GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN, 
 
 JOHN jlAMSAYj 
 
 KILMARNOCK, AYRSHIRE, 
 AUTHOR OF " WOODNOTES OF A WANDERER. 
 
 THIRD THOUSAND 
 
 By Druid's cairn, by martyr's atane, 
 By ruin grey, through churchyard lane. 
 By river famed, o'er battle-plain, 
 
 The wild, the dread, 
 The fair entwined with deathless strain. 
 
 Twas his to tread. 
 
 KILMARNOCK : 
 M'KIE & D REN NAN, 2 KING STREET.
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 JOHN RAMSAY, the subject of the following brief life-sketch, 
 first drew the breath of life in " Auld Killie," in the year 1802. 
 
 Whether or not the " genius of misfortune " presided, as he 
 himself says it did, at his birth, we do not pretend to say. Surely 
 not. Misfortunes come to us much of our ownmaking, and notfrom 
 the accident of our birth or anything connected therewith. And 
 though John has passed through not a few misfortunes, probably 
 were cause and effect traced thoroughly, in these the genius re- 
 ferred to, would be found to have had little share in them. His 
 parents were in humble circumstances, yet possessed of those 
 sterling qualities which make the Scotch peasantry take such ahigh 
 position among the inhabitants of Britain, and those of Ayrshire 
 so high among Scotchmen. His father especially, was a man of 
 superior mental and moral powers, and exercised, by his industry, 
 and sterling integrity, a great influence over John's mind and 
 character. He was one of the shrewdest of business men, had 
 great forethought in all trading matters, and could discern the 
 signs of the times equally with any one. In the early part of his
 
 ir. LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 married life he commenced dairyman, and subsequently went into 
 the ryegrass seed trade, in which he was very successful, and in 
 which he continued till his death, which took place in 1835. 
 
 The recollection of both parents, as our Author himself says, 
 is yet as clear, fresh, and potent as when he was a youth. At five 
 years of age he was sent to school, but the teacher was naught, 
 and little progress was made during the two years he was under 
 the care of his first " dominie." He was then removed to another 
 where he remained just long enough to read the Bible and 
 " Barrie," write a little, and cypher less. That the poetic feeling 
 in our author was early brought into play may be gathered from 
 the impressions made on his mind by reading and hearing read, 
 some of the grand old prophets in the grand old Book, and the 
 beautiful imagery and language of that exquisite pastoral work, the 
 Book of Job. The fact also of living near Kilmarnock House, 
 then differently situated from what it is now, helped to engender 
 this poetic feeling. The influence of his mother with her store 
 of ancient " Ballads " contributed its mite to the same end. 
 
 Possibly that which exercised the greatest power over his 
 youthful intellect was the regular sojourn he made at all holiday 
 seasons, and during school vacations, at the farm of Guililand, 
 near Dundonald, occupied by his maternal grandfather. The 
 natural beauty of the locality, heightened by the presence of that 
 
 "Ancient pile ! fast hastening to decay," 
 
 once the residence, and a favourite one, of Royalty itself, made a 
 deep and lasting impression on his youthful and plastic mind. 
 It never was, and never will be effaced. There is a charm about 
 the old castle on the hill, the lovely wood in the back ground, 
 and the great ocean in the near distance, that makes itself felt
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. V. 
 
 on any mind, and would more so on one in which the elements 
 of poesy were lying dormant. Then, not far off was the ancient 
 Roman Camp, from which a magnificent view of the entire valley 
 of the Irvine could, any clear day, be had, and which of itself 
 was enough to kindle into life and activity the nascent germs of 
 the genius of poetry. There is little wonder that these scenes 
 and their remembrance were to him : 
 
 "A soothing vesper song of peace and rest, 
 So sweet, so holy, that it seemed to bear 
 A native burden to my grandsire's prayer." 
 
 Besides, his residence there had other uses than merely to lay up 
 a store of health for future use, and afford a dreamy sort of delight 
 to the young mind. His grandfather had a vast stock of anecdote 
 of " the days of old " days when law was less powerful than now, 
 and when, along nearly the whole of the Ayrshire coast, 
 "Smuggling" was followed as a matter of course. These stories 
 were the fruit of personal experience in the trade, as well as of 
 the recollection of tales told him by his ancestors. By the 
 " ingle neuk" on winter nights his grandfather used to repeat 
 these old stories, and one ear at least drank them in greedily 
 that of young John. These were varied by tales of "Wallace 
 Wight," "the Covenanters," "the year '45," or as it was termed, 
 the Hielandman's year, of " Burns, the Bard Ploughman," and of 
 " fairies and warlocks, " all told in "guid braid lalland," and fixed 
 themselves indelibly on his memory. Hence they became not only 
 mental food on which to feed for the time being, but a store-house 
 whence to draw thoughts and incidents to weave into melodious 
 verse. These were to Ramsay the happy days of life ; pure and 
 delicious as the days of youth brought up under such influences 
 and charms mnst be. Their fragrance, he himself has often said
 
 VI. LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 to us, conies yet floating down the stream of past time, filling his 
 soul with peaceful quietness, and quiet peace. We believe that 
 many of his finest pieces and most expressive lines drew their 
 inspiration from these early scenes and days. To us they bear 
 internal evidence of having done so. 
 
 But these palmy days could not " last for aye." At the age of 
 ten he left school, having but scant store of book lore, and became 
 draw-boy to his father, who was then a carpet weaver. In those 
 days Thomas Morton had not invented the " barrel machine," and 
 the jacquard was not thought to be applicable to carpet weaving. 
 So the pattern was thrown up by pulling whorles which lifted cer- 
 tain threads. This was John's work for five years, when he was 
 apprenticed to the same trade as his father. He thus, like many 
 others, was early launched into the great ' ' battle of life, " a battle 
 he has uncompromisingly fought, with more or less success, ever 
 since. In those days he had little knowledge of and acquaintance 
 with books, as his father's library was of the smallest, and of a 
 peculiarly religious kind, as in fact were the libraries of all such 
 of his class. After he began his trade he formed friendships with 
 several young men of his own age, and with kindred likings. 
 They and he began a course of self education, learned grammar, 
 a smattering of Latin, and how to express their thoughts in 
 writing. This was of the greatest use to Ramsay, and some of 
 the friendships then made continue to the present day ; others 
 have been broken off by time, distance, and death. 
 
 When plying the shuttle as other poets before him had done, 
 Ramsay's poetic powers began to develop themselves. His first 
 published attempt at versification was in an Ayr periodical 
 edited by Mr. Archibald Crawford, author of "Tales of my
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. Vll. 
 
 Grandmother." This partook of the Epigrammatic character, 
 and was on a sailor at a funeral. His next was of a more pre- 
 tentious nature, and may yet be read in his works. It bears the 
 title, "The Loudoun Campaign." This last piece established 
 his fame locally, and several hundred copies of it were sold in 
 "Auld Killie." Then followed a political effusion, caused by 
 witnessing the drinking of the King's health on the balcony at 
 the front of the Council-House, (and which hps long ago been 
 removed.) Next followed "Lines to Eliza," which appeared in 
 the Edinburgh Literary Gazette, edited by Henry Glassford Bell, 
 Esq., who highly recommended the piece, and pronounced the 
 writer of it a poet. About the same time he wrote an impromptu 
 couplet of verses on a Subscription Ball of his fellow-workmen. 
 In consequence of the pawky humour running through the lines, 
 they may be given here entire. This little piece also appeared in 
 the Literary Gazette, and was praised by the editor. For an 
 introduction to this Journal, we believe that the Author was 
 indebted to Mr. Robert Chambers. The following are the verses 
 referred to : 
 
 " Old Plato once met Father Jove, 
 And asked the self -existent, 
 'What was on earth, in heaven above, 
 Of all most inconsistent. ' 
 
 ' ' Jove heard the question, gave a nod, 
 To Heaven's high towers advancing, 
 Unveiled this world -'Now,' says the god, 
 ' D'ye see yon weavers dancing.' " 
 
 So, gradually and more widely known did Bainsay become as a 
 writer of clever, satirical, and humourous poetical Sketches, 
 But he did not appear before the world as a full-fledged author 
 and poet till years afterwards.
 
 viii. LIFE OF THE_AUTHOK. 
 
 In 1828 Ramsay married, a circumstance which had the strangest 
 and most weird-like influence on his life and character afterwards, 
 and which even yet has an influence on him. The marriage 
 did not prove a happy one. Incompatibility of thought, temper, 
 tastes, and feelings, soon brought about an estrangement between , 
 the pair, though it took years to come to an open rupture. 
 
 Into the melancholy history of this portion of our Author's 
 life, we have no desire to enter, the more so that both husband 
 and wife are still alive. It is rather a remarkable coincidence 
 in connection with it, that his father was strongly opposed to the 
 match, and literally predicted the actual outcome of the incon- 
 gruous union. One thing is certain that the marriage and its 
 results gave a twist to the character and life of Ramsay which 
 has never since been thoroughly rectified. A morbid sensitiveness 
 as to persons and things was one of these results, and which we 
 fancy may be seen scintillating through more than one of his 
 pieces like the lurid lightning through the murky clouds of a 
 thunder sky. Another and sadder result was, that it literally 
 made him a " wanderer," having neither home nor household 
 hearth, whose influences are so beneficial even to the best of men. 
 It is most creditable to our Author that he has come through the 
 fiery ordeal referred to with honour to himself and all whom he 
 knew. His conduct has been marked by prudent carefulness, and 
 careful prudence. Seeking to owe no man anything but respect 
 and love, he has quietly and unostentatiously journeyed onward 
 through the rugged ups and downs of a wandering life. 
 
 During his early married life, Ramsay, to better his position 
 and condition, began business as a grocer, provision merchant, 
 fiesher, and spirit dealer. But from some cause or other he
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. IX. 
 
 was unsuccessful in his venture, even though backed by great 
 industry and perseverance. The genius of misfortune mayhap 
 had something to do with this. 
 
 In 1854 he was appointed Officer in Edinburgh to the Scottish 
 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which situation 
 he held upwards of four years, much to the satisfaction both of 
 the Directors and others who took an interest in the Society 
 He resigned, however, in 1858, having been appointed Superin- 
 tendent of Slaughter Houses by a large majority of the Town 
 Council indeed there were but two dissenting voices. 
 
 Did time and space allow we might say a word or two on this 
 portion of our Author's life ; one fruitful in effort to accomplish 
 a good work, and equally fruitful in disastrous results to himself. 
 He managed the abbatoir in a very superior way, and improved 
 it in a moral and pecuniary aspect. We believe that with the 
 assistance of the Rev. Mr. Wilson of the Barclay Church, and of 
 Mr. Robert Cunningham, a converted flesher, he established a 
 prayer meeting in the abbatoir, a thing unknown of before. But 
 ultimately there was a clique formed against him in the Town 
 Council, entirely owing to personal ill-feeling. A few influential 
 members of the trade also aided and abetted, and after keeping 
 him in constant hot water for about eighteen months, the upshot 
 was that he was discharged through their exertions in 1864 ; the 
 Committee of the Association of Fleshers protested against this 
 step but no attention was paid to their remonstrance. 
 
