The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume Iii Part 19

FAREWEEL TO ABERFOYLE.

AIR--_"Highland Plaid."_

My tortured bosom long shall feel The pangs o' this last sad fareweel; Far, far to foreign lands I stray, To spend my hours in deepest wae; Fareweel, my dear, my native soil, Fareweel, the braes o' Aberfoyle!

An' fare-ye-weel, my winsome love, Into whatever lands I rove, Thou 'lt claim the deepest, dearest sigh, The warmest tear ere wet my eye; An' when I 'm wan'rin' mony a mile, I 'll mourn for Kate o' Aberfoyle.

When far upon the raging sea, As thunders roar, and lightnings flee, When sweepin' storms the s.h.i.+p a.s.sail, I 'll bless the music o' the gale, An' think, while listenin' a' the while, I hear the storms o' Aberfoyle.

Kitty, my only love, fareweel; What pangs my faithfu' heart will feel, While straying through the Indian groves, Weepin' our woes or early loves; I 'll ne'er mair see my native soil, Fareweel, fareweel, sweet Aberfoyle!

DAVID VEDDER.

David Vedder was the son of a small landowner in the parish of Burness, Orkney, where he was born in 1790. He had the misfortune to lose both his parents ere he had completed his twelfth year, and was led to choose the nautical profession. At the age of twenty-two, he obtained the rank of captain of a vessel, in which he performed several voyages to Greenland. In 1815, he entered the revenue service as first officer of an armed cruiser, and in five years afterwards was raised to the post of tide-surveyor. He first discharged the duties of this office at Montrose, and subsequently at the ports of Kirkcaldy, Dundee, and Leith.

A writer of verses from his boyhood, Vedder experienced agreeable relaxation from his arduous duties as a seaman, in the invocation of the muse. He sung of the grandeur and terrors of the ocean. His earlier compositions were contributed to some of the northern newspapers; but before he attained his majority, his productions found admission into the periodicals. In 1826, he published "The Covenanter's Communion, and other Poems," a work which was very favourably received. His reputation as a poet was extended by the publication, in 1832, of a second volume, under the t.i.tle of "Orcadian Sketches." This work, a _melange_ of prose and poetry, contains some of his best compositions in verse; and several of the prose sketches are remarkable for fine and forcible description.

In 1839, he edited the "Poetical Remains of Robert Fraser," prefaced with an interesting memoir.

Immediately on the death of Sir Walter Scott, Vedder published a memoir of that ill.u.s.trious person, which commanded a ready and wide circulation. In 1842, he gave to the world an edition of his collected poems, in an elegant duodecimo volume. In 1848, he supplied the letterpress for a splendid volume, ent.i.tled "Lays and Lithographs,"

published by his son-in-law, Mr Frederick Schenck of Edinburgh, the distinguished lithographer. His last work was a new English version of the quaint old story of "Reynard the Fox," which was published with elegant ill.u.s.trations. To many of the more popular magazines and serials he was in the habit of contributing; articles from his pen adorned the pages of _Constable's Edinburgh Magazine_, the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_, the _Edinburgh Literary Gazette_, the _Christian Herald_, _Tait's Magazine_, and _Chambers's Journal_. He wrote the letterpress for Geikie's volume of "Etchings," and furnished songs for George Thomson's "Musical Miscellany," Blackie's "Book of Scottish Song," and Robertson's "Whistlebinkie." At the time of his death, he was engaged in the preparation of a ballad on the subject of the persecutions of the Covenanters. In 1852, he was placed upon the retired list of revenue officers, and thereafter established his residence in Edinburgh. He died at Newington, in that city, on the 11th February 1854, in his 64th year.

His remains were interred in the Southern Cemetery.

Considerably above the middle height, Vedder was otherwise of ma.s.sive proportions, while his full open countenance was much bronzed by exposure to the weather. Of beneficent dispositions and social habits, he enjoyed the friends.h.i.+p of many of his gifted contemporaries.

