Songwriters from Scotland

"Gin a body meet a body Comin thro' the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, Need a body cry?"

"Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie, O what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, Wi' murd'ring pattle!"

"I'm truly sorry Man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle, At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal!"

"The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley; And leave us naught but grief and pain For promised joy."

"O L--d thou kens what zeal I bear, When drinkers drink, and swearers swear, And singin' there, and dancin' here, Wi' great an' sma'; For I am keepet by thy fear, Free frae them a'. But yet—O L--d—confess I must— At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust... O L--d—yestreen thou kens—wi' Meg— Thy pardon I sincerely beg! O may 't ne'er be a living plague, To my dishonour! And I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg Again upon her."

"All in this mottie, misty clime, I backward mus'd on wasted time, How I had spent my youthfu' prime An' done nae-thing, But stringing blethers up to rhyme For fools to sing."

"When chill November's surly blast Made fields and forests bare."

"Nature's law, That man was made to mourn."

"Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn."

"O Death! the poor man's dearest friend, The kindest and the best!"

"Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire, That's a' the learning I desire."

"For thus the royal mandate ran, When first the human race began, "The social, friendly, honest man, Whate'er he be, 'Tis he fulfills great Nature's plan, And none but he!""

"On ev'ry hand it will allowed be, He's just—nae better than he should be."

"It's hardly in a body's pow'r, To keep, at times, frae being sour."

"Misled by fancy's meteor ray, By passion driven; But yet the light that led astray Was light from heaven."

"And like a passing thought, she fled In light away."

"His lockèd, lettered, braw brass collar Showed him the gentleman an' scholar."

"An' there began a lang digression About the lords o' the creation."

"Rejoiced they were na men, but dogs."

"O, wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, An' foolish notion. What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us An' ev'n Devotion"

"Wee, modest, crimson-tippèd flow'r, Thou's met me in an evil hour; For I maun crush amang the stoure Thy slender stem: To spare thee now is past my pow'r, Thou bonie gem."

"Stern Ruin's plowshare drives elate, Full on thy bloom."

"O thou! whatever title suit thee, Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie."

"Freedom and Whisky gang thegither."

"Perhaps it may turn out a sang: Perhaps turn out a sermon."

"I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard of concealing; But, Och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling!"

"An atheist-laugh's a poor exchange For Deity offended!"

"What's done we partly may compute, But know not what's resisted."

"O Life! how pleasant is thy morning, Young Fancy's rays the hills adorning! Cold-pausing Caution's lesson scorning, We frisk away, Like schoolboys at th' expected warning, To joy and play."

"O life! thou art a galling load, Along a rough, a weary road, To wretches such as I!"

"Here, some are thinkin' on their sins, An' some upo' their claes."

"Leeze me on drink! it gi'es us mair Than either school or college."

"There's some are fou o' love divine; There's some are fou o' brandy."

"Just now I've taen the fit o' rhyme, My barmie noddle's working prime."

"Some rhyme a neebor's name to lash; Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash; Some rhyme to court the countra clash, An' raise a din; For me, an aim I never fash; I rhyme for fun."

"An' fareweel dear, deluding woman, The joy of joys!"

"Green grow the rashes, O; Green grow the rashes, O; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend, Are spent amang the lasses, O."

"There's nought but care on ev'ry han', In every hour that passes, O: What signifies the life o' man, An 'twerna for the lasses, O."

"Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears Her noblest work she classes, O: Her prentice han' she tried on man, An' then she made the lasses, O."

"Green grow the rashes, O; Green grow the rashes, O; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend Are spent among the lasses, O."

"Some books are lies frae end to end."

"I was na fou, but just had plenty."

"Some wee short hours ayont the twal."

"John Barleycorn got up again, And sore surprised them all."

"The heart benevolent and kind The most resembles God."

"Affliction's sons are brothers in distress; A brother to relieve,—how exquisite the bliss!"

"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o' a grace As lang's my arm."

