As I was a-wand’ring ae morning in spring,

On ev’ry new birth-day ye see,A humble poet wishes.My bardship here, at your LeveeOn sic a day as this is,Is sure an uncouth sight to see,Amang thae birth-day dressesSae fine this day.I see ye’re complimented thrang,By mony a lord an’ lady;‘God save the King’ ‘s a cuckoo sangThat’s unco easy said aye:The poets, too, a…

How silent that tongue which the echoes oft tired,How dull is that ear which to flatt’ry so listen’d!If sorrow and anguish their exit await,From friendship and dearest affection remov’d;How doubly severer, Maria, thy fate,Thou diedst unwept, as thou livedst unlov’d.Loves, Graces, and Virtues, I call not on you;So shy, grave, and distant, ye shed not…

And I a bird to shelter there,When wearied on my little wing.How I wad mourn when it was tornBy Autumn wild and Winter rude!But I wad sing on wanton wingWhen youthfu May its bloom renew’d.O, gin my love were yon red rose,That grows upon the castle wa’,And I mysel a drap o’ dewInto her bonie…

3 To anger them a’ is a pity,4 But what will I do wi’ Tam Glen?5 I’m thinking, wi’ sic a braw fellow,6 In poortith I might mak a fen’:7 What care I in riches to wallow,8 If I mauna marry Tam Glen?9 There’s Lowrie, the laird o’ Dumeller,10 ‘Guid-day to you,’–brute! he comes ben:11…

Or were ye at the Sherra-moor,Or did the battle see, man?’I saw the battle, sair and teugh,And reekin-red ran mony a sheugh;My heart, for fear, gaed sough for sough,To hear the thuds, and see the cludsO’ clans frae woods, in tartan duds,Wha glaum’d at kingdoms three, man.La, la, la, la, &c.The red-coat lads, wi’ black…

Clarinda, take this little boon,This humble pair of glasses:And fill them up with generous juice,As generous as your mind;And pledge them to the generous toast,‘The whole of human kind!’‘To those nwho love us!’ second fill;But not to those whom we love;Lest we love those who love not us –A third – ‘To thee and me,…

And would you ask me to resignThe sole reward that crowns my pain?Go, bid the hero who has runThro’ fields of death to gather fame,Go, bid him lay his laurels down,And all his well-earn’d praise disclaim.The ribband shall its freedom lose—Lose all the bliss it had with you,And share the fate I would imposeOn thee,…

The coward slave, we pass him byWe dare be poor for a’ that.For a’ that, an’ a’ that,Our toil’s obscure, and a’ that;The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,-The man’s the gowd for a’ that.What though on hamely fare we dine,Wear hoddin’ grey, an’ a’ that?Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,-A man’s a…

Viewing Willie and his men,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.There our foes that burnt and slew,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,There, at last, they gat their due,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie.Satan sits in his black neuk,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,Breaking sticks to roast the Duke,My bonie laddie, Highland laddie,The bloody monster gae a yell,My bonie laddie, Highland…

Thou ne’er took such a bleth’rin bitchInto thy dark dominion!

We freely wad exchanged the wife,And a’ been weel content.Ev’n as he is, cauld in his graff,The swap we yet will do’t;Tak thou the carlin’s carcase aff,Thou’se get the saul o’boot.

If e’er Detraction shore to smit you,May nane believe him,And ony deil that thinks to get you,Good Lord, deceive him