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Simmons and McAuley named their wallpaper and textiles firm Timorous Beastie after a line in Burns 'poem "To a Mouse": "Wee, sleekit, cowrin', tim'rous beastie, / O, what a panic's in thy beastie! ".— The Independent - Frontpage RSS Feed
He had felt at the time that "Wee sleekit, cowrin', tim'rous beastie" was but a poor rejoinder.— "Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Studies of Animal life and Character
Any more than they did when Sir JOHN SUCKLING apostrophised the "wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie Our Sleuths A Sheffield firm of solicitors have, this week, had stolen from one of the pegs in the hall an overcoat belonging to one of the principals.— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 22, 1920
In the night that followed, Burns awoke his gaudsman, who was in the same bed with him, recited the poem as it now stands, and said, "What think you of our mouse now Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie O, what a panic's in thy breastie Thou need na start awa sae hasty Wi' bickering brattle I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee Wi' murd'ring pattle I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken nature's social union An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor earth-born companion An' fellow-mortal I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve What then?— The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham
Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie O, what a panic's in thy breastie Thou need na start awa sae hastie Wi' bickering brattle I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee Wi' murd'ring pattle I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken nature's social union An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor earth-born companion An' fellow mortal I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve What then?— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 4, October, 1863 Devoted to Literature and National Policy

Century Dictionary (1)
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