MY NOTES AND COMMENTS HERE ARE IN BOLD.

The Vision, A Poem

Come hither ye Dreamers of Dreams,

Ye Soothsayers, Vizards and Witches,

That puzzle the World with hard Names,

And without any meaning make Speeches:

[COME ON ALL YOU DREAMERS, YOU SOOTHSAYERS, WIZARDS AND WITCHES WHO MYSTIFY YOUR AUDIENCES BY USING HARD TO UNDERSTAND LANGUAGE AND NAMES AND SPEAK NONSENSE]

Here’s a Lord in the North,

Near Edinburgh Frith;

Tho’ little has been said of his Name or his Worth;

He’s seen such a Vision, no Mortal can reach it,

I challenge the Clan of Egyptians to match it.

[HERE’S A LORD FROM THE ESTUARY NEAR EDINBURGH, ALTHOUGH HE’S REALLY JUST A GREAT BIG NOTHING; HE’S SEEN SUCH A DREAM, NO ONE CAN IMAGINE. NOT EVEN THE CLAN OF EGYPTIANS (GYPSIES WHO WERE KNOWN AS FORTUNE TELLERS) COULD MAKE UP SOMETHING LIKE HE HAS.

And first, in the dark, it was told him,

Which might very well appall us,

That the World was a fighting of old time,

From Nimrod to Sardanapalus;

[THE FIRST THING HE WAS TOLD WAS THAT THE WORLD HAS BEEN AT WAR A LONG TIME. WOW. WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED? Nimrod was Mesopotamian King called a “mighty hunter before Yahweh” in the Bible. He was supposed to have built the tower of Babel. Sardanapalus was the last king of Babylon who lived a life of luxury and excess and didn’t care about his people)

That it’s all Revelation,

You may pawn your Salvation,

For the Devil a History gives the relation,

But it’s all in the Deeps, no Mortal can reach it,

We may challenge the Clan of Egyptians to match it.

[YOU CAN BET YOUR SALVATION THAT WHAT HE SAYS IS NOT TRUE BECAUSE THE DEVIL ALWAYS TELLS A GOOD STORY. IT’S ALL SO MYSTERIOUS NOT EVEN GYPSIES COULD MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS UP]

Then Scotland comes next on the Stage,

For in Visions you must not be nice,

And a skip of three thousand Years age,

Its nothing where Men are Concise;

I name it the rather

Because you may gather,

How that every Man is the Son of his Father,

A Truth for the future no Mortal can doubt,

Whatever they might, before he found it out,

[THEN THE NEXT THING HE PULLS OUT OF HIS HAT IS SCOTLAND IN THE PRESENT DAY, BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PARTICULAR DETAILS WHEN IT COMES TO VISIONS, AND SKIPPING OVER 3,000 YEARS OR SO IS NOTHING WHEN YOU ARE CONCISE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT BELHAVEN NEXT FOUND OUT: THAT EVERY MAN IS THE SON OF HIS FATHER! WOW. WHO KNEW? Belhaven actually said: We are the Successours of our Predecessors]

And take care least the Vision should fright ye,

For if it shou’d make you unclean,

He has not told how he would dight ye,

First the National Church,

Left quite in the Lurch,

Was a truckling down to the Steeple and Porch,

But what is still worse, she’s afraid of her Friends,

So Fevers make frantick Men hasten their ends.

[BUT WATCH OUT. BEILHAVEN IS TRYING TO SCREW WITH YOU (SOME DOUBLE ENTENDRES HERE ABOUT MORAL CLEANLINESS). HE SUGGESTING THAT SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL CHURCH (PRESBYTERIANISM) WOULD BE LEFT WITHOUT SUPPORT AND WOULD BECOME EPISCOPALIAN (THE SCOTTISH EQUIVALENT OF CHURCH OF ENGLAND WITH A HIERARCHY OF ARCH-BISHOPS, BISHOPS, ETC). WHAT’S REALLY WRONG WITH THIS IS THAT SCOTLAND DOESN’T REALIZE THAT THOSE WHO PROMOTE THE UNION ARE REALLY TRYING TO HELP PRESERVE HER NATIONAL CHURCH.

ONE OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS TO UNDERSTAND HERE IS THE RELIGIOUS ANGLE. THE REFORMATION HAPPENED IN SCOTLAND IN 1560 WHEN THE OFFICIAL CHURCH IN SCOTLAND (WHICH HAD BEEN CATHOLIC) BROKE TIES WITH ROME AND ADOPTED JOHN KNOX’S CALVINIST IDEAS (BUT NOT ALL OF THEM). THEN THERE WAS A FURTHER SPLIT IN 1582 INTO THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND (WHICH ADOPTED MORE OF KNOX’S IDEAS AND BECAME KNOWN AS THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH) AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF SCOTLAND (EPISCOPALIAN). THE PREBYTERIANS DID NOT BELIEVE IN ELABORATE HIERARCHIES OF ARCH-BISHOPS, BISHOPS, ETC; THEY HAD A COUNCIL OF ELDERS. THE EPISCOPALIANS HAD AN ELABORATE HIERARCHY INCLUDING BISHOPS.

