Robert Burns: How To Know Him

by William Allan Neilson

I wat they did na weary; wot

And unco tales, an' funny jokes,—strange

Their sports were cheap and cheery;

Till butter'd sow'ns,[19] wi' fragrant lunt, smoke

Set a' their gabs a-steerin'; tongues wagging

Syne, wi' a social glass o' strunt, Then, liquor

They parted aff careerin'

Fu' blythe that night.

FOOT-NOTES TO HALLOWEEN

[The foot-notes to this poem are those supplied by Burns himself in the Kilmarnock edition.]