 Since, he has had no definite employment, but that of a 
 "wanderer" with his "woodnotes wild," observing and being 
 observed, cultivating the muses at leisure hours and as the whim 
 or fit comes on him, gathering experience of life of the most
 
 X. LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 varied kind, and adding an occasional laurel to the wreath with 
 which he has managed amid great discouragement to adorn his 
 declining years. 
 
 He has still, as he always had, a hale, fresh look, though past 
 the ordinary limit of human life. Indeed, but for his excellent 
 constitution he would not have worn so well as he has done. 
 In our early acquaintance with him he was deemed a powerful 
 man, and walked long distances in the pursuit of his biisiness. 
 Latterly however, his strong powers have given way, and for years 
 he has been labouring under a most painful ailment, and for the 
 amelioration of which medical science is of little avail. We 
 trust that some bright blink of prosperity shall cheer his declining 
 years, and make his closing days more agreeable in every way. 
 Certainly in some respects his prospects are not brilliant, yet as 
 the mirkiest hour is just before the dawn, so possibly his dreari- 
 est outlook may be the harbinger of better days. 
 
 In 1836 he published, by subscription, the first Edition of his 
 poems, of a thousand copies. This was favourably received and 
 noticed by the press. In 1839 he published a second edition. 
 Other editions, enlarged, improved, pruned, and polished, have 
 since been published. In all, we believe he has sold by his own 
 exertions nine thousand of his " Woodnotes " and two thousand 
 of his " Gleanings." In doing this he has travelled through the 
 major part of Scotland and England, and a portion of Ireland, the 
 Isle of Man, and Isle of Wight. His life has been anything but 
 one of ease. He has not eaten the bread of idleness, and now 
 having passed the alloted three score years and ten, he is getting 
 another edition thrown off for future toil and travel. So much 
 for the man ; let us look a little at the poet.
 
 CRITIQUE. XI. 
 
 Here we must necessarily be brief, leaving a more detailed 
 criticism to others possibly better qualified for it than the writer 
 of this sketch. To us, it seems that Eamsay, as other poets, has 
 not only an ego, but an alter ego, and perchance a third ego. 
 By the first he writes such pieces as ' ' Lines to Eliza, " and by 
 the second, such as "The Eglinton Park Meeting," the third, 
 and which we regard more as an accident and the result of 
 external circumstances, he figures as a writer of sarcastic verses, 
 and cross-grained epigrams or impromptus. Luckily the last 
 class of compositions is not large, and were our advice taken, 
 they would be purged from the present, and each succeeding 
 edition. One is inclined to say they are evidences of a soured 
 temper. Certainly they do not, by any means, remind us of the 
 John Eamsay of thirty or forty years ago. Our poet shines best 
 as a descriptive writer, and this, whether of things passing be- 
 neath his eye, or of things flitting across the mental vision of 
 bygone days. Possibly our local knowledge may bias us some- 
 what, but few of his pieces are, to our thinking, better conceived 
 or more happily executed than his "Eglinton Park Meeting," 
 or " Fastern's-e'en Sports. " There is in both a graphic conception 
 of the subject in hand, and a skilful delineation of persons and of 
 things. Withal, also, there runs through them, and others of a 
 kindred nature, a vein of rich humour, the richer because of its 
 quiet " pawkyness." On a similar level would we place his 
 ' ' Glimpse of the Old Smuggling Days of the West. " On the 
 other side of his character as a poet may be placed the " Address 
 to Dundonald Castle. " There is truth as well as poetry in the lines : 
 
 " And round thy ruined walls 
 The ivy creeps : thine ancient glory's fled : 
 Thine ancient tenants numbered with the dead. 
 Yea, with the stream of time a wave rolls on, 
 Whose surge shall leave thee not a standing stone."
 
 xii. CRITIQUE. 
 
 As a type of his best moods we take his lines " On the Death of 
 my eldest son." There is in them a depth of filial and poetic 
 sentiment all his own, intensified the more because of the distance 
 between the dying and the living. There is one thing we miss 
 in some of his earlier productions, to wit, the healthy buoyancy 
 of hope, which we look for in the true poet. As age has come on 
 Ramsay, however, the freshness and joy of youth seem revived 
 in him, and one of his sweetest, richest pieces is that entitled, 
 " The land whence we'll never return." The ring of these two 
 lines is undoubtedly sterling : 
 
 " But hope sings, that Beauty's light brighter shall burn 
 In realms of the land whence we'll never return." 
 
 Possibly the shadows of that land are beginning to be cast on the 
 soul of our author, and he sees and feels things in a light some- 
 what different from, yet happier than when passing through some 
 of the darker phases of his life. Purer and brighter thoughts 
 come in from the better land, and find their expression in sweeter 
 strains. If in Ramsay we find not the marks of the brightest 
 genius, and none knows that better than himself, we find many 
 rare traces of the richest poetic conceptions uttered in language 
 that would not disgrace our best and most highly esteemed poets . 
 Amid many failings and short-comings, there gleam through all 
 his writings the wrestlings of a soul, a true soul, in its upward 
 flight, seeking affinity with, and consolation in the higher and 
 nobler issues of life and what more could we look for in the 
 greatest master of poetry. The volume to which this brief sketch 
 is prefaced, contains, not a few fresh pieces by our Author, bu 
 the finest " pickings " from his entire works. In more senses 
 than one, it may be called " Gleanings."
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR iii. 
 
 CRITIQUE xi. 
 
 A Glimpse of the Old Smuggling Days in the West 1 
 
 Retribution 21 
 
 A Vision 32 
 
 Epistle to Mr. John Ballantine 38 
 
 The Shepherd and Tutor of Rusco 42 
 
 Jamie and Mary 51 
 
 Jeanie Swan 60 
 
 The Scotch Trade in England 66 
 
 Victims of Alcohol 73 
 
 On the death of John Kelso Hunter 76 
 
 The Quaker and the Sceptic Dandy 81 
 
 Let weel alane 83 
 
 The Atheist and the Milestone, &c 86 
 
 A Sabbath morning in Guililand 89 
 
 To Cowper 92 
 
 On the death of the Rev. Hugh Glover 94 
 
 On reading the Speech of Sir William Thomson at the 
 
 opening of the British Association in Edinburgh 97 
 
 Written on a View of the Bay of Ayr 100
 
 XIV. CONTENTS. 
 
 PASS 
 
 On the Rejection of the Edinburgh Water Bill by the 
 
 House of Lords 102 
 
 In Memoriam of James Templeton 106 
 
 On reading a work in which the author in a very ridiculous 
 
 manner attempts to claim a connection with Burns 110 
 
 Evolution summarily disposed of 112 
 
 The Charge of Cromwell's Ironsides at Marston Moor 113 
 
 Epitaph for John Ramsay, junr 115 
 
 To Mr. John Harrison 117 
 
 lu Memoriam of my Grand-Daughter 120 
 
 The Smuggler 122 
 
 The Tartan of Lome 123 
 
 On the death of a well-known Sceptic 124 
 
 The land whence we'll never return 125 
 
 To Ailsa Craig 126 
 
 To the "CushieDoo" 127 
 
 On reading a Lecture on the Life and Writings of Burns 129 
 
 A day of darkness and distress and no comforter 132 
 
 On the Death of Mr. William Fergusson 134 
 
 The wail of the disconsolate 136 
 
 On hearing family worship in a shepherd's sheiling 138 
 
 Rich! rich! rich! or, Hooper M 'Callous 140 
 
 A Dream 143 
 
 On seeing a print of the Deathbed of Calvin 145 
 
 Willie Finnie 147 
 
 Epitaph for Tammas Turnip, Esq.., 149 
 
 Oh! there is a way 150 
 
 To my Dog Bessie 151 
 
 The Misplaced 153 
 
 On visiting the Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum 157
 
 CONTENTS. XV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The spirits of the departed o'er the sleeping bereaved 158 
 
 Andrew and James ; or the consequences of intemperance... 159 
 
 Reminiscences of early days at Guililand 161 
 
 An Incident in a Shipwreck 163 
 
 On the Death of Mrs John Millar 164 
 
 Lines 165 
 
 A Reminiscence 165 
 
 Killiecrankie 166 
 
 On visiting the Low Church of Kilmarnock 167 
 
 Diogenes in a new light 168 
 
 On seeing in the Tower of London the block and axe with 
 which Lords Balmerino, Kilmarnock, and Lovat were 
 
 beheaded 169 
 
 J amie Tait and the Doctor 170 
 
 In Memoriam of Dr. Connell '. 171 
 
 AFlyingShot 172 
 
 Idem 172 
 
 Doctor Meiklejohn 1 73 
 
 A Fit Connection 174 
 
 David the King, and Nathan the Prophet 174 
 
 On seeing a dilapidated Weaver's Shop in Kilmarnock 175 
 
 On leaving my Dog Bessie in London 176 
 
 A peg to hang a truth upon , 177 
 
 On the Death of Mr. T. D 178 
 
 On recovering from a severe illness 179 
 
 On the Death of Mr. John Ballantine 180 
 
 On the Death of Bailie Matthew Craig 181 
 
 The influence of Atheism 181 
 
 On the death of W. W., Edinburgh 182 
 
 A Methodist's Prayer 182
 
 XVI. CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 On the Death of Mr. David Ridpath 183 
 
 Calvinism 183 
 
 Written in the album of the Hermitage of Kirroughtrie 184 
 
 Epitaph for Draper Hughie 184 
 
 Epitaph for the Rev. A. P. B k 185 
 
 On hearing that the Black-faced Ape had disappeared 
 
 from the Zoological Gardens 185 
 
 To a Mr. D. D., a copious contributor of verse to some local 
 
 Journals 186 
 
 ToG. T., M.D., Aberdeen 186 
 
 To a Mr. Cousin 186 
 
 To Mr. G EC R 187 
 
 Impromptu on reading a Review in the Athenaeum 187 
 
 Notes 
 
 A 189 
 
 B 190 
 
 C 192 
 
 D 193 
 
 E 195 
 
 F 196 
 
 G 197 
 
 H 198 
 
 1 198 
 
 K 199 
 
 L 200 
 
 M 200 
 
 N 201 
 
 201 
 
 Extracts from the Custom House Records of Irvine... .. 205
 
 GLEANINGS OP THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A GLIMPSE OF THE OLD SMUGGLING 
 DAYS IN THE WEST. 
 
 We bring again upon the stage 
 The actors of another age. 
 