IN 1689, THE PREBYTERIANS SUPPORTED WILLIAM III’S CLAIM TO THE BRITISH THRONE, BUT THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPALIANS DID NOT (THEY BECAME NON-JURORS, REFUSING TO SWEAR AN OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO WILLIAM).

OK. ENOUGH SAID. HERE IS THE REST OF THE POEM.

Was ever such conjuring known,

Or the Church so claw’d by the Steeple!

Non-jurors are her Champions grown,

And the Prelatists vote for the People.

[THIS IS SO CRAZY. BEILHAVEN IS ACTUALLY A SUPPORTER OF THE EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH HIMSELF AND A SUPPORTER OF JAMES II NOT OF WILLIAM III! HE’S PRETENDING TO SUPPORT THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND THE SCOTTISH PEOPLE BUT IN FACT HE DOESN’T HAVE ITS INTERESTS AT HEART AT ALL.]

Protesters appear,

And the Jacques they adhere,

And Anti-Christ votes the true Church to secure,

O Scotland! Was ever such conjuring known

That the Mitre supports the same church pull’d her down.

[SO HERE THOSE PROTESTING AGAINST THE UNION ARE ACTUALLY EPISCOPALIANS AND JACOBITES [SUPPORTERS OF KING JAMES NOT KING WILLIAM]—IN OTHER WORDS, THOSE WHO DON’T HAVE THE INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH OR THE SCOTTISH NATION AT HEART. THE DEVIL IS AT WORK HERE IN DISGUISE!

Then the Nation in sack-cloth appear’d

And the Visionest sadly bewail’d her,

For Mischiefs the like were ne’er heard,

Her priv’lege of Slavery fail’d her.

[THEN SCOTLAND APPEARED IN MOURNING CLOTHES AND BEILHAVEN LAMENTED THE FACT THAT SHE WAS NO LONGER GOING TO BE A SLAVE!]

For the Mob he complain’d

That being born Chain’d,

Blest bondage was lost, and damn’d freedom remain’d,

So with liberty fear’d, and afraid to grow rich;

They su’d for Repentance in a dolorous speech.

[BEILHAVEN ALSO LAMENTED THE FACT THAT THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND, WHO WERE BORN OPPRESSED, WERE NOW GOING TO BECOME FREE FROM THAT OPPPRESSION THROUGH UNION WITH ENGLAND. WOW. HE’S AFRAID OF SCOTLAND BECOMING FREE AND RICH]

And first our Amazement ‘ll increase.

The Souldiers disbanded appear,

Poor drudges put prentices to Peace,

For want of the blessings of War,

For tho’ its in the book,

Yet the Scripture mistook,

When it told us our swords should to plow-shares be broke

It might be long ago a Happiness there,

But it’s plain by the Vision it’s otherwise here.

[AND WHAT’S EVEN MORE CRAZY IS THAT BEILHAVEN IS SORRY ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE WON’T BE ANY MORE WAR SO THE SOLDIERS WON’T HAVE TO GO TO WAR. EVEN THOUGH THE BIBLE SAYS WE SHOULD TURN OUR SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES, CLEARLY THIS ISN’T THE CASE ACCORDING TO BEILHAVEN.]

The Merchants are next on the stage,

The Enchantment has circl’d them in;

For fear they in Wealth shou’d engage,

They resolve they’ll never begin;

[HE PRESENTS THE MERCHANTS NEXT, INCLUDING THEM IN THIS WEIRD VISION. IRONY THAT THE MERCHANTS ARE AFRAID OF BEING WEALTHY

The Burghs are affraid

They shall have too much Trade,

And the Nation to plenty be safely betray’d,

So they gravely Address, that to keep them secure,

As you find them, you leave them, both foolish and poor.

[BEILHAVEN SUGGESTS THAT THE CITIES ARE AFRAID NOW BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH TRADE NOW THEY WILL BECOME RICH. HE IMPLIES THAT THEY WOULD RATHER REMAIN FOOLISH AND POOR.]

The next is indeed a sad sight,

The like on’t has rarely been known,

‘Twill ruin the Country quite,

It will never recover its own;

The Plow Man’s undone,

From Father to Son;

For a terrible draw-back on corn will come on,

In plenty they’ll ship it, be there never so much;

And to load us with money, sell all to the Dutch.

[GEE WHIZ, THERE’S ANOTHER BIG PROBLEM. BEILHAVEN IS SAD ABOUT THE FACT THAT NOW THAT SCOTLAND WILL BE PRODUCING SO MUCH MORE CORN THEY WILL HAVE TO SHIP IT TO HOLLAND AND MAKE A LOT OF MONEY!]

