Nae doot then he would treat me as a brither,
And we would play a merry jig together.’”
Then he “quaffed a cog of prime home-brewed” and hied him to the cave, and entered, screwing up his drones and beginning a lively march that startled the wild pigeons from their ledges and echoed among the recesses of the walls. Farther and farther he went, past the dripping sides of cold, damp stone and through the dark, chilly air till at last, strange to say, the darkness was dispelled and the cave became illuminated with a light like that of the moon. Jock was, he reckoned, about two miles underground when all at once he came to a door, which opened of its own accord and admitted him into a chamber of exceeding beauty. The floor was inlaid with silver, the walls seemed burnished gold, and a jovial party of ladies and gentlemen banquetted at a splendidly spread table. The piper stood amazed for a moment, until one of the company handed him a glass of wine.
“‘I am a piper to my trade,’ cried Jock,
Am I upon the earth, or where am I?
I never saw before such beauteous folk,
Or such a chamber with my naked eye;
Here’s a’ yir healths,’ and saying this he quaffed
The brimming cup and smacked his lips and laughed.”
Then, of course, the fairies asked him to play, which Jock did, and the party danced, and danced, and danced, until Jock cried—