The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume V Part 12

WILLIAM THOMSON.

William Thomson was born in 1797, in the village of Kennoway, Fifes.h.i.+re.

He has constantly resided in his native place. After obtaining an ordinary education at the parish school, he engaged in the business of a manufacturer. Relinquis.h.i.+ng this occupation, he became a grocer and general merchant; and since 1824, he has held the office of Postmaster.

He composed verses at an early period. In 1825, some of his verses appeared in the _Paisley Advertiser_, and the favour with which they were received induced him to offer some poetical compositions to the _Fife Herald_, a newspaper which had just been established in the capital of his native county. Under the signature of _Theta_, he has since been a regular contributor of verses to that journal. He has likewise contributed articles in prose and poetry to other newspapers and some of the periodicals.

THE MAIDEN TO HER REAPING HOOK.

The soldier waves the s.h.i.+ning sword, the shepherd boy his crook, The boatman plies the splas.h.i.+ng oar, but well I love the hook.

When swift I haste at sunny morn, unto the spreading plain, And view before me, like a sea, the fields of golden grain, And listen to the cheerful sound of harvest's echoing horn, Or join the merry reaper band, that gather in the corn; How sweet the friendly welcoming, how gladsome every look, Ere we begin, with busy hands, to wield the Reaping Hook.

My Reaping Hook! my Reaping Hook! I love thee better far, Than glancing spear and temper'd sword, bright instruments of war; As thee I grasp with willing hand, and feel a reaper's glee, When, waving in the rustling breeze, the ripen'd field I see; Or listen to the harmless jest, the bandsman's cheerful song, The hearty laugh, the rustic mirth, while mingling 'mid the throng; With joy I see the well-fill'd sheaf, and mark each rising stook, As thee I ply with agile arm, my trusty Reaping Hook!

They tell of glorious battle-fields, strew'd thick with heaps of slain!

Alas! the triumphs of the sword bring only grief and pain; But thou, my s.h.i.+ning Reaping Hook, the symbol art of peace, And fill'st a thousand families with smiles and happiness; While conquering warrior's burning brand, amid his gory path, The emblem is of pain and woe, of man's destructive wrath.

Soon therefore may the spear give place unto the shepherd's crook, And the conqueror's flaming sword be turn'd into a Reaping Hook!

ALEXANDER SMART.

Alexander Smart was born at Montrose on the 26th April 1798. His father was a respectable shoemaker in the place. A portion of his school education was conducted under the care of one Norval, a teacher in the Montrose Academy, whose mode of infusing knowledge he has not unjustly satirised in his poem, ent.i.tled "Recollections of Auld Lang Syne."

Norval was a model among the tyrant pedagogues of the past; and as an ill.u.s.tration of Scottish school life fifty years since, we present our author's reminiscences of the despot. "Gruesome in visage and deformed in body, his mind reflected the grim and tortuous aspects of his person.

The recollection of his monstrous cruelties,--his cruel flagellations,--is still unaccountably depressing. One day of horrors I shall never cease to remember. Every Sat.u.r.day he caused the pupils to repeat a prayer which he had composed for their use; and in hearing which he stood over each with a paper ruler, ready, in the event of omission of word or phrase, to strike down the unfortunate offender, who all the while drooped tremblingly before him. On one of these days of extorted prayer, I was found at fault in my grammar lesson, and the offence was deemed worthy of peculiar castigation. The school was dismissed at the usual time, but, along with a few other boys who were to become witnesses of my punishment and disgrace, I was detained in the cla.s.s-room, and dragged to the presence of the tyrant. Despite of his every effort, I resisted being bound to the bench, and flogged after the fas.h.i.+on of the times. So the punishment was commuted into 'palmies.' Horrible commutation! Sixty lashes with leather thongs on my right hand, inflicted with all the severity of a tyrant's wrath, made me scream in the anguish of desperation. My pitiless tormentor, unmoved by the sight of my hand sorely lacerated, and swollen to twice its natural size, threatened to cut out my tongue if I continued to complain; and so saying, laid hold on a pair of scissors, and inflicted a deep cut on my lip. The horrors of the day fortunately emanc.i.p.ated me from the further control of the despot."

At another seminary Smart completed his education. He was now apprenticed to a watchmaker in his native town, his hours of leisure being sedulously devoted to the perusal of the more distinguished British poets. It was his delight to repeat his favourite pa.s.sages in solitary rambles on the sea beach. In 1819, on the completion of his apprentices.h.i.+p, he proceeded to Edinburgh, where, during a period of six months, he wrought at his trade. But the sedentary life of a watchmaker proving injurious to his health, he was led to seek employment in a printing-office. Soon after, he became editor, printer, and publisher of the _Montrose Chronicle_, a newspaper which was originated in his native town, but which proved unsuccessful. He thereafter held an appointment in the office of the _Dundee Courier_. Returning to Edinburgh, he accepted employment as a pressman in a respectable printing-office, and afterwards attained the position of press overseer in one of the most important printing establishments of the city.