O ye Virgins! (both Sexes) draw near,

And tho’ it’s but in spectran showen,

In sympathy lend us a tear,

As the case may some time be your own;

The Ladies condition

Deserves your compassion;

‘Tis very severe to make beauty petition,

Yet hear his strange tragedies turn’d to a jigg,

That the Men want employments, yet the Ladies shou’d beg.

[THIS VERSE IS FULL OF SEXUAL CONNOTATIONS: COME HERE ALL OF YOU WHO ARE UNMARRIED. EVEN THOUGH THIS IS JUST A SPECTRE OR A VISION, IT MIGHT HAPPEN TO YOU. BEILHAVEN IS COMPLAINING THAT THE MEN DON’T HAVE TO WORK AS MUCH ANY MORE TO DO BUT EVEN SO THE LADIES HAVE TO BEG FOR ATTENTION/MARRIAGE/SEX.]

Then a crew of old Sailors were brought,

At their true Benefactors to raill;

That to fight for strange Nations were bought,

And this will cut off the Entail;

They thought it was hard

The Dutch ships to discard;

And to force the poor Scots their own Trade to regard,

For Liberty claims a freedom to ill,

And it’s hard to get money against a man’s will.

[THEN BEILHAVEN CONJURED UP A CREW OF OLD SAILORS TO DECRY THE UNION. THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO SERVE AS MERCENARIES IN ANOTHER NATION’S ARMY AND THEY WERE ANNOYED AT HAVING TO GIVE UP SERVING THE DUTCH. IT’S REALLY A PROBLEM, ISN’T IT, TO GET THE SCOTS TO FOCUS ON THEIR OWN SUCCESS. RIGHT NOW THEY HAVE FREEDOM: THE FREEDOM TO MAKE BAD DECISIONS, AND NO ONE CAN MAKE THEM BENEFIT AGAINST THEIR OWN WILL]

And now the exorcist in turn,

Like a ghost in a circle arises,

Without any tear he can mourn,

He is extasies all and surprises,

But what’s wildest of all,

And does strange appall,

Two hours he talk’d, and said nothing at all,

But let drop a few hypocritical tears,

So the Crocodale weeps on the carcase she tears;

[AND NOW THE CONJURER ARISES LIKE A GHOST IN A CIRCLE. HE CAN LAMENT WITHOUT CRYING, HE IS ALL SMOKE AND MIRRORS. WHAT’S MOST AMAZING ABOUT HIM IS THAT HE CAN GO ON AND ON WITHOUT REALLY SAYING ANYTHING EXCEPT FAKE CRYING, JUST LIKE A CROCODILE CRYING OVER ITS PREY.]

Then in strange Hebrew word he bewail’d ye,

Tho the jest was by few understood,

Tu quoque mi fili Squadrone,

Or in Scots the Parliament’s wood.

[THEN BEILHAVEN SPOKE AN UNKNOWN LANGUAGE—ACTUALLY IT WAS LATIN—ONLY A FEW PEOPLE GOT IT. “YOU, TOO, MY SON SQADRONE” (THE SQUADRONE VOLANTE WERE THE GROUP OF PARLIAMENTARIANS WHO WERE UNDECIDED BUT WHO EVENTUALLY VOTED FOR THE UNION –OR IN SCOTS “THE PARLIAMENT’S CRAZY”]

So Caesar they say, cry’d out in a fray,

When they kill’d him, because he’d his Country betray,

For Brutus his Country’s Liberty fought,

Was a Simily e’re so in happily SATISFACTORILY brought?

[THEY SAY THAT CAESAR ALSO CRIED OUT WHEN HE WAS KILLED BY BRUTUS BECAUSE HE WAS BECOMING TOO MUCH OF A DICTATOR. ISN’T THAT A WEIRD ANALOGY FOR BEILHAVEN TO USE?

Thus he rumag’d the Histories old,

Like the tale of the Bear and the Fiddle,

For as ‘twas unluckily told,

So the story broke off in the middle.

Some said, my Lord cry’d,

Tho’ others deny’d;

Which matter of moment it’s hard to decide,

But her’s a most difficult matter remains,

To tell if he shew’d us less manners or brains.

[THEN HE PULLED OUT MORE STORIES FROM “HISTORY”—LIKE THE STORY OF THE BEAR AND THE FIDDLE—BUT HE WAS A LOUSY STORYTELLER. SOME SAY THAT HE CRIED, ALTHOUGH OTHERS DENIED THIS. IT’S REALLY HARD TO SAY WHAT WAS THE CASE. BUT HERE’S THE REALLY HARD THING TO DECIDE: IS HE RUDE OR JUST STUPID?”