PROLOGUE To the GENTLE SHEPHERD, spoken in a
Provincial Theatre. __ YE patronizers of our little party, My heart’s e’en light to see
you a’ sae hearty; I’m fain, indeed, an’ trouth
I’ve meikle cause, Since your blythe faces ha’f
ensure applause. We come this night wi’ nae new-fangl’d story, O’ knave’s deceit, or fop’s
vain blust’ring glory, Nor harlequin's wild pranks, wi’ skin like leopard, We’re come to gie your ain auld
Gentle Shepherd; Whilk ay will charm, an’ will
be read, an’ acket, Till time himsel’, turn auld,
an’ kick the bucket. I mind, langsyne, when I was
just a callan, That a’ the kintra rang in
praise o’ Allan; Ilk rising generation toots his
fame, And hun’er years to come,
’twill be the same: For wha has read, tho’ e’er sae
lang sinsyne, But keeps the living picture on his min’; Approves bauld Patie’s clever, manly turn, An’ maist thinks Roger cheap o’ Jenny’s scorn; His dowless gait, the cause o’
a’ his care, For, “Nane except the brave
deserve the fair.” Hence sweet young Peggy lo’ed her manly Pate, An’ Jenny geck’t at Roger,
dowf an’ blate. Our gude Sir William
stands a lesson leel, To lairds wha’d hae their
vassals lo’e them weel; To prince, an’ peer, this maxim
it imparts, Their greatest treasures are
the people’s hearts. Frae Glaud an’ Symon would we draw a moral, The virtuous youth-time mak’s the canty carl, The twa auld birkies caper
blythe an bauld, Nor shaw
the least regret that they’re turn’d auld. Poor Bauldy! O
it’s like to split my jaws! I think I see him under Madge’s claws: Sae may misfortune tear him
spawl and plack, Wha’d wrang a bonny lass, an’ syne draw back. But, Sirs, to
you I maist forgat my mission, I’m sent to beg a truce to
criticism; We don’t pretend to speak by
square and rule, Like yon wise chaps bred up in Thespian-school: An’ to your wishes should we
not succeed, Pray be
sae kind as tak’ the will for deed; (An’ as our immortal ROBIN BURNS says,) “Aiblins tho’ we winna’ stan’
the test, “Wink hard an’ say, The fo’ks hae done their best.” An’ keep this gen’rous maxim
still in min’, “To err is human, to forgive divine!” |