 The gull had left the swelling sea, 
 The raven sought his roosting-tree, 
 November's night came darkly down, 
 On moorland bleak and mountain brown ; 
 November's blast was raving loud, 
 The naked forest groaned and bowed ; 
 E'en the grey oak's gigantic form 
 A homage yielded to the storm, 
 And flung upon the traveller's way 
 The rifted bough and sapless spray ; 
 The russet leaves were flickering by 
 A generation doomed to die 
 Another soon to fill their place : 
 So with the fragile human race ; 
 Suggesting to the pensive mind 
 A problem ne'er to be defined. 
 B
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Just as the eve resigned her right 
 Unto the empire of the night, 
 A smack, that all the afternoon 
 Hung hovering off the coast of Troon, 
 Hoisted her sails, and downward bore 
 Upon the nearest point of shore, 
 And there were those on shore who well 
 The cargo which she bore could tell, 
 And scouts through all the country side 
 Had warned the smuggler band to ride. 
 
 The rendezvous was Holmes, a place 
 Of little note this year of grace, 
 Yet not unknown in foreign land, 
 When flourished Western contraband. 
 That night, the Irvine, deep and brown, 
 With driftwood charged, came tumbling down, 
 A party reached the ford, and took 
 Of landmarks known a hasty look ; 
 Then plunged into the sweeping tide, 
 And safely gained the other side. 
 
 The wonted muster soon was made, 
 And eke the trusty troop arrayed, 
 Which numbered twice a score and ten 
 Well-mounted,* fearless, stalwart men.f 
 Such men as Ayrshire bred of yore, 
 Such men as Ayrshire knows no more. 
 
 * See Note A at end. t See Note B at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 The leader lacked nor strength nor fire, 
 Rob Fulton, from the Netherbyre,* 
 His chest was deep, his shoulders wide, 
 Clean-limbed, long-armed, well-knit beside ; 
 And dexterously he could command 
 Whatever weapon filled his hand. 
 His sires were~erst of Boortreehill, 
 As shown by ancient records still, 
 For honour, strength, and courage famed, 
 And the "long-armed" had been surnamed, 
 Had shared Drumclog's triumphant fray, 
 And Bothwell Brig's disastrous day. 
 
 Ne'er better matched were horse and man, 
 Than Rob and's favourite grey mare " Scran,"t 
 Sagacious, hardy, and as fleet 
 As if the winds had formed her feet. 
 
 The route it lay through Shewalton Moss, 
 A track they well knew how to cross, 
 Could stank, and flow, and quagmire shun, 
 At midnight, as in noonday sun. 
 A ditch, they oft without delay 
 Had passed, now stretched across their way, 
 But Fulton's mare at once aside 
 Wheeled, snorted, whip and spur defied. 
 
 * See Note C at end. 
 
 f Scran, power, or means of accomplishing any purpose. - 
 Jamieson.
 
 GLEANINGS OP THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Cried John Me Adam from behind,* 
 
 " Ho ! Rob, what now is in the wind ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell," said Rob, " but she, 
 
 The wasp, won't take the ditch for me." 
 
 Then ruder comrades, in the rear, 
 
 Cried, " Come, don't keep us standing here." 
 
 At length, like something on the wing, 
 
 Scran cleared the barrier with a spring, 
 
 When Rob a rash acquaintance made 
 
 With what is termed an ambuscade. 
 
 The sharks ! the sharks ! was now the cry, 
 
 At once dispersed the smugglers fly. 
 
 The " red-coats " had already found 
 
 They were on rather treacherous ground, 
 
 And thus they left their nimble foes 
 
 To scamper off as best they chose ; 
 
 Who, like an interrupted train 
 
 Of ants, united soon again. 
 
 Upon the beach, near where the bark 
 Displayed of light a fitful spark, 
 They met, and counsel at his flask 
 Each made it first a point to ask, 
 When, after some deliberation, 
 They came to this determination, 
 The cargo instantly to land, 
 And meet the soldiers hand to hand. 
 
 * See Note D at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 The night was dark, the wind was high, 
 And ominous the sea-bird's cry, 
 And the vexed deep, with sullen roar, 
 Broke ever on the sounding shore, 
 Yet in the surf they dashed amain, 
 Although it swept the bridle-rein. 
 No time was lost in idle speech, 
 Again they soon were on the beach, 
 And each two casks of brandy bore, 
 Which brought the cargo all ashore. 
 Brandy ! yes, brandy ! but I hope 
 You don't give fancy so much scope 
 As deem the villainous compound 
 In modern times too often found, 
 A brandy only in the name 
 (To sell which is a sin and shame) 
 Can distant claim of kindred lay, 
 With beverage of the smugglers' day. 
 
 Hence shattered nerves and bated breath, 
 Delirium tremens, sudden death 
 But what of that 1 by men in trade 
 And business, fortunes must be made. 
 Perhaps 'tis Bluestone's grand intent 
 To have a seat in Parliament ; 
 One thing, at least, he must retire 
 Betimes, and tarn a country squire. 
 What grand suburban villa say 
 Is that across the turnpike way ?
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Some seat superb it seems to be 
 
 Of landed aristocracy : 
 
 No, there resides in princely state, 
 
 McGin, the rectifier great. 
 
 What trimly cultivated grounds ; 
 
 And hark, forsooth, a pack of hounds ! 
 
 Is that a crystal palace 1 No, 
 
 A greenhouse only, what a show 
 
 Of plants exotic, rich and rare ; 
 
 And how their perfume loads the air, 
 
 So beautiful ! and yet to me 
 
 They speak of blood and robbery, 
 
 And every hound that bays within 
 
 Tells thunder-tongued of death and sin ! 
 
 But where am 1 1 in this crusade 
 Against the legal poisoning trade 
 I have forgot the smuggler band 
 Now cantering along the sand ; 
 Kegs deftly slung, and kent in hand, 
 Perchance the trusty kent beside 
 There were some weapons had been tried 
 At famed Drumclog, or Bullion Green, 
 Or had the moor of Falkirk seen ; 
 Of cognac, too, they had a fair, 
 Or might be said, a liberal share, 
 And were in quite a proper mood 
 For deeds of daring hardihood.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Not that I wish at all to state, 
 
 Nor even would insinuate, 
 
 That Ayrshire courage stood in want 
 
 Of any foreign stimulant. 
 
 In Scotland's long and starless night, 
 
 When Wallace well maintained her right, 
 
 Still Ayrshire at the chieftain's call 
 
 Was prompt to spurn the Southern thrall, 
 
 On Bannockburn's eventful day, 
 
 Through thickest, hottest of the fray 
 
 The Carrick spearmen cleft their way ; 
 
 And long Drumclog a light shall be 
 
 Upon the page of history, 
 
 While records red of Waterloo 
 
 Tell still what Ayrshire men can do.* 
 
 But I again must make confession, 
 I've been indulging in digression, 
 A thing you'll readily infer 
 As being but a wanderer. 
 Howe'er, allow me just to say 
 The smuggling party held their way, 
 Till Irvine right before them lay. 
 By this the moon was sailing through 
 An ocean of unclouded blue ; 
 The wind, like brawling child, to rest 
 Had sobbed itself on nature's breast. 
 
 * See Note E at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 They took no roads, ycleped the by, 
 To screen them from the public eye ; 
 No, up the Briggate rode the corps, 
 And halted at th' exciseman's door. 
 
 He was a Campbell, staunch and keen * 
 As any bloodhound ever seen, 
 And neither fear nor favour knew 
 Whenever duty was in view. 
 And now a loud rat-tat was heard, 
 The postern hastily unbarred, 
 And out came honest Mistress C., 
 And really very sorry she 
 That so much company should come 
 And Mr. Campbell not at home ; 
 But would be happy to receive 
 Whate'er commands they chose to leave. 
 Rob Fulton thanked her, said that they 
 Had merely just looked in to say, 
 Should Mr. Campbell be inclined 
 For taking stock to-night, he'd find 
 All things were ready to his hand, 
 Themselves his servants to command. 
 
 With wistful eye the dame surveyed 
 The aspect of the cavalcade. 
 " He's not at home," she said, " but I 
 Think you 'II see him by and bye" 
 
 * See Note F at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And, with significant grimace, 
 
 Flung fast the door in Fulton's face. 
 
 A roar of laughter now rang out, 
 
 A half-suppressed or smothered shout, 
 
 And up the High Street they have gone, 
 
 And reached the woods of Eglinton. 
 
 What huge, unwonted shadows fling 
 Their arms across the gorse and ling 1 
 An angle turned at once revealed 
 A plump of horsemen there concealed ; 
 But small the number thus descried, 
 Contrasted with the other side ; 
 The soldiers, reckless of that boot, 
 Eesolved the passage to dispute, 
 And quickly gave the mandate " Charge !" 
 When like an avalanche at large, 
 The smuggler band came thundering on, 
 And stroke, and thrust, and shout anon 
 Upon the ear of midnight broke, 
 And echoes of the woodlands woke. 
 Shots were exchanged, and sabres sent 
 In shivers by the oaken kent. 
 The onslaught furious was and fell, 
 All helter-skelter and pell-mell, 
 Steeds plunged and reared, and onward tore 
 With temper of the men they bore ; 
 The rolling eye and nostril wide, 
 The started mane, and heaving side,
 
 10 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Showed, though the horse may yield to toil, 
 
 His joy is in the battle-broil ; 
 
 While some stout smuggler still would bawl, 
 
 " Drumclog," the watchword heard o'er all, 
 
 When down responsive came the kent, 
 
 And down another trooper went ; 
 
 While whalebone whips, well charg'd with lead, 
 
 Sent some without their caps to bed, 
 
 Strong arms were there, heads hard and clear, 
 
 And hearts that strangers were to fear. 
 
 To Lowrie Cockburn was opposed 
 The sergeant, but they'd scarcely closed 
 When Lowrie on his shoulder laid 
 A stroke that made him drop his blade 
 A voice as loud's an Alpine lynn 
 Cried, "That's it, weel done, burnewin !* 
 
 With teeth set hard went Basil Blair 
 To work, and soon unhorsed a pair, 
 The very chargers seemed to know 
 That they had met a dangerous foe. 
 There was a something of portent, 
 E'en in the whistle of his kent ; 
 Basil averred the " de'il a hair 
 For thae steel spurtles did he care, 
 While oak grew in Craigbury Bank,f 
 Or Pilmore Munt, he wudna thankj 
 
 * Smith. t See Note G at end. J See Note H at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 11 
 
 The best of smith or cutler trade 
 For the best tool he ever made." 
 As wild was Johnny Pettigrew, 
 And deadly was the stroke he drew, 
 The rider was his mark, of course, 
 But missing him, he felled the horse. 
 Big Davie Andrew of the Troon, 
 Their Ajax, was disabled soon, 
 Among his foes he rushed, the fool, 
 As reckless as a rabid bull 
 He said " 'Twasbut a scart, nae fear;" 
 The scart it made him take the rear, 
 And for a fortnight after hing 
 His starboard member in a sling. 
 Joe White was like a bear bereaved, 
 He scrugged his bonnet, and upheaved 
 His ponderous kent, and galloped in 
 Like winter torrent o'er the lynn ; 
 His horse a right was for the road, 
 With shoulder deep and sternum broad, 
 And though of bulky frame, and strong, 
 Was light of limb, of pastern long, 
 And showed the breeding which could tell 
 Upon the long rough ride so well ; 
 Yea, steep the way, and far the bourne, 
 Where " Solway's " coat began to turn. 
 John Reid and Joe fought side by side, 
 And well they helped to turn the tide, 
 For John was limber, light of heel, 
 Ay, certes ! supple as an eel,
 
 12 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOANIN. 
 
