Extempore in the Court of Session
Tune—“Killiercrankie.”
Lord Advocate
He clenched his pamphlet in his fist,He quoted and he hinted,Till, in a declamation-mist,His argument he tint it:He gaped for’t, he graped for’t,He fand it was awa, man;But what his common sense came short,He eked out wi’ law, man.
Mr. Erskine
Collected, Harry stood awee,Then open’d out his arm, man;
His Lordship sat wi’ ruefu’ e’e,And ey’d the gathering storm, man:Like wind-driven hail it did assail’Or torrents owre a lin, man:The Bench sae wise, lift up their eyes,Half-wauken’d wi’ the din, man.
William Dunbar, W. S., of the Crochallan Fencibles, a convivial club. ↩