In his twentieth year Smart adventured on the composition of verses, but being dissatisfied with his efforts, he consigned them to oblivion. He subsequently renewed his invocation of the Muse, and in 1834 published a small duodecimo volume of poems and songs, ent.i.tled "Rambling Rhymes."

This publication attracted considerable attention, and secured for the author the personal favour of Lord Jeffrey. He also received the commendation of Thomas Campbell, Charles d.i.c.kens, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Charles Mackay, and other literary and poetical celebrities. A new and enlarged edition of his volume appeared in 1845, and was dedicated by permission to Lord Jeffrey.

Smart was one of the princ.i.p.al contributors to "Whistle Binkie." At different periods he has composed excellent prose essays and sketches, some of which have appeared in _Hogg's Instructor_. Those papers ent.i.tled "Burns and his Ancestors," "Leaves from an Autobiography," and "Scenes from the Life of a Sufferer," may be especially enumerated. Of a peculiarly nervous temperament, he has more than once experienced the miseries of mental aberration. Latterly he has completely recovered his health, and living in Edinburgh with his wife and family, he divides his time between the mechanical labours of the printing-office and the more congenial pursuits of literature.

WHEN THE BEE HAS LEFT THE BLOSSOM.

When the bee has left the blossom, And the lark has closed his lay, And the daisy folds its bosom In the dews of gloaming gray; When the virgin rose is bending, Wet with evening's pensive tear, And the purple light is blending With the soft moon rising clear;

Meet me then, my own true maiden, Where the wild flowers shed their bloom And the air with fragrance laden, Breathes around a rich perfume.

With my true love as I wander, Captive led by beauty's power, Thoughts and feelings sweet and tender Hallow that delightful hour.

Give ambition dreams of glory, Give the poet laurell'd fame, Let renown in song and story Consecrate the hero's name; Give the great their pomp and pleasure, Give the courtier place and power; Give to me my bosom's treasure, And the lonely gloaming hour.

OH, LEAVE ME NOT.

Oh, leave me not! the evening hour, So soft, so still, is all our own; The dew descends on tree and flower, They breathe their sweets for thee alone.

Oh, go not yet! the evening star, The rising moon, all bid thee stay; And dying echoes, faint and far, Invite our lingering steps to stray.

Far from the city's noisy din, Beneath the pale moon's trembling light, That lip to press, those smiles to win, Will lend a rapture to the night.

Let fortune fling her favours free To whom she will, I'll ne'er repine: Oh, what is all the world to me, While thus I clasp and call thee mine!

NEVER DESPAIR.

Never despair! when the dark cloud is lowering, The sun, though obscured, never ceases to s.h.i.+ne; Above the black tempest his radiance is pouring While faithless and faint-hearted mortals repine.

The journey of life has its lights and its shadows, And Heaven in its wisdom to each sends a share; Though rough be the road, yet with reason to guide us, And courage to conquer, we'll never despair!

Never despair! when with troubles contending, Make labour and patience a sword and a s.h.i.+eld, And win brighter laurels, with courage unbending, Than ever were gained on the blood-tainted field.

As gay as the lark in the beam of the morning, When young hearts spring upward to do and to dare, The bright star of promise their future adorning, Will light them along, and they'll never despair!

The oak in the tempest grows strong by resistance, The arm at the anvil gains muscular power, And firm self-reliance, that seeks no a.s.sistance, Goes onward, rejoicing, through suns.h.i.+ne and shower; For life is a struggle, to try and to prove us, And true hearts grow stronger by labour and care, While Hope, like a seraph, still whispers above us,-- Look upward and onward, and never despair!

JOHN DUNLOP.

The author of some popular songs, and of four volumes of MS. poetry, John Dunlop is ent.i.tled to a place in the catalogue of Caledonian lyrists. The younger son of Colin Dunlop of Carmyle, he was born in November 1755, in the mansion of the paternal estate, in the parish of Old Monkland, and county of Lanark. Commencing his career as a merchant in Glasgow, he was in 1796 elevated to the Lord Provosts.h.i.+p of the city.

He afterwards accepted the office of Collector of Customs at Borrowstounness, and subsequently occupied the post of Collector at Port-Glasgow. His death took place at Port-Glasgow, in October 1820.

Possessed of fine poetic tastes and an elegant fancy, Dunlop composed verses on every variety of theme, with facility and power. His MS.

volumes, which have been kindly submitted to our inspection by a descendant, and from which we have made some extracts, contain numerous poetical compositions worthy of being presented to the public. A vein of humour pervades the majority of his verses; in the elegiac strain he is eminently plaintive. He is remembered as a man of excellent dispositions and eminent social qualities: he sung with grace the songs of his country, and delighted in humorous conversation. His elder brother was proprietor of Garnkirk, and his son, who bore the same Christian name, became Sheriff of Renfrews.h.i.+re. The latter is ent.i.tled to remembrance as the author of "The History of Fiction."

THE YEAR THAT'S AWA'.

Here's to the year that's awa'!

We will drink it in strong and in sma'; And here's to ilk bonnie young la.s.sie we lo'ed, While swift flew the year that's awa'.

And here's to ilk, &c.