I’ve already
posted the first two:
_____________________
Third
Epistle To J. Lapraik
By Robert
Burns
Guid
speed and furder to you, Johnie,
Guid
health, hale han's, an' weather bonie;
Now, when
ye're nickin down fu' cannie
The staff
o' bread,
May ye
ne'er want a stoup o' bran'y
To clear
your head.
May
Boreas never thresh your rigs,
Nor kick
your rickles aff their legs,
Sendin
the stuff o'er muirs an' haggs
Like
drivin wrack;
But may
the tapmost grain that wags
Come to
the sack.
I'm
bizzie, too, an' skelpin at it,
But
bitter, daudin showers hae wat it;
Sae my
auld stumpie pen I gat it
Wi'
muckle wark,
An' took
my jocteleg an whatt it,
Like ony
clark.
It's now
twa month that I'm your debtor,
For your
braw, nameless, dateless letter,
Abusin me
for harsh ill-nature
On holy
men,
While
deil a hair yoursel' ye're better,
But mair
profane.
But let
the kirk-folk ring their bells,
Let's
sing about our noble sel's:
We'll cry
nae jads frae heathen hills
To help,
or roose us;
But
browster wives an' whisky stills,
They are
the muses.
Your
friendship, Sir, I winna quat it,
An' if ye
mak' objections at it,
Then hand
in neive some day we'll knot it,
An'
witness take,
An' when
wi' usquabae we've wat it
It winna
break.
But if
the beast an' branks be spar'd
Till kye
be gaun without the herd,
And a'
the vittel in the yard,
An'
theekit right,
I mean
your ingle-side to guard
Ae winter
night.
Then
muse-inspirin' aqua-vitae
Shall
make us baith sae blythe and witty,
Till ye
forget ye're auld an' gatty,
An' be as
canty
As ye were
nine years less than thretty-
Sweet ane
an' twenty!
But
stooks are cowpit wi' the blast,
And now
the sinn keeks in the west,
Then I
maun rin amang the rest,
An' quat
my chanter;
Sae I
subscribe myself' in haste,
Yours,
Rab the Ranter.
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