Volume Vi Part 32 (2/2)
He, he alone, is calm of soul! Powers of no mortal birth Are gently loosening every tie that links him to the earth; And inward faith gives outward force--strong is his deep dark eye-- And his brow and lip are beautiful as in the days gone by.
Meekly he rises to depart, but pauses for a s.p.a.ce, And looks upon his cowering foes with calm and saintly grace: ”The time is short, the sentence sharp--your malice I forgive; For G.o.d hath made me fit to die, as ye, my lords, to live!”
And meekly he departs! his toils, his work, and warfare done-- And his martyr chariot waits him, and his triumphs are begun!
And twelve hours thence, upon the block, his reverend head did fall, And for a terror was exposed upon the city wall; His limbs were quarter'd, and were hung, all mutilate and bare, At Jedburgh, and Lanark town, at Glasgow, and at Ayr: And thus through all broad Scotland these martyr'd relics go, Like a fiery cross to rouse the land to the tyrant's overthrow!
The ancient halls of Jervieswoode are desolate and gray, And its ancient oaks and lime trees are sinking in decay; These are of things that perish, and their place soon knows them not, But a glory from the past illumes this consecrated spot.
To him who braves the martyr's death is deathless honour given, For the faith that breeds heroic deeds is dear to earth and heaven; And through all succeeding ages, amongst the wise and good, Enshrined shall be the memory of the n.o.ble Jervieswoode.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, the King's Advocate.
METRICAL TRANSLATIONS
FROM
The Modern Gaelic Minstrelsy.
DUNCAN MACFARLAN.
Duncan Macfarlan was a native of Rannoch, in Perths.h.i.+re. He was born in 1750, and became, early in life, chaplain to one of the Highland regiments. He was subsequently admitted to the pastoral charge of the Gaelic Church, Perth. He executed some of the translations of Ossianic remains published by H. & J. M'Callum in 1816, under the auspices of the Highland Society of London. He died about the year 1834. Our translator remembers him as a venerable old gentleman, of polished manners and intelligent conversation. The following specimen of his poetical compositions is, in the original, extremely popular among the Gael.
THE BEAUTY OF THE s.h.i.+ELING.
My beauty of the s.h.i.+eling, Thy graceful air, like arrow-shaft, A fiery flame concealing, Has left me to the marrow chaf'd.
So winsome is thy smiling, Thy love-craft so beguiling, It binds me like the wilding, And I yield, in dule and sorrow left.
Thy brown locks rank'd in order, So spiral, rich, and cl.u.s.tering!
Thy face, of flowers a border, 'Neath feather'd eyebrows mustering!
Two drops of dewy splendour Those lids of beauty under!
And that kiss--a fragrant wonder, As fruits of India Western!
JOHN MUNRO.
John Munro was born in 1791, in the parish of Criech, Sutherlands.h.i.+re.
His father was superintendent of a manufacturing establishment. On the premature death of her husband, his mother proceeded to Glasgow, where the family were enabled to obtain a suitable education. In 1827, the poet commenced business as an accountant. The hours of relaxation from business he sedulously devoted to the concerns of literature, especially poetry. He produced some religious tracts, and composed verses, chiefly of a devotional character. He died in 1837, and his remains were consigned to the Necropolis of the city. Admiring friends reared an appropriate monument over his grave.
THE HIGHLAND WELCOME.
”My dearest, wilt thou follow, And mount with me the billow?
Wilt thou with me pa.s.s o'er the sea To the land of hill and hollow?”
”No, Highlandman! I leave not My kindred for another, Nor go with thee across the sea From the children of my mother.
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