AFTER BURNS

GAELIC SPEECH; OR, “AULD LANG
SYNE" DONE UP IN TARTAN

SHOULD Gaelic speech be e'er forgot,

And never brocht to min',

For she'll be spoke in Paradise

In the days of auld lang syne.

When Eve, all fresh in beauty's charms,

First met fond Adam's view,

The first word that he'll spoke till her

Was, “cumar achum dhu."

And Adam in his garden fair,

Whene'er the day did close,

The dish that he'll to supper teuk

Was always Athole brose.

When Adam from his leafy bower

Cam oot at broke o' day,

He'll always for his morning teuk

A quaich o' usquebae.

An' when wi' Eve he'll had a crack,

He'll teuk his sneeshin' horn,

An' on the tap ye'll well mitch mark

A pony praw Cairngorm.

The sneeshin' mull is fine, my friens—

The sneeshin' mull is gran';

We'll teukta hearty sneesh, my friens,

And pass frae han' to han'.

When man first fan the want o' claes,

The wind an' cauld to fleg.

He twisted roon' about his waist

The tartan philabeg.

An' music first on earth was heard

In Gaelic accents deep,

When Jubal in his oxter squeezed

The blether o' a sheep.

The praw bagpipes is gran', my friens,

The praw bagpipes is fine;

We'll teukta nother pibroch yet,

For the days o' auld lang syne!

Anonymous.