"The tale of the "Twa Dogs," says Gilbert Burns, was composed after the resolution of publishing was nearly taken. Robert had a dog, which he called Luath, that was a great favourite. The dog had been killed by the wanton cruelty of some person, the

Meaning-all the four horses now working in my plough are thy progeny. ↑ A measure-the eighth part of a bushel.

night before my father's death. Robert said to me that he should like to confer such immortality as he could bestow upon his old friend Luath, and that he had a great mind to introduce something into the book under the title of Stanzas to the Memory of a Quadruped Friend; but this plan was given up for the poem as it now stands. Cæsar was merely the creature of the poet's imagination, created for the purpose of holding chat with his favourite Luath.'

THE TWA DOGS:

A TALE.

'Twas in that place o' Scotland's isle, That bears the name o' auld 'King Coil,'* Upon a bonie day in June,

When wearing thro' the afternoon,

Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,
Forgather'd ance upon a time.

The first I'll name, they ca'd him 'Cæsar,'
Was keepet for his Honor's pleasure:
His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,
Shew'd he was nane o' Scotland's dogs;
But whalpet some place far abroad,
Whare sailors gang to fish for cod.

His locked, letter'd, braw brass-collar
Shew'd him the gentleman an' scholar;
But though he was o' high degree,
The fient a pride, nae pride had he;
But wad hae spent an hour caressin,
Ev'n wi' a tinkler-gipsey's messan :
At kirk or market, mill or smiddie,
Nae tawted tyke, tho' e'er sae duddie,
But he wad stand, as glad to see him,

busy

Met together

ears

whelped

i.e. Newfoundland

not the least pride

cur

smithy

matted-haired dog -unkempt

An' stroan'd on stanes an' hillocks wi' him.

stones

'Kyle' the name of the middle district of Ayrshire, was traditionally said to derive its name from Coilus, 'king of the Picts,' or 'Old King Cole'-a mere myth. Other derivations are from Gaelic coille, a wood' (see note to the 'Mauchline Lady,' p. 140); or from caol, 'straits,' perhaps referring to the Firth of Clyde.

VOL. I.

The tither was a ploughman's collie-
A rhyming, ranting, raving billie,
Wha for his friend an' comrade had him,
And in his freaks had 'Luath' ca'd him,
After some dog in Highland sang,*

Was made lang syne-Lord knows how lang.

He was a gash an' faithfu' tyke,
As ever lap a sheugh or dyke.
His honest, sonsie, baws'nt face t
Ay gat him friends in ilka place;
His breast was white, his tousie back
Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black;
His gawsie tail, wi' upward curl,
Hung owre his hurdies wi' a swirl.

other

fellow

wise

leaped-ditch or wall

Nae doubt but they were fain o' ither,
And unco pack an' thick thegither;

Wi' social nose whyles snuff'd an' snowket;

handsome

every

shaggy

handsome

hips

fond

very intimate

sometimes

-scented

Whyles mice an' moudieworts they howket; moles-dug up

Whyles scour'd awa' in lang excursion,

An' worry'd ither in diversion;

Till tir'd at last wi' mony a farce,
They set them down upon their
An' there began a lang digression
About the lords o' the creation.'

each other

CESAR.

I've aften wonder'd, honest Luath,

What sort o' life poor dogs like you have;

An' when the gentry's life I saw,
What way poor bodies liv'd ava.

Our laird gets in his rackèd rents,

His coals, his kane, ‡ an' a' his stents:§

* Cuchullin's dog in Ossian's Fingal.-B.

Having a white stripe down the face.

Rent in the shape of farm-produce. § Assessments.

8

at all