The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume Ii Part 39

She heard the craw sayin 't, high on the tree sittin', And robin was chirpin 't the brown leaves amang.

Oh, what is 't that pits my puir heart in a flutter?

And what gars the tears come sae fast to my e'e?

If I wasna ettled to be ony better, Then what gars me wish ony better to be?

I 'm just like a lammie that loses its mither; Nae mither or friend the puir lammie can see; I fear I hae tint my puir heart a' the gither, Nae wonder the tear fa's sae fast frae my e'e.

Wi' the rest o' my claes I hae row'd up the ribbon, The bonnie blue ribbon that Jamie gae me; Yestreen, when he gae me 't, and saw I was sabbin', I 'll never forget the wae blink o' his e'e.

Though now he said naething but Fare-ye-weel, Lucy!

It made me I neither could speak, hear, nor see, He cudna say mair but just, Fare-ye-weel, Lucy!

Yet that I will mind till the day that I dee.

The lamb likes the gowan wi' dew when it 's drowkit; The hare likes the brake, and the braird on the lea, But Lucy likes Jamie;--she turn'd and she lookit, She thocht the dear place she wad never mair see.

Ah, weel may young Jamie gang dowie and cheerless, And weel may he greet on the bank o' the burn; For bonnie sweet Lucy, sae gentle and peerless, Lies cauld in her grave, and will never return.

[118] This exquisite ballad was contributed by Laidlaw to Hogg's "Forest Minstrel." There are two accounts as to the subject of it, both of which we subjoin, as they were narrated to us during the course of a recent excursion in Tweedside. According to one version, Lucy had been in the service of Mr Laidlaw, sen., at Blackhouse, and had by her beauty attracted the romantic fancy of one of the poet's brothers. In the other account Lucy is described as having served on a farm in "The Glen" of Traquair, and as having been beloved by her master's son, who afterwards deserted her, when she died of a broken heart. The last stanza was added by Hogg, who used to a.s.sert that he alone was responsible for the death of poor Lucy. "The Glen" is a beautiful mountain valley opening on the Tweed, near Innerleithen; it formerly belonged to Mr Alexander Allan, but it is now the possession of Charles Tennent, Esq., Glasgow.

HER BONNIE BLACK E'E.

AIR--_"Saw ye my Wee Thing."_

On the banks o' the burn while I pensively wander, The mavis sings sweetly, unheeded by me; I think on my la.s.sie, her gentle mild nature, I think on the smile o' her bonnie black e'e.

When heavy the rain fa's, and loud, loud the win' blaws, An' simmer's gay cleedin' drives fast frae the tree; I heedna the win' nor the rain when I think on The kind lovely smile o' my la.s.sie's black e'e.

When swift as the hawk, in the stormy November, The cauld norlan' win' ca's the drift owre the lea; Though bidin' its blast on the side o' the mountain, I think on the smile o' her bonnie black e'e.

When braw at a weddin' I see the fine la.s.ses, Though a' neat an' bonnie, they 're naething to me; I sigh an' sit dowie, regardless what pa.s.ses, When I miss the smile o' her bonnie black e'e.

When thin twinklin' sternies announce the gray gloamin', When a' round the ingle sae cheerie to see; Then music delightfu', saft on the heart stealin', Minds me o' the smile o' her bonnie black e'e.

Where jokin' an' laughin', the lave they are merry, Though absent my heart, like the lave I maun be; Sometimes I laugh wi' them, but aft I turn dowie, An' think on the smile o' my la.s.sie's black e'e.

Her lovely fair form frae my mind 's awa' never, She 's dearer than a' this hale warld to me; An' this is my wish, may I leave it if ever She rowe on anither her love-beaming e'e.

ALAKE FOR THE La.s.sIE!

AIR--_"Logie o' Buchan."_

Alake for the la.s.sie! she 's no right at a', That lo'es a dear laddie an' he far awa'; But the la.s.sie has muckle mair cause to complain That lo'es a dear lad, when she 's no lo'ed again.

The fair was just comin', my heart it grew fain To see my dear laddie, to see him again; My heart it grew fain, an' lapt light at the thought O' milkin' the ewes my dear Jamie wad bught.

The bonnie gray morn scarce had open'd her e'e, When we set to the gate, a' wi' nae little glee; I was blythe, but my mind aft misga'e me richt sair, For I hadna seen Jamie for five months an' mair.

I' the hirin' richt soon my dear Jamie I saw, I saw nae ane like him, sae bonnie an' braw; I watch'd an' baid near him, his motions to see, In hopes aye to catch a kind glance o' his e'e.

He never wad see me in ony ae place, At length I gaed up an' just smiled in his face; I wonder aye yet my heart brakna in twa, He just said, "How are ye," an' steppit awa'.

My neebour lads strave to entice me awa'; They roosed me an' hecht me ilk thing that was braw; But I hat.i.t them a', an' I hat.i.t the fair, For Jamie's behaviour had wounded me sair.

His heart was sae leal, and his manners sae kind!

He 's someway gane wrang, he may alter his mind; An' sud he do sae, he 's be welcome to me-- I 'm sure I can never like ony but he.

METRICAL TRANSLATIONS

FROM

The Modern Gaelic Minstrelsy.

METRICAL TRANSLATIONS

FROM

The Modern Gaelic Minstrelsy.

ALEXANDER MACDONALD.

Alexander Macdonald, who has been termed the Byron of Highland Bards, was born on the farm of Dalilea, in Moidart. His father was a non-juring clergyman of the same name; hence the poet is popularly known as _Mac-vaistir-Alaister_, or Alexander the parson's son. The precise date of his birth is unknown, but he seems to have been born about the first decade of the last century. He was employed as a catechist by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, under whose auspices he afterwards published a vocabulary, for the use of Gaelic schools. This work, which was the first of the kind in the language, was published at Edinburgh in 1741. Macdonald was subsequently elected schoolmaster of his native parish of Ardnamurchan, and was ordained an elder in the parish church. But the most eventful part of his life was yet to come.

On the tidings of the landing of Prince Charles Edward, he awoke his muse to excite a rising, buckled on his broadsword, and, to complete his duty to his Prince, apostatised to the Catholic religion. In the army of the Prince he bore an officer's commission. At the close of the Rebellion, he at first sought shelter in Borodale and Arisaig; he afterwards proceeded to Edinburgh, with the view of teaching children in the Jacobite connexion. The latter course was attended with this advantage; it enabled him by subscription to print a volume of Gaelic poetry, which contains all his best productions. Returning to his native district, he attempted farming without success, and ultimately he became dependent on the liberality of his relations. He died sometime subsequent to the middle of the century.

Macdonald was author of a large quant.i.ty of poetry, embracing the descriptive, in which his reading made him largely a borrower; the lyrical in which he excelled; the satirical, in which he was personal and licentious; and the Jacobitical, in which he issued forth treason of the most pestilential character. He has disfigured his verses by incessant appeals to the Muses, and repeated references to the heathen mythology; but his melody is in the Gaelic tongue wholly unsurpa.s.sed.

THE LION OF MACDONALD.

This composition was suggested by the success of Caberfae, the clan song of the Mackenzies. Macdonald was ambitious of rivaling, or excelling that famous composition, which contained a provoking allusion to a branch of his own clan. In the original, the song is prefaced by a tremendous philippic against the hero of Caberfae. The bard then strikes into the following strain of eulogy on his own tribe, which is still remarkably popular among the Gael.

Awake, thou first of creatures! Indignant in their frown, Let the flag unfold the features that the heather[119] blossoms crown; Arise, and lightly mount thy crest while flap thy flanks in air, And I will follow thee the best, that I may dow or dare.