The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume Ii Part 30

Fareweel, ye streams sae dear to me, My bonnie Clouden, Kith, and Dee; Ye burns that row sae bonnily, Your siller waves nae mair I 'll see.

Yet though frae your green banks I 'm driven, My saul away could ne'er be riven; For still she lifts her e'en to heaven, An' sighs to be again wi' thee.

Ye canty bards ayont the Tweed, Your skins wi' claes o' tartan cleed, An' lilt alang the verdant mead, Or blithely on your whistles blaw, An' sing auld Scotia's barns an ha's, Her bourtree d.y.k.es an mossy wa's, Her faulds, her bughts, an' birken shaws, Whare love an' freedom sweeten a'.

Sing o' her carles teuch an' auld, Her carlines grim that flyte an' scauld, Her wabsters blithe, an' souters bauld, Her flocks an' herds sae fair to see.

Sing o' her mountains bleak an high; Her fords, whare neigh'rin' kelpies ply; Her glens, the haunts o' rural joy; Her la.s.ses lilting o'er the lea.

To you the darling theme belangs, That frae my heart exulting spangs; Oh, mind, amang your bonnie sangs, The lads that bled for liberty.

Think o' our auld forbears o' yore, Wha dyed the muir wi' hostile gore; Wha slavery's bands indignant tore, An' bravely fell for you an' me.

My gallant brithers, brave an' bauld, Wha haud the pleugh, or wake the fauld, Until your dearest bluid rin cauld, Aye true unto your country be.

Wi' daring look her dirk she drew, An' coost a mither's e'e on you; Then let na ony spulzien crew Her dear-bought freedom wrest frae thee.

JOHN STRUTHERS.

John Struthers, whose name is familiar as the author of "The Poor Man's Sabbath," was born on the 18th July 1776, in the parish of East Kilbride, Lanarks.h.i.+re. His parents were of the humbler rank, and were unable to send him to school; but his mother, a woman of superior intelligence, was unremitting in her efforts to teach him at home. She was aided in her good work by a benevolent lady of the neighbourhood, who, interested by the boy's precocity, often sent for him to read to her. This kind-hearted individual was Mrs Baillie, widow of the Rev. Dr Baillie of Hamilton, who was then resident at Longcalderwood, and whose celebrated daughter, Joanna Baillie, afterwards took a warm interest in the fame and fortunes of her mother's _protege_. From the age of eight to fourteen, young Struthers was engaged as a cowherd and in general work about a farm; he then apprenticed himself to a shoemaker. On the completion of his indenture, he practised his craft several years in his native village till September 1801, when he sought a wider field of business in Glasgow. In 1804, he produced his first and most celebrated poem, "The Poor Man's Sabbath," which, printed at his own risk, was well received, and rapidly pa.s.sed through two editions. On the recommendation of Sir Walter Scott, to whom the poem was made known by Joanna Baillie, Constable published a third edition in 1808, handing the author thirty pounds for the copyright. Actively employed in his trade, Struthers continued to devote his leisure hours to composition. In 1816 he published a pamphlet "On the State of the Labouring Poor." A more ambitious literary effort was carried out in 1819; he edited a collection of the national songs, which was published at Glasgow, under the t.i.tle of "The Harp of Caledonia," in three vols. 18mo. To this work Joanna Baillie, Mrs John Hunter, and Mr William Smyth of Cambridge contributed songs, while Scott and others permitted the re-publication of such of their lyrics as the author chose to select.

Struthers married early in life. About the year 1818 his wife and two of his children were s.n.a.t.c.hed from him by death, and these bereavements so affected him, as to render him unable to prosecute his labours as a tradesman. He now procured employment as a corrector of the press, in the printing-office of Khull, Blackie, & Co. During his connexion with this establishment he a.s.sisted in preparing an edition of "Wodrow's History," and produced a "History of Scotland" from the political Union in 1707 to the year 1827, the date of its publication. These works--the latter extending to two octavo volumes--were published by his employers.

On a dissolution of their co-partners.h.i.+p, in 1827, Struthers was thrown out of employment till his appointment, in 1832, to the Keepers.h.i.+p of Stirling's Library, a respectable inst.i.tution in Glasgow. This situation, which yielded him a salary of about 50 a-year, he retained till 1847, when he was led to tender his resignation. In his seventy-first year he returned to his original trade, after being thirty years occupied with literary concerns. He died suddenly on the 30th July 1853, at the advanced age of seventy-seven.

A man of strong intellect and vigorous imagination, John Struthers was industrious in his trade, and persevering as an author, yet he failed to obtain a competency for the winter of life; his wants, however, were few, and he never sought to complain. Inheriting pious dispositions from his parents, he excelled in familiarity with the text of Scripture, and held strong opinions on the subject of morality. Educated in the communion of the Original Secession Church, he afterwards joined the Establishment, and ultimately retired from it at the Disruption in 1843.

He was a zealous member of the Free Church, and being admitted to the elders.h.i.+p, was on two occasions sent as a representative to the General a.s.sembly of that body. An enthusiast respecting the beauties of external nature, he was in the habit of undertaking lengthened pedestrian excursions into the country, and took especial delight in rambling by the sea-sh.o.r.e, or climbing the mountain-tops. His person was tall and slight, though abundantly muscular, and capable of undergoing the toil of extended journeys. Three times married, he left a widow, who has lately emigrated to America; of his children two sons and two daughters survive.

