An', man, I was a blithe hame-comer Whan first I syndit out my rummer. Ye should hae seen me then, wi' care The less important pairts prepare; Syne, weel contentit wi' it a', Pour in the speerits wi' a jaw! I didna drink, I didna speak,-- I only snowkit up the reek. I was sae pleased therein to paidle, I sat an' plowtered wi' my ladle. An' blithe was I, the morrow's morn, To daunder through the stookit corn, And after a' my strange mishanters Sit doun amang my ain dissenters An', man, it was a joy to me The pu'pit an' the pews to see, The pennies dirlin' in the plate, The elders lookin' on in state; An' 'mang the first, as it befell, Wha should I see, sir, but yoursel'! I was, and I will no' deny it, At the first gliff a hantle tryit To see yoursel' in sic a station-- It seemed a doubtfue' dispensation. The feelin' was a mere digression; For shuene I understood the session, An' mindin' Aiken an' M'Neil, I wondered they had duene sae weel. I saw I had mysel' to blame; For had I but remained at hame, Aiblins--though no ava' deservin' 't-- They micht hae named your humble servant. The kirk was filled, the door was steiked; Up to the pu'pit aince I keeked; I was mair pleased than I can tell-- It was the minister himsel'! Proud, proud was I to see his face, After sae lang awa' frae grace. Pleased as I was, I'm no' denyin' Some maitters were not edifyin'; For first I fand--an' here was news!-- Mere hymn-books cockin' in the pews-- A humanised abomination, Unfit for ony congregation. Syne, while I still was on the tenter, I scunnered at the new prezentor; I thocht him gesterin' an' cauld-- A sair declension frae the auld. Syne, as though a' the faith was wreckit, The prayer was not what I'd exspeckit. Himsel', as it appeared to me, Was no' the man he uesed to be. But just as I was growin' vext He waled a maist judeecious text, An', launchin' into his prelections, Swoopt, wi' a skirl, on a' defections. O what a gale was on my speerit To hear the p'ints o' doctrine clearit, And a' the horrors o' damnation Set furth wi' faithfue' ministration! Nae shauchlin' testimony here-- We were a' damned, an' that was clear. I owned, wi' gratitude an' wonder, He was a pleesure to sit under. XIII Late in the nicht in bed I lay, The winds were at their weary play, An' tirlin' wa's an' skirlin' wae Through Heev'n they battered;-- On-ding o' hail, on-blaff o' spray, The tempest blattered. The masoned house it dinled through; It dung the ship, it cowped the coo; The rankit aiks it overthrew, Had braved a' weathers; The strang sea-gleds it took an' blew Awa' like feethers. The thrawes o' fear on a' were shed, An' the hair rose, an' slumber fled, An' lichts were lit an' prayers were said Through a' the kintry; An' the cauld terror clum in bed Wi' a' an' sindry.