Ye'll catechize him every quirk, An' shore him weel wi' hell; An' gar him follow to the kirk -Ay when ye gang yoursel. Frae hame this comin Friday, My word of honour I hae gien, To try to get the twa to gree, In legal mode an' form: An' if a Devil be at a', In faith he's sure to get him; The Airles-Earnest Money. To Mr. M'ADAM, of Craigen-Gillan, In answer to an obliging Letter he sent in the commencement of my Poetic Career. SIR, o'er a gill I gat your card, Now deil-ma-care about their jaw, 'Twas noble, Sir; 'twas like yoursel, Tho', by his banes wha in a tub Match'd Macedonian Sandy! And when those legs to guid, warm kail, Wi' welcome canna bear me; A lee dy ke-side, a sybow-tail, · And barley-scone shall cheer me, |