policy, and the general corruption of public manners, prevailing in Scotland, under the perfonage of the STRONG MAN, that is, tyranny or oppreffion. Yet there are some circumstances which feem to point out a particular feudal lord, famous for his exactions and infolence, and who at length was outlawed. Our teftator introduces himself to the reader's acquaintance, by defcribing his own character and way of life, in the following expreffive allegories.

My maister houshold was heich Oppreffioun,
Reif' my stewart, that cairit of na wrang';
Murthure, Slauchtir, aye of ane profeffioun,
My cubicularis' has bene thir yearis lang:
Recept, that oft tuik in mony ane fang*,
Was porter to the yettis', to oppin wyde;
And Covatice was chamberlane at all tyde".

Confpiracie, Invy, and Falfe Report,

Were my prime counfalouris, leve" and deare;
Then Robberie, the peepill to extort,

And common Thift tuke on tham fa the steir ",
That Treuth in my prefince durft not appeir,
For Falfheid had him ay at mortal feid,
And Thift brocht Lautie finallie to deid"

Oppreffioun clikit Gude Reule' be the hair,
And fuddainlie in ane preefoun' him flang;
And Crueltie caft Pitie our the stair",

Qhuill Innocence was murthurit in that thrang ".
Than Falfheid faid, he maid my house richt ftrang,
And furnist weill with meikill wrangus geir *,
And bad me neither god nor man to feir'.

At length, in confequence of repeated enormities and violations of justice, Duncane fuppofes himself to be imprifoned, and about to suffer the extreme fentence of the law. He therefore very providently makes his laft will, which contains the following witty bequests.

To my CURAT Negligence I refigne,
Thairwith his parochinaris to teche;
Ane ather gift I leif him als condigne,
Slouth and Ignorance fendill for to preche:
The faullis he committis for to bleiche

d

с

In purgatorie, quhill thaie be waschin clene,
Pure religion thairbie to sustene.

To the VICAR I leif Diligence and Care
To tak the upmost claith and the kirk kow,
Mair nor' to put the corps in fepulture:
Have pouir wad fix gryis and ane fow ;
He will have ane to fill his bellie fowe"

If the poor have fix pigs and one sow. h His belly full. BELLY was not yet profcribed as a coarse indelicate word. 'It often occurs in our Tranflation of the Bible: and is used, fomewhat fingularly, in a chapter act of Westminster-abbey, fo late as the year 1628. The prebendaries vindicate themselves from the imputation of having reported, that their dean, bishop Williams, repaired the abbey, "out of "the diet, and BELLIES of the preben"daries, and revenues of our faid church, "and not out of his own revenues, &c." Widmore's WESTMINST. ABBEY, p. 213. Append. Nuм. xii. Lond. 1751. Here,

as

His thocht is mair upon the pasche fynis,
Nor the faullis in purgatorie that pynis'.

Oppreffioun the PERSONE I leif untill
Pouir mens corne to hald upon the rig',
Quhill he get the teynd alhail at his will":
Suppois the barins thair bread fuld go thig",
His purpois is na kirkis for to big o;
Sa fair an barne-tyme' god has him fendin,
This seven years the queir will ly unmendin'.

I leif unto the DEAN Dignite, bot faill',
With Greit Attendence quilk he fall not mifs,
Fra adulteraris [to] tack the buttock-maill';
Gif ane man to ane madin gif ane kiss',

W

Get he not geir, thai fall not come to bliss":
His winnyng is maist throw fornicatioun,
Spending it fhur with fidlike occupatioun.

as we now think, a periphrafis, at least another term, was obvious. How fhocking, or rather ridiculous, would this expreffion appear in a modern inftrument, figned by a body of clergy!

He thinks more of his Eafter-offerings, than of the fouls in purgatory. Pafche is pafchal. PAIS, Eafter.

I leave Oppreffion to the PARSON, the proprietor of the great, or rectorial, tythes. To keep the corn of the poor in the rig, or rick.

Until he get the tythe all at his will. Suppofe the children fhould beg their bread. Barins, or Bearns.

• To build no churches.

P So fair a harvest.

Without doubt.

• A fine for adultery. MAILIS is duties, rents. MAILE-MEN, MAILLERIS, perfons who pay rent. Male is Saxon for tribute or tax. Whence Maalman, Saxon, for one paying tribute. See Spelman and Dufresne, in VV.

If a man give a maid one kifs. Chau-
cer fays of his SOMPNOUR, or Apparitor,
PROL. Urr. p. 6. v. 651.

