266 REMINISCENCES OF 



"And wha should I see there but my auld Joe, 

 your uncle the Laird of Alva ; ay, wha but he, wi' 

 his bonnie vouno- bird of a new wife. 'Eh! Alva,' 

 says I, 'I'm glad to see ye— dinna keep her in a 

 cage ! She's dancin', I see, wi' a brave young callant 

 just now ; but she'll no llee far from sic a cage as ye 

 have put her in.' Alva really looks cagie and croose, 

 and disna care a wheat strae for the auld sang, ' What 

 can a young lassie do wi' an auld man '. 



"And so, my doo, for the present, 



" Yours to command, 



" Grizzy Oldbuck. 



" MoNKBARNs HousE, 24th March, 1791." 



