{"id":8040,"date":"2022-01-25T13:04:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T13:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=8040"},"modified":"2022-01-25T13:04:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T13:04:05","slug":"holy-willies-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2022\/01\/25\/holy-willies-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Willie's Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holy Willie's Prayer is my favourite Burns poem. \u00a0His take no prisoners approach to Calvanism resonates today, and what a pity there isn't a Burns around to comment on Cancel culture both north and south of the border. \u00a0Today is Burns Night, and this seems a suitable way of marking it. \u00a0I used to know it by heart and recite it in a Cumbrian accent. [*<\/strong>]<\/p>\n

\n

O Thou, that in the heavens does dwell,
\nAs it pleases best Thysel',
\nSends ane to Heaven an' ten to Hell,
\nFor Thy glory,
\nAnd no for onie guid or ill
\nThey've done afore Thee!<\/p>\n

I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
\nWhen thousands Thou hast left in night,
\nThat I am here afore Thy sight,
\nFor gifts an' grace
\nA burning and a shining light
\nTo a' this place.<\/p>\n

What was I, or my generation,
\nThat I should get sic exaltation?
\nI wha deserv'd most just damnation
\nFor broken laws,
\nSix thousand years 'ere my creation,
\nThro' Adam's cause.<\/p>\n

When from my mither's womb I fell,
\nThou might hae plung'd me deep in hell,
\nTo gnash my gums, and weep and wail,
\nIn burnin lakes,
\nWhere damned devils roar and yell,
\nChain'd to their stakes.<\/p>\n

Yet I am here a chosen sample,
\nTo show thy grace is great and ample;
\nI'm here a pillar o' Thy temple,
\nStrong as a rock,
\nA guide, a buckler, and example,
\nTo a' Thy flock.<\/p>\n

O Lord, Thou kens what zeal I bear,
\nWhen drinkers drink, an' swearers swear,
\nAn' singing here, an' dancin there,
\nWi' great and sma';
\nFor I am keepit by Thy fear
\nFree frae them a'.<\/p>\n

But yet, O Lord! confess I must,
\nAt times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust:
\nAn' sometimes, too, in worldly trust,
\nVile self gets in;
\nBut Thou remembers we are dust,
\nDefil'd wi' sin.<\/p>\n

O Lord! yestreen, Thou kens, wi' Meg
\nThy pardon I sincerely beg;
\nO may't ne'er be a livin' plague
\nTo my dishonour,
\nAn' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg
\nAgain upon her.<\/p>\n

Besides, I farther maun avow,
\nWi' Leezie's lass, three times I trow -
\nBut Lord, that Friday I was fou,
\nWhen I cam near her;
\nOr else, Thou kens, Thy servant true
\nWad never steer her.<\/p>\n

Maybe Thou lets this fleshly thorn
\nBuffet Thy servant e'en and morn,
\nLest he owre proud and high shou'd turn,
\nThat he's sae gifted:
\nIf sae, Thy han' maun e'en be borne,
\nUntil Thou lift it.<\/p>\n

Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
\nFor here Thou has a chosen race!
\nBut God confound there stubborn face,
\nAn' blast their name,
\nWha brings Thy elders to disgrace
\nAn' open shame.<\/p>\n

Lord, mind Gaw'n Hamilton's deserts;
\nHe drinks, an' swears, an' plays at cartes,
\nYet has sae mony takin arts,
\nWi' great an' sma',
\nFrae God's ain priest the people's hearts
\nHe steals awa'.<\/p>\n

And when we chasten'd him therefore,
\nThou kens how he bred sic a splore,
\nAnd set the world in a roar
\nO' laughing at us;
\nCurse Thou his basket and his store,
\nKail an' potatoes.<\/p>\n

Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray'r,
\nAgainst that Presbyt'ry o' Ayr;
\nThy strong right hand, Lord mak it bare
\nUpo' their heads;
\nLord visit them, an' dinna spare,
\nFor their misdeeds.<\/p>\n

O Lord my God! that glib-tongu'd Aitken,
\nMy vera heart an' flesh are quakin,
\nTo think how we stood sweatin, shakin,
\nAn' pish'd wi' dread,
\nWhile he, wi' hingin lip an' snakin,
\nHeld up his head.<\/p>\n

Lord, in Thy day o' vengeance try him,
\nLord, visit them wha did employ him,
\nAnd pass not in Thy mercy by them,
\nNor hear their pray'r,
\nBut for Thy people's sake destroy them,
\nAn' dinna spare.<\/p>\n

But, Lord, remember me an' mine
\nWi' mercies temporal and divine,
\nThat I for grace an' gear may shine,
\nExcell'd by nane,
\nAnd a' the glory shall be Thine,
\nAmen, Amen!<\/p>\n

................................<\/p>\n

*\u00a0<\/strong>Holy Willie was William Fisher, a Kirk Elder in Mauchline. \u00a0You can listen to Richard Wilson reading the poem here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holy Willie's Prayer is my favourite Burns poem. \u00a0His take no prisoners approach to Calvanism resonates today, and what a pity there isn't a Burns around to comment on Cancel culture both north and south of the border. \u00a0Today is...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}