life's reverses.
23
But her blythesome informant to that put a stop,
Sayin', "Guidwife, they could noo buy yoursel an' your shop,"
As she stepped out enjoying the huxter's chagrin,
Wha on her ain sel' loudly vented her spleen."
"Oh! ye luckless auld vixen, ye'r aye far ahin'
When aucht o' guid fortune is blawn i' the win';
Could ye no hae gane ower wi' the lad when he speer'd?
But for losin' a bawbee ye're aye unco fear'd.
Stupid body! wi' spite I could ding aff my head,
Tae think what I've lost, a' for ae laif o' bread.
Had I gane to the wife in a civil like way
There's no kennin' what micht hae happened the day.
Worth thoosands! she says—I could wager my life
The shillin's the makin' o' that neighbour wife;
But wha would hae thoucht it was comin' to that,
To hae seen the half-naked, half-starved lookin' brat—
Indeed, had I kent what was comin' to pass,
Uncivil I would na hae been to the lass."
Then she tried frae the thocht consolation to draw,
That aiblins the news was a' clash after a'.
Meantime the Ha' carriage pu'd up at the Lees',
Miss Clara a' nicht had felt puirly at ease—
No that pangs o' remorse in her bosom had share,
For the waes o' the needy she'd ne'er learnt to care—
To dismiss a pair boddie wi' "ca' back again,"
Was a thing too familiar to awake aucht o' pain,—
Yet she felt that the action, like some luckless spell,
Garr'd the squire wi' reserve-quite envelope himsel';
Sayin', "Guidwife, they could noo buy yoursel an' your shop,"
As she stepped out enjoying the huxter's chagrin,
Wha on her ain sel' loudly vented her spleen."
"Oh! ye luckless auld vixen, ye'r aye far ahin'
When aucht o' guid fortune is blawn i' the win';
Could ye no hae gane ower wi' the lad when he speer'd?
But for losin' a bawbee ye're aye unco fear'd.
Stupid body! wi' spite I could ding aff my head,
Tae think what I've lost, a' for ae laif o' bread.
Had I gane to the wife in a civil like way
There's no kennin' what micht hae happened the day.
Worth thoosands! she says—I could wager my life
The shillin's the makin' o' that neighbour wife;
But wha would hae thoucht it was comin' to that,
To hae seen the half-naked, half-starved lookin' brat—
Indeed, had I kent what was comin' to pass,
Uncivil I would na hae been to the lass."
Then she tried frae the thocht consolation to draw,
That aiblins the news was a' clash after a'.
Meantime the Ha' carriage pu'd up at the Lees',
Miss Clara a' nicht had felt puirly at ease—
No that pangs o' remorse in her bosom had share,
For the waes o' the needy she'd ne'er learnt to care—
To dismiss a pair boddie wi' "ca' back again,"
Was a thing too familiar to awake aucht o' pain,—
Yet she felt that the action, like some luckless spell,
Garr'd the squire wi' reserve-quite envelope himsel';
