the widowed bridegroom, on which subject, after a long and querulous
effusion, the poet arrives at the sound conclusion, that if Baldoon had
walked on foot, which it seems was his general custom, he would have
escaped perishing by a fall from horseback. As the work in which it
occurs is so scarce as almost to be unique, and as it gives us the most
full account of one of the actors in this tragic tale which we have
rehearsed, we will, at the risk of being tedious, insert some short
specimens of Mr. Symson's composition. It is entitled:

"A Funeral Elegie, occasioned by the sad and much lamented death of that
worthily respected, and very much accomplished gentleman, David Dunbar,
younger, of Baldoon, only son and apparent heir to the right worshipful
Sir David Dunbar of Baldoon, Knight Baronet. He departed this life on
March 28, 1682, having received a bruise by a fall, as he was riding
the day preceding betwixt Leith and Holyrood House; and was honourably
interred in the Abbey Church of Holyrood House, on April 4, 1682."

Men might, and very justly too, conclude
Me guilty of the worst ingratitude,
Should I be silent, or should I forbear
At this sad accident to shed a tear;
A tear! said I? ah! that's a petit thing,
A very lean, slight, slender offering,
Too mean, I'm sure, for me, wherewith t'attend
The unexpected funeral of my friend:
A glass of briny tears charged up to th' brim.
Would be too few for me to shed for him.

The poet proceeds to state his intimacy with the deceased, and the
constancy of the young man's attendance on public worship, which