 And ever ready with a blow 
 
 To back a friend or floor a foe. 
 
 John Todd, although a horseman light, 
 
 Banged a dragoon six feet in height; 
 
 Will Gibson laughed ; " Big calves," said he, 
 
 "Are not aye best of veal, I see." 
 
 A splinter of a sabre's edge 
 
 In Gibson's kent stuck like a wedge, 
 
 But the next bout the arm was broken 
 
 That sent the smuggler this love-token, 
 
 For foremost still the brunt to bide, 
 
 In skirmish stern, was lang Lochside. 
 
 Rab Fullarton a Tartar caught, 
 
 And several desperate rounds they fought. 
 
 The trooper touched him twice, and drew 
 
 In trickling drops the purple dew ; 
 
 But Rab at last put in a blow 
 
 That laid him o'er the saddle bow. 
 
 Quoth Davie Blair, " That labster's got 
 
 His sauce, I'll wad a guid grey groat." 
 
 The buirdly bold Will Gibson, known 
 
 By sobriquet of " Symington," 
 
 Being rudely joistled in the rush, 
 
 Encountered in the opening brush, 
 
 His broad blue bonnet lost its seat, 
 
 And fell among the horses' feet; 
 
 Will drave bareheaded on ; "Guid e'en," 
 
 Quoth he, "my auld Kilmarnock frien', 
 
 Some heavier losses will be here 
 
 The nicht, anse I shall think it queer."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 13 
 
 John Urie better blade than he,* 
 
 Ne'er threw a limb o'er saddletree 
 
 He struck so pat, he struck so keen, 
 
 Where'er he charged a gap was seen. 
 
 His right-hand man went roundly on, 
 
 The ready, rough Tarn Allison, 
 
 As wiry as an eagle's wing, 
 
 Nor cared nor feared he living thing, 
 
 Eejoicing in a good mele"e, 
 
 Which o'er his cups he termed "a spree." 
 
 Brysonf was there (of noted name 
 
 Long afterwards in Eaglesham), 
 
 A most redoubted foemen he, 
 
 And emptied saddles two or three. 
 
 He rode a tall, black, fiery steed, 
 
 Of matchless stamina and speed, 
 
 That went careering through the fight 
 
 Like some grim demon of the night; 
 
 Indeed, his hue and temper high 
 
 Had earned the sobriquet of " Di."J 
 
 Rab Dickie of the Loans fell in 
 
 With what he termed " a fashious ane," 
 
 But dealt the same a swinging stroke, 
 
 By which his dexter arm was broke, 
 
 Powerless at once, the quivering hand, 
 
 Relaxed its grasp, and dropped the brand, 
 
 And in a trice the soldier found 
 
 Himself a tenant of the ground. 
 
 * See Note I at end. t See Note K at end. 
 
 Diabolus.
 
 14 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Betwixt the horse and rider long 
 
 Had cherished been affection strong, 
 
 Nor now retreat " old Hexham " would 
 
 But whinnying by his master stood. 
 
 " Man, see that horse," John Todd exclaimed, 
 
 "The beast might make us all ashamed ! " 
 
 As chronicles of smuggling say, 
 
 John Lees* bestrode a Yorkshire bay, 
 
 Of seventeen hands at least in height, 
 
 A spanking courser up to weight. 
 
 Resolved was John a shot to try, 
 
 But had not "kept his powder dry," 
 
 He raised his piece, the trigger drew, 
 
 No flash was seen, no bullet flew ; 
 
 Meantime while fingering at the lock, 
 
 John chanced to get a rousing knock ; 
 
 He grasped his whip with vengeful ire, 
 
 And swearing that it ne'er missed fire, 
 
 Came on his foe so felly down, 
 
 He cracked both helmet and his crown. 
 
 Tarn Young declared that John's platoon 
 
 Had scared the very man i' the moon ; 
 
 Tarn wounded was, and something deep, 
 
 Yet still contrived the field to keep, 
 
 And stung with pain, if there was aught 
 
 Of difference, e'en more fiercely fought. 
 
 Rob Fulton and his light-heeled mare 
 
 Were out and in, now here, now there ; 
 
 * See Note L at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 15 
 
 In fine he with the exciseman met, 
 
 And at it furiously they set ; 
 
 Armed with his grandsire's good claymore, 
 
 Himself the Campbell bravely bore. 
 
 On blood he seemed intent to be, 
 
 But Robin watched him warily, 
 
 Lifted his mare, and as she fell 
 
 He parried, and struck home so well, 
 
 The Gael came headlong to the ground 
 
 With fracture surgeons term " compound." 
 
 The military now became 
 Aware that they had lost the game, 
 The exciseman's " Keltonhill " being free, 
 Shot like a bolt across the lea, 
 And soon the rout brought up the rear, 
 Like hunted sheep, or startled deer, 
 While rose a shout, so loud, so bold, 
 It swept the listening moonlight wold 
 From dear Dundonald to Kilbride, 
 From Dreghorn to the Frith of Clyde. 
 
 The outlyer* ox in sheltered nook 
 Sprang up, and fled with frightened look ; 
 The wild cat started from her lair, 
 With flashing eye and ruffled hair ; 
 
 * Outlyer, this word is generally written outler, which is 
 evidently a corruption .
 
 16 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 The Leron from her fishing dream 
 
 Awoke, and rose with dreary scream ; 
 
 And the owl left her lure of prey, 
 
 And hastened to the ruin grey. 
 
 Another peal was given, and third, 
 
 Each louder, and still further heard ; 
 
 The gannet on the ledge of rock 
 
 Was roused and swift to seaward broke ; 
 
 The seal forsook his natal cave, 
 
 And headlong stemmed the breaking wave. 
 
 Tarn Fullarton, who hailed from Loans,* 
 A Hector when he took to stones 
 Declared that " wi' a dry stane dyke 
 At hand, he wad ha'e skailed the bike." 
 That night Tarn was not slack nor slow, 
 But dealt and warded many a blow. 
 
 McAdam got a shot, I beg 
 To say, 'twas rather in a keg 
 He bore, and down o'er horse and man, 
 Like Gilpin's wine the liquor ran. 
 John swore it was a mortal pity 
 To spill so much good aqua-vitae, 
 And wished, a wee while at the hole, 
 He'd had the chance of taking toll. 
 'Twas for a time a standing jest, 
 John lost more blood than all the rest ! 
 
 * See Note M at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 17 
 
 And John, 'tis true, could take his dram 
 
 As others did, but sure I am, 
 
 A braver never crossed a horse, 
 
 Nor stemmed a ford or breaker's course. 
 
 Ralston, who cross as cross could be, 
 Chanced with his horse to disagree, 
 And " Farmer " well maltreatment knew, 
 And well he could resent it too. 
 His mouth was hard, nor curb nor rein, 
 When roused, his fury could restrain : 
 He took the bit his teeth between, 
 And tail turned on the hostile scene. 
 'Twas said James wheeled on Irvine street, 
 And met his foes in full retreat ; 
 Some asked how time in Dreghorn stood, 
 Which put him in a frantic mood. 
 
 A good one was Barassie's steed, 
 Some held he came of Barclay's breed,* 
 The first to clear a ditch or stank, 
 In fording, first to reach the bank, 
 Or venture to the vessel's side 
 When deep and darkling rolled the tide. 
 But here an ill-directed sword 
 Had chanced to reach his spinal cord, 
 
 * See Note N at end. 
 C
 
 18 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And down he dropped, as dead's that pagan 
 Bucephalus, or Copenhagen. 
 With moistened eye, said Gibson, " Ane 
 Like him it will be ill to fin'." 
 
 No bipeds met the horse's fate, 
 Nor was the list of wounded great, 
 The vanquished learned the victors could 
 Be generous, though surgeons rude ; 
 It must be owned they did their best, 
 And strongly on the patients pressed 
 The flask, 'twas "come, a wee drap mair, 
 And let the saw * just seek the sair." 
 
 When rides were longsome, nights were dark, 
 While watching by the lone seamark, 
 Or roystering the fire around, 
 When fortune had their efforts crowned, 
 And tongues rang with a loosened rein, 
 This skirmish oft was fought again. 
 When smuggling times had passed away, 
 And gathered to their kindred clay 
 Were many of that manly band, 
 The few upon time's shifting sand 
 That stood, by years though dinted deep, 
 Like Sherwood oaks, or Border keep, 
 Yet, when the summer gloamin still 
 Spreads her grey vesture o'er the hill, 
 
 * Salve.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 19 
 
 Or winter rockings cheered the hearth, 
 Or harvest-home, or new year's mirth, 
 Of feats and stratagems they told, 
 Till e'en the children waxing bold, 
 Their grandsire's staff heroic drew, 
 And foes imaginary slew, 
 Or on a fair or market-night, 
 When gifted with the second sight, 
 In smithy, mill, or souter's stall, 
 The audience still they held in thrall 
 
 Far be from me the wish or thought 
 That those who've set the laws at nought 
 Should lauded be, such deeds but can 
 Demoralize debase the man. 
 As in the times of which we tell, 
 The lives of some but showed too well ; 
 Others of different moral mould 
 In peaceful industry grew old, 
 Went calmly down life's evening tide, 
 Respected lived, lamented died. 
 
 One of this remnant lies at rest 
 In a sweet Hamlet of the West, 
 No sculptured form of Naiad Weeps 
 Where the worthy patriarch sleeps, 
 Yet o'er the unforgotten dead 
 Affection's holiest tears are shed, 
 A pilgrim comes, nor can the days 
 Of half a century erase
 
 20 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 His reverence for that humble tomb : 
 
 How dear the wild flowers there that bloom ! 
 
 Those simple symbols, though decayed, 
 
 Apart as sacred relics laid, 
 
 Wake thrilling thoughts of days long gone 
 
 That language find in tears alone : 
 
 And often has he blessed the power 
 
 This yielded in affliction's hour, 
 
 That, trace his line from one he can, 
 
 Who well deserved the name of man.* 
 
 * See Note at end.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 21 
 
 RETRIBUTION. 
 
 A TALE OF THE OLDEN TIMES, 
 
 " Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow 
 wickedness, reap the same." JOB iv. 8. 
 
 WHERE Trent steals slowly to the sea, 
 With many a weil and whirlpool deep, 
 
 Through spreading woods and fertile vales, 
 Where happy rustics sow and reap. 
 
 There dwelt in England's earlier day 
 A yoeman good, a yoeman true. 
 
 As ever wielded battle-blade, 
 Or o'er the land a furrow drew. 
 
