Elegy On The Year 1788（2 / 2）

e'en monc a plack, and mony a peck,

ye ken yoursels, for little feck!

ye bonie lasses, dight your e'en,

for some o' you hae tint a frien';

in eighty-eight, ye ken, was taen,

what ye'll ne'er hae to gie again.

observe the very nowt an' sheep,

how dowff an' daviely they creep;

nay, even the yirth itsel' does cry,

for e'nburgh wells are grutten dry.

o eighty-nine, thou's but a bairn,

an' no owre auld, i hope, to learn!

thou beardless boy, i pray tak care,

thou now hast got thy daddy's chair;

nae handcuff'd, mizl'd, hap-shackl'd regent,

but, like himsel, a full free agent,

be sure ye follow out the plan

nae waur than he did, honest man!

as muckle better as you can.

january, 1, 1789.