254 THE AUTHOR BACKS OUT. 



" His wig was well pouthered, and maist gude as new ; 

 His waistcoat was red, his coat it was blue ; 

 A ring on his finger, his sword and cockt hat, 

 And wha could refuse the laird wi' aw that ? 



" He mounted his meer, he rode cannilie, 

 And rapt at the yett o' Clavers Ha' Lee ; 

 ' Gae tell Mrs. Jean to come speedilie ben, 

 She 's wanted to speak to the Laird o' Cockpen.' 



" Mrs. Jean she was makin' the elder flower wine ; 

 ' And what brings the laird at sic a like time ?' 

 She threw aff her apron, put on her silk gown, 

 Her mutch wi' red ribbons, and cam awa down. 



" And whan she cam in he bowed fu' low, 

 And soon his errand he let her to know ; 

 Amazed was the laird whan the leddie said naw, 

 But wi' a laigh courtsy she turned awa. 



" Dum-foundered he was, nae sicgh did he gie, 

 He mounted his meer, he rode cannilie ; 

 But said to himsel, as he gaed through the glen, 

 ' She was daft to refuse the laird o' Cockpen ! ' " 



It had been my intention to give an account of the 

 burning of the water from Melrose Bridge to the Cauld 

 Pool, and so on to Cow's Hole ; but the description, if 

 faithful, would be so similar to the one already given, 

 that it would be lamentably tiresome, and I have been 

 ultra-tedious already. Besides, it must be considered 

 that I have been out of my bed most part of the night ; 

 that I am to the full as sleepy as any of my readers can 

 possibly be ; and, moreover, that my back is half frozen, 

 whilst my front is scorched with the firebrands. 



Farewell, then, dear brothers of the angle ; and when 

 you go forth to take your pleasure, either in the moun- 