Thoroughly earnest, his writings partake of the bold and straightforward nature of his character. Some of his prose productions are admirable specimens of vigorous composition; and his poetry, if not characterised by uniformity of power, never descends into weakness. Triumphant in humour, he is eminently a master of the plaintive; his tender pieces breathe a deep-toned cadence, and his sacred lyrics are replete with devotional fervour. His Norse ballads are resonant with the echoes of his birth-land, and his songs are to be remarked for their deep pathos and genuine simplicity.

JEANIE'S WELCOME HAME.

Let wrapt musicians strike the lyre, While plaudits shake the vaulted fane; Let warriors rush through flood and fire, A never-dying name to gain; Let bards, on fancy's fervid wing, Pursue some high or holy theme: Be 't mine, in simple strains, to sing My darling Jeanie 's welcome hame!

Sweet is the morn of flowery May, When incense breathes from heath and wold-- When laverocks hymn the matin lay, And mountain peaks are bathed in gold-- And swallows, frae some foreign strand, Are wheeling o'er the winding stream; But sweeter to extend my hand, And bid my Jeanie welcome hame!

Poor collie, our auld-farrant dog, Will bark wi' joy whene'er she comes; And baudrons, on the ingle rug, Will blithely churm at "auld gray-thrums."

The mavis, frae our apple-tree, Shall warble forth a joyous strain; The blackbird's mellow minstrelsy Shall welcome Jeanie hame again!

Like dew-drops on a fading rose, Maternal tears shall start for thee, And low-breathed blessings rise like those Which soothed thy slumb'ring infancy.

Come to my arms, my timid dove!

I 'll kiss thy beauteous brow once more; The fountain of thy father's love Is welling all its banks out o'er!

I NEITHER GOT PROMISE OF SILLER.

AIR--_"Todlin' hame."_

I neither got promise of siller nor land With the bonnie wee darling who gave me her hand; But I got a kind heart with my sweet blus.h.i.+ng bride, And that 's proved the bliss of my ain fireside.

My ain fireside, my dear fireside, There 's happiness aye at my ain fireside!

Ambition once pointed my view towards rank, To meadows and manors, and gold in the bank: 'Twas but for an hour; and I cherish with pride My sweet lovely flower at my ain fireside.

My ain fireside, my happy fireside, My Jeanie 's the charm of my ain fireside!

Her accents are music; there 's grace in her air; And purity reigns in her bosom so fair; She 's lovelier now than in maidenly pride, Though she 's long been the joy of my ain fireside.

My ain fireside, my happy fireside, There 's harmony still at my ain fireside!

Let the minions of fortune and fas.h.i.+on go roam, I 'm content with the sweet, simple pleasures of home; Though their wine, wit, and humour flow like a spring-tide, What are these to the bliss of my dear fireside?

My ain fireside, my cheerie fireside, There are pleasures untold at my ain fireside!

THERE IS A PANG FOR EVERY HEART.

AIR--_"Gramachree."_

There is a pang for every heart, A tear for every eye; There is a knell for every ear, For every breast a sigh.

There 's anguish in the happiest state, Humanity can prove; But oh! the torture of the soul Is unrequited love!

The reptile haunts the sweetest bower, The rose blooms on the thorn; There 's poison in the fairest flower That greets the opening morn.

The hemlock and the night-shade spring In garden and in grove; But oh! the upas of the soul Is unrequited love!

Ah! lady, thine inconstancy Hath made my peace depart; The unwonted coldness of thine eye Hath froze thy lover's heart.

Yet with the fibres of that heart Thine image dear is wove; Nor can they sever till I die Of unrequited love!

THE FIRST OF MAY.

AIR--_"The Braes of Balquhidder."_

Now the beams of May morn On the mountains are streaming, And the dews on the corn Are like diamond-drops gleaming; And the birds from the bowers Are in gladness ascending; And the breath of sweet flowers With the zephyrs is blending.

And the rose-linnet's thrill, Overflowing with gladness, And the wood-pigeon's bill, Though their notes seem of sadness; And the jessamine rich Its soft tendrils is shooting, From pear and from peach The bright blossoms are sprouting.