Bene till our eris cause of gret delyte; Of rhetorik, or lufty fresche' indyte ‘. This panegyric, and the poem, is closed with an apology, couched in elegant metaphors, for his own comparative humility of ftyle. He addresses the poem, which he calls a litill quair. O know quhat thou of rhetoric has spent; Is nane into thy garland fett on hicht". O fchame' thairfor, and draw thè out of ficht! Dunbar's DAUNCE has very great merit in the comic style of painting. It exhibits a groupe of figures touched with the capricious but fpirited pencil of Callot. On the eve of Lent, a general day of confeffion, the poet in a dream fees a display of heaven and hell. Mahomet', or the devil, commands a dance to be performed by a select party of fiends; particularly by thofe, who in the other world had never made confeffion to the priest, and had confequently never received absolution. Immediately the SEVEN DEADLY SINS appear; and present a mask, or mummery, with the newest gambols just imported from France. The first is PRIDE, who properly takes place of all the reft, as by that SIN fell the angels. He is defcribed in the fashionable and gallant dress of those times: in a bonnet and gown, his hair thrown back, his cap awry, and his gown affectedly flowing to his feet in large folds. Let fe, quoth he', now quha beginis? Begouth to leip attanis ". And first of all in dance was PRYD, Several holy harlots follow, attended by monks, who make great fport for the devils". Heilie Harlottis in hawtain wyis *, But yet luche nevir Mahoun: Quhill prieftis cum with bair schevin* nekks, Black-belly and Bawfy-brown are the names of popular fpirits in Scotland. The latter is perhaps our ROBIN GOODFELLOW, known in Scotland by the name of BROWNIE. ANGER is drawn with great force, and his accompaniments are boldly feigned. His hand is always upon his knife, and he is followed, in pairs, by boafters, threateners, and quarrelfome perfons, all armed for battle, and perpetually wounding one another ‘. : e Than YRE come in with fturt and ftryfe; He brandeift lyk a beir: Boftaris, braggarifts, and barganeris, All bodin in feir of weir: In jakkis, ftryppis, and bonnettis of steil, Sum upon uder with brands beft*, Sum jagit utheris to the heft' With knyvis that fcheirp coud fcheir ". ENVY is equal to the reft. Under this SIN our author takes occafion to lament, with an honeft indignation, that the courts of princes fhould ftill give admittance and encouragement to the whisperers of idle and injurious reports". Next in the dance followit INVY, Hid malyce and difpyte; For pryvie haterit that tratour trymlit, With rownaris" of fals lefingis TM : Of tham can nevir be quyte *! AVARICE is ufhered in by a troop of extortioners, and other miscreants, patronised by the magician Warloch, or the demon of the covetous; who vomit on each other torrents of melted gold, blazing like wild-fire: and as they are emptied at every discharge, the devils replenish their throats with fresh supplies of the fame liquefied metal '. SLOTH does not join the dance till he is called twice: and his companions are fo flow of motion, that they cannot keep up with the reft, unless they are roufed from their lethargy by being fometimes warmed with a glimpse of hell-fire". Syne SWIRNES, at the seccound bidding, Mony fweir bumbard belly-huddroun‘, In daunce thay wer fo flow of feit. And maid tham quicker of conyie '. LUST enters, neighing like a horfe, and is led by IDLENESS. When his affociates mingle in the dance, their vifages burn red like the turkis-stone'. The remainder of the ftanza, although highly characteristical, is too obfcene to be transcribed. But this gave no offence. Their manners were too indelicate to be fhocked at any indecency. I do not mean that thefe manners had loft their delicacy, but that they had not yet acquired the fenfibility arifing from civilifation. In one of the Scotch interludes of this age, written. by a fashionable court-poet, among other ridiculous obfcenities, the trying on of a Spanish padlock in public makes a part of theatrical representation. |