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Southland Times, Issue 889, 27 January 1868, Page 3

■ ;'■ . :: ; .:.!.-; ■„■■■■:•■ ;■■ The minister's man. was a blithesoms auld -carle,' Tho' lang he had fought wi' a mirdiesotne warl' ; Wi' grief he ; had warsled, wi' want and wi' can** Till his cheeks they grew thin, an' his claes were worn bire ; , - ■'.•■' -.•:■.. •■• " ■ An' three buirdly sons wha his poverty shared Wiere laid i' : the mool i' the anld green kirkyard. But tlio cluds flew awa'.an' his sunshine began, When first he was arled for the minis ter's many The minister's man, only look; at him now, . After a' the deep waters o' grief he's come through , How he strides iiprhe walk to rin:r the anld bell* As cpzily clad as the minister's sel'. „- , .. , v f The folk wha stand haver-in' around the kirk door And kenned him fu J well i ? the dark days o' yore x Wheii hiscleideh' was scant an' his haffits were wan, ' . Say, he's no the seme bocly, the minister's .man. The minister's man, faith, had plenty 6f wark, And eident^was he frae the morniu' till dark j He'd the gardento dig, to hoe, and to r weed ; The horse he'd to fother, the gniniphics to feed ; The gV c he'd to plou' — the sheep he'd to wash— The hay he'd to maw, and the barley to thrash. He hadmuckle to think o', an' mackle to plan : Nae fu«hionless cuif was the minister's man. The minister's man when at nicht he gaed hatrie To his clean ingle side and his couthy auld dame Wad sit, and his neighbors cam in a' to hear The news o' the parish; an' what was asteer ; For he whiles had a crack wi'; the minister's wife, Wha tauld him the scandal an' news that were riib. ... A' the lassies wha came 'neath the kirk sessions ban- . ., •.,"..■ Were kenned lang afore by tho minister's man. The minister's man on a Saturday c'en Had whiles, a bit dram wi' an auld bosom frien'. Losli me ! he'd unravel some skein orthodox In a style that wad shame. cither Calvin or Knox. How he'd laugh at the blade whajiisjgrmon ancg When the win' blew his thirdly on Jenny Craw's back: 1 - ' . . _ ; - For his jokes an' his cracks frae Beevsheba to Dan, Fient a ane could be matched wi" the ' minister's •■'"uiari. "/ .'* .-; The minister's man was a creature o' earth, Sac death tsam an' tore him away frae his hearth j An' he wha sac aft dug o-graff -for anither, 1 Now sleeps 'neath the turf wi' the worm for a brither. *. . ■ ..; .: ; ; Yet ilk thing is the same, for the kirk bell is rung And the lesson is tolled frae its rusty auld tongue. L.'ib::r on— labor on — human life's but a- span, An' ye'l soon be forgot, like the minister's man.'