made too free with the money of the poor. His end was any thing but godly: he drank more than was proper during one of his visits to Mauchline, and was found dead in a ditch on his way to his own house.

It is related, by John Richmond of Mauchline, that when he was a clerk in Gavin Hamilton's office, Burns came in one morning and said, "I have just been making a poem, and if you will write it, Jolin, I'll repeat it." He accordingly, to Richmond's surprise, repeated "Holy Willie's Prayer:" Hamilton came in, read it, and ran laughing with it to Robert Aiken-and the latter was delighted.-A. C.]

The Inventory.

IN ANSWER TO A MANDATE BY THE
SURVEYOR OF TAXES.

SIR, as your mandate did request,
I send you here a faithfu' list,
O' gudes an' gear, an' a' my graith,
To which I'm clear to gi'e my aith.

Imprimis, then, for carriage cattle,
I ha'e four brutes o' gallant mettle,
As ever drew afore a pettle.
My lan'-afore's* a gude auld has-been,
An' wight an' wilfu' a' his day 's been.
My lan'-ahin'st a weel gaun fillie,
That aft has borne me hame frae Killie,
An' your auld burro' mony a time,
In days when riding was nae crime-
But ance, whan in my wooing pride,
I, like a blockhead boost to ride,
The wilfu' creature sae I pat to,
(L-d pardon a' my sins, an' that too!)
I play'd d my fillie sic a shavie,
She's a' bedevil'd wi' the spavie.
My fur ahin's a wordy beast,
As e'er in tug or tow was trac'd.
The fourth's a Highland Donald hastie,
A d-n'd red-wud Kilburnie blastie!
Forbye a cowte, o' cowte's the wale,
As ever ran afore a tail:
If he be spar'd to be a beast,

He'll draw me fifteen pun' at least.

Wheel carriages I ha'e but few,
Three carts, an' twa are feckly new;
An auld wheel-barrow, mair for token,
Ae leg an' baith the trams are broken;
I made a poker o' the spin'le,
An' my auld mither brunt the trin'le.

For men, I've three mischievous boys, Run-de'ils for rantin' an' for noise;

A gaudsman ane, a thrasher t'other.
Wee Davoc hauds the nowte in fother.
I rule them, as I ought, discreetly,
An' aften labour them completely;
An' ay on Sundays duly, nightly,
I on the question targe them tightly,
Till, faith, wee Davoc's turn'd sae gleg,
Tho' scarcely langer than my leg,
He'll screed you aff Effectual Calling,||
As fast as ony in the dwalling.-

I've nane in female servan' station,
(L-d keep me ay frae a' temptation!)
I ha'e nae wife, and that my bliss is,
An' ye ha'e laid nae tax on misses;
An' then, if kirk folks dinna clutch me,
I ken the devils darena touch me.
Wi' weans I'm mair than weel contented,
Heav'n sent me ane mair than I wanted.
My sonsie, smirking, dear-bought Bess,
She stares the daddy in her face,
Enough of ought ye like but grace;
But her, my bonnie sweet wee lady,
I've paid enough for her already,
An' gin ye tax her or her mither,
B' the L-d! ye'se get them a' thegither.

And now, remember, Mr. Aiken,
Nae kind of licence out I'm takin';
Frae this time forth, I do declare,
I'se ne'er ride horse nor hizzie mair;
Thro' dirt and dub for life I'll paidle,
Ere I sae dear pay for a saddle;
My travel a' on foot I'll shank it,
I've sturdy bearers, Gude be thankit.
The kirk and you may tak' you that,
It puts but little in your pat;
Sae dinna put me in your buke,
Nor for my ten white shillings luke.

This list wi' my ain hand I've wrote it,
The day and date as under noted;
Then know all ye whom it concerns,
Subscripsi huic

Mossgiel, February 22, 1786.

ROBERT BURNS.

"The Inventory' was written in answer to a mandate sent by Mr. Aiken of Ayr, the surveyor of the windows, carriages, &c., for the district, to each farmer, ordering him to send a signed list of his horses, servants, wheel-carriages, &c., and to state whether he was a married man or a bachelor, and also the number of his children. The poem is chiefly remarkable for the information it gives concerning the farm, the household, and the habits of Burns. Mossgiel lies about a mile distant from Mauchline; the cultivation has not prevailed against the cold clay-bottom, which, with untimely rains, brought

the shorter catechism of the Westminster Assembly of Divines-generally used in Scotland.

A child born to the Poet by a young woman of the name of Elizabeth Paton, servant to the Poet's mother at Mossgiel. She grew up extremely like her father, and became the wile of Mr. John Bishop, overseer at Polkemmet in Linlithgowshire, and died there, December 8, 1817.

ruin to the Poet's labours: it is more suitable for grazing than cropping, and at this period produces excellent cheese.

"Mauchline is a parish town of above a thousand inhabitants; in ancient times, it was the seat of a priory belonging to Melrose, but now differs in no respect from a common agricultural village. It is situated upon a slope ascending from the margin of the Ayr, from which it is about two miles distant. One might at first suppose that a rustic population, like that of Mauchline, would form but a poor field for the descriptive and practical genius of Burns. It is wondrous, however, how variously original many of the inhabitants of the most ordinary Scottish villages will contrive to be. In a small town the character of every man is well known; so that every thing he says or does appears to his fellows as characteristic." - CHAMBERS.

