An "elegy" by the Scottish lawyer and poet, William Aytoun:
Ah, liberty! How like thou art To this large bottle lying here, Which yesterday from foreign mart, Came filled with potent English beer!
A touch of steel—a hand—a gush—A pop that sounded far and near—A wild emotion—liquid rush—And I had drunk that English beer!
And what remains?—An empty shell! A lifeless form both sad and queer,
A temple where no god doth dwell—The simple memory of beer!
