Epistle to J. Lapraik, an Old Scottish Bard

Robert Burns (1759–1796) · 1786–1796

iambic tetrameter · 132 lines · from Poems and Songs

While briers an’ woodbines budding green,An’ paitricks scraichin loud at e’en,An’ morning poussie whiddin seen,Inspire my muse,This freedom, in an unknown frien’,I pray excuse.

On Fasten—e’en we had a rockin,To ca’ the crack and weave our stockin;And there was muckle fun and jokin,Ye need na doubt;At length we had a hearty yokinAt sang about.

There was ae sang, amang the rest,Aboon them a’ it pleas’d me best,That some kind husband had addrestTo some sweet wife;It thirl’d the heart-strings thro’ the breast,A’ to the life.

I’ve scarce heard ought describ’d sae weel,What gen’rous, manly bosoms feel;Thought I “Can this be Pope, or Steele,Or Beattie’s wark?”They tauld me ’twas an odd kind chielAbout Muirkirk.

It pat me fidgin-fain to hear’t,An’ sae about him there I speir’t;Then a’ that kent him round declar’dHe had ingine;That nane excell’d it, few cam near’t,It was sae fine:

That, set him to a pint of ale,An’ either douce or merry tale,Or rhymes an’ sangs he’d made himsel,Or witty catches—’Tween Inverness an’ Teviotdale,He had few matches.

Then up I gat, an’ swoor an aith,Tho’ I should pawn my pleugh an’ graith,Or die a cadger pownie’s death,At some dyke-back,A pint an’ gill I’d gie them baith,To hear your crack.

But, first an’ foremost, I should tell,Amaist as soon as I could spell,I to the crambo-jingle fell;Tho’ rude an’ rough—Yet crooning to a body’s sel’Does weel eneugh.

I am nae poet, in a sense;But just a rhymer like by chance,An’ hae to learning nae pretence;Yet, what the matter?Whene’er my muse does on me glance,I jingle at her.

Your critic-folk may cock their nose,And say, “How can you e’er propose,You wha ken hardly verse frae prose,To mak a sang?”But, by your leaves, my learned foes,Ye’re maybe wrang.

What’s a’ your jargon o’ your schools—Your Latin names for horns an’ stools?If honest Nature made you fools,What sairs your grammars?Ye’d better taen up spades and shools,Or knappin-hammers.

A set o’ dull, conceited hashesConfuse their brains in college classes!They gang in stirks, and come out asses,Plain truth to speak;An’ syne they think to climb ParnassusBy dint o’ Greek!

Gie me ae spark o’ nature’s fire,That’s a’ the learning I desire;Then tho’ I drudge thro’ dub an’ mireAt pleugh or cart,My muse, tho’ hamely in attire,May touch the heart.

O for a spunk o’ Allan’s glee,Or Fergusson’s the bauld an’ slee,Or bright Lapraik’s, my friend to be,If I can hit it!That would be lear eneugh for me,If I could get it.

Now, sir, if ye hae friends enow,Tho’ real friends, I b’lieve, are few;Yet, if your catalogue be fu’,I’se no insist:But, gif ye want ae friend that’s true,I’m on your list.

I winna blaw about mysel,As ill I like my fauts to tell;But friends, an’ folk that wish me well,They sometimes roose me;Tho’ I maun own, as mony stillAs far abuse me.

There’s ae wee faut they whiles lay to me,I like the lasses—Gude forgie me!For mony a plack they wheedle frae meAt dance or fair;Maybe some ither thing they gie me,They weel can spare.

But Mauchline Race, or Mauchline Fair,I should be proud to meet you there;We’se gie ae night’s discharge to care,If we forgather;An’ hae a swap o’ rhymin-wareWi’ ane anither.

The four-gill chap, we’se gar him clatter,An’ kirsen him wi’ reekin water;Syne we’ll sit down an’ tak our whitter,To cheer our heart;An’ faith, we’se be acquainted betterBefore we part.

Awa ye selfish, war’ly race,Wha think that havins, sense, an’ grace,Ev’n love an’ friendship should give placeTo catch—the—plack!I dinna like to see your face,Nor hear your crack.

