Ev’n as he is, cauld in his graff,
The swap we yet will do’t;
Take thou the carlin’s carcase aff,
Thou’se get the soul to boot.
XIII.
ON THE SAME.
[In these lines he bade farewell to the sordid dame, who lived, it is said, in Netherplace, near Mauchline.]
One Queen Artemisia, as old stories tell,
When depriv’d of her husband she loved so well,
In respect for the love and affection he’d show’d her,
She reduc’d him to dust and she drank up the powder.
But Queen Netherplace, of a diff’rent complexion,
When call’d on to order the fun’ral direction,
Would have eat her dear lord, on a slender pretence,
Not to show her respect, but to save the expense.
XIV.
THE HIGHLAND WELCOME.
[Burns took farewell of the hospitalities of the Scottish Highlands in these happy lines.]