4
Baith to the college gaed. At first spruce Rab,
At Greek and Latin, grew a very dab:
He beat a’ round about him, fair and clean,
And ilk ane courted hin to be their frien’;
Frae house to house they harl’d him to dinner,
But enrs’d poor Ringan for a hum-drum sinner
Rab talked now in sic a lofty strain,
As tho’ braid Scotland had been a’ his ain;
He ca’d the Kirk the Church, the yirth the (illegible text)Globe
And chang’d his name, forsooth, frae Rab to Bob
Where’er ye met him, flourishing his rung,
The haill discourse was murder’d wi’ his tongue;
On friends and faes wi’ impudence he set,
And ramm’d his nose in ev’ry thing he met.
The college now to Rab, grew douf and dull
He scorn’dl wi’ books stupify his skull;
But whirl’d to Plays and Balls and sic like places:
And roar’d awa’ at Fairs and Kintra Races;
Sent hame for siller frae his mother Bell,
And caft a horse, and rade a race himsel’;
Drank night and day, and syne, when mortal fu’
Row’d on the floor, and snor’d like ony sow;
