Poets, Scottish -- 18th century -- Biography; Ramsay, Allan, 1686-1758
The first scene of the last Act opens with Bauldy's fright. He had gone
to fulfil his engagement to meet Mause, the pretended witch, who was to
turn Peggy's heart to him. But as he had insulted Madge, Peggy's aunt,
in the fore part of the day, the latter, to punish him by taking
advantage of his dread of ghosts, meets him at the dead hour of the
night when he is repairing to Mause's cottage. She is draped in a white
sheet, and utters ghastly groans. Bauldy, having sunk terror-stricken to
the ground, is soundly cuffed and trounced by the two women. As soon,
therefore, as daylight breaks, he seeks an interview with Sir William to
entreat redress. The latter, who had been passing the night in Symon's
house, enters fully into the spirit of the joke, and orders Mause to be
brought before him.
The second scene exhibits Glaud's 'onstead' again, and the family
preparing to go down to Symon's to take their leave of Patie. Peggy is
very sad,--so much so that her sharp-tongued aunt cannot refrain from
jeering at it--
'Poor Meg!--Look, Jenny, was the like e'er seen?
How bleared and red wi' greetin' look her een!
This day her brankan wooer taks his horse
To strut a gentle spark at Edinburgh Cross.
But Meg, poor Meg! maun wi' the shepherds stay,
And tak what God will send in hodden gray.'
To this ill-timed speech Peggy makes a pathetic reply, that must have
caused a pang of remorse to her aunt. But when Glaud ventures to warn
her against being too free with Patie, seeing he could not marry her
now, she replies with gentle reproach--
'Sir William's virtuous, and of gentle blood;
And may not Patrick too, like him, be good?'
Glaud's answer exhibits the simple faith of the rural inhabitants of the
district in a striking light--
'That's true and mony gentry mae than he,
As they are wiser, better are than we;
But thinner sawn: they're sae pufft up wi' pride,
There's mony o' them mocks ilk haly guide
That shows the gate to heav'n. I've heard mysel
Some of them laugh at doomsday, sin, and hell.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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