Sarcasm of Burns, p.73.

[Anecdotes of Burns Contents]

BURNS often made extempore rhymes the vehicle of his sarcasm. Having heard a person of no very elevated rank talk loud and long of some aristocratic festivities in which he had the honour to mingle, Burns, when he was called upon for his song, chanted some verses, of which one has been preserved:- 

“Of lordly acquaintance you boast, 

And the dukes that you dined wi’ yestreen, 

Yet an insect’s an insect at most 

Though it crawl on the curl of a queen.” 

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