"And
send the godly in a pet to pray." - Pope.
Argument
- Holy Willie was a rather oldish bachelor elder, in the parish of Mauchline,
and much and justly famed for that polemical chattering, which ends in tippling
orthodoxy, and for that spiritualized bawdry which refines to liquorish
devotion. In a sessional process with a gentleman in Mauchline - a Mr.Gavin
Hamilton - Holy Willie and his priest, Father Auld, after full hearing in the
presbytery of Ayr, came off but second best; owing partly to the oratorical
powers of Mr. Robert Aiken, Mr. Hamilton's counsel; but chiefly to Mr.
Hamilton's being one of the most irreproachable and truly respectable
characters in the county. On losing the process, the muse overheard him [Holy
Willie] at his devotions, as follows:-
O
Thou that in the heavens does dwell!
Wha, as it pleases best Thysel',
Sends ane to heaven and ten to hell,
A' for Thy glory,
And no for onie gude
or ill
They've done before Thee!
I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
When thousands Thou hast left in night,
That I am here before Thy sight,
For gifts and grace
A burning and a shining light
To a' this place.
What was I, or my generation,
That I should get sic exaltation?
I, wha deserv'd most just damnation
For broken laws,
Sax thousand years ere my creation,
Thro' Adam's cause!
When from my mither's womb I fell,
Thou might hae plunged me deep in hell,
To gnash my gums, and weep and wail,
In burnin lakes,
Where damned devils roar and yell,
Chain'd to their stakes.
Yet I am here, a chosen sample,
To show Thy grace is great and ample;
I'm here, a pillar o' Thy temple,
Strong as a rock,
A guide, a buckler, and example,
To a' Thy flock.
O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
When drinkers drink and swearers swear,
And singin' there, and dancin' here,
Wi' great an' sma';
For I am keepet by Thy fear,
Free frae them a'.
But yet, O Lord! confess I must-
At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust:
And sometimes, too, in wardly trust,
Vile self gets in:
But Thou remembers we are dust,
Defil'd wi' sin.
O Lord! yestreen, Thou kens, wi' Meg-
Thy pardon I sincerely beg!
O! may't ne'er be a livin' plague
To my dishonour!
An' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg
Again upon her.
Besides, I farther maun allow,
Wi' Leezie's lass, three times I trow-
But Lord, that Friday I was fou,
When I came near her;
Or else, Thou kens, Thy servant true
Wad never steer her.
Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn
Buffet Thy servant e'en and morn,
Lest he o're proud and high should turn,
That he's sae gifted:
If sae, Thy han' maun
e'en be borne,
Until Thou lift it.
Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
For here Thou hast a chosen race:
But God, confound their stubborn face,
And blast their name,
Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace
An' open shame.
Lord, mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts;
He drinks, and swears, and plays at cartes,
Yet has sae monie takin' arts,
Wi' great and sma',
Frae God's ain
priest the people's hearts
He steals awa'.
An' when we chasten'd him therefore,
Thou kens how he bred sic a splore,
As set the warld
in a roar
O' laughin' at us -
Curse Thou his basket and his store,
Kail an' potatoes!
Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray'r,
Against that Presbyt'ry o' Ayr!
Thy strong right hand, Lord, make it bare
Upo' their heads!
Lord visit them, and dinna spare,
For their misdeeds!
O Lord, my God, that glib-tongu'd Aiken,
My very heart and flesh are quakin,
To think how I sat sweating, shaking,
And pish'd wi' dread,
While he, wi' hingin lip and snakin',
Held up his head.
Lord, in Thy day o' vengeance try him!
Lord, visit them that did employ him!
And pass not in Thy mercy by them,
Nor hear their prayer,
But for Thy people's sake, destroy them,
And dinna spare!
But, Lord, remember me and mine
Wi' mercies temporal and divine,
That I for grace and gear
may shine,
Excell'd by nane,
And a' the glory shall be Thine,
Amen, Amen!