The Wells o' Wearie.

́HEN gloamin' coost its shades aroun',

WH

A wee afore the mirk closed in, Young Jamie wi' his Lucy strayed,

Frae out Dun Edin's smeek and din. The tow'ring craigs aboon their head Wi' loud souns o' the pibroch rung, An' far out-ower the bubbling springs Their shadows big were dark'ning flung. While doun upon a stane they sat, Their hearts beat warm an' cheerie, An' wi' a nameless rapture thrilled, Amang the Wells o' Wearie.

The moon threw off her robe o' clouds,
An' shone bricht on the lanely schaw;
She like a gleamin' falchion hung,
Ahint Craigmillar's toppling wa'.
The starnies shimmer'd in the lift,
As thick as gowans on the lea;

And Nature had retired to rest,

Wi' a' her woodland minstrelsy.
Loof lock'd in loof, the lovers sat,-
Tho' lone they were na drearie;
A warld o' bliss they drank that nicht
Amang the Wells o' Wearie.

"O Lucy! I hae lo'ed ye lang,

As nae dout ye've jelous'd ere noo; My passion I daur ne'er reveal,

For fear a frown wad shade your broo. An', lassie, gif I now offend,

Forgie the heart that's wholly thine, An' let me still remain a friend,

Tho' frae my soul I wish thee mine." The tears ran doun sweet Lucy's cheeks, She gently hung her modest head;

A saft rebuke escaped her lips,

Frae which he could deep meaning read.

"An' is it so," he then replied,

“My young an' guileless dearie?

This nicht we'll pledge our bridal vows
Amang the Wells o' Wearie.”

"Ye hae my hand, here is my heart,
Accept them baith, my marrow true;

Tho' gowd tak' wing and flee awa,
Your Lucy will prove leal to you.
My minnie aft wad say hersel'

She thocht ye was ower fond o' me:
Yet still at hame ye've welcome been,

When Lucy ye wad come to see.
Your winsome smiles an' bonnie een
Maist tauld me a' that ye've confessed;
Slee kisses ye wad steal sometimes,

An' left me aye to guess the rest.
Noo by yon moon, and by those stars,
That licht this spot sae eerie,

I'll keep till death the vows I've made
Amang the Wells o' Wearie.”

Their vows were kept, an' faithfu' kept,
As a' should aye keep wi' their marrow;
And wha wad dare sic bliss disturb ?

Wha wad dare love's circle narrow?

Twice twenty years hae flown sin syne,
To join their forbears o' the past,
Still Jamie and his Lucy live,

Tho' bent wi' years an' sinking fast.
The bairnies o' their bairns they've seen,

Wi' muckle pride, grow up to men;

Their precepts and example guid

Shaw'd sure the way to mak' a fen. The unco changes o' the age

May weel I trow confound them; 'While the curtain o' the warld's stage

Seems closing fast around them.

Sometimes the twa will toddle out,

Forfouchten sair may dander,

Out ower the very clover fields
Where they were wont to wander.
They still may hear the black-bird's notes,
The laverock's sangs sae cheerie;

But Time's rude hand hath swept awa

The bonnie Wells o' Wearie.

The Winter Song of the Shepherd.

AR out-ower the cauld muir, an' laigh in a howe,

FAR

By a deep sheugh thro' whilk a burnie rins down, Weel shielded frae storms by a heather-croun'd knowe, My sma' biggin stan's, wi' a fale-dyke aroun'.

What tho' down the lum-heid the flauchters fa' in,
An' fizz for a jiffie where het the peats lowe,
Snaw may drift, an' winds sough aroun' the bleak bin,
The plooman o' care never furrows my brow.

The trees are a' leafless, the forests a' bare,

The flowers are a' withered, an' Winter is here; The bonnie wee robins my hamely meals share, That hap to my shielin an' think-na o' fear.

I hae peats in the yard, an' hay in the mow,

An' dizzens o' eggs that the chuckies hae laid;

A guid thumpin' kebbuck, a' soun' yet I trow,

Save holes that some wee thievin' mousie has made.