Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GOOD MAN OF ALLOA, by JAMES HOGG


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GOOD MAN OF ALLOA, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Did you never hear of a queer auld man
Last Line: "he proved a hypocrite!"
Alternate Author Name(s): The Ettrick Shepherd; The Bard Of Ettrick
Subject(s): Charity; Hypocrisy; Kindness; Philanthropy


DID you never hear of a queer auld man,
A very strange man was he,
Who dwelt on the bonnie banks of Forth,
In a town full dear to me?

One day he sat on a lonely brae,
And sorely he made his moan,
For his youthful days had pass'd away,
And ronkilt age came on.

"Ochone, ochone!" quod the poor auld man,
"Where shall I go lay mine head?
For I am weary of this world,
And I wish that I were dead.

"For, though I have toil'd these seventy years,
Wasting both blood and bone,
Striving for riches as for life,
Yet riches I have none.

"Oh, woe is me! for all my toil,
And all my dear-bought gains,
Yet must I die a cauldrife death,
In poverty and pains!

"Oh! where are all my riches gone,
Where, or to what country!
There is gold enough into this world,
But none of it made for me.

"Yet Providence was sore misled,
My riches to destroy,
Else many a poor and virtuous heart
Should have had cause of joy."

Then the poor auld man laid down his head,
And rairit for very grief,
And streikit out his limbs to die;
For he knew of no relief.

But bye there came a lovely dame,
Upon a palfrey gray,
And she listen'd unto the auld man's tale
And all he had to say.

Of all his griefs, and sore regret,
For things that him befell,
And because he could not feed the poor,
Which thing he loved so well.

"It is great pity," quod the dame,
"That one so very kind,
So full of charity and love,
And of such virtuous mind,

"Should lie and perish on a brae,
Of poverty and eild,
Without one single hand to prove
His solace and his shield."

She took the auld man her behind
Upon her palfrey gray,
And swifter nor the southland wind
They scour'd the velvet brae.

And the palfrey's tail behind did sail
O'er locker and o'er lea;
While the tears stood in the auld man's eyne,
With swiftness and with glee;

For the comely dame had promised him
Of riches mighty store,
That his kind heart might have full scope
For feeding of the poor.

"Keep thou thy seat," said the comely dame,
"And conscience clear and stenne;
There is plenty of gold in the sea's bottom
To enrich ten thousand men.

"Ride on with me, and thou shalt see
What treasures there do lie;
For I can gallop the emerald wave,
And along its channels, dry."

And away and away flew the comely dame
O'er moorland and o'er fell;
But whether they went north or south,
The auld man could not tell.

And the palfrey's tail behind did sail,
A comely sight to see,
Like little wee comet of the dale
Gaun skimmering o'er the lea.

When the auld man came to the salt sea's brink,
He quaked at the ocean faem;
But the palfrey splash'd into the same,
As it were its native hame.

And the little wee palfrey shot away,
Like dragon's fiery train,
And up the wave, and down the wave,
Like meteor of the main.

And its streaming tail behind did sail
With shimmer and with sheen;
And whenever it struck the mane of the wave,
The flashes of fire were seen.

"Hurrah! hurrah! my bonnie gray!"
Cried the Maiden of the Sea;
"Ha! thou canst sweep the emerant deep
Swifter nor bird can flee!

"For thou wast bred in a coral bed,
Beneath a silver sun,
Where the broad daylight, or the moon by night,
Could never, never won!

"Away! away! my bonnie gray!
Where billows rock the dead,
And where the richest prize lies low,
In all the ocean's bed."

And as ever you saw a moudiwort
Bore into a foggy lea,
So did this little devilish beast
Dive down into the sea.

The good auld man he gave a rair
As loud as he could strain:
But the waters closed aboon his head,
And down he went amain!

But he neither blutherit with his breath,
Nor gaspit with his ganne,
And not one drop of salt water
Adown his thropple ran.

At length they came to a gallant ship,
In the channels of the sea,
That leant her shoulder to a rock,
With her masts full sore aglee.

It was plain as plain could be,
From all they saw around,
That the ship had gone down to the deep,
Without one warning sound.

And there lay many a gallant man,
Rock'd by the moving main;
And soundly, soundly did they sleep,
Never to wake again.

So calmly they lay on their glitty beds,
And in their hammocks swung,
And the billows rock'd their drowsy forms,
And over their cradles sung.

And there was laid a royal maid,
As calm as if in heaven,
Who had three gold rings on each finger,
On her mid finger seven.

And she had jewels in her ears,
And bracelets brave to see;
The gold that was around her head
Would have bought earldoms three.

Then the good auld man pull'd out his knife —
It was both sharp and clear, —
And he cut off the maiden's fingers small,
And the jewels from ilka ear.

"Oh, shame! oh, shame!" said the Comely Dame,
"Woe worth thy ruthless hand!
How darest thou mangle a royal corpse,
Once flower of many a land?

"And all for the sake of trinkets vain,
'Mid such a store as this!"
"Ochone, alake!" quod the good auld man,
"you judge full far amiss;

"It is better they feed the righteous poor,
That on their God depend,
Than to lie slumbering in the deep
For neither use nor end!"

Then the Sea Maid smiled a doubtful smile,
And said, with lifted ee, —
"Full many a righteous man I have seen,
But never a one like thee!"

"But thou shalt have thine heart's desire,
In feeding the upright;
And all the good shall bless the day,
That first thou saw the light."

Then she loaded him with gems and gold,
On channel of the main;
Yet the good auld man was not content,
But turn'd him back again.

And every handful he put in,
He said right wistfullye,
"Och, this will ane whole fortune prove
For one poor familye."

And he neifuit in, and he neifuit in,
And never could refrain,
Quhill the little wee horse he could not move,
Nor mount the wave again.

"Come away, come away, my little bonnie gray,
Think of the good before;
There is as much gold upon thy back
As will feed ten thousand poor!"

Then the little wee horse he strauchlit on,
Through darkling scenes sublime —
O'er shoals, and stones, and dead men's bones,
But the wave he could not climb;

But along, along, he sped along
The floors of the silent sea,
With a world of waters o'er his head,
And groves of the coral tree.

And the tide stream flow'd, and the billows row'd
An hundred fathoms high;
And the light that lighted the floors below
Seem'd from some other sky.

But at length the May, and her palfrey gray,
And the good auld man beside,
Set their three heads aboon the wave,
And came in with the flowing tide.

When the little wee horse he found his feet
On the firm ground and the dry,
He shook his mane, and gave a graen,
And threw his heels on high.

"Now fare thee well, thou good auld man,
Thy promise keep in mind;
Let this great wealth I have given to thee
Be a blessing to thy kind.

"So as thou strive so shalt thou thrive,
And be it understood
That I must visit thee again,
For evil or for good."

Then the bonnie May she rode her way
Along the sea-wave green,
And away and away on her palfrey gray,
Like the ocean's comely queen.

But it grieveth my heart to tell to you,
What I never have told before,
Of that man so righteous and so good,
So long as he was poor;

But, whenever he got more store of gold
Then ever his wits could tell,
He never would give a mite for good,
Neither for heaven nor hell.

But he brooded o'er that mighty store
With sordid heart of sin,
And the houseless wight, or the poor by night,
His gate wan never within.

And the last accounts I had of him
Are very strange to tell, —
He was seen with the May and the palfrey gray
Riding fiercely out through hell.

And aye she cried: "Hurrah, hurrah!
Make room for me and mine!
I bring you the Man of Alloa
To his punishment condign!

"His Maker tried him in the fire,
To make his heart contrite;
But, when he gat his heart's desire,
He proved a hypocrite!"





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