Then cried Mahoun1 for a Hieland padyan;2 Far northward in a neuk.3 By he the coronach had done shout, Erse 5 In Hell great room they took. 8 7 And roup like raven and rook. The Devil sae deaved was with their yell, He smorit 10 them with smuke. TO THE KING. THE PETITION OF THE GREY HORSE, AULD DUNBAK. When I was young and into ply,17 Sir, let it never in toun be tauld With gentle horse when I would knip,21 22 1 Satan. 2 Pageant. 3 In a corner of the far north. 4 By the time when. 5 Irish, Gaelic. 6 Noisy fellows. 10 Smothered. 11 Petitioners. 7 Began. 12 Fillies. 15 Be told. 8 Croak. 9 Deafened. 13 Decked up and drest 14 Persons of low ranks (lewd). 16 Yule signifies Christmas, and yauld is an old horse. The exact meaning of the expression" ane Yule's yauld" is lost. A superstition prevailed in Morayshire a century ago to the effect that no woman would leave her work unfinished on Christmas Eve for fear she should be Yule's yauld during the next year Yule" being in this case personified in her mind as a night-mare or goblin. Dunbar's refrain, "That I should be ane Yule's yauld" appears to have been an adaptation of some such old proverb or popular superstition. (See Dr. Laing's edition of Dunbar's Poems, vol ii. p. 327.) 17 In condition. 18 Gambols. 21 Crop grass. 19 Bought in neighbouring kingdoms. 20 Sold. Sir, let it never in toun be tauld 1 Though. That I suld be ane Yule's yauld! I am an auld horse, as ye knaw, Sir, let it never in toun be tauld .10 I have run lang forth in the field My mane is turned into white, Sir, let it never in toun be tauld I was never dantit 17 into stable; For ill-shorn straw 19 that I reive wald.20 5 Meaning obscure. That I suld be ane Yule's yauld! 2 Furnished. 3 An old spent horse. 4 Over the fields. 10 Stripped bare. 13 Projecting high. 17 Petted up in a stable. 12 Teeth. 15 Grass. 16 If I chose to crop it. 18 I can, if I choose, sell my hide. And yet, suppose my thrift1 be thine Sir, let it never in toun be tauld 6 Sir, let it never in toun be tauld The King's Reply.8 After our writings, Treasurar, Gar 11 house him now against this Yule, TO THE MERCHANTS OF EDINBURGH. Why will ye, Merchants of renown, The common profit tine,14 and fame? That ony other region Shall with dishonour hurt your name? May nane pass through your principal gates1 For cries of carlings 16 and debates, Before strangers of all estates, 1 The profit of my carcase. 2 In your possession. 5 Over-ridden. 3 Shoemakers. 6 For royal favours. 7 Joint. 8 There is doubt whether this is the original composition of James IV., or the reply added by Dunbar himself to his own petition. 11 Cause, order. 12 Dress. 10 Into grey. Possession. 1 2 Your Stinking Stile 1 that standès dark Sae little policy,5 to work, In hurt and slander of your name? 6 At your High Cross, where gold and silk Sin as 10 the world says that ilk11 Your Common Minstrels 12 has no tune Think ye nocht shame 66 To hauld sic mowers on the moon 15 Your Burgh of beggars is ane nest; To shout these swenyours 19 will nocht rest; Sae piteously they cry and rame.' 1 A narrow passage. 2 St. Giles. 20 3 Common stairs to different tenements, which projected into the street. 4 Gloomy. 5 So impolitic. 6 Its site is still marked upon the pavement in the High Street of Edinburgh, and is the place from which public proclamations are made. 7 A public beam for weighing heavy wares stood near the site of the present Tron Church. 8 Cockles and periwinkles. 9 Possibly tripe and haggis. The kind called of Jock and Fame are now unknown. 10 Since (since as). 11 The same, i.e. all this about you. 12 Street pipers maintained by the city. 13 Popular tunes. 14 Cleverer. 15 Uphold or maintain such mouthers on the moon. 16 Shoemakers. Think ye nocht shame That for the poor has nothing drest,1 Your profit daily does increase, That ye sic substance does possess, Since, for the Court and the Session, Gif they pass to ane other toun, Therefore, strangers and lieges 1 treat; 5 Offerand ane shame. Keep order; and poor neighbours beit, Singular profit so does you blind, I And gar 11 you shame; That sometime reason may you bind OF THE WORLD'S INSTABILITY. AN APPEAL TO THE KING FOR A BENEFICE. This waverand 13 warld's wretchedness; The mis-spent time, the service vain ;- 1 Provided. 2 Resort. |