Published Date:
30 January 2009
Sir
The confirmation that Britain is in recession came two days before the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.
In 1786 Burns was in one of his periodic financial difficulties and contemplating emigrating.
He penned these lines on a one-guinea Bank of Scotland banknote:
Wae worth thy power, thou cursed leaf!
Fell source o' a' my woe and grief!
For lack o' thee I've lost my lass!
For lack o' thee I scrimp my glass!
I see the children of affliction
Unaided, through thy curst restriction.
I've seen the oppressor's cruel smile
Amid his hapless victim's spoil;
And for thy potence vainly wished,
To crush the villain in the dust.
For lack o' thee, I leave this much-lov'd shore,
Never, perhaps, to greet old Scotland more.
Two and a half centuries later the cursed leaf remains the source of much woe and grief.
yours etc
Stewart Whyte
Crombie Acres
Westhill
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Last Updated:
30 January 2009 11:52 AM
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Source:
n/a
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Location:
BANCHORY
