10
The Stilt and Elgin ance were tunes—,
Our Fathers did revere them:
But those who dar’d to mint St John's
They would not sit to hear them.
The tunes at which ye startle now,
And absolutely refuse them,
Will soon be common though they’re new,
If we in common use them.
I’m no musician, that I grant,
Though I can sing a few tunes:
I keh the French, the Burgher's rant,
And twa’r three o’ the new tunes;
Yet I can hear a lively tune
Wi’ little molestation.
Or if it be an old wife’s croon,
It gie’s me no vexation.
Yet some there be who never seek
Instructions from a teacher,
But travel two’r three miles a-week
To criticise the preacher.
When by the gospel or the law,
They cannot contradict him,
Then the Precenter like a ba’,
Out o’er the Desk they’ll kick him.
The daisy fair that decks the lee,
And violets in the vale,
Yields to the wasp and to the bee,
A sweet or bitter meal.
So tunes and stile, and this and that,
Meets the fanatic’s snarl;
He seldom fails to find a fault
Who comes to pick a quarrel.
