The first concernis Godis gloir and our salvatioun;
The next are morale, grave, and als besyd it,
Ground on gude counsale; the third, I will not hyd it,
Ar blyth and glaid maid for our consollatioun;
The ferd of luve and thair richt reformatioun;
The fyift ar tailis and stories weill discydit.
In seventeen hundred twenty-four
Did Allan Ramsay keen-
ly gather from this Book that store
Which fills his Evergreen.
Thrice fifty and sax towmonds neat
Frae when it was collected;
Let worthy Poets hope good fate,
Thro' time they'll be respected.
Fashions of words and witt may change,
And rob in part their fame,
And make them to dull fops look strange,
But sense is still the same.