VII

Wi' kindly welcome, Jenny brings him ben:25 A strappin' youth; he takes the mother's

eye;

Blythe Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en;20

The father cracks27 of horses, pleughs, and kye.28

The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy, But blate and laithfu',30 scarce can weel behave;

The mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy

31

What makes the youth sae31 bashfu' an' sae grave;

Weel pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave.32

VIII

But now the supper crowns their simple board, The halesome parritch, chief o' Scotia's

food:

33

The sowpe3 their only Hawkie3 does afford, That 'yont the hallan3 snugly chows her cood;37

25. Ben means into the room.

26. That is, the visit is not unwelcome.

27. Cracks is a Scotch word meaning chats.

28. Kye are cattle.

29. Blate means modest.

30. Laithfu' is bashful.

31. Sae is the Scotch form of so.

32. The lave is the others; that is, the neighbors' girls.

33. The halesome parritch is the wholesome porridge of oatmeal.

34. Sowpe here means a little quantity of milk.

35. Hawkie is a white-faced cow.

36. That is, beyond the partition.

37. Chows her cood means chews her oud.

The dame brings forth in complimental mood

To grace the lad, her weel-hain'da kebbuck fell

An' aft he's prest, an' aft he ca's it guid;40

The frugal wifie, garrulous, will tell,

How 'twas a towmond" auld, sin' lint was i' the bell.42

38. Weel-hain'd means carefully preserved.

39. Kebbuck is cheese.

40. This line, in English, would read And often he is urged (to take more) and often he calls it good.

41. A towmond is a twelvemonth, a year..

42. Since flax was in blossom.

IX

The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face,
They, round the ingle, form a circle wide;
The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace,
The big ha'-Bible," ance" his father's pride;
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside,

His lyart haffets" wearing thin an' bare; Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,

He wales48 a portion with judicious care; And "Let us worship God!" he says, with solemn air.

X

They chant their artless notes in simple guise;
They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim:
Perhaps Dundee's wild warbling measures rise
Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name,
Or noble Elgin beats the heav'nward flame,
The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays:
Compared with these, Italian trills are tame;
The tickl❜d ears no heart-felt raptures raise;
Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise.

XI

The priest-like father reads the sacred page, How Abram was the friend of God on high; Or, Moses bade eternal warfare wage

With Amalek's ungracious progeny;

43. The ha'-Bible is the family Bible, which is kept in the hall, or the best room.

44. Ance is the Scotch form of once.

45. That is, his hat.

46. Lyart means gray.

47. Haffets means temples.

48. Wales means chooses.