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 young 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 flee 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, 2^th March, 1794." 



