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Home  »  The Poems and Songs  »  149 . Mr. William Smellie: A Sketch

Robert Burns (1759–1796). Poems and Songs.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

149 . Mr. William Smellie: A Sketch

SHREWD Willie Smellie to Crochallan came;

The old cock’d hat, the grey surtout the same;

His bristling beard just rising in its might,

’Twas four long nights and days to shaving night:

His uncomb’d grizzly locks, wild staring, thatch’d

A head for thought profound and clear, unmatch’d;

Yet tho’ his caustic wit was biting-rude,

His heart was warm, benevolent, and good.