The gudeman, new come hame, is blithe to find, Whan he out owre the hallan1 flings his een, That ilka turn is handled to his mind; That a' his housie looks sae coshm an' clean; Weel kens the gudewife, that the pleughs require Sair wark an' poortith downa? weel be join'd. Frae this, lat gentler gabs" a lesson lear: V Wad they to labouring lend an eident hand, On sicken food has mony a doughty deed a The couthy cracks begin whan supper's owre; The fient a cheep e 's amang the bairnies now; Grumble an' greet, an' mak an unco maen'. Frae gudame's mouth auld warld tales they O' warlocks loupin round the wirrikowi: [hear, O' ghaists, that win in glen an kirkyard drear, Whilk touzles a' their tap, an' gars them shake wi' fear! 1 The inner wall of a cottage.- Comfortable.- Meal. o Drink.-P Should not. A flat iron for toasting cakes. Beer-barrel. - Broth with greens.t Kitchen here means what is eaten with bread; there is no English word for it; obsonium is the Latin.-" Palates.- Assidnous. Foretell. In contests.-y Arms.-2 Earth.a Pleasant talk.-b The cup.-c Chat.-d Destroy the produce of their farms.-e Not a whimper.-f Moan.-g Circles.- Grandame.-i Scare-crow.- Abide. For weel she trows, that fiends an' fairies be An' corn been scowder'd m on the glowin' ki And dim our dolefu' days wi' bairnly fear; Though Age her sair-dow'd front wi' runes Her ain spun cleedin' on a darlin' oy; [foy Where the gudeman aft streeks him at s A warm and canny lean for weary banes [eas O' labourers doylt upo' the wintry leas. Round him will baudrins an' the collie come, To wag their tail, and cast a thankfu' ee, To him wha kindly flings them mony a crum O'kebbuck whang'd, an' dainty fadge" to prie This a' the boon they crave, an' a' the fee. Frae him the lads their mornin' counsel tak: What stacks he wants to thrash; what rigstā How big a birna maun lie on bassie's back, [t: For meal an' mu'ter to the thirlin' mill. Niest, the gudewife her hirelin' damsels bids Glowr through the byre,an' see the hawkies boun Tak tent, case Crummy tak her wonted tids', An' ca' the laiglen's treasure on the ground; Whilk spills a kebbuck nice, or yellow pound. Then a' the house for sleep begin to green, Their joints to slack frae industry a while; The leaden god fa's heavy on their e'en, An' hafflins steeks them frae their daily toil : The cruizy, too, can only blink and bleer; The reistit ingle's done the maist it dow; Tacksman an' cottar eke to bed maun steer, Upo' the codi to clear their drumly pow, Till wauken'd by the dawnin's ruddy glow. Peace to the husbandman, an' a' his tribe, Whase care fells a' our wants frae year to year! Lang may his sock and cou'ter turn the gleyb', An' banks o' corn bend down wi' laded ear May Scotia's simmers ay look gay an' green; ! Her yellow haʼrsts frae scowry blasts decreed! May a' her tenants sit fu' snug an' bien TM, Frae the hard grip o' ails, and poortith freed; An'a lang lasting train o' peacefu' hours succeed! k Entice. Lost. Scorched.-n Age.-o Childish.P Task. The rest. Grandchild.-s Her farewell enter tainment.-t Corner.-u Bench.- Stretches. The cat. - Cheese.-y Loaf. To taste. Burthen. The horse. The miller's perquisite.-d Cows.-e FitsThe milk-pail.-g To long. The lamp. Pillow.i Thick heads.-k Ploughshare. Soil. Comfortable. ON MR. NASHI'S PICTURE, AT FULL LENGTH, BETWEEN THE BUSTS OF SIR I. NEWTON AND MR. POPE, AT BATH *. THE old Egyptians hid their wit In hieroglyphic dress, To give men pains in search for it, Moderns, to hit the self-same path, And exercise our parts, Newton, if I can judge aright, All wisdom does express; Ilis knowledge gives mankind new light, Adds to their happiness. Pope is the emblem of true wit, The sunshine of the mind; Nash represents man in the mass, Made up of wrong and right; Sometimes a knave, sometimes an ass, Now blunt, and now polite. The picture placed the busts between Adds to the thought much strength; Wisdom and Wit are little seen, But Folly's at full length. [* To add to his honours, the corporation of Bath placed a full-length statue of him in Wiltshire's Ballroom, between the busts of Newton and Pope. It was upon this occasion that the Earl of Chesterfield wrote that severe but witty epigram, the last lines of which were so deservedly admired, and ran thus: The statue placed the busts between But Folly at full length. GOLDSMITH, Life of Nash (Prior), vol. iii. p. 314. Mr. Prior says that the first version of this celebrated epigram appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1741, but we find it in Mr. Dyce's Specimens of British Poetesses, as by Jane Brereton, who died in 1740, and among her poems collected by Cave in 1744. It was soon after 1735 that the statue, not the picture, was put up at Bath. Good sayings fly loose on the surface of society, and are generally assigned to men whom it is the fashion to celebrate, and who accept in silence all such felicities.] OLIVER GOLDSMITH. [Born, Nov. 10, 1722. Died, 1774.) His OLIVER GOLDSMITH was born at a place called distinguished himself by his translations from the Pallas, in the parish of Forney, and county of classics, his general appearance at the university Longford, in Ireland. His father held the living corresponded neither with the former promises, of Kilkenny