Harden Glen.—P. 453. v. 5.
"Harden's castle was situated upon the very brink of a dark
and precipitous dell, through which a scanty rivulet steals to
meet the Borthwick. In the recess of this glen he is said to
have kept his spoil, which served for the daily maintenance of
his retainers." Notes on the "Lay of the Last Minstrel,"
Canto IV. stanza 9.
Warns the water.—P. 454. v. 5.
This expression signified formerly the giving the alarm to the
inhabitants of a district; each district taking its name from the
river that flowed through it.
O leeze me, &c.—P. 455. v. 1.
The esteem in which the moon was held in the Harden family
may be traced in the motto they still bear: "Reparabit
cornua Phœbe."
BY THE COUNTESS OF DALKEITH, AND
HER SON, LORD SCOTT.
BY THE REV. JOHN MARRIOTT, A. M.
Abbots of Melrose, wont of yore
The dire anathema to pour
On England's hated name;
See, to appease your injured shades,
And expiate her Border raids,
She sends her fairest Dame.
Her fairest Dame those shrines has graced,
That once her boldest Lords defaced;
Then let your hatred cease;
The prayer of import dread revoke,
Which erst indignant fury spoke,
And pray for England's peace.
If, as it seems to Fancy's eye,
Your sainted spirits hover nigh,
And haunt this once-loved spot;
That Youth's fair open front behold,
His step of strength, his visage bold,
And hail a genuine Scott.
Yet think that England claims a part
In the rich blood that warms his heart,
And let your hatred cease;
The prayer of import dread revoke,
Which erst indignant fury spoke,
And pray for England's peace.
Pray, that no proud insulting foe
May ever lay her temples low,
Or violate her fanes;
No moody fanatic deface
The works of wondrous art, that grace
Antiquity's remains.
NOTE
ON A VISIT PAID TO
THE RUINS OF MELROSE ABBEY.
Melrose Abbey was reduced to its present ruinous state,
partly by the English barons in their hostile inroads, and partly
by John Knox and his followers. For a reason why its abbots
should be supposed to take an interest in the Buccleuch family,
see the Notes to the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," octavo
edition, p. 238.
BY THE REV. JOHN MARRIOTT, A. M.
As Archie passed the Brockwood-leys,
He cursed the blinkan moon,
For shouts were borne upo' the breeze
Frae a' the hills aboon.
A herd had marked his lingering pace
That e'enin near the fauld,
And warned his fellows to the chace,
For he kenn'd him stout and bauld.
A light shone frae Gilnockie tower;
He thought, as he ran past,—
"O Johnie ance was stiff in stour,
"But hangit at the last!"—
His load was heavy, and the way
Was rough, and ill to find;
But ere he reached the Stubholm brae,
His faes were far behind.
He clamb the brae, and frae his brow
The draps fell fast and free;
And when he heard a loud halloo,
A waefu' man was he.
O'er his left shouther, towards the muir,
An anxious e'e he cast;
And oh! when he stepped o'er the door,
His wife she looked aghast.
"Ah wherefore, Archie, wad ye slight
"Ilk word o' timely warning?
"I trow ye will be ta'en the night,
"And hangit i' the morning."—
"Now haud your tongue, ye prating wife,
"And help me as ye dow;
"I wad be laith to lose my life
"For ae poor silly yowe."—
They stript awa the skin aff-hand,
Wi' a' the woo' aboon;
There's ne'er a flesher[107] i' the land
Had done it half sae soon.
They took the haggis-bag and heart,
The heart, but and the liver;
Alake, that siccan a noble part
Should win intull the river!
But Archie he has ta'en them a',
And wrapt them i' the skin;
And he has thrown them o'er the wa',
And sicht whan they fell in.
The cradle stans by the ingle[108] toom,[109]
The bairn wi' auntie stays;
They clapt the carcase in its room,
And smoored it wi' the claes.
And down sate Archie daintilie,
And rocked it wi' his hand;
Siccan a rough nourice as he
Was not in a' the land.
And saftlie he began to croon,[110]
"Hush, hushabye, my dear."—
He had na sang to sic a tune,
I trow, for monie a year.
Now frae the hills they cam in haste,
A' rinning out o' breath;—
"Ah, Archie, we ha' got ye fast,
"And ye maun die the death!
"Aft ha' ye thinned our master's herds,
"And elsewhere cast the blame;
"Now ye may spare your wilie words,
"For we have traced ye hame."—
"Your sheep for warlds I wad na take;
"Deil ha' me if I'm lying;
"But haud your tongues for mercie's sake,
"The bairn's just at the dying.
"If e'er I did sae fause a feat,
"As thin my neebor's faulds,
"May I be doomed the flesh to eat
"This vera cradle halds!
"But gin ye reck na what I swear,
"Go search the biggin[111] thorow,
"And if ye find ae trotter there,
"Then hang me up the morrow."—
They thought to find the stolen gear,
They searched baith but and ben;
But a' was clean, and a' was clear,
And naething could they ken.
And what to think they could na tell,
They glowred at ane anither;—
"Sure, Patie, 'twas the deil himsel
"That ye saw rinning hither.
"Or aiblins Maggie's ta'en the yowe,
"And thus beguiled your e'e."—
"Hey, Robie, man, and like enowe,
"For I ha'e nae rowan-tree."—
Awa' they went wi' muckle haste,
Convinced 'twas Maggie Brown;
And Maggie, ere eight days were past,
Got mair nor ae new gown.
Then Archie turned him on his heel,
And gamesomelie did say,—
"I did na think that half sae weel
"The nourice I could play."
And Archie didna break his aith,
He ate the cradled sheep;
I trow he was na vera laith
Siccan a vow to keep.
And aft sinsyne to England's king
The story he has told;
And aye when he gan rock and sing,
Charlie his sides wad hold.
NOTES
ON
ARCHIE ARMSTRONG'S AITH.
The hero of this ballad was a native of Eskdale, and contributed
not a little towards the raising his clan to that pre-eminence
which it long maintained amongst the Border thieves,
and which none indeed but the Elliots could dispute. He lived
at the Stubholm, immediately below the junction of the Wauchope
and the Esk; and there distinguished himself so much
by zeal and assiduity in his professional duties, that at length
he found it expedient to emigrate, his neighbours not having
learned from Sir John Falstaff, that "it is no sin for a man
to labour in his vocation." He afterwards became a celebrated
jester in the English court. In more modern times, he
might have found a court in which his virtues would have entitled
him to a higher station. He was dismissed in disgrace
in the year 1737, for his insolent wit, of which the following
may serve as a specimen. One day when Archbishop Laud
was just about to say grace before dinner, Archie begged permission
of the king to perform that office in his stead; and
having received it, said, "All praise to God, and little Laud
to the deil." The exploit detailed in this ballad has been
preserved, with many others of the same kind, by tradition,
and is at this time current in Eskdale.
Or aiblin's Maggie's ta'en the yowe.—P. 464. v. 4.
There is no district wherein witches seem to have maintained
a more extensive, or more recent influence than in Eskdale.
It is not long since the system of bribery, alluded to in the
next stanza, was carried on in that part of the country. The
rowan-tree, or mountain-ash, is well known to be a sure preservative
against the power of witchcraft.
FINIS.
EDINBURGH:
Printed by James Ballantyne & Co.
Transcriber's Notes:
Simple typographical and spelling errors were corrected.
P. 310 added footnote attributing unidentified poem to William Collins.