epistletojohnrankine enclosingsomepoems orough,rude,ready-wittedrankine, thewaleo'cocksforfunan'drinkin! there'smonygodlyfolksarethinkin, yourdreamsandtricks willsendyou,korah-like,a-sinkin straughttoauldnick's. yehaesawmonycracksan'cants, andinyourwicked,druckenrants, yemakadevilo'thesaunts, an'filhemfou andthentheirfailings,flaws,an'wants, area'seenthro'. hypocrisy,inmercyspareit! thatholyrobe,odinnatearit! spare'tfortheirsakes,whaaftenwearit— theladsinblack butyourcurstwit,whenitcomesnearit, rives'tafftheirback. think,wickedsinner,whaye'reskaithing: it'sjusttheblue-gownbadgean'claithing o'sauntstakthat,yelea'ethemnaething tokenthemby fraeonyunregenerateheathen, likeyouori. i'vesentyouheresomerhymingware, a'thatibargain'dfor,an'mair sae,whenyehaeanhourtospare, iwillexpect, yonsangye'llsen't,wi'canniecare, andnoneglect. tho'faith,sma'hearthaeitosing! mymusedowscarcelyspreadherwing i'veplay'dmyselaboniespring, an'danc'dmyfill! i'dbettergaenan'sair'ttheking, atbunkjer'shill. 'twasaenightlately,inmyfun, igaedarovin'wi'thegun, an'broughtapaitricktothegrun'— aboniehen and,asthetwilightwasbegun, thoughtnanewadken. thepoor,weethingwaslittlehurt istraikititaweeforsport, ne'erthinkintheywadfashmefor't but,deil-ma-care! somebodytellsthepoacher-court thehaleaffair. someauld,us'dhandshadtaenanote, thatsicahenhadgotashot iwassuspectedfortheplot iscorn'dtolie sogatthewhissleo'mygroat, an'pay'tthefee. butbymygun,o'gunsthewale, an'bymypoutheran'myhail, an'bymyhen,an'byhertail, ivowan'swear! thegameshallpay,o'ermuiran'dale, forthis,niestyear. assoon'stheclockin-timeisby, an'theweepoutsbeguntocry, lord,i'sehaesportingbyan'by formygowdguinea, tho'ishouldherdthebuckskinkye for'tinvirginia. trowth,theyhadmucklefortoblame! 'twasneitherbrokenwingnorlimb, buttwa-threedrapsaboutthewame, scarcethro'thefeathers an'baithayellowgeorgetoclaim, an'tholetheirblethers! itpitsmeayeasmad'sahare soicanrhymenorwritenaemair butpennyworthsagainisfair, whentime'sexpedient: meanwhileiam,respectedsir, yourmostobedient.