Think'st thou he trow'd thine omen aught? Am I to hie, and make me known? Had Douglas's daughter been his son !" XI. "Nay, lovely Ellen!-dearest, nay! If aught should his return delay, As fitting place to meet again. Be sure he's safe; and for the Græme,-- Sooth was my prophecy of fear; Believe it when it augurs cheer. ELLEN. 66 Well, be it as thou wilt; I hear, XII. ALICE BRAND. Merry it is in the good greenwood, 3 When the mavis' and merle are singing, When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry And the hunter's horn is ringing. "O Alice Brand, my native land Is lost for love of you: And we must hold by wood and wold, As outlaws wont to do. "O Alice, 'twas all for thy locks so bright, "Now must I teach to hew the beech "And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, That wont on harp to stray, A cloak must shear from the slaughter'd deer, To keep the cold away."— "O Richard! if my brother died, "Twas but a fatal chance; For darkling was the battle tried, "If pall and vair no more I wear, Nor thou the crimson sheen, As warm, we'll say, is the russet grey As gay the forest-green. "And, Richard, if our lot be hard, And lost thy native land, 1 [MS.-" -"Twas but a midnight chance; Still Alice has her own Richard, And he his Alice Brand." XIII. Ballad continued. 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood. Up spoke the moody Elfin King, 1 1 in a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, published in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part of which was supplied by my learned and indefatigable friend, Dr John Leyden, most of the circumstances are collected which can throw light upon the popular belief which even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland. Dr Graham, author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of the Perthshire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded, with great accuracy, the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this topic, in the vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author is inclined to deduce the whole mythology from the Druidical system,-an opinion to which there are many objections. "The Daoine Shi' or Men of Peace of the Highlanders, though not absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peovish, repining race of beings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their more complete and substantial enjoyments. They are supposed to enjoy in their subterraneous recesses, a sort of shadowy happiness,— a tinsel grandeur; which, however, they would willingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortality. Like wind in the porch of a ruin'd church, They are believed to inhabit certain round grassy eminences, where they celebrate their nocturnal festivities by the light of the moon. About a mile beyond the source of the Forth above Lochcon, there is a place called Coirshi'an, or the Cove of the Men of Peace, which is still supposed to be a favourite place of their residence. In the neighbourhood are to be seen many round conical eminences; particularly one, near the head of the lake, by the skirts of which many are still afraid to pass after sunset. It is believed, that if, on Hallow-eve, any person, alone, goes round one of these hills nine times, towards the left hand (sinistrorsum) a door shall open, by which he will be admitted into their subterraneous abodes. Many, it is said, of mortal race, have been entertained in their secret recesses. There they have been received into the most splendid apartments, and regaled with the most sumptuous banquets, and delicious wines. Their females surpass the daughters of men in beauty. The seemingly happy inhabitants pass their time in festivity, and in dancing to notes of the softest music. But unhappy is the mortal who joins in their joys, or ventures to partake of their dainties. By this indulgence, he forfeits for ever the society of men, and is bound down irrevocably to the condition of Shi'ich, or Man of Peace. "A woman, as is reported in the Highland tradition, was conveyed in days of yore, into the secret recesses of the Men of Peace. There she was recognised by one who had formerly been an ordinary mortal, but who had, by some fatality, become associated with the Shi'ichs. This acquaintance, still retaining some portion of human benevolence, warned her of her danger, and counselled her, as she valued her liberty, to abstain from eating and drinking with them for a certain space of time. She complied with the counsel of her friend; and when the period assigned was elapsed, she found herself again upon earth, restored to the society of mortals. It is added, that when she examined the viands which had been presented to her, and which, had appeared so |