Volume Vi Part 13 (2/2)
When love plays in rosy beams Roun' the hawthorn-tree, Mary, Then thine e'e a language gleams Whilk tells o' love for me, Mary.
When thy sigh blends wi' my smile, Silence reigns o'er us the while, Then my heart, 'mid flutt'ring toil, Tells thy love's bloom'd for me, Mary.
When our hands are join'd in love, Ne'er to part again, Mary, Till death ance mair his arrows prove And tak us for his ain, Mary; Then our joys are crown'd wi' bliss!
In a hallow'd hour like this, We in rapture join to kiss And taste o' heaven again, Mary.
WILLIAM JAMIE.
William Jamie was born on the 25th December 1818, in the parish of Marykirk, Kincardines.h.i.+re. He received his education at the parish school of Maryculter, Aberdeens.h.i.+re, whither his father removed during his boyhood. After working for some time with his father as a blacksmith, he engaged for several years in the work of tuition. From early manhood a writer of verses, he published, in 1844, at Laurencekirk, a small volume of poems, ent.i.tled, ”The Muse of the Mearns,” which pa.s.sed through two editions. Of his various subsequent publications may be enumerated, ”The Emigrant's Family, and other Poems;” ”The Musings of a Wanderer,” and a prose tale, ent.i.tled, ”The Jacobite's Son.” Since 1851 he has resided at Pollockshaws, in the vicinity of Glasgow. On the sale of his poetical works he is wholly dependent for subsistence.
AULD SCOTIA'S SANGS.
Although the lays o' ither lands Ha'e mony an artfu' air, They want the stirrin' melody An auld man lo'es to hear.
Auld Scotia's sangs hae winnin' charms Which maks the bosom fain; And to her sons, that 's far awa', Wi' thochts o' hame again.
Sweet bygane scenes, and native charms, They fondly bring to min'
The trystin'-tree and bonny la.s.s, Wi a' love's dreams langsyne.
Oh! lilt me owre some tender strain, For weel I lo'e to hear-- Be 't bonny ”Broom o' Cowdenknowes,”
And ”Bush aboon Traquair.”
Or ”Banks and braes o' bonny Doon,”
Whaur Robin tuned his lyre; And ”Roslin Castle's” ruined wa's-- Oh! sing, and I'll admire!
For I hae heard auld Scotia's sangs Sung owre and owre wi' glee; And the mair I hear their artless strains They dearer grow to me.
Enchanting strains again they bring, Fond memory glints alang To humble bards wha woke the lyre, And wove the patriot's sang.
Oh! leeze me on our ain auld sangs, The sangs o' youth and glee; They tell o' Bruce and glorious deeds, Which made our country free.
JOHN CRAWFORD.
A poet possessing, in an eminent degree, the lyrical simplicity and power of the Bard of Coila, John Crawford was, in the year 1816, born at Greenock, in the same apartment which, thirty years before, had witnessed the death of Burns' ”Highland Mary,” his mother's cousin. With only a few months' attendance at school, he was, in boyhood, thrown on his own resources for support. Selecting the profession of a house-painter, he left Greenock in his eighteenth year, and has since prosecuted his vocation in the town of Alloa. Of strong native genius, he early made himself acquainted with general literature, while he has sought recreation in the composition of verses. In 1850 he published a small duodecimo volume of lyrics, ent.i.tled, ”Doric Lays; being s.n.a.t.c.hes of Song and Ballad.” This little work was much commended by Lord Jeffrey, and received the strong approbation of the late amiable Miss Mitford. ”There is,” wrote the latter to a correspondent, ”an originality in his writings very rare in a follower of Burns.... This is the true thing--a flower springing from the soil, not merely cut and stuck into the earth. Will you tell Mr Crawford how much pleasure he has given to a poor invalid?”
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