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. 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, 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. 2 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. She's skirling frae the Castle-hill; The Carline's voice is grown sae shrill, Ye'll hear her at the Canon-mill Carle, now the King's come! "Up, bairns!" she cries, " baith grit and sma', "Come from Newbattle's ancient spires, Bauld Lothian, with your knights and squires, And match the mettle of your sires- Carle, now the King's come! "You're welcome hame, my Montagu! Bring in your hand the young Buccleuch; I'm missing some that I may rue Carle, now the King's come! 2 "Come, Haddington, the kind and gay, You've graced my causeway mony a day; I'll weep the cause if you should stay-Carle, now the King's come! "Come, premier Duke, and carry doun Frae yonder craig his ancient croun; It's had a lang sleep and a soun'- But, Carle, now the King's come ! "Come, Athole, from the hill and wood, Bring down your clansmen like a clud; Come, Morton, show the Douglas' blood,—6 Carle, now the King's come! "Come, Tweeddale, true as sword to sheath; Come, Hopetoun, fear'd on fields of death; Come, Clerk, and give your bugle breath; Carle, now the King's come! "Come, Wemyss, who modest merit aids; Come, Rosebery, from Dalmeny shades; Breadalbane, bring your belted plaids; Carle, now the King's come! "Come, stately Niddrie, auld and true, Girt with the sword that Minden knew; We have o'er few such lairds as youCarle, now the King's come! 5 The Castle. 6 MS.-"Come, Athole, from your hills and woods, Bring down your Hielandmen in cluds, With bannet, brogue, and tartan duds." 7 Sir George Clerk of Pennycuik, Bart. The Baron of Pennycuik is bound by his tenure, whenever the King comes to Edinburgh, to receive him at the Harestone (in which the standard of James IV. was erected when his army encamped on the Boroughmuir, before his fatal expedition to England,) now built into the park-wall at the end of Tipperlin Lone, near the Boroughmuir-head; and, standing thereon, to give three blasts on a horn. 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 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. |