I, 'if that thae news be true! [those]
His braw calf-ward whare gowans grew [grazing-plot, daisies]
Sae white and bonnie,
Nae doubt they'll rive it wi' the plew; [split]
They'll ruin Johnie!'

The creature grain'd an eldritch laugh, [groaned, weird]
And says: 'Ye needna yoke the pleugh,
Kirk-yards will soon be till'd eneugh,
Tak ye nae fear;
They'll a' be trench'd wi' mony a sheugh [ditch]
In twa-three year.

'Where I kill'd ane, a fair strae-death, [straw (i.e., bed)]
By loss o' blood or want o' breath,
This night I'm free to tak my aith [oath]
That Hornbook's skill
Has clad a score i' their last claith, [cloth]
By drap and pill.

'An honest wabster to his trade, [weaver by]
Whase wife's twa nieves were scarce weel-bred, [fists]
Gat tippence-worth to mend her head
When it was sair; [aching]
The wife slade cannie to her bed, [slid quietly]
But ne'er spak mair.

'A country laird had ta'en the batts, [botts]
Or some curmurring in his guts, [commotion]
His only son for Hornbook sets,
An' pays him well:
The lad, for twa guid gimmer-pets, [pet-ewes]
Was laird himsel.

'A bonnie lass, ye kenn'd her name,
Some ill-brewn drink had hov'd her wame; [raised, belly]
She trusts hersel, to hide the shame,
In Hornbook's care;
Horn sent her aff to her lang hame,
To hide it there.

'That's just a swatch o' Hornbook's way; [sample]
Thus goes he on from day to day,
Thus does he poison, kill an' slay,
An's weel pay'd for't;
Yet stops me o' my lawfu' prey
Wi' his damn'd dirt.

'But, hark! I'll tell you of a plot,
Tho' dinna ye be speaking o't;
I'll nail the self-conceited sot
As