Volume V Part 10 (1/2)
OH, MY LOVE'S BONNIE.
Oh! my love's bonnie, bonnie, bonnie; Oh! my love's bonnie and dear to me; The smile o' her face, and her e'e's witchin' grace, Are mair than the wealth o' this warld can gie.
Her voice is as sweet as the blackbird at gloamin', When echo repeats her soft notes to the ear, And lovely and fresh as the wild roses blooming, That dip in the stream o' the Carron so clear.
But poort.i.th 's a foe to the peace o' this bosom, That glows sae devoutly, dear la.s.sie, for thee; Alas! that e'er poort.i.th should blight love's young blossom, When riches nae lasting contentment can gie.
Yet hope's cheerfu' sun shall aboon my head hover, And guide a lone wanderer, when far frae thee; For ne'er, till it sets, will I prove a false lover, Or think o' anither, dear la.s.sie, but thee.
WILLIAM DOBIE.
An accomplished antiquary, and writer of verses, William Dobie was born in 1790, in the village of Beith, Ayrs.h.i.+re. Educated at the parish school, he was in his thirteenth year apprenticed to a mechanical profession. At the close of his apprentices.h.i.+p, he commenced business in his native district. In 1822, the munificence of a wealthy relative enabled him to retire from his occupation, which had proved unsuitable to his tastes. For several years he resided in London. He subsequently made a tour through Britain, and visited the Continent. His ”Perambulations in Kintyre,” a ma.n.u.script volume, is frequently quoted by Mr Cosmo Innes, in his ”Origines Parochiales Scotiae,” a valuable work printed for the Bannatyne Club. In 1840 he prepared a history of the parish of Kilbirnie, for the ”New Statistical Account.” He afterwards published an account of the church and churchyard of Kilbirnie, in an interesting pamphlet. Recently Mr Dobie has superintended the erection of a monument to Sir William Wallace, on Barnweil Hill, near Kilmarnock, which has been reared at the entire cost of William Patrick, Esq., of Roughwood. The greater number of the many spirited inscriptions on the monument are the composition of Mr Dobie.
THE DREARY REIGN OF WINTER 'S PAST.
AIR--_'Loch Errochside.'_
The dreary reign of Winter 's past, The frost, the snow, the surly blast, To polar hills are scouring fast; For balmy Spring 's returning.
Adown Glen-Garnock's lonely vale, The torrent's voice has ceased to wail; But soft low notes, borne on the gale, Dispel dull gloom and mourning.
With toil and long fatigue depress'd, Exhausted nature sunk oppress'd, Till waken'd from her slumbering rest, By balmy Spring returning.
Now in flower'd vesture, green and gay, Lovelier each succeeding day; Soon from her face shall pa.s.s away, Each trace of Winter's mourning.
Lo, at her mild benign command, Life rouses up on every hand; While bursts of joy o'er all the land, Hail balmy Spring returning.
E'en murmuring stream and raving linn, And solemn wood in softened din, All join great Nature's praise to hymn, That fled is Winter's mourning.
While all on earth, and in the skies, In transports fervently rejoice, Shall man refuse to raise his voice, And welcome Spring returning?
If such ingrates exist below, They ne'er can feel the sacred glow, That Nature and the Muse bestow, To cheer the gloom of mourning.
ROBERT HENDRY, M.D.
A man of un.o.btrusive literary merit, and no inconsiderable poetical ability, Robert Hendry was born at Paisley on the 7th October 1791.
Descended from a respectable family in Morays.h.i.+re, his paternal great-grandfather fixed his residence in Glasgow. His grandfather, after serving as a lieutenant under the Duke of c.u.mberland in Holland, quitted the army, and settled as a silk manufacturer in Paisley. Under the name of ”The Hollander,” this gentleman had the distinction of being lampooned by Alexander Wilson, during the days of his hot youth, prior to his embarkation for America. Of his two sons, the elder removed to London, where he became senior Alderman, and died on the eve of his nomination as Lord Mayor.
The grandson of ”The Hollander,” by his second son, the subject of this memoir, was, in his twelfth year, apprenticed to his maternal uncle, a medical pract.i.tioner. On the completion of a course of philosophical and medical study at the University of Glasgow, he obtained his diploma, and settled as a surgeon in his native town. Amidst due attention to his professional duties, he became ardently devoted to literary pursuits.
Besides conducting several local periodicals, he contributed to some of the more important serials. During the year 1826, which proved so disastrous to the manufacturing interests in Paisley, he devised a scheme for the relief of the unemployed, and his services were appropriately acknowledged by the magistrates. He afterwards sought the general improvement of the burgh, and among many other fiscal and sanitary reforms, succeeded in introducing into the place a supply of excellent water. Declining the provosts.h.i.+p offered him by the Town Council, he retired a few years since to the village of Helensburgh, where he continues to reside.
Dr Hendry was an intimate acquaintance of Tannahill; and afterwards ranked among his friends the poet Motherwell and Robert Archibald Smith.
He has at various time contributed verses to the periodicals. Latterly his attention has been more especially directed to scientific pursuits.