 To Giles, in feature and in form, 
 Had nature generous, liberal been, 
 
 But, better far, had given a heart, 
 A soul above whate'er was mean. 
 
 And he had mated happily, 
 
 His Ellen was a beauteous dame, " 
 
 And passing virtuous ; years had but 
 Enhanced refined their mutual flame.
 
 22 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Hail, holy, heavenly wedded love ! 
 
 The greatest blessing here below ! 
 Domestic discord, deadliest curse 
 
 That man is doomed to undergo. 
 
 Three stately sons their union blest, 
 And one fair daughter, fairer e'en 
 
 Than was her mother when she danced 
 The belle upon the May-day green. 
 
 Her locks were like the morning's ray 
 That gilds the eastern mountain's breast, 
 
 Or glories of the summer day 
 Departing in the gorgeous west. 
 
 And who could meet, and meet unmoved, 
 That large round eye of radiant blue, 
 
 When from its long, soft, silken fringe 
 The meekly, modest glance it threw ? 
 
 Her brow too lofty might be deemed, 
 Sedate commandingly serene ; 
 
 For Ellen, though of humble birth, 
 
 By nature's hand was stamped a queen. 
 
 A lovelier vision never broke 
 
 On raptured bard's enchanted gaze ; 
 
 Such forms are sent on earth to tell 
 What woman was in Eden's days.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 23 
 
 And then her heart was all love's own, 
 There deep affection reigned supreme ; 
 
 Suspicion never soiled her soul, 
 
 Deceit ne'er marred her daylight dream. 
 
 She passed, the kine came to the gate, 
 
 And after her impatient lowed ; 
 The dog, though old and nearly blind, 
 
 Was still her escort down the road. 
 
 E,en selfish and insidious puss 
 
 When out upon a sylvan raid, 
 Forgot herself was Ellen near, 
 
 And mewing came across the glade. 
 
 In winter-tide the birds she fed ; 
 
 And summoned by her accents bland, 
 The little redbreast fearless came, 
 
 And pecked his pittance from her hand. 
 
 But War, horrid, hateful war ! 
 
 His legions dire spread o'er the land ; 
 And Giles's sons, three bowmen bold ; 
 
 Went with the Forest's archer band. 
 
 In evil hour they crossed the Trent, 
 And maid and matron left to mourn ; 
 
 And though the theme of many a prayer, 
 Were destined never to return.
 
 24 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Giles heard it as becomes a man : 
 
 His tears were none, his words were few ; 
 
 Yet showed the anguish of his soul 
 His heaving breast and pallid hue. 
 
 Dame Ellen was at once struck down, 
 And long unconscious, silent lay ; 
 
 When speech returned 'twas but to prove 
 That reason had renounced her sway. 
 
 One night as Giles beside her sat, 
 And locked in his her wasted hand, 
 
 She spoke : her eye was calm and clear, 
 And firm her voice, though sweetly bland. 
 
 " I've seen them all," she said " and they 
 Are blessed, and shine in robes of white, 
 
 With crowns of glory on their heads, 
 And come to bring me home to-night. 
 
 " Yes, when the clock has numbered twelve, 
 Our lov'd ones will again be here ; 
 
 When I must leave the things of time, 
 To find a holier, happier sphere. 
 
 " And Giles, dear Giles ! " she said, oh, watch 
 O'er this poor lamb when I am gone ; 
 
 A wolf is prowling round the fold, 
 
 His deeds too well, too widely known."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 25 
 
 The rose has left fair Ellen's cheek, 
 
 And e'en her lips are deadly pale ; 
 Her bosom heaves as it would break 
 
 The texture of its silken veil. 
 
 The turret of the antique church 
 
 Has told the hour with solemn tone ; 
 
 And ere its echo died away 
 
 The mother and the wife was gone. 
 
 No form was seen, no sound was heard, 
 Yet something seemed to charm the air ; 
 
 None spoke, but by their looks confessed 
 They knew that there were angels there. 
 
 A neighbouring knight Sir Arthur was, 
 Young, handsome, and of good estate ; 
 
 His sires had been for valour famed, 
 And owned the lands of olden date. 
 
 But though Sir Arthur's form was fair 
 His soul was selfish, dark, and vile ; 
 
 And maids of high and low degree 
 Had fallen beneath his practised guile. 
 
 And like too many of his grade, 
 
 So lost and so depraved was he, 
 His conquests boasted o'er his cups, 
 
 And gloried in his infamy.
 
 26 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 O hydra-headed monster Vice, 
 
 Thy fatal vortex once within, 
 We're sweetly to perdition lulled 
 
 With syren sophistry of sin. 
 
 Another victim of his art 
 
 Again was doomed to fall a prey, 
 
 The poor heart-broken father's child, 
 Alas ! his only earthly stay. 
 
 Giles saw it all, and bent beneath 
 Another load of grief and care : 
 
 Yet strength he sought, and strength he found, 
 In frequent and in fervent prayer. 
 
 But Ellen was herself no more, 
 
 Would all her former friends evade, 
 
 Paced mood-rapt by the river's brink, 
 Or moped in some sequestered shade. 
 
 Her father looked into the night, 
 And tremulously called her name ; 
 
 The hours passed slow, the moon fell low, 
 And yet, alas ! no Ellen came. 
 
 A dog howled all night by the ford ; 
 
 The sound so mournful was and drear, 
 That, heard throughout the silence deep, 
 
 It chilled the listeners' hearts with fear.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 27 
 
 At early dawn Giles sought the bank, 
 And there, beside a deep, dark pool, 
 
 His faithful dog, old " Sherwood," sat 
 With wistful face, of sorrow full. 
 
 The deep disclosed its secret soon, 
 
 And when they looked upon the dead, 
 
 The eyes of rough, rude men were wet, 
 Ne'er known before a tear to shed. 
 
 The old man saw the corse brought home, 
 
 Was kindly helped into his chair, 
 There sat with pale and rigid face, 
 
 The very portrait of despair. 
 
 The load was more than life could bear ; 
 
 A shadow o'er his visage passed, 
 The harbinger of death, and with 
 
 A heavy groan he breathed his last. 
 
 And oh ! how blissful must it be 
 To the sad, grief-struck, weary soul, 
 
 Released from iron bondage here, 
 To reach at length the final goal ! 
 
 The spirit land of love and joy, 
 
 Where earth-born ills can ne'er intrude ; 
 
 Where all shall meet who worship here 
 The pure, the beautiful and good.
 
 28 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A handsome youth was seen to strew 
 Fresh flowers upon a new-made grave, 
 
 And with the same returning day 
 He every year the tribute gave. 
 
 He married not, he dwelt alone, 
 In brief, a hermit's life he led ; 
 
 And still the annual visit paid 
 
 When fourscore years had bowed his head. 
 
 The votive day again came round, 
 His funeral obsequies were paid 
 
 On that same date, and Herbert's dust 
 In his lov'd Ellen's grave was laid. 
 
 Sir Arthur wed a lady fair, 
 The heiress of a rich domain; 
 
 And bells were rung, and bonfires blazed, 
 And numerous was the festal train. 
 
 And there were men, grey-bearded men, 
 In priestly office, drank the toast, 
 
 And waxed both eloquent and warm 
 On virtues of their worthy host. 
 
 Is wealth, is power, is prestige theirs, 
 Men may be base, yet with accord 
 
 Their praise in fulsome notes will rise 
 From pulpit, press, and social board.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 29 
 
 The night was foul, the ford was deep 
 And dolesome was the forest's sigh ; 
 
 At lateward hour a passing swain 
 There heard a wild despairing cry. 
 
 Morn dawned, and in that very pool 
 
 Where erst poor Ellen's corse was found, 
 
 Sir Arthur lay, while birds of prey, 
 And omen foul were croaking round. 
 
 His favourite hunter down the stream 
 Lay stretched upon a bank of sand ; 
 
 The bit grasped grimly in his teeth, 
 
 His head marked with the thunder's brand. 
 
 Iniquities of crimson hue, 
 
 An unrepented long array, 
 Had charged the cloud of heaven's wrath, 
 
 And dreadful was the reckoning day. 
 
 Sir Arthur's only daughter was 
 
 Most beautiful, and deeply loved 
 A youth, but he to her was what 
 
 Her father had to others proved. 
 
 Her future course was such as brought 
 
 Disgrace upon an ancient name ; 
 And in the waters of the Thames 
 
 She closed a life of sin and shame. 

 
 30 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 His lady long a maniac lived, 
 
 And died at last by her own hand ; 
 
 His son pursued his father's course, 
 And perished in a foreign land. 
 
 Where lofty halls with storied panes, 
 
 Reflecting in the solar rays 
 Their rainbow tints, and forms were seen 
 
 Of dames and knights of other days. 
 
 Is now a sere and sterile spot, 
 
 Where runs a weed-choked, straggling stream, 
 O'er which a line of arches yawn, 
 
 Where snorts the iron steed of steam. 
 
 You could not find a stone or tree 
 To tell where once a mansion stood ; 
 
 Their very tombs are gone, as fate 
 With them had an eternal feud. 
 
 'Tis said, sometimes at midnight hour, 
 When Trent is rolling red and deep, 
 
 A cry for help comes from the ford, 
 And scares the peasant in his sleep. 
 
 And some there be who say they've seen, 
 Beneath the moon's pale flickering beam, 
 
 A spectre on unearthly steed 
 
 Terrific, struggling with the stream.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 31 
 
 When night has fallen, that fatal pool 
 By old and young is passed with dread; 
 
 The angler shuns the hideous gulf, 
 
 Nor there his subtle snares will spread. 
 
 Ye soulless votaries of sense, 
 
 Whose joys arise from others' woe ; 
 
 Your path is paved with broken hearts, 
 And tomb-fires tell the track ye go. 
 
 A moment pause (if pause you may) 
 In this your selfish, reckless route : 
 
 Though Heaven's long-suffering, slow to wrath, 
 Be sure your sin will find you out.
 
 32 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A VISION. 
 
 " The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed, 
 Lsts in new light through chinks that time has made." 
 
 The night was wearing to the middle watch, 
 
 In placid beauty, sea and shore slept soft 
 
 In moonlight, and the working, weary world 
 
 Had sunk to rest ; along the lonely beach 
 
 I careless strayed, and sweetly soothed was with 
 
 The mellowed, mingling murmur of the main ; 
 
 So sang it on Creation's holy dawn, 
 
 And thus shall on the Resurrection's morn ; 
 
 But who that song interpret may 1 not one 
 
 Of e'en the wisest of philosophers. 
 
 The past, the present, time, eternity, 
 
 Of all it speaks ; but most methinks it seems 
 
 To lift its voice in wailings for the dead. 
 
 On a rude rock, whose base had long repelled 
 The hostile surge, an ancient ruin stood, 
 Roofless and rent, a minstrel of the storm ; 
 A distant century saw it in its prime 
 Who built, who dwelt there, history tells us not, 
 They lived they looked upon the shore and sea, 
 Were hushed to rest with its loud lullaby 
 And woke to see the new-born beauties of 
 The coming day. They died we wot no more.
 
