or birds,
Crumbs are better far than words.

[64] These simple stanzas, conveying such an excellent _morale_ at the
close, were written, almost without premeditation, for the amusement and
instruction of a little girl, the author's grandchild, who had been on a
visit at the manse of Glammis. The allusion to the _board_ in the second
verse refers to a little piece of timber which the amiable lady of the
house had affixed on the outside of one of the windows, for holding a
few crumbs which she daily spread on it for _Robin_, who regularly came
to enjoy the bounty of his benefactress. This lyric, and those
following, are printed for the first time.

WITHIN THE TOWERS OF ANCIENT GLAMMIS.[65]

TUNE--_"Merry in the Hall."_

Within the towers of ancient Glammis
Some merry men did dine,
And their host took care they should richly fare
In friendship, wit, and wine.
But they sat too late, and mistook the gate,
(For wine mounts to the brain);
O, 'twas merry in the hall, when the beards wagg'd all;
O, we hope they 'll be back again;
We hope they 'll be back again!

Sir Walter tapp'd at the parson's door,
To find the proper way,
But he dropt his switch, though there was no ditch,
And on the steps it lay.
So his wife took care of this nice affair,
And she wiped it free from stain;
For the knight was gone, nor the owner known,
So he ne'er got the switch again;
So he ne'er got the switch again.

This wondrous little whip[66] remains
Within the lady's sight,
(She crambo makes, with some mistakes,
But hopes for further light).
So she ne'er will part with this switch so smart,
These thirty years her ain;
Till the knight appear, it must just lie here,
He will ne'er get his switch again;
He will ne'er get his switch again!

[65] This lively lyrical rhapsody, written in April 1821, celebrates an
amusing incident connected with the visit of Sir Walter Scott to the
Castle of Glammis, in 1793. Sir Walter was hospitably entertained in the
Castle, by Mr Peter Proctor, the factor, in the absence of the noble
owner, the Earl of Strathmore, who did not reside in the family mansion;
and the conjecture may be hazarded, that he dropt his whip at the manse
door on the same evening that he drank an English pint of wine from the
_lion beaker_ of Glammis, the prototype of the _silver be