"Ye high, exalted, virtuous dames, Tied up in godly laces, Before ye gie poor Frailty names, Suppose a change o' cases: A dear-lov'd lad, convenience snug, A treach'rous inclination— But, let me whisper i' your lug, Ye're aiblins nae temptation. Then gently scan your brother man, Still gentler sister woman; Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang, To step aside is human."

"If naebody care for me, I'll care for naebody."

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o' auld lang syne?"

"We twa hae run about the braes, And pu'd the gowans fine."

"For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne!"

"Dweller in yon dungeon dark, Hangman of creation, mark! Who in widow weeds appears, Laden with unhonoured years, Noosing with care a bursting purse, Baited with many a deadly curse?"

"May coward shame distain his name, The wretch that dares not die!"

"A man may drink and no be drunk; A man may fight and no be slain; A man may kiss a bonnie lass, And aye be welcome back again."

"Flow gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes, Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise. My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream, Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream."

"To make a happy fireside clime To weans and wife,— That is the true pathos and sublime Of human life."

"This day, Time winds th' exhausted chain, To run the twelvemonth's length again."

"The voice of Nature loudly cries, And many a message from the skies, That something in us never dies."

"Ay waukin, Oh, Waukin still and weary: Sleep I can get nane, For thinking on my Dearie."

"John Anderson my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonny brow was brent."

"Go fetch to me a pint o' wine, An' fill it in a silver tassie."

"The minister kiss'd the fiddler's wife, An' could na preach for thinkin' o't."

"It is the moon, I ken her horn, That's blinkin in the lift sae hie; She shines sae bright to wyle us hame, But by my sooth she'll wait a wee!"

"Some have meat and cannot eat, Some cannot eat that want it: But we have meat and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit."

"Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it; But we hae meat, and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.<!--"

"When Nature her great masterpiece designed, And framed her last, best work, the human mind, Her eye intent on all the wondrous plan, She formed of various stuff the various Man."

"Suspense is worse than disappointment."

"While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things, The fate of empires and the fall of kings; While quacks of State must each produce his plan, And even children lisp the Rights of Man; Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, The Rights of Woman merit some attention."

"She is a winsome wee thing, She is a handsome wee thing, She is a lo'esome wee thing, This sweet wee wife o' mine."

"The golden Hours on angel wings Flew o'er me and my Dearie; For dear to me as light and life Was my sweet Highland Mary."

"But, oh! fell death's untimely frost, That nipt my flower sae early."

"There's threesome reels, there's foursome reels, There's hornpipes and strathspeys, man, But the ae best dance ere came to the Land Was, the deil's awa wi' the Exciseman."

"What can a young lassie, what shall a young lassie, What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man?"

"O whistle, an' I'll come to you, my lad: O whistle, an' I'll come to you, my lad: Tho' father and mither should baith gae mad, O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad."

"O whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad: Tho' father and mither and a' should gae mad."

"If there's a hole in a' your coats, I rede you tent it; A chield's aman you takin' notes, And faith he'll prent it."

"O Mary, at thy window be! It is the wished, the trysted hour."

"I've seen sae mony changefu' years, On earth I am a stranger grown: I wander in the ways of men, Alike unknowing and unknown."

"The wan moon sets behind the white wave, And time is setting with me, Oh."

"Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed Or to Victorie! Now's the day, and now's the hour; See the front o' battle lour! See approach proud Edward's power— Chains and slaverie!"

"Lay the proud usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty's in every blow— Let us do or die!"

"The rank is but the guinea's stamp, The man's the gowd for a' that."

"Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord, Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that; Tho' hundreds worship at his word, He's but a coof for a' that: For a' that, an' a' that, His ribband, star, an' a' that: The man o' independent mind He looks an' laughs at a' that. A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an' a' that; But an honest man's aboon his might, Gude faith, he maunna fa' that! For a' that, an' a' that, Their dignities an' a' that; The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth, Are higher rank than a' that. Then let us pray that come it may, (As come it will for a' that,) That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth, Shall bear the gree, an' a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that."