 GLEANINGS OP THE GLOAMIN. 33 
 
 To haunt the ruin prone, I entered in, 
 
 And as I stood in mood contemplative, 
 
 Methought within a rifted arch o'erhead, 
 
 Softened and silvered in the moonlight sheen, 
 
 A form majestic rose, of stature tall, 
 
 It was beyond the goodliest sons of men ; 
 
 His face was worn and furrowed, yet withal 
 
 Still beautiful ; yea, of that beauty rare 
 
 Which years may mar, but not obliterate ; 
 
 His hair flowed o'er his shoulders, and his beard 
 
 Down to his sapphire girdle, and were both 
 
 White, and unsullied as the mountain snow. 
 
 He wore a high tiara, on which blazed 
 
 In gems the rising and the setting sun ; 
 
 His robe, which might have been pronounced the type 
 
 Of purity, was studded o'er with stars, 
 
 And bright emblazoned on his left breast shone 
 
 The full-orbed moon ; two mighty wings were his, 
 
 Whose plumage of the frosted silver seemed ; 
 
 And in his dexter hand a sceptre huge 
 
 He held, of steel, which spoke his iron sway. 
 
 And as I mutely gazed, he said, "In me 
 
 Behold the spirit of departed Time ! 
 
 Men call me old, and some pretend to tell 
 
 The era e'en when I was reckoned young ; 
 
 They little, little know of what they speak ; 
 
 Millions of years have fled since first this globe 
 
 Was launched through space, and ere the primal pair
 
 34 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Created were, long reproduction and 
 Destruction reigned ; yet vain man will be wise, 
 And wise o'er what is written, when appears 
 His folly greatest ; even I sometimes 
 Must at their silly speculations smile. 
 Look unto yonder sea, beneath its waves 
 Lie cities, nations, yea, and continents, 
 Nor is one vestige of their history known ; 
 Yet men dwelt there, and they were not a few, 
 Who deemed that immortality was theirs. 
 Turn to the dread Sahara's parched waste, 
 Where Nature, through her palpitating form 
 A fever feels ; Death rides upon the blast, 
 And for his victims digs a burning grave, 
 Yet there have I beheld an ocean deep, 
 Ships ride, and huge sea monsters flouncing roll 
 And marts and mansions on its fertile shores. 
 Of Babylon and Nineveh I saw 
 The rise and wreck, but what are they to those 
 That lie submerged, or buried far beneath 
 The deep foundations of the steadfast hills 1 
 Sealed till the earth and sea give up their dead. 
 Men say the pyramids are old ; I was 
 Before the Nile was unto Egypt known, 
 An era to which all her monuments, 
 Mysterious writings, yea, and realms of dead, 
 Are but as things of yesterday. I saw 
 The transatlantic continent upheaved, 
 Its ' Central cities ' flourish and decay, 
 Nor on the ancient page of history leave
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 35 
 
 One solitary trace. Then came a lapse, 
 
 A long, long lapse of ages, when arose 
 
 Those mighty forests, erst the haunt alone 
 
 Of bird and beast, where now a people dwells, 
 
 Presumptuous, boastful, and who talk as if 
 
 The universe were theirs children of dust, 
 
 And destined to be crushed before the moth. 
 
 " ' I am Pharaoh ; ' said the autocrat ; 
 
 And where is Pharaoh, what is Pharaoh now ? 
 
 Pride ill becomes the best estate of man, 
 
 Nor has there ever entered yet his brain 
 
 A dream more baseless than the thought to win 
 
 By aught an immortality below. 
 
 An hour I'll bring when Newton, Shakespere, Burns, 
 
 Wallace and Bruce, a Washington, a Watt, 
 
 Shall have no portion in the roll of fame; 
 
 Eome, though baptised ' eternal,' shall become 
 
 A Tadmor in the wilderness, a myth, 
 
 And London, Paris, eke partake her fate; 
 
 Where now the struggling, lab'ring, noisy mass 
 
 Ferments and fumes, shall silence sit supreme, 
 
 Nor find the shadow of a dreamland left. 
 
 True goodness is true greatness, that alone. 
 
 Seek thou God's word, and let it be a light 
 
 Unto thy feet, and to thy path a lamp. 
 
 Go to the cross in meek humility, 
 
 And there the awful nature learn of sin ;
 
 36 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 For sin it was that nailed the Son of God 
 
 To the accursed tree a sight that made 
 
 The sun ashamed, and through all nature's frame 
 
 A shudder run that rent the living rock. 
 
 There shalt thou find a treasure to endure 
 
 "When both this heaven and earth have passed away, 
 
 And I am mated to eternity. 
 
 " What is most frequently the sceptic mind ? 
 A dismal waste, at intervals illumed 
 With lurid light from the infernal fires 
 Of its sad solace sensuality, 
 Again in deeper darkness to descend, 
 Where madness lifts his hand against himself. 
 
 " Eeligion has encompassed been by foes, 
 
 And suffered sad eclipses, but to rise 
 
 Again, and shine with higher, holier light, 
 
 E'en when her friends professed were most afraid ; 
 
 I say professed, for had they truly held 
 
 The faith, they never would have thought her less 
 
 Than indestructible ; the Church of Christ, 
 
 The pedestal of all that's great and good, 
 
 Is founded on the eternal Eock of Truth, 
 
 Nor earth nor hell against her shall prevail.* 
 
 * " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall 
 not pass away." Matthew xxiv. 35.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 37 
 
 This sphere, sublimed and purified by fire, 
 A mansion shall become of the redeemed ; 
 But change shall o'er their habitations pass, 
 As o'er the inhabitants : they greatly err 
 Who think the future destiny of man 
 Immutable ; created things are all 
 Subservient to change, the ransomed shall 
 From excellence to excellence arise 
 Through ages endless, nor can there be aught 
 Unchanged, unchangeable, but God himself. 
 Man by his stinted standard is too apt 
 To mete Omnipotence ! I've heard this earth 
 Ycleped ' the hearthstone of creation.' Know ! 
 Should this vast firmament we now behold, 
 With all its suns and systems, disappear, 
 Nature's grand structure were no more unmade, 
 Or marred, than would the form of yonder bay 
 Divested of a single grain of sand. 
 God fills all space, and Wheresoe'er He is 
 There are His attributes, and there is light, 
 And life, and love ; and, of necessity, 
 Creation has no bourne, and, like its great 
 Creator, is unsearchable." Now west 
 A meteor magnificent appeared, 
 I turned a moment, and looked east again, 
 To find my monitor august was gone.
 
 38 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN, 
 
 EPISTLE TO MR JOHN BALLANTINE, 
 KILMAENOCK. 
 
 JOHN, fully forty years have flown 
 
 Since we were to each other known ; 
 
 'Tis but a glance to look behind, 
 
 A moment's effort of the mind ; 
 
 Yet, though but brief the time has been, 
 
 We've many, many changes seen. 
 
 " Auld Killie " of the days agone 
 
 Is an " auld Killie " now unknown ; 
 
 And if pur grandsires could retrace 
 
 Their steps, they would not " ken " the place. 
 
 Ill-ventilated hovels grim, 
 
 That seemed to threaten life and limb ; 
 
 Foul, narrow streets that led nowhere. 
 
 Foreswore the sun, and fanned the air ; 
 
 Replaced by structures where we find 
 
 Utility with taste combined 
 
 Old customs and old manners, too, 
 Have wisely given place to new. 
 The burgess once the day began 
 By moistening of the inner man ;
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 39 
 
 Yea, the neat draught of " ruin blue " 
 
 Into his empty stomach threw. 
 
 The wabster's joy was in a sea 
 
 Of " yill " right from the brewery ; 
 
 Around the stoup, or " watering-can," 
 
 They sunk the mental, moral man, 
 
 And sowed to-day the seed of sorrow, 
 
 To reap the bitter fruit to-morrow, 
 
 With health and time and hard-earned gear, 
 
 A brief excitement purchased dear. 
 
 But Temperance came at length to bless 
 
 The dreary moral wilderness : 
 
 Her happy advent angels sung ; 
 
 Earth heard the echo, and it flung 
 
 O'er poet's harp a holy fire, 
 
 Unknown to bacchanalian lyre. 
 
 The blind received their sight, the lame 
 
 Man leaped, and squalid prisoners came 
 
 Forth from their dungeons, fetter-free, 
 
 Exulting in their liberty ; 
 
 While moody Madness, clothed and sane, 
 
 Sat with his fellow-men again. 
 
 Still reigns the despot ; yet his power 
 
 Is shaken, and we trust an hour 
 
 Is coming, when, from shore to shore, 
 
 A shout, loud as the tempest's roar, 
 
 Shall hail him fallen to rise no more. 
 
 One thing with deep regret I view ; 
 The dear old stately trees that grew
 
 40 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Around Kilmarnock House have been 
 Cut down. How sadly changed the scene 
 Since now some sixty years ago 
 I drove the cows their shade below, 
 And heard the summer morning's voice 
 In songs that made my heart rejoice ! 
 Those dear old trees, those dear old trees ! 
 How sweet when in their boughs the bees 
 Were humming ! And they still were dear 
 When Autumn's breath had turned them sere. 
 And in the winter's wild nor'-west 
 Their music sung me into rest. 
 The soul, fresh from her Maker's hand, 
 Still dreaming of the spirit-land, 
 Untainted with the world's alloy, 
 Was full of beauty, love, and joy. 
 
 And well we mind'the olden school 
 
 Of Tory domination rule ; 
 
 Truth was pronounced a libel then, 
 
 And laws made for " the upper ten ; " 
 
 Monopolies were bought and sold ; 
 
 On the State glebe well planted gold 
 
 Sometimes produced ten thousand fold. 
 
 Taxed bread, taxed light, taxed lore, taxed leather, - 
 
 In short, 'twas taxing altogether ; 
 
 While from the pulpit weekly came, 
 
 Backed with the threats of penal flame, 
 
 " Obedience to the powers that be," 
 
 The minister a devotee,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 41 
 
 Perhaps of cards and barley bree. 
 
 But thanks to heaven ! those doings are 
 
 Now numbered with those things that were, 
 
 Laid up in all their black array, 
 
 To meet the final reckoning day. 
 
 But one great change that time has made 
 
 Leaves on the mind a lengthened shade ; 
 
 Old friends, old fellow-travellers gone, 
 
 We almost find ourselves alone. 
 
 There is one comfort, and that's great 
 
 We leave the world in better state 
 
 Than we have found it, and it may, 
 
 We hope, have still a better day.
 
 42 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD AND TUTOR OF RUSCO ;* 
 
 OR, THE 
 PLOTTER CAUGHT IN HIS OWN SNARE. 
 
 Where Rusco's ruined tower is seen, 
 Embossed in sylvan vale of Fleet ; 
 
 A lovelier, more sequestered scene 
 The traveller's eye will fail to meet. 
 
