With my rhyme of Runic, I Thank thee for thy agency. Old Reimkennar, to thy art Girdle of our islands dear, From our rock-defended land; Elements, each other greeting, Thou, that over billows dark Oft thy breath hath through it sung, She who sits by haunted well, She who walks on lonely beach, To the Mermaid's charmed speech; She who walks round ring of green, Offends the peevish Fairy Queen; And she who takes rest in the Dwarfie's cave, A weary weird of woe shall have. By ring, by spring, by cave, by shore, And yet hath the root of her sorrow and ill, A source that's more deep and more mystical still. 1 Written after a week's shooting and fishing, in which the poet had been engaged with some friends. The reader may see these verses set to music in Mr. Thomson's Scottish Melodies for 1822. 2 See the famous salmon-spearing scene in Guy Mannering. -Waverley Novels, vol. iii., p. 250-63. OH, Maid of Isla, from the cliff, That looks on troubled wave and sky, Contend with ocean gallantly? Now beating 'gainst the breeze and surge, Oh, Isla's maid, she seeks her home. tenanted, by the lamented death of that kind and hospitable nobleman, the author's nearest neighbour and intimate friend. Lord S. died in February 1819. 4 Ashestiel, the poet's residence at that time. 5 Written, during illness, for Mr. Thomson's Scottish Col lection, and first published in 1822, united to an air composed 3 Alwyn, the seat of the Lord Somerville; now, alas! un by George Kinloch of Kinloch, Esq. Oh, Isla's maid, yon sea-bird mark, Her white wing gleams through mist and spray, Against the storm-cloud, lowering dark, As to the rock she wheels away;Where clouds are dark and billows rave, Why to the shelter should she come Of cliff, exposed to wind and wave ?— Oh, maid of Isla, 'tis her home! As breeze and tide to yonder skiff, Where sea-birds close their wearied wing. Yet cold as rock, unkind as wave, Still, Isla's maid, to thee I come; For in thy love, or in his grave, Must Allan Vourich find his home. Carle, now the King's come.1 BEING NEW WORDS TO AN AULD SPRING. 1822. THE news has flown frae mouth to mouth, The North for ance has bang'd the South; The deil a Scotsman's die o' drouth, Carle, now the King's come! CHORUS. Carle, now the King's come! Carle, now the King's come! Thou shalt dance, and I will sing, Carle, now the King's come! Auld England held him lang and fast; Auld Reekie, in her rokelay grey, But, Carle, now the King's come! 1 This imitation of an old Jacobite ditty was written on the appearance, in the Frith of Forth, of the fleet which conveyed his Majesty King George the Fourth to Scotland, in August 1822; and was published as a broadside. Lord Montagu, uncle and guardian to the young Duke of Buccleuch, placed his Grace's residence of Dalkeith at his Majesty's disposal during his visit to Scotland. 3 Charles, the tenth Earl of Haddington, died in 1828. 4 The Duke of Hamilton, as Earl of Angus, carried the ancient royal crown of Scotland on horseback in King George's procession, from Holyrood to the Castle. 4 The Lord Provost had the agreeable surprise to hear his health proposed, at the civic banquet given to George IV. in the Parliament-House, as "Sir William Arbuthnot, Bart." 5 The Blue Blanket is the standard of the incorporated trades of Edinburgh, and is kept by their convener, "at whose appearance therewith," observes Maitland, “'tis said, that not only the artificers of Edinburgh are obliged to repair to it, but all the artificers or craftsmen within Scotland are bound to follow it, and fight under the convener of Edinburgh as aforesaid." According to an old tradition, this standard was used in the Holy Wars by a body of crusading citizens of Edinburgh, and was the first that was planted on the walls of Jerusalem, when that city was stormed by the Christian army under the famous Godfrey. But the real history of it seems to be this:-James III., a prince who had virtues which the rude age in which he "My reverend Clergy, look ye say The best of thanksgivings ye ha'e, And warstle for a sunny day Carle, now the King's come! "My Doctors, look that you agree, "Come forth each sturdy Burgher's bairn, "Come forward with the Blanket Blue, "Scots downa loup, and rin, and rave, We're steady folks and something grave, We'll keep the causeway firm and braveCarle, now the King's come! "Sir Thomas, thunder from your rock,? "Melville, bring out your bands of blue, A' Louden lads, baith stout and true, With Elcho, Hope, and Cockburn, too—8 Carle, now the King's come! "And you, who on yon bluidy braes Compell'd the vanquish'd Despot's praise, Rank out--rank out-my gallant Greys-9 Carle, now the King's come? "Cock o' the North, my Huntly bra', Where are you with the Forty-twa?10 lived could not appreciate, having been detained for nine months in the Castle of Edinburgh by his factious nobles, was relieved by the citizens of Edinburgh, who assaulted the castle and took it by surprise; on which occasion James presented the citizens with this banner, "with a power to display the same in defence of their king, country, and their own rights."-Note to this stanza in the "Account of the King's Visit," &c. 8vo. 1822. 6 Sir Thomas Bradford, then commander of the forces in Scotland. 7 Edinburgh Castle. 8 Lord Melville was colonel of the Mid-Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry: Sir John Hope of Pinkie, Bart., Major; and Robert Cockburn, Esq., and Lord Elcho, were captains in the same corps, to which Sir Walter Scott had formerly belonged. 9 The Scots Greys, headed by their gallant colonel, General Sir James Stewart of Coltness, Bart., were on duty at Edinburgh during the King's visit. Bonaparte's exclamation at Waterloo is well known: "Ces beaux chevaux gris, comme ils travaillent!" 10 Marquis of Huntly, who since became the last Duke of Gordon, was colonel of the 42d Regiment, and died in 1836. |