AFTER THE ACTING OF THE DRUMMER.
OUR plays are done-now criticise and spare not;
And tho' you are not fully pleas'd, we care not.
We have a reafon on our fide, and that is,
Your treat has one good property-'tis gratis.
We've pleas'd ourselves; and, if we have good
judges,
We value not a head where nothing lodges.
The generous men of fense will kindly praise us,
And, if we make a little fnapper, raise us:
Such know the aspiring foul at manly dawn,
Abhors the four rebuke and carping thrawn;
But rifes on the hope of a great name,
Up all the rugged roads that lead to fame.
Our breasts already pant to gain renown
At fenates, courts, by arms, or by the gown;
Or by improvements of paternal fields,
Which never-failing joy and plenty yields;
Or by deep draughts of the Castalian fprings,
To foar with Mantuan or Horatian wings.
Hey boys! the day 's our ain, the ladies fmile; Which over recompenfes all our toil.
Delights of mankind! tho' in fome small parts
We are deficient, yet our wills and hearts
Are yours; and, when more perfect, fhall endeavour,
By acting better, to fecure your favour :
To spinnets then retire, and play a few tunes,
'Till we get thro' our Gregories and Newtons;
And, fome years hence, we 'll tell another tale
'Till then, ye bonny blooming buds, farewell.
THE FIRST NIGHT OF HIS ACTING IN WINTER 1726.
'T IS I, dear Caledonians, blythfome Tony,
That oft, laft winter, pleas'd the brave and bonny,
With medley, merry fong, and comic scene:
Your kindness then has brought me here again,
After a circuit round the queen of ifles,
To gain your friendship and approving fmiles.
Experience bids me hope;-tho' fouth the Tweed,
The daftards faid, "He never will fucceed:
"What! such a country look for any good in!
"That does not relish plays, nor pork, nor pud-
"ding!"
Thus great Columbus, by an idiot crew,
Was ridicul'd at firft for his juft view;
Yet his undaunted fpirit ne'er gave ground,
'Till he a new and better world had found.
So I laugh on-the fimile is bold;
But faith 't is just for 'till this body 's cold,
Columbus like, I'll push for fame and gold.
* Commonly called Tony Afton. He was bred an attorney, and afterwards became a strolling player of confiderable powers in low comedy. He wrote a comedy called "Love in a "Hurry," in 1709.
BEFORE THE ACTING OF AURENZEBE, AT HADINGTON SCHOOL, IN 1727.
Be hush, ye croud, who preffing round appear
Only to ftare; we fpeak to thofe can hear
The nervous phrafe, which raises thoughts more
high,
When added action leads them thro' the eye.
To paint fair virtue, humours, and mistakes,
Is what our school with pleasure undertakes,
Thro' various incidents of life, led on,
By Dryden and immortal Addison;
These study'd men, and knew the various
That mov'd the minds of coachmen, and of
Altho' we 're young, allow no thought fo mean,
That any here's to act the Harlequin ;
We leave fuch dumb-fhow mimicry to fools,
Beneath the fp'rit of Caledonian schools.
Learning 's our aim, and all our care to reach.
At elegance and gracefulness of speech,
And the addrefs, from bafhfulness refin'd,
Which hangs a weight upon a worthy mind.
The grammar 's good, but pedantry brings down The gentle dunce below the sprightly clown. "Get seven score verse of Ovid's Trift by heart,
ye fmart," "To rattle o'er, else I shall make Cry fnarling dominies that little ken; Such may
teach parrots, but our Lefly* men.
* Mr. John Lefly, mafter of the fchool of Hadington; a gentleman of true learning, who, by his excellent method, moft worthily fills his place.
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