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, who in the heavens does dwell,
Who, as it pleases best Thysel’,
Sends aneto heaven an’ ten to hell,
A’ for Thy glory,
And nofor ony gudeor ill
They’ve done afore Thee!

I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
When thousands Thou hast left in night,
That I am here aforeThy sight,
For gifts an’ grace
A burning and a shining light
To a’ this place.

What was I, or my generation,
That I should getsic exaltation,
I wha deserve most just damnation
For broken laws,
Five thousand years eremy creation,
Thro’ Adam’s cause?

When frae my mither’s womb I fell,
Thou might haeplunged me in hell,
To gnash my gums, to 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, an’ swearers swear,
An’ singin there, an’ dancin here,
Wi’ great and sma’;
For I am keepit by Thy fear
Free frae them a’.

But yet, O Lord! confess I must,
At times I’m fash’dwi’ fleshly lust:
An’ 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 camnear her;
Orelse, Thou kens, Thy servant true
Wadnever steer her.

Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn
Buffet Thy servant e’en and morn,
Lest he owreproud and high shou’d turn,
That he’s sae gifted:
If sae, Thy han’maune’enbe borne,
Until Thou liftit.

Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
For here Thou hast a chosen race:
But God confound their stubborn face,
An’ blast their name,
Wha bring Thy elders to disgrace
An’ public shame.

Lord, mindGaw’n Hamilton’s deserts;
He drinks, an’ swears, an’ plays at cartes,
Yet has saemony takin arts,
Wi’ great and sma’,
FraeGod’s ainpriest the people’s hearts
He steals awa.

An’ when we chasten’d him therefor,
Thou kens how he bred sica splore,
An’ setthe warldin a roar
O’ laughing at us;-
Curse Thou his basket and his store,
Kailan’ 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, an’ dinna spare,
For their misdeeds.

O Lord, my God! that glib-tongu’d Aiken,
My veraheart and flesh are quakin,
To think how we stood sweatin’, shakin,
An’ p-‘d wi’ dread,
While he, wi’ hingin lip an’ snakin,
Held up his head.

Lord, in Thy day o’vengeance try him,
Lord, visit them whadid employ him,
And pass not in Thy mercy by ’em,
Nor hear their pray’r,
Butfor Thy people’s sake, destroy ’em,
An’ dinnaspare.

But, Lord, remember me an’ mine
Wi’mercies temp’ral an’ divine,
That I for grace an’gearmay shine,
Excell’d bynane,
And a’the glory shall be thine,
Amen, Amen!