ADDRESS TO THE TOOTHACHE.

My curse upon thy venomed stang,
That shoots my tortured gums alang;
And through my lugs gies monie a twang,
Wi' gnawing vengeance,

Tearing my nerves wi' bitter pang,
Like racking engines!

When fevers burn, or ague freezes,
Rheumatics gnaw, or cholic squeezes,
Our neighbour's sympathy may ease us
Wi' pitying moan;

But thee -thou hell o' a' diseases,

Aye mocks our groan!

Adown my beard the slavers trickle!
I kick the wee stools o'er the mickle,
As round the fire the giglets

keckle,

To see me loup;

While, raving mad, I wish a heckle
Were in their doup.

sting

mocking children

laugh

jump

flax-comb

backside

O' a' the num'rous human dools,
Ill har'sts, daft bargains, cutty-stools,

Or worthy friends raked i' the mools,
Sad sight to see!

The tricks o' knaves, or fash o' fools
Thou bear'st the gree.

Where'er that place be priests ca' hell,
Whence a' the tones o' misery yell,
And ranked plagues their numbers tell,
In dreadfu' raw,

Thou Toothache, surely bear'st the bell
Amang them a'!

O thou grim mischief-making chiel,
That gars the notes of discord squeel,
Till daft Mankind aft dance a reel
In gore a shoe-thick !

Gie a' the faes o' Scotland's weal

clods

trouble

superiority

row, order

A towmond's toothache! twelvemontt

THE KIRK'S ALARM.

Dr. William M'Gill, one of the two ministers conjoined in the parochial charge of Ayr, had published in 1786, A Practical Essay on the Death of Jesus Christ, in Two Parts; containing, 1, the History, 2, he Doctrine of his Death, which was supposed to in

culcate principles of both Arian and Socinian character, and provoked many severe censures from the more rigid party of the church. M'Gill remained

silent under the attacks of his opponents, till Dr. William Peebles of Newton-upon-Ayr, a neighbor, and hitherto a friend, in preaching a centenary sermon on the Revolution, November 5, 1788, denounced the essay as heretical, and the author as one who "with one hand received the privileges of the church, while with the other he was endeavoring to plunge the keenest poniard into her heart." M'Gill published a defence, which led, in April, 1789, to the introduction of the case into the presbyterial court of Ayr, and subsequently into that of the synod of Glasgow and Ayr. Meanwhile, the public out of doors was agitating the question with the keenest interest, and the strife of the liberal and zealous parties in the church had reached a painful extreme. It was now that Burns took up the pen in behalf of M‘Gill, whom he looked on as a worthy and enlightened person suffering an unworthy persecution.

ORTHODOX, orthodox,

Wha believe in John Knox,

Let me sound an alarm to your conscience;
There's a heretic blast

Has been blawn in the wast,

That what is not sense must be nonsense.

Dr. Mac, Dr. Mac,

You should stretch on a rack,

To strike evildoers wi' terror;

To join faith and sense,
Upon any pretence,

Is heretic, damnable error.

Town of Ayr, town of Ayr,1
It was mad, I declare,
To meddle wi' mischief a-brewing;
Provost John 2 is still deaf

To the church's relief,
And Orator Bob is its ruin.

D'rmple mild, D'rymple mild,

Though your heart's like a child, And your life like the new-driven snaw; Yet that winna save ye,

1 When Dr. M'Gill's case first came before the synod, the magistrates of Ayr published an advertisement in the newspapers, bearing a warm testimony to the excellence of the defender's character, and their appreciation of his services as a pastor.

2 John Ballantyne, Esq., banker, provost of Ayr, the prime mover, probably, in the testimony in favor of Dr. M'Gillthe same individual to whom The Twa Brigs is dedicated. There could not have been a nobler instance of true benevo lence and manly worth than that furnished by Provost Balfantyne. His hospitable mansion was known far and wide, and he was the friend of every liberal measure.

8 Mr. Robert Aiken, writer in Ayr, to whom the Cotter's Saturday Night is inscribed. He exerted his powerful oratorical talents as agent for M'Gill in the presbytery and synod.

4 The Rev. Dr. William Dalrymple, senior minister of the collegiate charge of Ayra man of extraordinary benevolence and worth. If we are to believe the poet, his views re specting the Trinity had not been strictly orthodox.

Auld Satan must have ye,

For preaching that three's ane and twa.

Rumble John,1 Rumble John,

Mount the steps wi' a groan,
Cry, the book is wi' heresy crammed;
Then lug out your ladle,

Deal brimstone like adle,

And roar every note of the damned.

Simper James,2 Simper James,
Leave the fair Killie dames,
There's a holier chase in your view;
I'll lay on your head,

muck-water

That the pack ye'll soon lead,
For puppies like you there's but few.

Singet Sawney, Singet Sawney,
Are ye huirding the penny,
Unconscious what evils await;

Wi' a jump, yell, and howl,
Alarm every soul,

For the foul thief is just at your gate.

Daddy Auld, Daddy Auld,

There's a tod in the fauld,

hoarding

fox

1 The Rev. John Russell, celebrated in The Holy Fair. 2 The Rev. James Mackinlay, minister of Kilmarnock, the hero of The Ordination.

3 The Rev. Mr. Alexander Moodie, of Riccarton, one of the aeroes of The Twa Herds.

4 The Rev. Mr. Auld, of Mauchline.