‘She entreated him to look at it; and on glancing his eyes over it, he remarked, “that from the words Tory and Whig, it did not seem to be a very ancient prophecy.”
“Maybe,” replied her Ladyship; “but it has been long in our family. I copied these lines out of a muckle book entitled the Prophecie of Pitlyal, just before I came to you, in order to have your opinion on some of the obscure passages of it. And you will do me a great favour if you will read it out loud, and I will tell you what I think of it as you go on.”
‘Here, then, with a smile at the oddity of the request, and a mixture of impatience in his manner, he read the following lines, while she interrupted him occasionally to remark upon their meaning:
When the crown and the head shall disgrace ane anither,
And the Bishops on the Bench shall gae a’ wrang thegither;
When Tory or Whig,
Fills the judge’s wig;
When the Lint o’ the Miln
Shall reek on the kiln;
O’er the Light of the North,