He would fuffer for a quart of wine
A good fellow to have his concubine.
See the FREERES TALE, where these a-
bufes åre expofed with much humour. Ürr.
edit. p. 87.

"If he does not get his fine, they will
not be faved. GEIR is properly goods,

chattels.

1

I leif unto the PRIOURE, for his part,
Gluttony, him and his monkis to feid,
With far better will to drink ane quart',
Nor an the bible ane chaptoure to reid
Yit ar thai wyis and fubtile into deid*,
Fenzeis thame pouir, and has gret fufficence,
And takith wolth away with gret patience.

I leif the ABBOT Pride and Arrogance,
With trappit mules in the court to ryde,
Not in the clofter to make refidence;
It is na honoure thair for him to byde *,
But ever for ane bischoprik provyde":
For weill ye wat ane pouir benefice,

Of ten thousand markis' may not him fuffice.

To the BISCHOP his Free will I allege,
Becaus thair [is] na man him [dares] to blame;
Fra fecular men he will him replege",

y An English gallon.

* To read one chapter. ◄ Unto death.

• Feign themselves poor.

* To ride on a mule with rich trappings. Cavendish fays, that when cardinal Wolfey went embaffador to France, he rode through London with more than twenty fumptermules. He adds, that Wolfey" rode very "fumptuouflie like a cardinal, on a mule; "with his fpare-mule, and his fpare-horse, "covered with crimfon velvett, and gilt "ftirrops, &c." MEM, OF CARD. WOLSEY. edit. Lond. 1708. 8vo. p. 57. When he meets the king of France near Amiens, he mounts another mule, more fuperbly caparifoned. Ibid. p. 69. See alfo p. 192. [See a manufcript of this Life, MSS. LAUD. i. 66. MSS. ARCH. B. 44. Bibl. Bodl.] The fame writer, one of the cardinal's domeftics, fays that he conftantly rode to Westminster-hall," on " on a mule

"trapped in crimson velvett with a faddle "of the fame." Ibid. p. 29. 30. In the Computus of Maxtoke priory, in Warwickshire, for the year 1446, this article of expenditure occurs, "Pro pabulo duarum "mularum cum harnefiis domini PRIORIS "hoc anno." Again in the fame year, "Pro freno deaurato, cum fella et panno "blodii coloris, mulæ PRIORIS." MS. penes me fupr. citat. Wiccliffe describes a WORDLY PRIEST, "with fair hors and "jolly, and gay faddles and bridles ring"ing by the way, and himself in costly "clothes and pelure." Lewis's WICCL P. 121.

d Continue.

• Look out for a bishoprick.
f Marcs.

* Give, Affign.

He will order tryal in his orun court, It is therefore unfafe to attack him.

And

And weill ye wat the pape is fur fra hame':
To preich the gofpell he thinkis schame,
(Suppofis fum tym it was his professioun,)
Rather nor for to fit upon the feffioun *.

I leif my Flatterie, and Fals Diffembling,
Unto the FRERIS, thai fa weill can fleitche',
With mair profit throwe ane marriage-making
Nor all the lentrane in the kirk to preiche".
Thai gloiss the scripture, ever quhen thai teache,
Moer in intent the auditouris to pleifs,

Nor the trew worde of god for to appeiss".

Thira gifts that dame Nature has me lent
I have difponit heir, as ye may see:
It nevir was, nor yit is, my intent,

That trew kirkmen get acht belongis to me':
But that haulis' Huredome and Harlottrie,
Gluttony, Invy, Covatice, and Pryde,
My executouris I mak tham at this tyde.

Adew all friends, quhill" after that we meit,
I cannot tell yow quhair, nor in quhat place;
But as the lord difpoufis for my fpreit,

You well know the pope is at a great distance.

* He had rather fit in parliament. 1 Fawn.

m Or, Lentron. Lent.

"Who get more by making one match, than by preaching a whole Lent. The mendicants gained an eftablishment in families, and were confulted and gave their advice in all cafes. Chaucer's FREERS

Had mad full manie a marriage
Of yong women, &c. PROL, V. 212.

religious romances. Wiccliffe, the grand antagonist of thefe orders, fays that, "Capped (graduated] friers that been "cleped [called] mafters of divinitie, have "their chamber and fervice as lords and

kings, and fenden out idiots full of "covetife to preche, not the gofpel, but "chronicles, fables, and lefinges, to plefe "the peple, and to robbe them." Lewis's LIFE OF WICCL. p. 21. xiii. 9 Thefe.

Difpofed. Bequeathed.

A true churchman, a chriftian on the reformed plan, fhall never get any thing belonging to me.

: Whole.

U u 2

Till,

Quher