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50. THE TWA CATS AND THE CHEESE

TWA cats anes on a cheese did light,
To which baith had an equal right ;
But disputes, sic as aft arise,

Fell out in sharing o' the prize.

"Fair play!" said ane; "ye bite o'er thick ;
Thae teeth o' yours gang wonder quick.
Let's part it; else, lang or the moon
Be changed, the kebbuck 1 will be doon!
-But wha's to do't? They're parties baith;
An' ane may do the other skaith.
Sae wi' consent away they trudge,
An' laid the cheese before a judge :
A monkey, wi' a camsho 2 face,
Clerk to a justice o' the peace :
A judge he seemed in justice skilled.
When he his master's chair had filled,
Now umpire chosen for division,
Baith swore to stand by his decision.
Demure he looks: the cheese he pales;
He prives 3'tis guid; ca's for the scales;
His knife whops throw't; in twa it fell :
He puts ilk hauf in either shell.
Said he, "We'll truly weigh the case,
An' strictest justice shall ha' place!
Then, lifting up the scales, he fand
The tane bang up, the other stand:
Syne out he took the heaviest hauf,
An' ate a noost on't quickly aff,
An' tried it syne: it now proved light.
"Friend cats," said he, "we'll do ye right!

1 Cheese.

2 Cross.

3 Tastes.

Then to the other hauf he fell,
An' laid till't teughly tooth an' nail,
Till weighed again it lightest proved.
The judge, wha this sweet process loved,
Still weighed the case, an' still ate on,
Till clients baith were weary grown :

1

An' tenting how the matter went,

Cried "Come, come, Sir, we're baith content!" "Ye fools!" quoth he; "an' justice too Maun be content as weel as you ! "

Thus grumbled they, then he went on,

Till baith the ha'ves were near-hand done.
Poor Pousies now the daffin 2 saw

O' gawn for nignies 3 to the law,
An' billed the judge that. he wad please
To gie them the remaining cheese.
To which his worship grave replied,
"The dues o' court maun first be paid.
Now justice pleased, what's to the fore
Will but right scrimply clear your score:
That's our decreet. Gae hame an' sleep,
An' thank us ye've win aff sae cheap!"

ALLAN RAMSAY

51. THE QUESTION

I DREAMED that, as I wandered by the way, Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring,

And gentle odours led my steps astray,

Mixed with a sound of waters murmuring,

Along a shelving bank of turf, which lay
Under a copse, and hardly dared to fling
1 Noticing.
3 Trifles.

2 Folly.

Its green arms round the bosom of the stream, But kissed it, and then fled, as thou mightest in dream.

There grew pied wind-flowers 1 and violets;

Daisies, those pearled Arcturi2 of the earth, The constellated flower that never sets;

Faint oxslips; tender bluebells, at whose birth The sod scarce heaved; and that tall flower 3 that

wets

Its mother's face with heaven-collected tears, When the low wind its playmate's voice it hears.

And in the warm hedge grew lush eglantine,

Green cowbind and the moonlight - coloured May,

And cherry blossoms, and white cups, whose wine Was the bright dew yet drained not by the day; And wild roses, and ivy serpentine,

With its dark buds and leaves, wandering

astray;

And flowers azure, black, and streaked with gold, Fairer than any wakened eyes behold.

And nearer to the river's trembling edge

There grew broad flag-flowers, purple prankt with white,

And starry river-buds among the sedge,

And floating water-lilies, broad and bright,

1 Anemones.

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2 Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes. 3 Uncertain the most likely suggestions are crown imperial," large campanula, and tulip. See The Sensitive Plant

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Which lit the oak that overhung the hedge
With moonlight beams of their own watery
light;

And bulrushes, and reeds of such deep green
As soothed the dazzled eye with sober sheen.

Methought that of these visionary flowers

I made a nosegay, bound in such a way That the same hues which in their natural bowers Were mingled or opposed, the like array Kept these imprisoned children of the Hours Within my hand,—and then, elate and gay, I hastened to the spot whence I had come, That I might there present it!

O to whom?

P. B. SHELLEY

52.-A BALLAD UPON A WEDDING

I TELL thee, Dick, where I have been,
Where I the rarest things have seen;
O, things without compare!
Such sights again cannot be found
In any place on English ground,
Be it at wake or fair.

At Charing-Cross, hard by the way,
Where we (thou know'st) do sell our hay,1
There is a house with stairs;

And there did I see coming down
Such folk as are not in our town,
Forty at least, in pairs.

1 The Haymarket, where hay used to be sold.

Amongst the rest, one pest’lent fine
(His beard no bigger though than thine)
Walked on before the rest :

Our landlord looks like nothing to him;
The King (God bless him !) 'twould undo him
Should he go still so drest.

At course-a-park, without all doubt,
He should have first been taken out
By all the maids i' th' town :
Though lusty Roger there had been,
Or little George upon the Green,
Or Vincent of the Crown.

But wot you what? the youth was going
To make an end of all his wooing;
The Parson for him stayed:

Yet by his leave (for all his haste)
He did not so much wish all past
(Perchance), as did the maid.

The maid-and thereby hangs a tale,
For such a maid no Whitsun-ale 2
Could ever yet produce :

No grape that's kindly ripe could be
So round, so plump, so soft as she,
Nor half so full of juice.

Her finger was so small, the ring
Would not stay on, which they did bring,
It was too wide a peck:

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1 An old game. See W. Browne (Britannia's Pastorals)—He coursed a park with females fraught, Which would not run except they might be caught." 2 Whitsun-merrymaking: so, bridal (bride-ale).

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