But ye whom social pleasure charmsWhose hearts the tide of kindness warms,Who hold your being on the terms,“Each aid the others,”Come to my bowl, come to my arms,My friends, my brothers!

But, to conclude my lang epistle,As my auld pen’s worn to the gristle,Twa lines frae you wad gar me fissle,Who am, most fervent,While I can either sing or whistle,Your friend and servant.

Words in this poem 35

aboon prep.: and adv. Above.
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
ought p. p.: Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
weel: A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
wark n.: Work; a building. [See Work.]
fain v. t.: To be glad ; to wish or desire.
speir v. i.: To ask. See Spere.
douce a.: Sweet; pleasant. [F. doux, masc., douce, fem., sweet, fr. L. duleis sweet.]
witty a.: Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
inverness n.: A kind of full sleeveless cape, fitting closely about the neck.
graith n.: Furniture; apparatus or accouterments for work, traveling, war, etc. Jamieson.
cadger n.: A packman or itinerant huckster. [From Cadge, v. t., cf. Codger.]
jingle v. i.: To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
pretence n.: The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
folk n.: In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
propose v. i.: To speak; to converse.
maybe adv.: Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
conceited a.: Endowed with fancy or imagination.
syne adv.: Afterwards; since; ago. R. of Brunne. [See Since.]
parnassus n.: A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring. Grass of Parnassus. (Bot.) See under Grass, and Parnassia.
dint n.: A blow; a stroke. [OE. dint, dent, dunt, a blow, AS. dynt; akin to Icel. dyntr a dint, dynta to dint, and perh. to L. fendere (in composition). Cf. 1st Dent, Defend.]
spunk n.: Wood that readily takes fire; touchwood; also, a kind of tinder made from a species of fungus; punk; amadou. Sir T. Browne. [Gael. spong, or Ir. sponc, tinder, sponge; cf. AS. sponge a sponge (L. spongia), spon a chip. Cf. Sponge, Punk.]
glee n.: Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
lear v. t.: To learn. See Lere, to learn.
enow: A form of Enough.
insist v. i.: To stand or rest; to find support; -- with in, on, or upon. [F. insister, L. insistere to set foot upon, follow, persist; pref. in- in + sistere to stand, cause to stand. See Stand.]
whiles conj.: During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
plack n.: A small copper coin formerly current in Scotland, worth less than a cent. [F. plaque a plate of metal. Cf. Plaque.]
forgather v. i.: To convene; to gossip; to meet accidentally. Jamieson.
swap v. t.: To strike; -- with off. [OE. swappen to strike; cf. E. to strike a bargain; perh. akin to E. sweep. Cf. Swap a blow, Swap, v. i.]
clatter v. i.: To make a rattling sound by striking hard bodies together; to make a succession of abrupt, rattling sounds. [AS. cla a rattle, akin to D. klateren to rattle. Cf. Clack.]
conclude v. t.: To shut up; to inclose. [L. concludere, conclusum; con- + claudere to shut. See Close, v. t.]
auld a.: Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
gristle n.: Cartilage. See Cartilage. [OE. gristel, gristil, AS. gristl; akin to OFries. gristel, grestel. Perh. a dim. of grist but cf. OHG. krustila, krostela. Cf. Grist.]
fervent a.: Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Epistle to J. Lapraik, an Old Scottish Bard is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Robert Burns, Epistle to J. Lapraik, an Old Scottish Bard, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/epistle-to-j-lapraik-an-old-scottish-bard.html, id L02974.

