Stray leaves from the portfolios of Alisander the seer, Andrew Whaup, and Humphrey Henkeckle

THE AUTHOR’S LIFE.
Vll.
This truth may seem a paradox,
, But mark ye how I’ll clear it,
Promotions amang Highland folks
Gang mair by Mac than merit.
The following is another, written about the same time :—~
Though she’ll pe coudna read nor write,
Will no pe meikle harm in’t;
She’ll kiss her Honour’s Glory’s toup
To get wee bit preferment.
The first attempts which the Bard made at writing verses
were during his residence with his step-father at the Dry-
gate Toll. These consisted ^of pieces of a satirical de¬
scription, the subjects of them being individuals in the
neighbourhood; and so true were they in their colouring,
and so graphic in their delineation, that the likenesses
were in no case mistaken. About this time, (1804,) some
individual had written a piece of wretched doggrel, which
was posted on the toll bar. From its being well known
that he was given to scribbling, the piece was attributed
to Rodger, which so much annoyed him that he consigned
all his productions to the flames, and determined to rhyme
no more. This resolution he kept for more than ten
years, when having again begun to court the muse, he pro¬
duced, as his first offering, “The Sooty Rabble.” He
thereafter continued to bring forward pieces as occasion
offered, and contributed not only to the local press, but
also to some of the most noted London Radical periodicals,
such as the “ Black Dwarf.” As among his friends his
productions were eagerly sought after, manuscript copies
wern widely disseminated; and the applause with which
they were greeted encouraged him to perseverance as a
satirist.
In 1806, the Poet married Agnes Turner, the daughter
of a respectable weaver, residing in the same neigh-