"Drumossie moor — Drumossie day — A waefu' day it was to me! For there I lost my father dear, My father dear, and brethren three."

"Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair, Whene'er I forgather wi' Sorrow and Care, I gie them a skelp, as they're creeping alang, Wi' a cog o' gude swats and an auld Scottish sang."

"'Tis sweeter for thee despairing Than aught in the world beside,—Jessy!"

"O, saw ye bonnie Leslie As she gaed o’er the border? She’s gane, like Alexander, To spread her conquests farther. To see her is to love her, And love but her forever; For nature made her what she is, And ne’er made sic anither!"

"O, gie me the lass that has acres o' charms, O, gie me the lass wi' the weel-stockit farms."

"Come, Firm Resolve, take thou the van, Thou stalk o' carl-hemp in man! And let us mind, faint heart ne'er wan A lady fair; Wha does the utmost that he can, Will whyles do mair."

"Good Lord, what is man! for as simple he looks, Do but try to develop his hooks and his crooks, With his depths and his shallows, his good and his evil, All in all he's a problem must puzzle the devil."

"Their sighan', cantan', grace-proud faces, Their three-mile prayers, and half-mile graces."

"There's death in the cup-so beware!"

"Don't let the awkward squad fire over me."

"We labour soon, we labour late, To feed the titled knave, man; And a' the comfort we're to get, Is that ayont the grave, man."

"What's a' your jargon o' your schools, Your Latin names for horns and stools? If honest Nature made you fools What sairs your grammars? Ye'd better taen up spades and shools Or knappin hammers. Gie' me ae spark o' Nature's fire! That's a' the learning I desire: Then, tho' I drudge thro' dub and mire At plough or cart, My muse, though homely in attire, May touch the heart."

"Th' expectant wee-things, toddlin, stacher through To meet their dad, wi flichterin noise and glee."

"Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new."

"They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright."

"Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale."

"The halesome parritch, chief o Scotia's food."

"The sire turns o'er, wi patriarchal grace, The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride."

"He wales a portion with judicious care; And "Let us worship God" he says, with solemn air."

"Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name."

"From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs, That makes her loved at home, revered abroad: Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, "An honest man's the noblest work of God.""

"The fear o' hell 's a hangman's whip To haud the wretch in order; But where ye feel your honour grip, Let that aye be your border."

"And may you better reck the rede, Than ever did the adviser!"

"A gaudy dress and gentle air May slightly touch the heart; But it's innocence and modesty that polished the dart."

"Oh, my Luve is like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June. O, my Luve is like the melodie, That's sweetly played in tune."

"Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair."

"Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary fu' o' care! Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird, That wantons thro' the flowering thorn! Thou minds me o' departed joys, Departed never to return."

"But my fause luver staw my rose, And left the thorn wi' me."

"Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure Thrill the deepest notes of woe."

"Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae farewell, alas, forever!"

"But to see her was to love her; Love but her, and love for ever. Had we never lov'd sae kindly, Had we never lov'd sae blindly, Never met—or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted."

"It was a' for our rightfu' King We left fair Scotland's strand."

"Now a' is done that men can do, And a' is done in vain."

"He turn'd him right and round about Upon the Irish shore; And gae his bridle reins a shake, With adieu forevermore, My dear— And adieu forevermore!"

"John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonie brow was brent; But now your brow is beld, John, Your locks are like the snaw, But blessings on your frosty pow, John Anderson, my jo!"

"My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer; A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe, My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go."

"Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North; The birth-place of valour, the country of worth."

"Where sits our sulky, sullen dame, Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm."

"Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet To think how monie counsels sweet, How monie lengthened, sage advices, The husband frae the wife despises!"

"The landlady and Tam grew gracious Wi' favours secret, sweet, and precious."

"The landlord's laugh was ready chorus."

