-Strange words they seemed of slight and scorn; And Garry, thundering down his mountain-road, My True-love sighed for sorrow; And looked me in the face, to think I thus could speak of Yarrow! "Oh! green," said I, "are Yarrow's holins, And sweet is Yarrow flowing! Fair hangs the apple frae the rock*, But we will leave it growing. O'er hilly path, and open Strath, We'll wander Scotland thorough; But, though so near, we will not turn Into the dale of Yarrow. Let beeves and home-bred kine partake Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown! We have a vision of our own; The treasured dreams of times long past, *See Hamilton's Ballad as above. Was stopped, and could not breathe beneath the load Of cold mechanic battle do enslave. O for a single hour of that Dundee, XV. THE MATRON OF JEDBOROUGH AND HER HUSBAND. At Jedborough, my companion and I went into private lodgings for a few days; and the following Verses were called forth by the character and domestic situation of our Hostess. AGE! twine thy brows with fresh spring flowers, That there is One who scorns thy power:- Nay! start not at that Figure-there! H who is rooted to his chair! Lock at him-look again! for he With legs that move not, if they can, Deaf, drooping, that is now his doom: The joyous Woman is the Mate Of him in that forlorn estate! He breathes a subterraneous damp; But bright as Vesper shines her lamp: He is as mute as Jedborough Tower: Ste jorund as it was of yore, With all its bravery on; in times When all alive with merry chimes, I'm a sun-bright morn of May, It roused the Vale to holiday. I praise thee, Matron! and thy due Thy gladness unsubdued and bold: A see her helpless Charge! enclosed in himself as seems, composed; T› fear of loss, and hope of gain, To persons that before them go, He tracks her motions, quick or slow. ker buoyant spirit can prevail Ware common cheerfulness would fail ; The more I looked, I wondered moreAnd, while I scanned them o'er and o'er, Some inward trouble suddenly Broke from the Matron's strong black eyeA remnant of uneasy light, A flash of something over-bright! Nor long this mystery did detain My thoughts; she told in pensive strain So be it!-but let praise ascend To Him who is our lord and friend! Who from disease and suffering Hath called for thee a second spring; Repaid thee for that sore distress By no untimely joyousness; Which makes of thine a blissful state; And cheers thy melancholy Mate! XVI. FLY, some kind Harbinger, to Grasmere-dale! XVII. THE BLIND HIGHLAND BOY. A TALE TOLD BY THE FIRE-SIDE, AFTER RETURNING TO THE VALE OF GRASMERE. Now we are tired of boisterous joy, Have romped enough, my little Boy! Jane hangs her head upon my breast, And you shall bring your stoel and rest ; This corner is your own. Q % But soon they move with softer pace; Or as the wily sailors crept To seize (while on the Deep it slept) The hapless creature which did dwell Erewhile within the dancing shell, They steal upon their prey. With sound the least that can be made, They follow, more and more afraid, More cautious as they draw more near; But in his darkness he can hear, And guesses their intent. "Lei-gha-Lei-gha"-he then cried out, "Lei-gha-Lei-gha"-with eager shout; Thus did he cry, and thus did pray, And what he meant was, "Keep away, And leave me to myself!" Alas! and when he felt their hands- So all his dreams-that inward light As he had ever known. But hark! a gratulating voice, And then, when he was brought to land, Full sure they were a happy band, Which, gathering round, did on the banks Of that great Water give God thanks, And welcomed the poor Child. And in the general joy of heart With sound like lamentation. But most of all, his Mother dear, And touches the blind Boy. She led him home, and wept amain, When he was in the house again: Tears flowed in torrents from her eyes; She kissed him-how could she chastise? She was too happy far. Thus, after he had fondly braved To live in peace on shore. And in the lonely Highland dell And how he was preserved. Note. It is recorded in Dampier's Voyages, that a boy son of the captain of a Man-of-War, seated himself in a Turtle-shell, and floated in it from the shore to his father's ship, which lay at anchor at the distance of half a mi In deference to the opinion of a Friend, I have substituted such a shell for the less elegant vessel in which my blin Voyager did actually entrust himself to the dangerous cur rent of Loch Leven, as was related to me by an eye-witn |