'Godsake Tam! here's walth for drinking!
Wha can this new-comer be?'
'Hout,' quo Tam, 'there's drouth in thinking—
Let's in Will, and syne[95] we'll see.'
The two thoughtless friends have "a jolly meeting," and do not break up till "'tween twa and three" next morning. A weekly club is set up at the alehouse, a newspaper is procured, and things move on bravely. Willie becomes a "pot-house politician," and a hard drinker, the consequence of which is that he speedily goes to ruin. His wife also, to drown her sorrows, takes to drinking. The contrast between their past and present condition is touchingly described by the poet.
Wha was ance like Willie Gairlace?
Wha in neeboring town or farm?
Beauty's bloom shone in his fair face,
Deadly strength was in his arm.
When he first saw Jeanie Miller,
Wha wi' Jeanie could compare?
Thousands had mair braws and siller.[96]
But war ony half so fair?
See them now! how chang'd wi' drinking!
A' their youthfu' beauty gane!
Davered,[97] doited,[98] dazed[99] and blinking—
Worn to perfect skin and bane.
In the cauld month o' November,
(Claise,[100] and cash, and credit out,)
Cowering o'er a dying ember,
Wi' ilk face as white's a clout.[101]
Bond and bill, and debts a' stoppit,
Ilka sheaf selt[102] on the bent;[103]
Cattle, beds, and blankets roupit,[104]
Now to pay the laird his rent.
No anither night to lodge here—
No a friend their cause to plead!
He's ta'en[105] on to be a sodger,
She wi' weans[106] to beg her bread!
Fortunately, Jeanie attracts the attention of the Duchess of Buccleugh, and obtains from her a pretty cottage, rent free, and such aid and protection as her circumstances demand. Willie loses a leg in battle, and returns a changed man, with a pension from government. Finding his wife and family, he is received to their embrace. The soldier's return, and the situation of the cottage are beautifully depicted.
Sometimes briskly, sometimes flaggin',
Sometimes helpit, Will gat forth;
On a cart or in a wagon,
Hirplin[107] aye towards the north.