Page:The muses threnodie (Adamson, 1638).djvu/23
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
The first muse
3
Or frosen watrie plaines, but let your tuning
Come help me for to weep by mournfull cruning.
And yee the rest, my Gabions lesse and more
Of noble kinde, come help me for to roare,
And of my wofull weeping take a part,
Help to declare the dolour of mine heart.
How can I choose but mourne? when I think on
Our games Olympike-like in times agone;[1]
Chieflie wherein our cunning vvwwe did try,
And matchlesse skill in noble archerie;
In these our dayes vvwhen archers did abound
In Perth (then famous for such pastime found.)
Amongst the first for archers vvwe vvwere knovvwn,
And in that art our skil vvwas lovvwdly blovvwn;
What time Perths credit did stand vvwith the best
And bravest archers, this land hath possest.
We spar'd nor gaines, nor paines for to report
To Perth the vvworship, by such noble sport:
Witnesse the links of Leith, vvwhere Cowper, Grahame,
And Stewart vvwin the price and brought it home;
And in these games did offer ten to three
There to contend: Quorum pars magna fui.
I mourn good Gall, when I think on that stead,
Where yee did haile your shaft unto the head,
And with a strong and stedfast eye and hand
So valiantly your bow yee did command;
A slidrie shaft forth of its forks did fling,
Clank gave the bow, the whistling aire did ring,
The bowlt did cleave the clouds and threat the skyes,
And thence, down falling, to the mark it flies,
Come help me for to weep by mournfull cruning.
And yee the rest, my Gabions lesse and more
Of noble kinde, come help me for to roare,
And of my wofull weeping take a part,
Help to declare the dolour of mine heart.
How can I choose but mourne? when I think on
Our games Olympike-like in times agone;[1]
Chieflie wherein our cunning vvwwe did try,
And matchlesse skill in noble archerie;
In these our dayes vvwhen archers did abound
In Perth (then famous for such pastime found.)
Amongst the first for archers vvwe vvwere knovvwn,
And in that art our skil vvwas lovvwdly blovvwn;
What time Perths credit did stand vvwith the best
And bravest archers, this land hath possest.
We spar'd nor gaines, nor paines for to report
To Perth the vvworship, by such noble sport:
Witnesse the links of Leith, vvwhere Cowper, Grahame,
And Stewart vvwin the price and brought it home;
And in these games did offer ten to three
There to contend: Quorum pars magna fui.
I mourn good Gall, when I think on that stead,
Where yee did haile your shaft unto the head,
And with a strong and stedfast eye and hand
So valiantly your bow yee did command;
A slidrie shaft forth of its forks did fling,
Clank gave the bow, the whistling aire did ring,
The bowlt did cleave the clouds and threat the skyes,
And thence, down falling, to the mark it flies,
- ↑ Archerie.