Besides the works already enumerated, Struthers was the author of other compositions, both in prose and verse. He wrote an octavo pamphlet of 96 pages in favour of National Church Establishments; contributed memoirs of James Hogg, minister of Carnock, and Princ.i.p.al Robertson to the _Christian Instructor_, and prepared various lives of deceased worthies, which were included in the "Ill.u.s.trious and Distinguished Scotsmen,"

edited by Mr Robert Chambers. At the period of his death, he was engaged in preparing a continuation of his "History of Scotland," to the era of the Disruption; he also meditated the publication of a volume of essays.

His poetical works, which appeared at various intervals, were re-published in 1850, in two duodecimo volumes, with an interesting autobiographical sketch. Of his poems those most deserving of notice, next to the "Sabbath," are "The House of Mourning, or the Peasant's Death," and "The Plough," both evincing grave and elevated sentiment, expressed in correct poetical language. The following songs are favourable specimens of his lyrical compositions.

ADMIRING NATURE'S SIMPLE CHARMS.

TUNE--_"Gramachre."_

Admiring Nature's simple charms, I left my humble home, Awhile my country's peaceful plains With pilgrim step to roam.

I mark'd the leafy summer wave On flowing Irvine's side, But richer far 's the robe she wears Within the vale of Clyde.

I roam'd the braes o' bonnie Doon, The winding banks o' Ayr, Where flutters many a small bird gay, Blooms many a flow'ret fair.

But dearer far to me the stem That once was Calder's pride, And blossoms now the fairest flower Within the vale of Clyde.

Avaunt, thou life-repressing north, Ye withering east winds too; But come, thou all-reviving west, Breathe soft thy genial dew.

Till at the last, in peaceful age, This lovely flow'ret shed Its last green leaf upon my grave, Within the vale of Clyde.

OH, BONNIE BUDS YON BIRCHEN TREE.

TUNE--_"The mill, mill, O."_

Oh, bonnie buds yon birchen tree, The western breeze perfuming; And softly smiles yon sunny brae, Wi' gowans gaily blooming.

But sweeter than yon birchen tree, Or gowans gaily blooming, Is she, in blus.h.i.+ng modesty, Wha meets me there at gloaming.

Oh, happy, happy there yestreen, In mutual transport ranging, Among these lovely scenes, unseen, Our vows of love exchanging.

The moon, with clear, unclouded face, Seem'd bending to behold us; And breathing birks, with soft embrace, Most kindly to enfold us.

We bade each tree record our vows, And each surrounding mountain, With every star on high that glows From light's o'erflowing fountain.

But gloaming gray bedims the vale, On day's bright beam encroaching; With rapture once again I hail The trysting hour approaching.

RICHARD GALL.

Richard Gall was born in December 1776, at Linkhouse, near Dunbar. His father was a notary; but, being in poor circ.u.mstances, he apprenticed his son, in his eleventh year, to a relative, who followed the conjoined business of a builder and house-carpenter. The drudgery of heavy manual labour proved very uncongenial; and the apprentice suddenly took his departure, walking a long distance to Edinburgh, whither his parents had removed their residence. He now selected the profession of a printer, and entered on an indenture to Mr David Ramsay of the _Edinburgh Evening Courant_. At the close of his apprentices.h.i.+p, he became Mr Ramsay's travelling clerk.

In the ordinary branches of education, young Gall had been instructed in a school at Haddington; he took lessons in the more advanced departments from a private tutor during his apprentices.h.i.+p. He wrote verses from his youth, and several of his songs became popular, and were set to music.

His poetical talents attracted the attention of Robert Burns and Hector Macneill, both of whom cherished his friends.h.i.+p,--the former becoming his correspondent. He also shared the intimacy of Thomas Campbell, and of Dr Alexander Murray, the distinguished philologist.

His promising career was brief; an abscess broke out in his breast, which medical skill could not subdue. After a lingering illness, he died on the 10th of May 1801, in his twenty-fifth year. He had joined a Highland volunteer regiment; and his remains were accompanied by his companions-in-arms to the Calton burial-ground, and there interred with military honours.

Possessed of a lively and vigorous fancy, a generous warmth of temperament, and feelings of extreme sensibility, Richard Gall gave promise of adorning the poetical literature of his country. Patriotism and the beauties of external nature were the favourite subjects of his muse, which, as if premonished of his early fate, loved to sing in plaintive strains. Gall occasionally lacks power, but is always pleasing; in his songs (two of which have frequently been a.s.signed to Burns) he is uniformly graceful. He loved poetry with the ardour of an enthusiast; during his last illness he inscribed verses with a pencil, when no longer able to wield the pen. He was thoroughly devoid of personal vanity, and sought to advance the poetical reputation of his country rather than his own. In his lifetime, his pieces were printed separately; a selection of his poems and songs, with a memoir by Alexander Balfour, was published in 1819.

HOW SWEET IS THE SCENE.

How sweet is the scene at the waking o' morning!

How fair ilka object that lives in the view!

Dame Nature the valley an' hillock adorning, The wild-rose an' blue-bell yet wet wi' the dew.

How sweet in the morning o' life is my Anna!

Her smiles like the sunbeam that glints on the lea; To wander an' leave the dear la.s.sie, I canna; Frae Truth, Love, an' Beauty, I never can flee.

O lang hae I lo'ed her, and lo'ed her fu' dearly, For saft is the smile o' her bonny sweet mou'; An' aft hae I read in her e'en, glancing clearly, A language that bade me be constant an' true.

Then ithers may doat on their gowd an' their treasure; For pelf, silly pelf, they may brave the rude sea; To lo'e my sweet la.s.sie, be mine the dear pleasure; Wi' her let me live, an' wi' her let me die.