The pearl and the rose are the emblems of Mary,
The Maid of Glenconnel-once lovely and gay,
A false lover woo'd her-ye damsels, be wary—

Now scath'd is the blossom-now dimm'd is the ray.

You have seen her, when morn brightly dawn'd on the mountain,
Trip blithely along, singing sweet to the gale,

At noon, with her lambs, by the side of yon fountain,
Or wending, at eve, to her home in the vale.

With the flowers of the willow-tree blent in her tresses,
Now, woe-worn and pale, in the glen she is seen,
Bewailing the cause of her rueful distresses,—
How fondly he vow'd,-and how false he has been.

CXXXVII.

THE MERMAID *.

To

yon fause stream, that near the sea, Hides monie a shelve and plum †, And rives wi' fearfu' din the stanes,

A witless knicht did come.

* This beautiful piece of Poetry was recovered from the recitation of a lady, who heard it sung by the servants in her father's family, above fifty years

+ Plum, a deep hole in the river.

The day shines clear,-far in he's gane,
Whar shells are silver bricht,

Fishes war louping a' around,

And sparkling to the licht:

When as he lav'd, sounds cam sae sweet,

Frae ilka rock and tree,

The brief was out, 'twas him it doom'd
The Mermaid's face to see †.

ago. It is believed, notwithstanding some modern expressions, to be very ancient. The lady mentions that it was very popular on the Carrick coast of Ayrshire. It bears a striking resemblance to a fragment written by Mr Pinkerton, and to be found in his collection, beginning thus,

Whar yon clear burn, frae down the loch,

Rins saftlie to the sea,

There latelie bath'd, in hete o' nune,

A squire of valour hie,&c.

There is another piece to be found in Jamieson's Collection of Popular Ballads and Songs, called the "Waterwoman" a translation from the German of Goethe, exactly similar in the story, and nearly so in description with the "Mermaid." We do not know at what period the "Waterwoman" first made its appearance; but should be inclined to suppose, from internal evidence, that it was not imitated from "Pinkerton's fragment," which, among other things, wants the catastrophe.

*Brief, literally a writ, here a sentence. In the account of Gourie's Conspiracy, appended to Gall's "Gabions," it is used in the sense of "irresistible spell."

The Mermaid's face to see. It appears that Mermaids could injure even by a look; and on this circumstance turns the ballad of " Clerk Colvin,"

$ 3

Frae 'neath a rock, sune, sune she rase,

And statelie on she swam,

Stopt in the midst, and beck'd and sang
To him to stretch his hand,

Gowden glist the yellow links,

That round her neck she'd twine;
Her een was o' the skyie blue,
Her lips did mock the wine.

The smile upon her bonnie cheek,
Was sweeter than the bee;
Her voice excell'd the birdie's sang,

Upon the birchen tree.

Sae couthie, couthie† did she look,
And meikle had she fleech'd ;
Out shot his hand, alas, alas!

Fast in the swirl¶he screech'd.

* Becked and sang, becked signifies beckoned.-Mermaids too, like other syrens of antiquity, were supposed to have the power of fascination by sing ing; thus Shakespeare:

"O train me not, sweet Mermaid, with thy song,

To drown me in my sister's flood of tears."

+ Couthie, Kindly.

Fleeched, Flattered.

Shot, Stretched.

Swir Whirlpool.

Comedy of Errors.

The Mermaid leuch, her brief was gane,
And kelpie's + blast was blawing,
Fu' low she duked, ne'er raise again,
For deep, deep was she fawing.

Aboon the stream his wraith ‡ was seen,
Warlocks § tirl❜d lang at gloamin;

That e'en was coarse ¶, the blast blew hoarse,
Ere lang the waves war foamin'.

CXXXVIII.

THE TRUE MODEL.

My friend is the man I would copy thro' life,
He harbours no envy, he causes no strife;
No murmurs escape him, tho' fortune bears hard,
Content is his portion, and peace his reward.

*Leuch, Laugh'd.

Kelpie, The Water Spirit.

Wraith. The spectral appearance of a person about to die, or recently dead.

uncover;

Warlocks tirl'd lang at gloamin'.-Warlock's, Wizard's,-To tirl, is to this line is obscure. The meaning may perhaps be, that the Warlocks took the roofs off many houses; an occurrence by no means uncommon when Scotland was infested by those sons of darkness.-Tirl also $gnifies to knock gently.

Course, tempestuous, rough,

Still happy in his station,
He minds his occupation,

Nor heads the snares,

Nor knows the cares,
Which vice and folly bring.

Daily working, wearily,

Nightly singing, cheerily.

Dear to him his wife, his home, his country, and his king.

His heart is enlarg'd, tho' his fortune is scant,

He lessens his little for others that want,

Tho' his children's dear claims, on his industry press,
He has something to spare for the child of distress.
He seeks no idle squabble,

He joins no thoughtless rabble,
To clear his way,

From day to day,

His honest views extend;

When he speaks, 'tis verily,

When he smiles, 'tis merrily.

Dear to him his sport, his toil, his honour, and his friend.

How charming to find in his humble retreat,

That bliss so much sought, so unknown to the great,

The wife only anxious her fondness to prove;

The playful endearments of infantine love.

Relaxing from his labours

Amid his welcome neighbours,

With plain regale,

With jest and tale,