Volume V Part 31 (2/2)
There 's no a hole abune the Crook, Nor stane nor gentle swirl aneath, Nor drumlie rill, nor fairy brook, That daunders through the flowrie heath, But ye may fin' a subtle troot, A' gleamin' ower wi' starn an' bead, An' mony a sawmon sooms aboot, Below the bields o' bonnie Tweed.
Frae Holylee to Clovenford, A chancier bit ye canna hae, So gin ye tak' an' angler's word, Ye 'd through the whins an' ower the brae, An' work awa' wi' cunnin' hand Yer birzy hackles black and reid; The saft sough o' a slender wand Is meetest music for the Tweed!
THE BRITISH OAK.
The oak is Britain's pride!
The lordliest of trees, The glory of her forest side, The guardian of her seas!
Its hundred arms are brandish'd wide, To brave the wintry breeze.
Our hearts shall never quail Below the servile yoke, Long as our seamen trim the sail, And wake the battle smoke-- Long as they stem the stormy gale, On planks of British oak!
Then in its native mead, The golden acorn lay; And watch with care the bursting seed, And guard the tender spray; England will bless us for the deed, In some far future day!
Oh! plant the acorn tree Upon each Briton's grave; So shall our island ever be, The island of the brave-- The mother-nurse of liberty, And empress o'er the wave!
PEACE IN WAR.
Peace be upon their banners!
When our war-s.h.i.+ps leave the bay-- When the anchor is weigh'd, And the gales Fill the sails, As they stray-- When the signals are made, And the anchor is weigh'd, And the sh.o.r.es of England fade Fast away!
Peace be upon their banners, As they cross the stormy main!
May they no aggressors prove, But unite, Britain's right To maintain; And, unconquer'd, as they move, May they no aggressors prove; But to guard the land we love, Come again!
Long flourish England's commerce!
May her navies ever glide, With concord in their lead, Ranging free Every sea, Far and wide; And at their country's need, With thunders in their lead, May the ocean eagles speed To her side!
ALEXANDER MACLAGAN.[12]
Alexander Maclagan was born at Bridgend, Perth, on the 3d of April 1811.
His father, Thomas Maclagan, was bred to farming, but early abandoning this occupation, he settled in Perth as a manufacturer. Unfortunate in business, he removed to Edinburgh, with a young family of three children; the subject of the present memoir being the eldest. Catherine Stuart, the poet's mother, was descended from the Stuarts of Breadalbane, a family of considerable rank in that district. At the period of his father's removal to Edinburgh, Alexander was only in his fifth year. Not more successful in his pursuits in Edinburgh, where three additional children were born to him, Thomas Maclagan was unable to bestow upon his son Alexander the liberal education which his strong natural capacity demanded; but acquiring the common rudiments of knowledge at several schools in the Old Town, he was at the early age of ten years taken thence, and placed in a jeweller's shop, where he remained two years. Being naturally strong, and now of an age to undertake more laborious employment, his father, rather against the son's inclinations, bound him apprentice to a plumber in Edinburgh, with whom he served six years. About this time he produced many excellent drawings, which received the approbation of the managers of the Edinburgh School of Design, but the arduous duties of his occupation precluded the possibility of his following his natural bent. His leisure time was chiefly devoted to the cultivation of literature. So early as his thirteenth year he entered the Edinburgh Mechanics' Library as a member; and from this early age he dates his taste for poetry.
In 1829, while yet an apprentice, Maclagan became connected with the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_, edited by Mr Gla.s.sford Bell. As a contributor to that publication, he was introduced to the Ettrick Shepherd, Professor Wilson, William Tennant, and William Motherwell, who severally commended his verses. On the expiry of his apprentices.h.i.+p he worked for some time as a journeyman plumber. He was married in his eighteenth year; and he has three surviving children. In 1831, he commenced on his own account, in a shop at the head of the Mound, Edinburgh; but finding he had inadequate capital, he proceeded to London in quest of employment in some managing department of his trade. In the metropolis he was well received by Allan Cunningham, and was, through his recommendation, offered an appointment under Mr Cubitt, the well known builder. A strike among Mr Cubitt's workmen unfortunately interfered with the completion of the arrangement, and the poet, much disappointed, returned to Edinburgh. He now accepted an engagement as manager of a plumbery establishment in Dunfermline, where he continued two years. He afterwards devoted himself to literary and educational pursuits.
In 1841, Maclagan published a collected edition of his poems, which immediately attracted the favourable notice of Lord Jeffrey. He invited the poet to his residence, and on many occasions proved his benefactor.
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