"His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony: Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither— They had been fou for weeks thegither."

"Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious, O'er a' the ills o' life victorious."

"But pleasures are like poppies spread— You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed; Or like the snow falls in the river— A moment white—then melts forever."

"Nae man can tether time or tide."

"That hour, o' night's black arch the keystane."

"Inspiring bold John Barleycorn! What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil; Wi' usquabae, we'll face the devil!"

"As Tammie glow'red, amazed, and curious, The mirth and fun grew fast and furious."

"Her cutty sark, o' Paisley harn, That while a lassie she had worn, In longitude tho' sorely scanty, It was her best, and she was vauntie."

"Tam tint his reason a' thegither, And roars out — "Weel done, Cutty-sark!""

"Ah, Tam! Ah! Tam! Thou'll get thy fairin! In hell they'll roast you like a herrin!"

"For a' that, and a' that An' twice as muckle 's a' that, I've lost but ane, I've twa behin', I've wife eneugh for a' that."

"I once was a maid, tho' I cannot tell when, And still my delight is in proper young men."

"Partly wi' o'ercome sae sair, And partly she was drunk."

"A fig for those by law protected! 's a glorious feast! Courts for cowards were erected, Churches built to please the ."

"Life is all a , We regard not how it goes; Let them cant about , Who have characters to lose."

"God knows, I'm no the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be."

"If there's another world, he lives in bliss; If there is none, he made the best of this."

"In durance vile here must I wake and weep, And all my frowsy couch in sorrow steep."

"It's guid to be merry and wise, It's guid to be honest and true, It's guid to support Caledonia's cause And bide by the buff and the blue."

"There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing."

"Beauty's of a fading nature Has a season and is gone!"

"The white moon is setting behind the white wave, And Time is setting with me, O!"

"Burns stood, as regarded the old and the new world of poetry, both in Scotland and in England, at the parting of the ways. He was at once the climax of the old and the harbinger of the new. He brought to perfection what many of his Scottish predecessors and models had practised with much charm and ability. In the vernacular Scottish song, in the satire, in the familiar Epistle, in dramatic narrative, he rose to a height which no successor could depose him. He was the greatest of Scottish poets. ... More than any one else, more than Cowper or Wordsworth, did he serve to break up the frost that seemed to be settling upon the lyric flow in England at the end of the last century. The renaissance of poetry early in this century owed much to him, and those who owed to poetry no small part of their higher education would not grudge him their thoughtful gratitude."

"Their great national poet spoke to Scotland in her language, that he read the hearts of her people, and gave eloquent utterance to their dumb thoughts. In his scathing words he was able to condemn everything that was ignoble, selfish, and mean; and he stimulated everything that was noblest and best in the hearts of the people. He gave lessons of the loftiest patriotism and of aspirations for political freedom, while at the same time he maintained a steadfast devotion to the cause of everything that savoured of uncompromising hatred of oppression and wrong."

"Now, Robert Burns was a great man and a great poet, and the influence of his truly tremendous satiric and lyrical genius has been one of the great factors in the disintegration of Scottish superstition."

"Scottish virtues were due...to Wallace, who started the idea of independence, to John Knox for the ineradicable reverence for the Kirk, and to Robert Burns for that feeling of brotherhood and sense of humanity that got below all differences of rank."

"There was neither fortune nor title in the man's pedigree, and yet he sprang from the salt of the earth, for he came from that lowland Scottish peasant stock which was one of the finest stocks that the world could show, if one might judge from its results. The limitations of these men might be marked, but there sprang from them every now and again one who could voice the feelings of his fellow men, and such a man was Robert Burns."

"He has given voice to all the experiences of common life; he has endeared the farm-house and cottage, patches and poverty, beans and barley; ale, the poor man's wine; hardship, the fear of debt, the dear society of weans and wife, of brothers and sisters, proud of each other, knowing so few, and finding amends for want and obscurity in books and thought. ... And, as he was thus the poet of the poor, anxious, cheerful, working humanity, so had he the language of low life. He grew up in a rural district, speaking a patois unintelligible to all but natives, and he has made that Lowland Scotch a Doric dialect of fame. It is the only example in history of a language made classic by the genius of a single man."

