the medieval knights was
sometimes very large and gorgeous.

[317-3] _Nathless_ is an old word meaning _nevertheless_. Mrs. Browning
uses an occasional old word, in order to give the atmosphere of the
tales of chivalry.

[317-4] The _gage_ was a cap or glove, or some other symbol to show that
he had performed the deeds which Ellie had demanded of him.

[317-5] _Guerdon_ means _reward_.

THE COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT

_By_ ROBERT BURNS

NOTE.--There are many homes we like to visit in imagination, even
if we cannot really go into them. It does not matter so much if
they are not the homes of people in our own country who live as we
do. For instance, Robert Burns described so well for us once the
simple little home of a poor Scotch farmer that we read his words
again and again with pleasure. It is such a poor little place,
low-walled, thatched-roofed, part stable, that it would be
unpleasant to us if we did not see it full of the spirit that makes
true homes everywhere. The hard-working old farmer, his faithful
wife, their industrious children, the oldest girl Jenny and her
lover, all seem to us like very real people, whose joys and griefs
are ours as much as theirs. We should like to sit with them at
their humble table, to join in the good old hymns, and finally to
kneel among them while the gentle old man said the evening prayer.
We would not notice their homely clothes, coarse hands and simple,
unscholarly language, for their real manliness and womanliness
would win our esteem and love.

On the pages that follow we have printed the poem as Burns wrote
it, except for some few stanzas it has seemed best to omit. The
first nine stanzas contain many Scottish words and expressions, but
after the ninth stanza, Burns uses plain English. It was a habit he
had of writing sometimes in Scotch dialect and sometimes in fine
English. People who have studied his work say that when he speaks
right from his heart and because he really cannot help writing, he
uses the dialect, but when he tries to teach a lesson, to advise
any one, or to moralize, he always uses the English phraseology.

I

November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh;[320-1]
The short'ning winter day is near a close;
The miry beasts retreating frae[320-2] the pleugh;[320-3]
The black'ning trains