Adam A--'s Prayer.

GUDE pity me, because I'm little,
For though I am an elf o' mettle,
And can, like ony wabsters' shuttle,
Jink there or here;

Yet scarce as lang's a guid kail whittle,
I'm unco queer.

And now thou kens our wofu' case,
For Geordie's Jurr* we're in disgrace,
Because we stang'd her through the place,
And hurt her spleuchan'

For which we daurna show our face
Within the clachan.

And now we're dern'd in glens and hollows,
And hunted, as was William Wallace,
Wi' constables, those blackguard fallows,
And sogers baith;
But Gude preserve us frae the gallows,
That shamefu' death!

Auld grim black-bearded Geordie's sel',
O shake him o'er the mouth o' hell,
There let him hing, and roar, and yell,

Wi' hideous din,

And if he offers to rebel,

Just heave him in.

* [" Jurr" is in the west of Scotland a colloquial term for "journeyman," and is often applied to designate a servant of either sex.

The circumstances here alluded to were as follows:-A certain Mauchline innkeeper, named George, had a female servant whe had been too indulgent to one of her master's male customers. This brought her into such odium in the village that a number of reckless young persons, among whom Adam A--, an ill-made little fellow, was a ringleader, violently 'rade the stang' upon her; that is, placed her astride upon a rantletree, or other wooden pole, and in this woeful plight unfeelingly carried the poor girl through the town, by which means she sustained much personal skaith as well as scorn. The girl's master and mistress highly resented this lawless outrage, and raised an action at law against the principals, which occasioned Adam A-- to abscond. While skulking under hiding, Burns met him, and, knowing his situation, said, "Adam, puir fallow, ye wad need somebody to pray for you;" to which Adam rejoined,

When death comes in, wi' glimmering blink,
And tips auld drucken Nanse † the wink,
May Hornie gie her doup a clink
Ahint his yett,
Aud fill her up wi' brimstone drink
Red, reeking, het.

There's Jockie and the hav'rel Jenny,
Some devils seize them in a hurry,
And waff them in th' infernal wherry

Straught through the lake,

And gi'e their hides a noble curry,
Wi' oil of aik.

As for the Jurr, poor worthless body,
She's got mischief enough already;
Wi' stanged hips, and buttocks bluidy,
She's suffered sair;

But may she wintle in a woodie,
If she wh-e mair.

The Holy Fair.

A robe of seeming truth and trust
Hid crafty observation;

And secret hung, with poison'd crust,
The dirk of Defamation:

A mask that like the gorget show'd,
Dye-varying on the pigeon;
And for a mantle large and broad,
He wrapt him in Religion.

HYPOCRISY A-LA-MODE.

I.

UPON || a simmer Sunday morn,
When Nature's face is fair,
I walked forth to view the corn,
An' snuff the caller air.

The rising sun owre Galston muirs,
Wi' glorious light was glintin';
The hares were hirplin' down the furs,
The lav'rocks they were chantin'
Fu' sweet that day.

II.

As lightsomely I glow'r'd abroad,
To see a scene sae gay,
Three hizzies, early at the road,
Cam skelpin' up the way;

Now a' the congregation o'er

Is silent expectation :

For Moodie §§ speels the holy door,

Wi' tidings o' damnation.|| ||

She was the daughter of 'Poosie Nansie,' who figures in 'The Jolly Beggars.' She was remarkable for her pedestrian powers, and sometimes ran long distances for a wager."] VAR. Brawls.-MS. ** VAR. An' ithers on.-MS. †† VAR. An elect.-1st. Edit.

VAR. Wi' mercy-beggin.'-MS.

VAR. Sawnies.- [Moodie was the minister of Riccarton, and one of the heroes of The Twa Herds. He was a neverfailing assistant at the Mauchline sacraments. His personal appearance and style of oratory were exactly such as described by the poet. He dwelt chiefly on the terrors of the law. On one occasion, he told the audience that they would find the text in John viii. 44, but it was so applicable to their case, that there was no need of his reading it to them. The verse begins, "Ye are of your father the Devil."]

["Originally printed 'salvation' in the first edition of the author's poems, but altered as above in the second, at

the suggestion of Dr. Blair, who expressed a very high opinion of this Poem."]

*

VAR. To H-ll wi' speed.-MS. † VAR. Geordie begins. MS. Mr. (afterwards Dr) George Smith, minister of Galston-the same whom the poet introduces, in a different feeling, under the appellation of Irvine-side, in The Kirk's Alarm. Burns meant on this occasion to compliment him on his rational mode of preaching, but the reverend divine regarded the stanza as satirical.

VAR. It's no nae Gospel truth divine

To cant o' sense an' reason.-MS.

The Rev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) William Peebles, minister of Newton-upon-Ayr, and the moving hand in the prosecution of Dr. M'Gill, on which account he is introduced into The Kirk's Alarım. He was in great favour at Ayr among the orthodox party, though much inferior in ability to the heterodox ministers of that ancient burgh. Robert Hamilton, a crack-pated pauper, who lived long in Ayr, and amused every body by his droll sayings, one day thus addressed citizen, in the hearing of one of these heretical gentlemen: -"I dreamt yestreen I was dead, and at the door o' heaven; and whan I knockit at the door, Peter said, 'Wha's there?' 'It's me, Mr. Robert Hamilton.' 'Whare d'ye come frae?'

a