To see his banks on every side
With crowding population teem,
And cultur'd fields their yellow pride
Reflecting in his copious stream.

Well pleas'd he wanders near the dome
Where every milder virtue dwells;
Where all the gentler graces bloom,
And Painting speaks, and Music swells.

When frosts untimely check'd the spring,
And blasting mildews hover'd o'er,
And cheerful Labour ceas'd to sing,
And Plenty deck'd the plains no more :

To G**** she gave her teeming horn †,
Well pleas'd he pour'd the bounteous store,
And Want no longer wept forlorn,

And fruitless Labour mourn'd no more.

To Woe, while Pity yields relief,

While Truth adorns the plausive lay, Our vows shall bless the Patriarch Chief Who rules the grateful banks of Spey.

+ Alluding to an ample provision made for the lower class of his country, during the hard winter 1800.

NOTES

ON THE

POEM

ADDRESSED TO

SIR J**** G****, BARONET.

No. 1.

Where blaz'd of old the warning fires.-P. 139. Craigillachy is a solitary mountain that overlooks the entrance to Strathspey, and has been considered for ages past as a kind of rallying point to the clan that inhabit it. On any sudden invasion of the Norwegians on the eastern coast, a fire kindled on some mountain near the sea, was instantly seen in Strathspey, and answered by another on Craigillachy, and that by another on Craigow in Badenoch; so that the intelligence was in this manner often transmitted from the cast sea to the west in three hours. By means of this simple telegraph, the whole country was up in an instant, to resist invasion. Craigillachy is the war-cry of of the clan Grant, and even within these few years, if one of them was borne down or injured in any popular tumult

at a fair or public concourse out of his own country, he cried aloud Craigillachy, and every person within hearing, allied by descent or marriage to the clan, flew to his rescue. The motto of the clan is, "Stand fast Craigillachy."

No. 2.

"Shall feed our babes and hoary sires."-P. 141.

Quenching the fire is a most emphatic phrase in the Highlands, and never heard without a thrill of horror; it signifies not only the removing of cottagers attached to the soil by long possession, but quenching fires to kindle them no more, that is, depopulating districts once inhabited. It is easy to judge how much those who never quenched a fire must be venerated and beloved.

No. 3.

"And save the mourners from despair."-P. 141.

The Chief here alluded to is said at one time to have supported at his own expence four hundred women and children, belonging to such individuals in his regiments as were unable to leave any provision for their maintenance.

A

BALLAD,

FOUNDED ON FACT*.

"Gentle lady, may thy grave
"Peace and quiet ever have;
66 After this thy travel sore,

"Sweet rest seize thee evermore.”

MILTON,

OH, soft and sweet the evening sun
Was gleaming o'er the meadows green,
The ploughman's weary task was done,
And peaceful was the scene.

I musing wander'd o'er yon height
"Where broom bloom'd fair to view
Whose yellow blossoms gaily show'd
O'er violets darkly blue.

* See note No. I,

A little higher up I spy'd

A roofless castle grey,

Where rooks and daws in clam'rous crowds

Retir'd at close of day *.

A fenceless garden's sad remains,
All ruin'd and decay'd,

And trees, whose branches scorch'd by fire
Refus'd both fruit and shade.

Two shrubs in vernal pride remain'd,
Fenc'd by their native thorn,

And bore the fragrant milk-white rose
By YORK's proud faction borne.

There, seated by a ruin'd tow'r,
An ancient dame I view'd,
Who with a pensive, tranquil sigh
Survey'd the fragments rude .

And why, untouch'd by wasting time,
Did that fair pile give way ?

And who are you that lonely mourn
The stately tower's decay?

*See note No. 2.

+ See note No. 3.