 Here noble Kenmure dwelt of yore, 
 It was in good King James' day ; 
 
 The first, the best of all that line 
 That e'er assumed the royal sway. 
 
 I sing but of a lowly hind, 
 
 Though worthy in his own degree ; 
 
 Who at the font was Henry hight, 
 
 And Kenmure's herdsman chief was he. 
 
 * Rusco Tower. This picturesque old ruin stands on the banks 
 of the river Fleet, in the vicinity of Gatehouse, and is in the 
 parish of An-woth, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The tale of the 
 shepherd and tutor has been long current in that district, and 
 is well accredited.
 
 -GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 43 
 
 He was a Gordon, and as stark, 
 
 As buirdly, and as brave a man 
 As ever charged in Scottish host 
 
 When Gallovidians led the van. 
 
 He loved a maid as sweetly fair 
 
 As dawning of the summer day ; 
 The theme of song, and known among 
 
 The neighbouring swains as " bonnie May." 
 
 And Marion loved her Henry well, 
 
 And all devoid of jealous cares, 
 Upon the moonlight banks of Fleet 
 
 Full many a happy hour was theirs. 
 
 They wedded were ; by two more blessed 
 The bands of Hymen ne'er were worn ; 
 
 And, when a fleeting year had sped, 
 A lovely, healthy boy was born. 
 
 But there was one to whom this sight 
 
 Was wormwood-sublimated gall ; 
 He looked thereon, as Satan did 
 
 On Paradise before the fall. 
 
 Lord Kenmure had a tutor learned, 
 
 'Twas said he hailed from Italy ; 
 A dark, forbidding, distant man, 
 
 Was feared, but loved by none was he.
 
 44 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A suitor for fair Marion's hand, 
 Defeat fell on his spirit proud 
 
 Like water on the red-hot bar, 
 
 And he indignant, vengeance vowed. 
 
 And schemes he laid, and plots he made, 
 And Kenmure's ear with falsehood plied ; 
 
 But Henry, clothed in mail of truth, 
 The dastard's darts still turned aside 
 
 Lord Kenmure was annoyed and grieved ; 
 
 At length he said with aspect stern, 
 " That Henry has dishonest been, 
 
 Sir Tutor, I have yet to learn. 
 
 ' I've seen him in the battle-field, 
 And know he is both stout and brave ; 
 
 And 'tis but seldom Nature gives 
 Such form and features to a knave. 
 
 " That he is not trustworthy, I 
 Have heard both now and heretofore ; 
 
 But, till a visual proof is given, 
 I warn you I shall hear no more." 
 
 In virtue's course we often pause, 
 Alas ! e'en when the goal is near; 
 
 But in the downward path of vice 
 As oft are prone to persevere.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 45 
 
 Italian malice for a time 
 
 Was baulked, but soon again it took 
 Its crooked course with double force, 
 
 So swells the once impeded brook. 
 
 One day again the tutor sought, 
 
 Importunate, Lord Kenmure's ear, 
 Declaring he had something seen 
 
 Of which his Lordship ought to hear. 
 
 And thus : " My lord, as Virgil's page 
 
 I conning sat in yonder wood, 
 I heard a rushing of the sheep, 
 
 And looking saw they were pursued. 
 
 " Henry was with the dogs behind, 
 The flock he folded, and one drew ; 
 
 A weighty wether, which he bound, j 
 And quickly on his shoulders threw. 
 
 " With hasty, stealthy step he took 
 A devious track through dell and den, 
 
 And soon his bleating burden left 
 In that old shielling in the glen. 
 
 " Short time has but elapsed, my lord, 
 Since I was at that sheiling, where 
 
 I saw the sheep, and should you go, 
 You certaiuly will find it there."
 
 46 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Lord Kenmure hurried to the spot, 
 Some trusty servants in his train; 
 
 And there, in sooth, the sheep he saw, 
 A sight that cost him meikle pain. 
 
 Henry denied it fast and flat, 
 But his report was not received ; 
 
 And all with which he had been charged 
 Was now revived, and now believed. 
 
 Ofttimes they were both brief and stern, 
 The trials of the olden day; 
 
 And Henry to the gallows-tree 
 
 Was doomed, and forthwith led away. 
 
 Above the castle on the height, 
 
 There stood an old stag-headed oak, 
 
 Where human relics festering hung, 
 And carrion birds were heard to croak. 
 
 'Twas there the raven stripped the scalp 
 To form a litter for her young, 
 
 And fed them with that organ which 
 Had oft the songs of Scotland sung. 
 
 The trappings these of feudal state, 
 The trophies " of the good old time," 
 
 When human life was cheaply held, 
 And little constituted crime.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 47 
 
 Poor Marion followed hard behind, 
 
 With grief distraught, her mien all wild, 
 
 Dishevelled hair and bosom bare, 
 
 And in her arms the unconscious child. 
 
 The inmates of the castle all 
 
 Came rushing out as they passed by ; 
 
 Such scenes were not unwonted, yet 
 There scarcely was one cheek seen dry. 
 
 The Lady was most deeply moved, 
 And said to Kenmure " Oh, my dear, 
 
 This execution do delay ! 
 
 You have too hasty been, I fear. 
 
 " That tutor I could never bear, 
 He does not look through honest eyes ; 
 
 And, if the shepherd is a rogue, 
 I ne'er saw one in such a guise. 
 
 " Do let me play the judge for once, 
 
 We women are but vessels weak, 
 But there have Judiths been and Jaels, 
 
 And light may through the darkness break." 
 
 Lord Kenmure hasty was and hot, 
 
 Yet dearly loved his lady fair, 
 And known by all in cot and hall 
 
 She was for worth and wisdom rare.
 
 48 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 " Well, be it so," he frankly said. 
 
 The witnesses were cited straight, 
 Gentles and simples all pressed in, 
 
 And anxiously the issue wait. 
 
 A henchman now averred that he 
 
 The sheep unbound and turned it wide, 
 
 As ordered by Lord Kenmure, and 
 Its legs were with a garter tied. 
 
 The garter was produced, and proved 
 A piece of quaintly wrought brocade, 
 
 Which took the audience by surprize, 
 Or rather, a sensation made. 
 
 Quoth Lady Kenmure, " This is much, 
 Such gewgaws are not shepherd's gear ; 
 
 A part is gained, and by -God's help 
 I hope the whole will soon appear." 
 
 The butler now deponed that he 
 Had seen the tutor have a pair 
 
 Such garters, and proposed that they 
 Should search his person then and there. 
 
 This step was quickly carried out, 
 His one leg was ungartered found ; 
 
 The other wore the counterpart 
 
 Of that with which the sheep was bound.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 49 
 
 This ran electric through the crowd, 
 Of hands and feet rose such a clang, 
 
 Succeeded by a treble shout, 
 Till echoes of old Eusco rang. . 
 
 Poor Henry's sentence was revoked, 
 
 But our attempts were only vain, 
 To tell their weeping love and joy 
 
 When he and Marion met again. 
 
 Amid congratulations loud 
 
 The tutor had forgotten been ; 
 At last, when he was in request. 
 
 His presence nowhere could be seen. 
 
 For life so singularly saved, 
 
 Deep gratitude to Heaven was theirs, 
 The Lady said, and bade the priest 
 
 Summon the household all to prayers. 
 
 The house was searched, the waters, woods, 
 
 This only proved the tutor gone ; 
 But where, or how, no trace was left, 
 
 Nor ever to this hour is known. 
 
 Henry and Marion long survived 
 
 This jeopardy, and lived to see 
 Their children's children rise around, 
 
 A numerous, goodly progeny. 
 E
 
 50 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 They ever sacred held that day, 
 The date of their deliverance ; 
 
 And never Lady Kenmure named, 
 Except with deepest reverence. 
 
 Much we have suffered from, and much 
 Of plotters and of schemers seen, 
 
 And calmly watched sometimes while they 
 Entrapped in their own snares have been. 
 
 They war against the God of truth, 
 And oft, despite of all their arts, 
 
 Even in this world of good and ill 
 
 Are doomed to meet their due deserts.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 51 
 
 JAMIE AND MARY. 
 
 A LEGEND OF THE LAIGH LAN.* 
 
 ON balmy zephyr's western wing 
 
 The summer's e'enin' fell, 
 The bat was flickering through the loan, 
 
 The owl swept down the delL 
 
 And from the rustic cot was heard 
 
 The voice of psalmody, 
 Blent sweetly with a chastened sound 
 
 Tie moaning of the sea. 
 
 Wee Jessie to her granny said, 
 
 " Come, grannie, tell again 
 The tale ye tauld the ither nicht 
 
 Anent young Jamie Train. 
 
 " That drowned was wi' his bonnie lass 
 
 Ae muckle Lammas flude, 
 Sweet Mary Dale, that was, ye ken, 
 
 Sae bonnie and sae gude. 
 
 * At one time that district of Ayrshire, lying westward from 
 the parish of Kilmarnock, was termed the Laigh Lan'.
 
 52 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 " I dreamed aboot it a' that nicht, 
 And tauld it the neist day 
 
 To Johnny Ramsay, whan the rest 
 O' schule-weans were at play. 
 
 " He heard it wi' an earnest leuk, 
 
 Awhile he silent sat, 
 Then something said unto himsel', 
 
 And, puir wee thing, he grat." 
 
 Here granny blew a whiff o' smoke, 
 
 And then said wi' a leer, 
 " Weel, Jessie, I hae often thought 
 
 Ye were a kennin queer. 
 
 " And ne'er a day gaes owre your head 
 But ye some tale bring hame, 
 
 And they are maistly a' mixed up 
 Wi' that same callan's name. 
 
 " And I maun say't that nou-a-days 
 Some queer things come to pass ; 
 
 It leuks to me as you twa were 
 Already lad and lass." 
 
 Quoth Jessie, " granny, in your guess 
 
 Ye're no that far aglee, 
 For I like Johnny Kamsay weel, 
 
 And Johnny he likes me.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAM1N. 53 
 
 " His cheeks are like the roses red, 
 
 His brow is like the snaw, 
 He has the bonniest wee bit mouth, 
 
 That ever yet I saw. 
 
 "And his the lovely yellow hair, 
 
 Like links o' gowd it hings, 
 And a' the birds and flowers he kens, 
 
 And likes a' bonnie things. 
 
 " And ruffled sarks he wears, that aye 
 
 Are clearly starched, and clean, 
 The callans ca' him ' fairy,'* but 
 
 I kenna what they mean." 
 
 " Now Jessie, doo, ye ne'er were ane 
 
 To slicht my biddin' yet, 
 We'll say nae mair o' that the noo, 
 
 Just let the maukin sit. 
 
 " It was aboot the forty-five, 
 
 When Charlie's Highland host 
 Made Johnny Coup at Preston-pans 
 
 Kepent his braggart boast. 
 
