By which heroic Tam was able
To note upon the haly' table,

A murderer's banes in gibbet airns;3
Twa span-lang,* wee,' unchristen'd bairns ;
A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,

Wi' his last gasp his gab' did

6

gape; Five tomahawks, wi blude red-rusted,

Five scymitars, wi' murder crusted;

A

garter, which a babe had strangled, A knife, a father's throat had mangled, Whom his ain' son o' life bereft,

The grey hairs yet stack to the heft;"

Wi' mair" o' horrible and awefu',

Which ev'n to name wad be unlawfu'.

As Tammie glowr'd, amaz'd, and curious,

The mirth and fun grew

fast and furious:

The piper loud and louder blew ;

The dancers quick and quicker flew;

They reel'd, they set, they cross'd, they cleekit,

Till ilka carlin" swat" and reekit, "

1 Gab, mouth.

" Heft, haft.

• New-cutted frae a rape, new cut from a rope.

10 Stack, stuck.
13 Carlin, a stout old woman.
15 Reekit, smoked.

And coost her duddies' to the wark,"
And linket at it in her sark !*

Now Tam, O Tam! had thae' been

A' plump and strapping in their teens,
Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flannen,'

8

queans,

Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linnen!

Thir breeks' o' mine, my only pair,

10

That ance were plush, o' gude blue hair,

I wad hae gi'en them off my hurdies,
For ae blink" o' the bonnie burdies!

12

But wither'd beldams, auld and droll,

13

Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,

Lowping" an' flinging on a crummock,
I wonder didna" turn thy stomach.

"

But Tam kend" what was what fu' brawlie," There was ae winsome " wench and wawlie,"

That night enlisted in the core,"
(Lang after kend on Carrick shore;

For mony a beast to dead' she shot,
And perish'd mony a bonnie boat,

And shook baith' meikle corn and bear,*
And kept the country-side in fear),
Her cutty sark,' o' Paisley harn,"
That while a lassie' she had worn,
In longitude tho' sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie.
Ah! little kend thy reverend grannie,'
That sark she coft" for her wee Nannie,

Wi' twa pund Scots," ('twas a' her riches),
Wad ever grace a dance of witches!

13

But here my Muse her wing maun cour;*
Sic flights are far beyond her pow'r;
To sing how Nannie lap and flang,'
(A souple jade she was and strang"),
And how Tam stood, like ane" bewitch'd,

And thought his

1 Core, corps. 2

12

Dead, death.

3 Baith, both.

4 Bear, barley.

5 Cutty sark, short shift.

s Vauntie, proud.

6 Harn, a sort of cloth.
9 Grannie, grandmother. 10 Coft, spun.

11 Twa pund Scots, two pound Scottish.

12 Maun cour, must lower. 13 Lap and flang, jumped and flung.

7 Lassie, a little girl.

14 Souple, supple.

15 Strang, strong. 16 Ane, one.

17 Een, eyes.

Even Satan glowr'd, and fidg'd fu' fain,*

And hotch'd and blew wi' might and main :
Till first ae caper, syne anither,

3

2

Tam tint his reason a' thegither,*

And roars out, "Weel done, Cutty-sark!"
And in an instant all was dark:

And scarcely had he Maggie rallied,
When out the hellish legion sallied.

5

As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,*

When plundering herds' assail their byke;"
As

open pussie's' mortal foes,

When pop! she starts before their nose;

As eager runs the market-crowd,

When "Catch the thief!" resounds aloud;

So Maggie runs, the witches follow,

Wi' mony an eldritch 10 skreech and hollow.

Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin!" In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin!

* Fidg'd fu' fain, became very restless.

2 Syne anither, then another.

↑ A' thegither, entirely.

• Fyke, mood.

8 Byke, a bee-hive.

10 Eldritch skreech, frightful scream.

3 Tint, lost.

'Bizz, buzz.

7 Herds, shepherds.

9 Pussie's, a hare.

"Fairin, a fairing, a present.

In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!'
Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!
Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane* of the brig;*
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they dare na cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail' she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;'
But little wist she Maggie's mettle-
Ae spring brought off her master hale,
But left behind her ain' gray tail:
The carlin claught her by the rump,,
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

Now, wha' this tale o' truth shall read,

10

Ilk man and mother's son, take heed:

* It is a well known fact, that witches, or any evil spirits, have no power to follow a poor wight any farther than the middle of the next running stream. It may be proper likewise to mention to the benighted traveller, that when he falls in with bogles, whatever danger may be in his going forward, there is much more hazard in turning back.

1 Comin, coming.

2 Brig, bridge.

"the devil a tail."

• Hale, whole.

7 Ain, own. 10 Ilk, each.

3 The fient a tail, fient is a petty oath, as,
• Ettle, zeal. Ae spring, one jump.
8 Claught, seized hold on. 9 Wha, who,