Extempore, in the Court of Session
written in 1787
Extempore, in the Court of Session - context Summary
Burns in Edinburgh Courts
This short, comic piece records Robert Burns observations of a Court of Session hearing in Edinburgh in 1787. Written in Scots voice, it contrasts a fumbling Lord Advocate who loses his argument in rhetorical fog with a composed Mr Erskine whose measured speech overwhelms the court. The poem satirizes legal theatrics and the gap between bluster and genuine reasoning, using dialect and brisk narrative to convey a momentary public scene. It reads like a lively extempore sketch grounded in Burns own experience of watching Edinburgh legal proceedings.
Read Complete AnalysesLord Advocate He clench'd his pamphlets in his fist, He quoted and he hinted, Till in a declamation-mist, His argument he tint it: He gaped for 't, he graped for 't, He fand it was awa, man; And what his common sense came short, He eked out wi' law, man. Mr Erskine Collected, Harry stood awee, Then open'd out his arm, man; His lordship sat wi' ruefu' e'e, And ey'd the gathering storm, man: Like wind-driv'n hail it did assail, Or torrents owre a lin, man; The bench sae wise lift up their eyes, Half-wauken'd wi' the din, man.
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