"He speaks for a community he is rooted in, as Chaucer and Langland did. He is a lyrical poet of simple tenderness; but he is also a comic and satirical poet with a hard and definite moral vision, a very sharp eye indeed for permanent kinds of human folly, and a glancing and flickering wit... He is also a poet of the people as no modern English poet worth anything has been. He thus fills a gap for the English reader; and if young English poets, ingenious but academic, were to read him to-day they might learn to double their strength by touching the earth."

"I also liked the Romantic poets. Wordsworth, Keats, Burns and Blake were some of my favourites. There was something about their rebellious spirit against the evils of industrialization that moved me. Of course now, some of their pessimism, mysticism and limited critical realist visions make me quite uncomfortable."

"He was a leading Liberal, certainly. It had been said by a great statesman in the old days that he did not care who made the laws so long as he could make the ballads. In the last century the accents of freedom were heard in Scotland in the ballads of Burns. "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled" and "A man's a man for a' that" were regarded as almost revolutionary in the days when he wrote."

"The economic truths of Socialism, its industrialism, and its sociology, must remain the vainest of vain dreamings unless we preserve among the people the political frame of mind which can appreciate democratic liberty and worth. When "a man's a man for a' that" is recited without making the blood tingle, the man has ceased to be."

"The influence of Burns on the imaginative literature of Scotland has been deep and abiding. Many Scotsmen have been so touched, moved, and stirred by his writings, as to arouse an irrepressible feeling within them to compose verse themselves; and to-day there are many in the humble walks of life who can write passable and even animated verse and song, and appreciate the highest works of the imaginative and elaborate faculties of the race. Burns has exercised much influence over the mind of the Scottish people by removing prejudice and superstition, fostering liberty and independence of spirit, and greater freedom of thought."

"Burns had intellectual breadth and religious susceptibility enough to appropriate what was best in the two phases of the religious thought of his time. Thus it happened that while the average Moderate looked upon Calvinism as represented by the Covenanters as a detestable fanaticism, an enemy to the amenities of social life, Burns paid tribute to their magnificent stand for liberty... Burns, who had Covenanting blood in his veins, had no need to go to Rousseau for his democratic fervour. His "A man's a man for a' that" owes infinitely more to Samuel Rutherford than to Rousseau."

"There was a world of well-dressed company that evening in Dumfries; for the aristocracy of the adjacent country for twenty miles round had poured in to attend a county ball, and were fluttering in groupes along the sunny side of the street, gay as butterflies. On the other side, in the shade, a solitary individual paced slowly along the pavement. Of the hundreds who fluttered past, no one took notice of him; no one seemed to recognise him. He was known to them all as the exciseman and poet, Robert Burns; but he had offended the stately Toryism of the district by the freedom of his political creed; and so, tainted by the plague of Liberalism, he lay under strict quarantine. He was shunned and neglected; for it was with the man Burns that these his contemporaries had to deal. Let the reader contrast with this truly melancholy scene, the scene of his festival a fortnight since. Here are the speeches of the Earl of Eglinton and of Sir John M'Neill, and here the toast of the Lord Justice-General. Let us just imagine these gentlemen, with all their high aristocratic notions about them, carried back half a century into the past, and dropped down, on the sad evening to which we refer, in the main street of Dumfries. Which side, does the reader think, would they have chosen to walk upon? Would they have addressed the one solitary individual in the shade, or not rather joined themselves to the gay groupes in the sunshine who neglected and contemned him? They find it an easy matter to deal with the phantom idea of Burns now: how would they have dealt with the man then?"

"The worker is a mere appendage to the capitalist factory. Machinery has eliminated him. Robert Burns said: “O God, that men should be so cheap, and bread should be so dear!”"