Form and metre

Epistle to J. Lapraik, an Old Scottish Bard is 132 lines in 22 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AAABAB, in 10 of the 22 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 23 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 AAAB-B green^A · e'en^A · seen^A · muse^B · frien · excuse^B
2 AABCBC rockin^A · stockin^A · jokin^B · doubt^C · yokin^B · about^C
3 AAABAB rest^A · best^A · addrest^A · wife^B · breast^A · life^B
4 AAABAB weel^A · feel^A · steele^A · wark^B · chiel^A · muirkirk^B
5 AA--A- hear't^A · speir't^A · declar'd · ingine · near't^A · fine
6 AA-BAB ale^A · tale^A · himsel · catches^B · teviotdale^A · matches^B
7 AAABAB aith^A · graith^A · death^A · back^B · baith^A · crack^B
8 AAA-A- tell^A · spell^A · fell^A · rough · sel^A · eneugh
9 -A--A- sense · chance^A · pretence · matter · glance^A · her
10 AAABAB nose^A · propose^A · prose^A · sang^B · foes^A · wrang^B
11 AAABAB schools^A · stools^A · fools^A · grammars^B · shools^A · hammers^B
12 -AAB-B hashes · classes^A · asses^A · speak^B · parnassus · greek^B
13 AAABAB fire^A · desire^A · mire^A · cart^B · attire^A · heart^B
14 AAABAB glee^A · slee^A · be^A · it^B · me^A · it^B
15 -AABAB enow · few^A · fu^A · insist^B · true^A · list^B
16 -AAB-B mysel · tell^A · well^A · me^B · still · me^B
17 AAABAB me^A · me^A · me^A · fair^B · me^A · spare^B
18 AAABAB fair^A · there^A · care^A · forgather^B · ware^A · anither^B
19 ---A-A clatter · water · whitter · heart^A · better · part^A
20 AAABAB race^A · grace^A · place^A · plack^B · face^A · crack^B
21 A--BAB charms^A · warms · terms · others^B · arms^A · brothers^B
22 AA-BAB epistle^A · gristle^A · fissle · fervent^B · whistle^A · servant^B

