A LOWDEN SABBATH MORN The twa-three last to find it, vext An' than the peppermints are raxed, For noo's the time whan pows are seen When tenty mithers stap a preen An' nearly half the parochine There's just a waukrif' twa or three: Or lads that tak a keek a-glee Himsel', meanwhile, frae whaur he cocks An' deals some unco dingin' knocks Wi' sappy unction, hoo he burkes An' shaws the best o' them Bethankit! what a bonny creed! What mair would ony Christian need?— And in their restin' graves, the deid Sleep aye the deeper. NOTE. It may be guessed by some that I had a certain parish in my eye, and this makes it proper I should add a word of disclamation. In my time there have been two ministers in that parish. Of the first I have a special reason to speak well, even had there been any to think ill. The second I have often met in private and long (in the due phrase) "sat under" in his church, and neither here nor there have I heard an unkind or ugly word upon his lips. The preacher of the text had thus no original in that particular parish; but when I was a boy, he might have been observed in many others; he was then (like the schoolmaster) abroad; and by recent advices, it would seem he has not yet entirely disappeared. THE SPAEWIFE I wad like to ken-to the beggar-wife says I- to fry. An' siller, that's sae braw to keep, is brawer still to gi'e. -It's gey an' easy spierin', says the beggar-wife to me. O, I wad like to ken-to the beggar-wife says I- The lasses in their claes an' the fishes in the sea. O, I wad like to ken-to the beggar-wife says I- An' naebody for dacency but barely twa or three. It's gey an' easy spierin', says the beggar-wife to me. O, I wad like to ken-to the beggar-wife says I- pree. -It's gey an' easy spierin', says the beggar-wife to me. O, I wad like to ken-to the beggar-wife says I- THE BLAST 1875 T'S rainin'. Weet's the gairden sod, Weet the lang roads whaur gangrels plod — A maist unceevil thing o' God If ye'll just curse the sneckdraw, dod! He's a braw place in Heev'n, ye ken, He ca's the earth A wee bit inconvenient den An' whiles, at orra times, keeks out, Upsets their plans; He hates a' mankind, brainch and root, An' whiles, whan they tak heart again, |