"He promised to leave everything he possest— Before witness promised it fairly— To the most deserving, the noblest and best O' a' the Allans o' Airlie.
"Ye ken I'm the mon. Here's the lawyer at hand, (I'm richer a'ready and prooder) Hark ye! 'Give and bequeath my gowd and my land'— Mr. Grant, I pray ye, speak looder.
"I'll buy me the laird's castle doon by the park— Oh, me! but I'll step aboot rarely. 'To my nephew, Colin'—it canna' be—hark! 'To the grandest Allan o' Airlie.'
"To Colin! I'd ficht, but I've no got the pluck, I'm auld, and I'm broken, I tell ye; I ca'd him a fool—he has had a fool's luck, And noo he can buy me and sell me.
"Now hearken ye, lads, frae the morn till the nicht It pays best tae act quite sincerely; Get what ye can—aweel, the motto's a'richt, But some things are gotten too dearly. Ay, some things are gotten too dearly.
"I'm thinkin' o' gran'faither's Inverness wife, Nor cattle nor siller she brought him, Juist a hairt fu' o' luve—some queer views o' life— How runs that auld ballad she taught him?
"I've a lowly cot and a wide open door, Neither old nor young need pass by, sir; A piece of red gold for the brother that's poor— Ho, a rich, happy man am I, sir!"
"Aweel! there be lessons ye'll no learn in school, It tak's my breath away fairly— The ne'er-do-weel Colin, the family fool, And the graundest Allan o' Airlie!"