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
While briers an’ woodbines budding green,	8	·/···/˘·
An’ paitricks scraichin loud at e’en,	8	········
An’ morning poussie whiddin seen,	8	·/˘·····
Inspire my muse,	4	˘/··
This freedom, in an unknown frien’,	8	·/˘··˘/·
I pray excuse.	4	··˘/
On Fasten—e’en we had a rockin,	9	·/˘······
To ca’ the crack and weave our stockin;	9	······/··
And there was muckle fun and jokin,	9	···/˘····
Ye need na doubt;	4	····
At length we had a hearty yokin	9	·····/˘··
At sang about.	4	····
There was ae sang, amang the rest,	8	········
Aboon them a’ it pleas’d me best,	8	˘/······
That some kind husband had addrest	9	···/˘·/˘˘
To some sweet wife;	4	····
It thirl’d the heart-strings thro’ the breast,	8	········
A’ to the life.	4	····
I’ve scarce heard ought describ’d sae weel,	8	····˘/··
What gen’rous, manly bosoms feel;	8	···/˘/˘·
Thought I “Can this be Pope, or Steele,	8	········
Or Beattie’s wark?”	4	·/˘·
They tauld me ’twas an odd kind chiel	8	········
About Muirkirk.	4	····
It pat me fidgin-fain to hear’t,	8	········
An’ sae about him there I speir’t;	8	········
Then a’ that kent him round declar’d	8	······˘/
He had ingine;	4	····
That nane excell’d it, few cam near’t,	8	··˘/····
It was sae fine:	4	····
That, set him to a pint of ale,	8	········
An’ either douce or merry tale,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Or rhymes an’ sangs he’d made himsel,	8	········
Or witty catches—	5	·/˘/˘
’Tween Inverness an’ Teviotdale,	9	·/˘······
He had few matches.	5	···/˘
Then up I gat, an’ swoor an aith,	8	········
Tho’ I should pawn my pleugh an’ graith,	8	········
Or die a cadger pownie’s death,	7	···/˘··
At some dyke-back,	4	····
A pint an’ gill I’d gie them baith,	8	········
To hear your crack.	4	····
But, first an’ foremost, I should tell,	8	···/····
Amaist as soon as I could spell,	8	········
I to the crambo-jingle fell;	8	···/˘/˘·
Tho’ rude an’ rough—	4	····
Yet crooning to a body’s sel’	8	·/˘··/˘·
Does weel eneugh.	4	····
I am nae poet, in a sense;	8	···/˘···
But just a rhymer like by chance,	8	···/˘···
An’ hae to learning nae pretence;	8	···/˘···
Yet, what the matter?	5	···/˘
Whene’er my muse does on me glance,	9	·········
I jingle at her.	5	·/˘··
Your critic-folk may cock their nose,	8	·/˘·····
And say, “How can you e’er propose,	8	······˘/
You wha ken hardly verse frae prose,	8	···/˘···
To mak a sang?”	4	····
But, by your leaves, my learned foes,	8	······˘·
Ye’re maybe wrang.	4	·/˘·
What’s a’ your jargon o’ your schools—	8	···/˘···
Your Latin names for horns an’ stools?	8	·/˘·····
If honest Nature made you fools,	8	·/˘/˘···
What sairs your grammars?	5	···/˘
Ye’d better taen up spades and shools,	8	·/˘·····
Or knappin-hammers.	5	···/˘
A set o’ dull, conceited hashes	9	····˘/˘/˘
Confuse their brains in college classes!	9	˘/···/˘/˘
They gang in stirks, and come out asses,	9	·······/˘
Plain truth to speak;	4	····
An’ syne they think to climb Parnassus	9	·······/˘
By dint o’ Greek!	4	····
Gie me ae spark o’ nature’s fire,	9	·····/˘/˘
That’s a’ the learning I desire;	9	···/˘·˘/˘
Then tho’ I drudge thro’ dub an’ mire	8	········
At pleugh or cart,	4	····
My muse, tho’ hamely in attire,	9	·······˘/
May touch the heart.	4	····
O for a spunk o’ Allan’s glee,	8	·····/˘·
Or Fergusson’s the bauld an’ slee,	8	·/˘˘····
Or bright Lapraik’s, my friend to be,	8	········
If I can hit it!	5	·····
That would be lear eneugh for me,	8	········
If I could get it.	5	·····
Now, sir, if ye hae friends enow,	8	······˘/
Tho’ real friends, I b’lieve, are few;	7	·······
Yet, if your catalogue be fu’,	8	···/˘···
I’se no insist:	4	··˘/
But, gif ye want ae friend that’s true,	8	········
I’m on your list.	4	····
I winna blaw about mysel,	8	········
As ill I like my fauts to tell;	8	········
But friends, an’ folk that wish me well,	8	········
They sometimes roose me;	5	·˘/··
Tho’ I maun own, as mony still	8	·····/˘·
As far abuse me.	5	··˘/·
There’s ae wee faut they whiles lay to me,	9	·········
I like the lasses—Gude forgie me!	9	···/˘·/˘·
For mony a plack they wheedle frae me	10	·/˘···/˘··
At dance or fair;	4	····
Maybe some ither thing they gie me,	9	/˘·······
They weel can spare.	4	····
But Mauchline Race, or Mauchline Fair,	8	········
I should be proud to meet you there;	8	········
We’se gie ae night’s discharge to care,	8	····˘/··
If we forgather;	5	··˘/˘
An’ hae a swap o’ rhymin-ware	8	········
Wi’ ane anither.	5	·····
The four-gill chap, we’se gar him clatter,	9	·······/˘
An’ kirsen him wi’ reekin water;	9	·······/˘
Syne we’ll sit down an’ tak our whitter,	9	······/··
To cheer our heart;	5	··/˘·
An’ faith, we’se be acquainted better	9	····˘/˘/˘
Before we part.	4	····
Awa ye selfish, war’ly race,	8	···/˘/˘·
Wha think that havins, sense, an’ grace,	8	···/˘···
Ev’n love an’ friendship should give place	8	···/˘···
To catch—the—plack!	4	····
I dinna like to see your face,	8	········
Nor hear your crack.	4	····
But ye whom social pleasure charms	8	···/˘/˘·
Whose hearts the tide of kindness warms,	8	·····/˘·
Who hold your being on the terms,	8	···/˘···
“Each aid the others,”	5	···/˘
Come to my bowl, come to my arms,	8	········
My friends, my brothers!	5	···/˘
But, to conclude my lang epistle,	9	··˘/··˘/˘
As my auld pen’s worn to the gristle,	9	·······/˘
Twa lines frae you wad gar me fissle,	9	·········
Who am, most fervent,	5	···/˘
While I can either sing or whistle,	9	···/˘··/˘
Your friend and servant.	5	···/˘

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