138 ALEXANDER WII^ON : POET-NATURALIST 



omitted several pieces that he had included in his 

 first volume. Of the seven new pieces which he 

 added to this collection, three are worthy of fa- 

 vorable notice. The longest of these is "The 

 Laurel Disputed," which had already been sepa- 

 rately printed. It is a monologue spoken in the 

 person of an old countryman who maintains the 

 superiority of Robert Fergusson over the older 

 poet, i\llan Ramsay. Wilson had delivered it in 

 the Pantheon at Edinburgh, and though he alone 

 spoke in Fergusson's favor against seven oppo- 

 nents he lost the vote of a large audience by only 

 seventeen votes.* "Eppie and the Deil" is an- 

 other addition of merit. Both pieces are written 

 in strong, racy Scotch dialect, and add much to 

 the strength of the volume of verse. "Eppie and 

 the Deil" with its very evident moral, is the story 

 of an old woman who expressed the wish that the 

 devil might take her loom. His Satanic majesty 

 at once complied with her request, but so com- 

 placently did she accept the loss that the zest of 

 the trick was quite gone and old "Cloots," 



"though he was the devil, 

 For once he acted vera civil," 



and gave her back her wheel. 



The third piece to be singled out for careful 

 notice is a song. There is a rare swing, a musical 

 lilt to the "Ode for the Birthday of our Immortal 

 Scotch Poet" that is unusual among Wilson's 



'Belfast Edition, 1844. It is claimed that the prize was won by 



bribery by Mr. Gumming, who is said to have purchased forty tickets 



of admission for his friends on condition that he should receive their 

 votes. 



