PRIDE

Did iver ye see the like o’ that? The warld’s fair fashioned to winder at! Heuch—dinna tell me! Yon’s Fishie Pete That cried the haddies in Ferry Street Set up wi’ his coats an’ his grand cigars In ane o’ they stinkin’ motor-cars! I mind the time (an’ it’s no far past) When he wasna for fleein’ alang sae fast An’ doon i’ the causey his cairt wad stand As he roared oot “Haddies!” below his hand; Ye’d up wi’ yer windy an’ doon he’d loup Frae the shaft o’ the cairt by the sheltie’s doup[7]. Aye, muckle cheenges an’ little sense, A bawbee’s wut an’ a poond’s pretence! For there’s him noo wi’ his neb to the sky I’ yon deil’s machinery swiggit[8] by, An’ me, that whiles gi’ed him a piece to eat, Tramps aye to the kirk on my ain twa feet. And, nee’bours, mind ye, the warld’s a-gley Or we couldna see what we’ve seen the day, Guid fortune’s blate whaur she’s weel desairv’t The sinner fu’ an’ the godly stairv’t, An’ fowk like me an’ my auld guidman Jist wearied, daein’ the best we can! I’ve kept my lips an’ my tongue frae guile An’ kept mysel’ to mysel’ the while; Agin a’ wastrels I’ve aye been set And I’m no for seekin’ to thole them yet; A grand example I’ve been through life, A righteous liver, a thrifty wife. But oh! the he’rt o’ a body bleeds For favours sclarried[9] on sinfu’ heids. Wait you a whilie! Ye needna think They’ll no gang frae him wi’ cairds an’ drink! They’ll bring nae blessin’, they winna bide, For the warst sin, nee’bours, is pride, aye, pride!