BEYOND THE GOWDEN STAIR
Ae nicht when I lay doon tae rest,
My thochts got in a curious mess –
Whit the deuce wis wrang I couldna guess,
Nor fin’ oot ava,
I thocht I’d bid the warl’ adieu,
An’ ta’en the road tae pastures new,
The lovely sichts I there did view,
I’ll tell ye a’.
I thocht I’d climbed the gowden stair,
Marched thro’ the gorgeous mansions fair,
Wi’ Adam and Eve I feasted there,
An’ a’ wis free.
Nae squabbling man nor wife wis there,
Each soul wis free o’ canker care,
Sweeter harmony, I solemnly swear,
I ne’er did see.
A prood, disdainfu’, selfish man
I never met in a’ that lan’,
An’ everywhere I chanced tae stan’
I was finely treated,
Tho’ I was but a stranger there,
O’ a’ the sweets I got a share,
An’ I pree’d their dainty fare,
I was nicely seated.
Sceptic loons who aye do criticise,
An’ aye the gospel truth denies,
Tae cheat folk oot the heavenly prize
I could na’ see.
Drunkards, gamblers and tyrants too,
Not a single one I there could view,
Nor yet a soul o’ the sanctimonious crew,
Wha deceitfu’ be.
Nae miserly chiels were living there,
Nor folk wha aye screw doon the puir –
Lazarus was the happiest soul there,
So it did seem
For missing frien’s I kindly speired –
’Bout a’ their welfare I was feared –
but suddenly the mansions disappeared,
