10

THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON-LOW.

"Then take me on your knee, mother,
And listen, mother of mine:
A hundred fairies danced last night,
And the harpers they were nine;

"And merry was the glee of the harp-strings,
And their dancing feet so small;
But, oh! the sound of their talking
Was merrier far than all!"

"And what were the words, my Mary,
did hear them say?"

That

you

"I'll tell you all, my mother,

But let me have my way.

"And some they played with the water,
And rolled it down the hill;

6

'And this,' they said, shall speedily turn The poor old miller's mill;

"For there has been no water

Ever since the first of May;
And a busy man shall the miller be
By the dawning of the day!

"Oh, the miller, how he will laugh,
When he sees the mill-dam rise!

The jolly old miller, how he will laugh
Till the tears fill both his eyes!'

11

THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON-LOW.

"And some they seized the little winds, That sounded over the hill,

And each put a horn into his mouth,

And blew so sharp and shrill :

"And there,' said they, 'the merry

Away from every horn;

winds go

And those shall clear the mildew dank
From the blind old widow's corn:

"Oh, the poor blind widow

Though she has been blind so long,

She'll be merry enough when the mildew's gone,
And the corn stands stiff and strong!'

"And some they brought the brown linseed,
And flung it down from the Low:
'And this,' said they, by the sunrise,
In the weaver's croft shall grow!

"Oh, the poor lame weaver !
How he will laugh outright
When he sees his dwindling flax-field
All full of flowers by night!'

"And then upspoke a brownie,
With a long beard on his chin :
'I have spun up all the tow,' said he,
'And I want some more to spin.

"And with that I could not help but laugh,
And I laughed out loud and free;
And then on top of the Caldon-Low
There was no one left but me.

THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON-LOW.

13

"And all on top of the Caldon-Low

The mists were cold and gray,

And nothing I saw but the mossy stones
That round about me lay.

"But, as I came down from the hill-top, I heard, afar below,

How busy the jolly miller was,

And how merry the wheel did go.

“And I peeped into the widow's field,
And sure enough were seen

The yellow ears of the mildewed corn
All standing stiff and green!

"And down by the weaver's croft I stole,
To see if the flax were high;

But I saw the weaver at his gate,
With the good news in his eye!

"Now this is all I heard, mother,
And all that I did see;

So, prithee, make my bed, mother,
For I'm tired as I can be!"

MARY HOWITT.

14

THE LITTLE DOVES.

THE LITTLE DOVES.

High on the top of an old pine-tree

Broods a mother-dove with her young ones three.
Warm over them is her soft, downy breast,

And they sing so sweetly in their nest.

66

Coo," the little
say

66
ones, Coo," says she,

All in their nest on the old pine-tree.

Soundly they sleep through the moonshiny night,
Each young one covered and tucked in tight;
Morn wakes them up with the first blush of light,
And they sing to each other with all their might.

When in the nest they are all left alone,

While their mother far for their dinner has flown,

Quiet and gentle they all remain,

Till their mother they see come home again.
Then "Coo," etc.

When they are fed by their tender mother,
One never will push nor crowd another:
Each opens widely his own little bill,
And he patiently waits, and gets his fill.
Then "Coo," etc.