When down before the Scottish spear
She saw proud Percy fa'.

"Had we twa been upon the green,
And never an eye to see,

I wad hae had you, flesh and fell;
But your sword sall gae wi' me.

"But gae ye up to Otterbourne,
And wait there dayis three;

And if I come not ere three dayis end, A fause knight ca' ye me."

They lighted high on Otterbourne,
Upon the bent sae brown;
They lighted high on Otterbourne,
And threw their pallions down.

And he that had a bonnie boy

Sent out his horse to grass;
And he that had not a bonnie boy
His ain servant he was.

But up then spake a little page,
Before the peep of dawn,

"O, waken ye, waken ye, my good lord, For Percy's hard at hand."

"Ye lie, ye lie, ye liar loud! Sae loud I hear ye lie:

For Percy had not men yestreen

To dight my men and me.

"But I have dreamed a dreary dream,
Beyond the Isle of Sky;

I saw a dead man win a fight,
And I think that man was I."

He belted on his guid braid sword,
And to the field he ran;

But he forgot the helmet good,

That should have kept his brain.

When Percy wi' the Douglas met,
I wat he was fu' fain;

They swakked their swords, till sair they swat,
And the blood ran down like rain.

But Percy with his good broad sword,
That could so sharply wound,
Has wounded Douglas on the brow,
Till he fell to the ground.

This deed was done at the Otterbourne,
About the breaking of the day;

Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush,
And the Percy led captive away.

Old Ballad.

Ouse, the River.

THE DOG AND THE WATER LILY.

HE noon was shady, and soft airs

THE

Swept Ouse's silent tide,

When, 'scaped from literary cares,

I wandered on his side.

My spaniel, prettiest of his race,
And high in pedigree

(Two nymphs adorned with every grace That spaniel found for me),

Now wantoned lost in flags and reeds,
Now starting into sight,

Pursued the swallow o'er the meads
With scarce a slower flight.

It was the time when Ouse displayed
His lilies newly blown;

Their beauties I intent surveyed,
And one I wished my own.

With cane extended far I sought

To steer it close to land;

But still the prize, though nearly caught,

Escaped my eager hand.

Beau marked my unsuccessful pains

With fixed, considerate face,

And puzzling set his puppy brains
To comprehend the case.

But with a cherup clear and strong
Dispersing all his dream,

I thence withdrew, and followed long
The windings of the stream.

My ramble ended, I returned;
Beau, trotting far before,

The floating wreath again discerned,
And plunging left the shore.

I saw him with that lily cropped

Impatient swim to meet

My quick approach, and soon he dropped

The treasure at my feet.

Charmed with the sight, "The world," I cried, "Shall hear of this thy deed;

My dog shall mortify the pride
Of man's superior breed:

"But chief myself I will enjoin,
Awake at duty's call,

To show a love as prompt as thine
To Him who gives me all."

William Cowper.

Oxford.

OXFORD.

YE fretted pinnacles, ye fanes sublime,

Ye towers that wear the mossy vest of time; Ye massy piles of old munificence,

At once the pride of learning and defence;
Ye cloisters pale, that, lengthening to the sight,
To contemplation, step by step, invite ;

Ye high-arched walks, where oft the whispers clear
Of harps unseen have swept the poet's ear;
Ye temples dim, where pious duty pays
Her holy hymns of ever-echoing praise; -

your loved Isis, from the bordering vale,
With all a mother's fondness, bids you hail!
Hail, Oxford, hail! of all that 's good and great,
Of all that's fair, the guardian and the seat;
Nurse of each brave pursuit, each generous aim,
By truth exalted to the throne of fame!
Like Greece in science and in liberty,
As Athens learned, as Lacedemon free!
Even now, confessed to my adoring eyes,
In awful ranks thy gifted sons arise.
Tuning to knightly tale his British reeds,
Thy genuine bards immortal Chaucer leads:
His hoary head o'erlooks the gazing choir,
And beams on all around celestial fire.
With graceful step see Addison advance,