That suld be myne.
And for expression of downright democratic sentiment, the author of “A man’s a man for a’ that” might have written the lines—
For quhy? as bricht bene birneist brass
As siluer wrocht at all dewiss,
And als gud drinking out of glass
As gold, thocht gold of grittar pryss.
But, apart from its poetic fascination, a peculiar interest attaches to the work of the man who struck the first distinctly modern note in Scottish poetry. Breaking away from the conventional forms of the old makars, Alexander Scot wrote in a direct, natural fashion, and but for their rich quaintness of expression and their antique language, many of his pieces might almost be the work of a poet of the nineteenth century. The form of his work, its aptness to turn upon some single thought or situation, and its general tendency to direct expression of personal feeling and experience, entitle him to be considered the earliest of the more distinctly lyrical poets of Scotland.
[THE JUSTING AND DEBAIT VP AT THE DRUM BETUIX WILLIAM ADAMSONE AND JOHINE SYM.]
The grit debait and turnament