The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume Vi Part 30

THE HILLS OF THE HEATHER.

Give the swains of Italia 'Mong myrtles to rove, Give the proud, sullen Spaniard His bright orange grove; Give gold-sanded streams To the sons of Chili, But, oh! give the hills Of the heather to me.

The hills where the hunter Oft soundeth his horn, Where sweetest the skylark Awakens the morn; The gray cliff, the blue lake, The stream's das.h.i.+ng glee, Endear the red hills Of the heather to me.

There Health, rosy virgin, For ever doth dwell; There Love fondly whispers To Beauty his tale; There Freedom's own darling!

The Gael, lives free, Then, oh! give the hills Of the heather to me.

JAMES D. BURNS.

One of the most interesting sacred poets of the present age, James D.

Burns, was born at Edinburgh on the 18th February 1823. A pupil of Heriot's Hospital, he became a student in the University of Edinburgh, where he took the degree of Master of Arts, and completed, with marked distinction, a course of theology. Receiving license as a probationer of the Free Church, he was in 1845 ordained to the ministry at Dunblane.

Having resigned his charge from bad health in 1848, he proceeded to Madeira, where he undertook the pastoral superintendence of a Presbyterian congregation. He subsequently travelled in Spain and Italy.

In 1854 he published "The Vision of Prophecy, and other Poems," a collection of his poetical compositions, of which the greater number are of a scriptural or sacred character. Mr Burns is now minister of a Presbyterian church at Hampstead, Middles.e.x.

RISE, LITTLE STAR!

Rise, little star!

O'er the dusky hill,-- See the bright course open Thou hast to fulfil.

Climb, little star!

Higher still and higher.

With a silent swiftness And a pulse of fire.

Stand, little star!

On the peak of heaven; But for one brief moment Is the triumph given.

Sink, little star!

Yet make heaven bright, Even while thou art sinking, With thy gentle light.

Set, little star!

Gladly fade and die, With the blush of morning Coming up the sky.

Each little star Crieth, Life, O man!

Should have one clear purpose s.h.i.+ning round its span.

THOUGH LONG THE WANDERER MAY DEPART.

Though long the wanderer may depart, And far his footsteps roam, He clasps the closer to his heart The image of his home.

To that loved land, where'er he goes, His tend'rest thoughts are cast, And dearer still through absence grows The memory of the past.

Though nature on another sh.o.r.e Her softest smile may wear, The vales, the hills, he loved before To him are far more fair.

The heavens that met his childhood's eye, All clouded though they be, Seem brighter than the sunniest sky Of climes beyond the sea.

So Faith, a stranger on the earth, Still turns its eye above; The child of an immortal birth Seeks more than mortal love.

The scenes of earth, though very fair, Want home's endearing spell; And all his heart and hope are where His G.o.d and Saviour dwell.

He may behold them dimly here, And see them as not nigh, But all he loves will yet appear Unclouded to his eye.

To that fair city, now so far, Rejoicing he will come, A better light than Bethlehem's star Guides every wanderer home.

GEORGE HENDERSON.

George Henderson was born on the 5th May 1800, in the parish of Bunkle and county of Berwick. With a rudimentary education obtained at different schools, he entered, in his nineteenth year, the University of Edinburgh. After the close of his second session, he temporarily abandoned literary pursuits. Resolving to adopt the medical profession, he subsequently resumed attendance at the University. In 1829 he obtained his diploma from the Royal College of Surgeons. He has since engaged in medical practice in the village of Chirnside, Berwicks.h.i.+re.

By the cultivation of polite literature, Mr Henderson has experienced relaxation from the active duties of his profession. In 1856 he published a volume of curious researches, ent.i.tled "The Popular Rhymes, &c., of the County of Berwick." He is understood to be preparing for the press a volume of his poetical compositions, to be ent.i.tled "Lays and Legends of the Merse."

I CANNA LEAVE MY NATIVE LAND.

I canna leave my native land, I canna sail the sea; The trees around my cottage stand, The gowans deck the lea; The primrose blooms beside the burn, The wild flower on the brae; To leave them a' my heart wad mourn, I canna gang away.

The dew-draps gem the clover leaves, The laverock sings aboon, The blae-berry bush wi' spring revives, And it will blossom soon; I canna leave the bonnie brae Where waves the new-sprung fern, Where oft I 've pa.s.s'd the summer's day, And look'd upon the burn.

I canna leave the green-croft well, Its waters cool and clear, For oft its pleasant murmurs dwell Like music in mine ear; The elder bush, the garden bower, Where robin sings sae sweet, The auld gray dike, the bee-house tower, The cosie garden seat.

HORATIUS BONAR, D.D.

One of the most esteemed of living Scottish theological writers, Horatius Bonar, is likewise favourably known as a sacred lyric poet. He is a native of Edinburgh, where his father, the late James Bonar, Esq., a man of eminent piety and accomplished scholars.h.i.+p, held the office of a Solicitor of Excise. His ancestors for several successive generations were ministers of the Church of Scotland. He was educated at the High School and the University of his native city. After engaging for some time in missionary labour at Leith, he was ordained to the ministry at Kelso in November 1837, and has since prosecuted his pastoral duties in that place. His first literary efforts appeared in the shape of religious tracts, now published in a volume under the t.i.tle of "The Kelso Tracts." He next published the work by which he has become most widely known, "The Night of Weeping," which was followed by other two works of the same series, "The Morning of Joy," and "The Eternal Day."

Of his subsequent publications, the more conspicuous are, "Prophetical Landmarks," "The Coming and the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus," "A Stranger Here," "Man; his Religion and his World," "The Story of Grace," "The Blood of the Cross," and "The Desert of Sinai, or Notes of a Tour from Cairo to Beersheba." Dr Bonar was for many years editor of the _Presbyterian Review_; he now edits _The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy_.

The following spiritual songs, well adapted for music, are from his volume ent.i.tled "Hymns of Faith and Hope."