"I think Burns was one of the most extraordinary men I ever met with; his poetry surprised me very much, his prose surprised me still more, and his conversation surprised me more than both his poetry and prose."

"I would claim that Burns is not merely Scotland's greatest poet, but that he is worthy to rank among the greatest poets of the world... Why I claim this place for Burns is this—that he was the poet of nature and of humanity. He raised the conception of the peasant and gave honour and dignity to toil. It is for that reason that all the labouring classes and masses of the world have found in Burns their truest interpreter and their truest friend; and it is as that friend and as that interpreter that I do claim for him a place in the innermost niches of the temple of Fame."

"His person was strong and robust; his manners rustic, not clownish; a sort of dignified plainness and simplicity, which received part of its effect, perhaps, from one's knowledge of his extraordinary talents. His features are represented in Mr. Nasmyth's picture, but to me it conveys the idea, that they are diminished as if seen in perspective. I think his countenance was more massive than it looks in any of the portraits. I would have taken the poet, had I not known what he was, for a very sagacious country farmer of the old Scotch school, i.e. none of your modern agriculturists, who keep labourers for their drudgery, but the douce gudeman who held his own plough. There was a strong expression of sense and shrewdness in all his lineaments; the eye alone, think, indicated the poetical character and temperament. It was large, and of a dark cast, which glowed (I say literally glowed) when he spoke with feeling or interest. I never saw such another eye in a human head, though I have seen the most distinguished men of my time. His conversation expressed perfect self-confidence, without the slightest presumption. Among the men who were the most learned of their time and country, he expressed himself with perfect firmness, but without the least intrusive forwardness; and when he differed in opinion, he did not hesitate to express it firmly, yet at the same time with modesty."

"[A]ll the faculties of Burns' mind were, as far as I could judge, equally vigorous; and his predilection for poetry, was rather the result of his own enthusiastic and impassioned temper, than of a genius exclusively adapted to that species of composition. From his conversation, I should have pronounced him to be fitted to excel in whatever walk of ambition he had chosen to exert his abilities."

"This prophecy of the unity of the [human] race [in "A man's a man for a' that"] is founded on the thoroughly Scottish sentiment, fostered by Scottish history from the days of Wallace till our own times, of the value of man as man, of the dignity of labour, whether physical or mental or moral, as compared with the tinsel shows of privileged indolence. The scorn for the empty "birkie ca'd a lord," and for the king-made dignities unbacked by merit, have persistently remained as Scottish qualities all down the ages, and they are becoming the qualities of men wherever thought has filtered down to the humbler classes, wherever the peasant has learned to venerate himself as man."

"Dear Rob! manly, witty, fond, friendly, full of weak spots as well as strong ones—essential type of so many thousands—perhaps the average, as just said, of the decent-born young men and the early mid-aged, not only of the British Isles, but America, too, North and South, just the same. I think, indeed, one best part of Burns is the unquestionable proof he presents of the perennial existence among the laboring classes, especially farmers, of the finest latent poetic elements in their blood."

"Though I have never been able to trace my ancestry to the Land o' Cakes, I have—and I know it is saying a great deal—a Scotchman's love for the poet whose fame deepens and broadens with years. The world has never known a truer singer. We may criticise his rustic verse and compare his brief and simple lyrics with the works of men of longer scrolls and loftier lyres; but after rendering to Wordsworth, Tennyson and Browning the homage which the intellect owes to genius, we turn to Burns, if not with awe and reverence, [yet] with a feeling of personal interest and affection. We admire others; we love him. As the day of his birth comes round, I take down his well-worn volume in grateful commemoration, and feel that I am communing with one whom living I could have loved as much for his true manhood and native nobility of soul as for those wonderful songs of his which shall sing themselves forever."