West, in the county of Westmeath *. nor future development of his talents. He was, There was a tradition in the family, that they were like Johnson, a lounger at the college-gate. He descended from Juan Romeiro, a Spanish gentle- gained neither premiums nor a scholarship, and man, who had settled in Ireland, in the sixteenth was not admitted to the degree of bachelor of century, and had married a woman whose name arts till two years after the regular time. of Goldsmith was adopted by their descendants. backwardness, it would appear, was the effect of Oliver was instructed in reading and writing by despair more than of wilful negligence. He Thomas Byrne, a schoolmaster in his father's parish, had been placed under a savage tutor, named who had been a quarter-master in the wars of Queen Theaker Wilder, who used to insult him at public Anne; and who, being fond of relating his adven- examinations, and to treat his delinquencies with tures, is supposed to have communicated to the a ferocity that broke his spirit. On one occasion, young mind of his pupil the romantic and wandering poor Oliver was so imprudent as to invite a comdisposition which showed itself in his future years. pany of young people, of both sexes, to a dance He was next placed † under the Rev. Mr. Griffin, and supper in his rooms; on receiving intellischoolmaster of Elphin, and was received into the gence of which, Theaker grimly repaired to the house of his father's brother, Mr. Goldsmith, of place of revelry, belaboured him before his guests, Ballyoughter. Some relations and friends of his and rudely broke up the assembly. The disgrace uncle, who were met on a social party, happen- of this inhuman treatment drove him for a time ing to be struck with the sprightliness of Oliver's from the university. He set out from Dublin, abilities, and knowing the narrow circumstances intending to sail from Cork for some other of his father, offered to join in defraying the country, he knew not whither; but, after wanexpense of giving him a liberal education. The dering about till he was reduced to such famine, chief contributor was the Rev. Thomas Contarine, that he thought a handful of gray peas, which a who had married our poet's aunt. He was accord-girl gave him at a wake, the sweetest repast he ingly sent, for some time, to the school of Athlone, and afterwards to an academy at Edgeworthstown, where he was fitted for the university. He was admitted a sizer or servitor of Trinity college, Dublin, in his sixteenth year, [11th June, 1745] a circumstance which denoted considerable proficiency; and three years afterwards was elected one of the exhibitioners on the foundation of Erasmus Smith §. But though he occasionally [ His mother, by name Ann Jones, was married to Charles Goldsmith on the 4th of May, 1718-PRIOR, Vol. i. p. 14.] [t An attack of confluent small-pox, which had nearly deprived him of life, and left traces of its ravages in his face ever after, first caused him to be taken from under the care of Byrne.-PRIOR, vol. i. p. 28.] This benevolent man was descended from the noble family of the Contarini of Venice. His ancestor, having married a nun in his native country, was obliged to fly with her into France, where she died of the small pox. Being pursued by ccclesiastical censures, Contarini came to England; but the puritanical manners which then prevailed, having afforded him but a cold reception, he was on his way to Ireland, when, at Chester, he met with a young lady of the name of Chaloner, whom he married. Having afterwards conformed to the established church, he, through the interest of his wife's family, obtained ecclesiastical preferment in the diocese of Elphin. Their lineal descendant was the benefactor of Goldsmith.-[See PRIOR, vol. 1. p. 51.] [$ Out of nineteen elected on the occasion, his name had ever tasted, he returned home, like the prodigal son, and matters were adjusted for his being received again at college. About the time of his finally leaving the university his father died. His uncle Contarine, from whom he experienced the kindness of a father, wished him to have taken orders, and Oliver is said to have applied for them, but to have been rejected; though for what reason is not sufficiently known. He then accepted the situation of private tutor in a gentleman's family, and retained it long enough to save about 307., with which he bought a tolerable horse, and went stands seventeenth on the list; the emolument was trifling, being no more than about thirty shillings; but the credit something, for it was the first distinction he had obtained in his college career.-PRIOR, vol. i. p. 87.] [ Mr. Prior discovered several notices of Goldsmith in the College books On the 9th of May 1718, he was turned down; twice he was cautioned for neglecting a Greek lecture, and thrice commended for diligence in attending it.) [ His father died carly in 1747, before he had become an exhibitioner on Smith's foundation. On the 27th February 1749, after a residence of four years, he was admitted to the degree of bachelor of arts] [** By the account of his sister, he was rejected on the plea of being too young; whatever was the cause of his rejection, he does not seem to have made a second attempt. -PRIOR.] |