Extempore, in the Court of Session
written in 1787
Lord 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.
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.
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