"You have no enemies, you say? Alas, my friend, the boast is poor; He, who has mingled in the fray Of duty that the brave endure, Must have made foes! If you have none, Small is the work that you have done, You've hit no traitor on the hip, You've dashed no cup from perjured lip, You've never turned the wrong to right, You've been a coward in the fight."

"Every age has its peculiar folly; some scheme, project, or phantasy into which it plunges, spurred on either by the love of gain, the necessity of excitement, or the mere force of imitation. Failing in these, it has some madness, to which it is goaded by political or religious causes, or both combined."

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

"He who walks through a great city to find subjects for weeping, may, God knows, find plenty at every corner to wring his heart; but let such a man walk on his course, and enjoy his grief alone — we are not of those who would accompany him. The miseries of us poor earthdwellers gain no alleviation from the sympathy of those who merely hunt them out to be pathetic over them. The weeping philosopher too often impairs his eyesight by his woe, and becomes unable from his tears to see the remedies for the evils which he deplores. Thus it will often be found that the man of no tears is the truest philanthropist, as he is the best physician who wears a cheerful face, even in the worst of cases."

"During seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come."

"Of all the nations in the world the French are the most renowned for singing over their grievances. Of that country it has been remarked with some truth, that its whole history may be traced in its songs."

"Nations, like individuals, cannot become desperate gamblers with impunity. Punishment is sure to overtake them sooner or later."

"The intrigues of unworthy courtiers to gain the favour of still more unworthy kings, or the records of murderous battles and sieges, have been dilated on, and told over and over again, with all the eloquence of style and all the charms of fancy; while the circumstances which have most deeply affected the morals and welfare of the people have been passed over with but slight notice, as dry and dull, and capable of neither warmth nor colouring."

"The over-bearing insolence of ignorant men, who had arisen to sudden wealth by successful gambling, made men of true gentility of mind and manners blush that gold should have power to raise the unworthy in the scale of society."

"The tulip — so named, it is said, from a Turkish word, signifying a turban — was introduced into western Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century. Conrad Gesner, who claims the merit of having brought it into repute — little dreaming of the commotion it was shortly afterwards to make in the world — says that he first saw it in the year 1559, in a garden at Augsburg, belonging to the learned Counsellor Herwart, a man very famous in his day for his collection of rare exotics. The bulbs were sent to this gentleman by a friend at Constantinople, where the flower had long been a favourite."

"The demand for tulips of a rare species increased so much in the year 1636, that regular marts for their sale were established on the Stock Exchange of Amsterdam, in Rotterdam, Harlaem, Leyden, Alkmar, Hoorn, and other towns."

"For more than a thousand years the art of alchymy captivated many noble spirits, and was believed in by millions. Its origin is involved in obscurity. Some of its devotees have claimed for it an antiquity coeval with the creation of man himself, others, again, would trace it no further back than the time of Noah."

"An epidemic terror of the end of the world has several times spread over the nations. The most remarkable was that which seized Christendom about the middle of the tenth century. Numbers of fanatics appeared in France, Germany, and Italy at that time, preaching that the thousand years prophesied in the Apocalypse as the term of the world’s duration were about to expire, and that the Son of Man would appear in the clouds to judge the godly and the ungodly. The delusion appears to have been discouraged by the Church, but it nevertheless spread rapidly among the people."

"Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity."

"The prophecies of Nostradamus consist of upwards of a thousand stanzas, each of four lines, and are to the full as obscure as the oracles of old. They take so great a latitude, both as to time and space, that they are almost sure to be fulfilled somewhere or other in the course of a few centuries."

"But among all the instances of the interference of governments with men’s hair, the most extraordinary, not only for its daring, but for its success, is that of Peter the Great, in 1705. By this time fashion had condemned the beard in every other country in Europe, and with a voice more potent than popes or emperors, had banished it from civilised society. But this only made the Russians cling more fondly to their ancient ornament, as a mark to distinguish them from foreigners, whom they hated."

"Cleon hath a million acres,— ne’er a one have I; Cleon dwelleth in a palace, — in a cottage I."

"They may veil their eyes, but they cannot hide The sun’s meridian glow; The heel of a priest may tread thee down, And a tyrant work thee woe: But never a truth has been destroyed; They may curse it, and call it crime; Pervert and betray, or slander and slay Its teachers for a time. But the sunshine aye shall light the sky, As round and round we run; And the truth shall ever come uppermost, And justice shall be done."

"Aid the dawning, tongue and pen; Aid it, hopes of honest men!"

"Some love to roam o’er the dark sea’s foam, Where the shrill winds whistle free."

"Old Tubal Cain was a man of might In the days when earth was young."

"What dost thou see, lone watcher on the tower Is the day breaking? comes the wish'd-for hour? Tell us the signs, and stretch abroad thy hand If the bright morning dawns upon the land.""The stars are clear above me, scarcely one Has dimm'd its rays in reverence to the sun; But yet I see, on the horizon's verge, Some fair, faint streaks, as if the light would surge."

"There’s a good time coming, boys! A good time coming. We may not live to see the day, But earth shall glisten in the ray Of the good time coming. Cannon-balls may aid the truth But thought’s a weapon stronger; We’ll win our battles by its aid, Wait a little longer."

"The smallest effort is not lost, Each wavelet on the ocean tost Aids in the ebb-tide or the flow; Each rain-drop makes some floweret blow; Each struggle lessens human woe."

"The king can drink the best of wine; So can I: And has enough when he would dine — So have I; He cannot order rain or shine; Nor can I. Then, where's the difference — let me see — Betwixt my lord the king and me?"

"I wear the cap and he the crown;— What of that? I sleep on straw and he on down;— What of that? And he's the king and I'm the clown;— What of that? If happy I, — and wretched he, — Perhaps the king would change with me!"

"There's a hope for every woe, And a balm for every pain, But the first joys of our heart Come never back again!"

"There's nae sorrow there, John, There's neither cauld nor care, John, The day is aye fair, In the land o' the leal."

"Gude nicht, and joy be wi' you a'."

"Oh, we ’re a’ noddin’, nid, nid, noddin’; Oh, we ’re a’ noddin’ at our house at hame."

"A penniless lass wi' a lang pedigree."

"She's mad for refusing the Laird o' Cockpen."

"Men of Harlech! On to glory, See your banner, famed in story, Waves these burning words before ye, "Britain scorns to yield!""

"Name the leaves on all the trees, Name the waves on all the seas, Name the notes of all the groves, Thus thou namest all my loves.I do love the young, the old, Maiden modest, virgin bold; Tiny beauties and the tall— Earth has room enough for all!Which is better—who can say?— Mary grave or Lucy gay? She who half her charms conceals, She who flashes while she feels?Why should I my love confine? Why should fair be mine or thine? If I praise a tulip, why Should I pass the primrose by?Paris was a pedant fool Meting beauty by the rule: Pallas? Juno? Venus?—he Should have chosen all the three!"

"Rocking on a lazy billow With roaming eyes, Cushioned on a dreamy pillow, Thou art now wise. Wake the power within thee slumbering, Trim the plot that's in thy keeping, Thou wilt bless the task when reaping Sweet labour's prize."

"Order is the law of all intelligible existence."

"Converse with men makes sharp the glittering wit, But God to man doth speak in solitude."

"You'll leave this theatre in a different state."

"It's safe to say that Bruce is the least prominent member of the legendary power trio Cream. That said, Bruce was more than capable of holding his own with bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker within the confines of the band that gave us iconic rock tracks such as "White Room" and "Sunshine of Your Love." Trained in classical music and proficient in jazz, Bruce also spent time playing the blues rock associated with Cream. His ability to adapt and excel in several genres of music was a massive part of his greatness. That versatility remains one of the defining characteristics of his professional legacy."

"In the gloaming, oh, my darling! When the lights are dim and low, And the quiet shadows, falling, Softly come and softly go."