 " The farmer in Corsehillf was then 
 
 A smuggler, Geordie Train, 
 A man as wicht, and bauld as e'er 
 
 Laid hand on bridle-rein. 
 
 * Sobriquet by which the Author was known at School, 
 fr Parish of Dreghorn.
 
 54 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 " His son was Jamie, buirdly, braw, 
 
 A likely lad was he ; 
 And though but young, had foremost been 
 
 In many a rough melee. 
 
 " Their servant lass was Mary Dale, 
 And ane mair gude, and fair, 
 
 In gentle, or in semple stock, 
 Was not in shire of Ayr. 
 
 " The wooers cam' frae east and west, 
 
 But still they cam' in vain, 
 For Jamie lo'ed her as his life, 
 
 And she lo'ed Jamie Train. 
 
 " A widow's only bairn was she 
 Wha lived in Winehouseyett, 
 
 A guidly dame as ye would in 
 A simmer day hae met. 
 
 " But little warl's gear she had 
 
 Ayont her spinnin' wheel, 
 And eident at it sune and late, 
 
 Just brought her milk and meal. 
 
 " But she had riches where the richts 
 
 Of heirs are guarded weel, 
 Where moth nor rust can ne'er corrupt, 
 
 Nor thieves break through and steal.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 55 
 
 " It Lammas was, and plichted lang 
 
 The twa had been, and bent 
 For marriage were at Martinmas, 
 
 Should auld folk gi'e consent. 
 
 " Ae morning Mary crossed the ford 
 
 To seek her mither's ear, 
 The tale she had to tell was ane 
 
 The fremyt couldna hear. 
 
 " And Jamie in her absence socht 
 
 His faither's will to gain, 
 For baith a gey bien man he was, 
 
 And proud, this Geordie Train. 
 
 " The day was glorgie, and the kye 
 
 Ban restless through the fiel', 
 The craws were croakin', wee birds a' 
 
 Were seekin' oot some beil. 
 
 "And sheep were gathered in a knot, 
 
 The dougs wi' heavy e'e 
 And hingin' lugs, and tail, were gaun 
 
 About uneasily. 
 
 " At times there wasna win' to raise 
 
 A twitter in the wuds ; 
 Again a breeze sprang up that sent 
 
 The stour alang in cluds.
 
 56 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 " And dark, and gurlie grew the sea, 
 And gulls and whaups ashore 
 
 Were sailin', and their dreary scraighs 
 Aboon the breaker's roar. 
 
 "My gutcher chanced to be thereout 
 
 Upon the road to Ayr, 
 And mony a time he leuked aboot, 
 
 And wished himsel' weel there. 
 
 " Bedene the braid, blue lichtnin' flashed, 
 
 And peals o' thunder ran ; 
 Sae lang, sae loud were scarce e'er heard 
 
 In memory of man. 
 
 " And doon the rain in torrents fell, 
 And burns ran braid and wide ; 
 
 Auld Irvine spread frae bank to brae, 
 A red, and rapid tide, 
 
 " That day there was ae humble cot, 
 Nae dread nor fear was there ; 
 
 A mither, and a dochter knelt, 
 And poured their souls in prayer. 
 
 (The light of faith and hope can still 
 
 The darkest lot illume, 
 The prison cell, the vale of death, 
 
 E'en through the martyr's doom.)
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 57 
 
 "And tears of joy the widow shed, 
 
 To think her orphan fair 
 Would hae a bien and happy hame, 
 
 When she should be nae mair. 
 
 " O ! little, little do we ken 
 
 The roads we hae to gae ; 
 Sith unrevealed the future lies, 
 
 It's wisely ordered sae. 
 
 " The gloamin hour was calm and clear, 
 
 The Irvine had gaen doun 
 A bit : but still wi' powerfu' sweep 
 
 Was rowin' deep and broun, 
 
 " When Mary reached the ford, her joe 
 
 Was there to bring her hame ; 
 The best horse in his faither's aucht 
 
 He'd pickit for the same. 
 
 " ' ! Jamie, lad, the water's deep, 
 
 Ye maunna try't the nicht ; 
 I'll back gang to the Winehouseyett, 
 
 And come wi' mornin's licht.' 
 
 " ' I've crossed it in a bigger spate, 
 
 Wi' little licht aboon, 
 Except the starns, or maybe wi' 
 
 That guager's frien', the mune.
 
 58 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 " ' And ' Kelpie ' in a heavy ford 
 
 Sae muckle seems at hame : 
 I sometimes say he weel deserves 
 
 To get his eldrich name. 
 
 " ' I'll come across, and Mary, lass, 
 
 Ye little hae to fear ; 
 And something I to tell you ha'e, 
 
 I ken ye'll like to hear.' 
 
 " The double-wechted horse swam weel, 
 But ere they gained mid-stream, 
 
 Before a raft of drift-wood dense, 
 Came down a heavy beam. 
 
 " And aff the horse it knocked them baith, 
 
 A wild shriek rent the air ; 
 And in the drumly deep they sank, 
 
 And sank to rise nae mair. 
 
 " The horse upon the bank was fand, 
 
 His mane wi' terror raised ; 
 He trembled, nickerin' down the stream, 
 
 Wi' wistfu' leuk still gazed. 
 
 " The mornin' broke, and on the beach 
 
 The bodies were descried ; 
 Clasped in each other's arms they lay, 
 
 For as they lived they died.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 59 
 
 " In Dreg'on kirkyard they were laid, 
 
 Ae grave contained them baith, 
 And they that lo'ed sae deep in life, 
 
 Were parted not in death. 
 
 " The grave was socht by auld and young, 
 
 And socht for rnony a day ; 
 But whare it is, or whare it was, 
 
 Nane livin' noo can say."
 
 60 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 JEANIE SWAN. 
 
 WE have been unable to ascertain the date of this execution, 
 either from the public records of Irvine or Ayr ; but it is generally 
 supposed to have taken place upwards of a century ago. The 
 skeleton was first in the custody of Dr. Fleming, of Irvine, in 
 whose shop it was long exposed. It next fell into the hands of 
 Dr. Walker, again it came into the possession of Dr. King, and 
 was ultimately transferred to the Academy, where it was some- 
 times produced in illustrations of anatomy. In Gait's ' ' Provost " 
 we have an epitome of this unfortunate girl's history, but no 
 date is given. 
 
 'TWAS far down in the cloudy past, 
 
 The doughty days of old ; 
 The West was famed for maidens fair, 
 
 And stalwart men and bold. 
 
 In Irvine town there wonned a lass, 
 
 But humble in degree, 
 Yet was there none in cot or hall, 
 
 More beautiful than she. 
 
 \ 
 
 And many lo'ed, and many wo'ed, 
 
 The bonnie Jeanie Swan ; 
 But she was proud, and threw a slight 
 
 On many a goodly man.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 61 
 
 Her heart was light, her head was light, 
 
 And turned with flattery ; 
 She aimed at an ambitious height, 
 
 Which proved her misery. 
 
 O ! many a one has had to rue 
 
 Their beauty's fatal power, 
 And unto many it has been 
 
 An unpropitious dower. 
 
 That led them to the paths of vice, 
 
 Of vanity and crime ; 
 And left their names a beacon sad 
 
 Upon the shores of time. 
 
 And soon a wealthy spoiler o'er 
 
 Poor Jeanie threw his spell ; 
 As falls the songster by the snake, 
 
 Beneath his power she fell. 
 
 And now it was in artful stealth 
 
 A mother she became, 
 And reft the infant of its life 
 
 To hide her sin and shame. 
 
 And though the deed was darkling done, 
 
 It finally was known ; 
 And she was seized by legal power, 
 
 And into prison thrown.
 
 62 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And there immured a while she lay, 
 
 A prey to grief and care, 
 And sometimes seemed upon the verge 
 
 Of madness and despair. 
 
 The sufferings of erring ones 
 
 In cold, dark, lonesome cell, 
 Beneath the anguish of remorse, 
 
 No words have power to tell. 
 
 At length the day of trial came 
 
 With all its cumbrous state ; 
 The court was crowded, and therein 
 
 The sympathy was great. 
 
 And such the culprit's beauty was, 
 
 So immature her years ; 
 The judge was moved, and many of 
 
 The audience in tears.* 
 
 Puir Jeanie guilty pled to all, 
 
 Took all the skaith and blame ; 
 Nor unto judge, nor counsel would 
 
 Tell her seducer's name. 
 
 The verdict that the jury found 
 Was " guilty " death the doom ; 
 
 And from the sentence there was left 
 For hope, but little room. 
 
 * " And clothed in the allurement of loveliness, as the judge 
 himself said to the jury." GALT.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 63 
 
 The crime she was to expiate 
 
 Her native town within ; 
 And die a shameful death where she 
 
 Had oft so happy been. 
 
 And that fair face, and that fair form, 
 
 Whereon the hand of heaven 
 So signally had set its seal, 
 
 Was for dissection given. 
 
 But from the time the sentence was 
 
 Pronounced, the culprit's mind 
 Suspended seemed, demoralised, 
 
 Nor reason left behind. 
 
 She spoke not, listless and inert, 
 
 Sat with a vacant stare ; 
 Nor was there aught to indicate 
 
 That consciousness was there. 
 
 That night before the fatal day 
 
 She was to Irvine brought, 
 Friends many came to comfort her, 
 
 But still no change was wrought. 
 
 And in this state of stupor died 
 
 Poor hapless Jeanie Swan, 
 A victim to unrighteous law, 
 
 And perfidy of man.* 
 
 * We do not here intend to lodge a protest against capital 
 punishment, much has already been said on that question, yet it
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ! mercy much from heaven we need, 
 
 And mercy we obtain ; 
 But oft when fellow-men seeks ours, 
 
 Alas ! he seeks in vain. 
 
 The sentence all was carried out 
 'Gainst public feeling strong ; 
 
 And, in a local surgeon's shop, 
 The skeleton hung long. 
 
 Some looking at the ghastly sight 
 
 Would her betrayer ban ; 
 Some say with sigh, and tearful eye, 
 
 Alake ! poor Jeanie Swan. 
 
 still remains unsettled. One thing we know that God was the 
 judge of the first murderer, yet the penalty was not death. 
 But after the flood this divine mandate was emphatically given, 
 " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." 
 In this case, at least from all that has come down to us tradi- 
 tionally, the poor girl was labouring under mental aberration, 
 and, therefore, in a very improper condition to meet death. In 
 our own times there have been murderers whose crimes were of 
 the most odious character, and it has been said that such men 
 were unfit to live. But here arises another question " Were 
 they fit to die? " As regards public executions the experience 
 of past ages has shown that they have anything but a salutary 
 influence on the community, and therefore have been wisely 
 abolished.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 65 
 
 But who the base destroyer was 
 
 Has never yet been known, 
 Nor may until he stands disclosed 
 
 Before the great white throne. 
 
 But this, and much besides God's Word, 
 
 To calm reflection say, 
 There is for all beneath the sun 
 
 A final judgment day.
 
 66 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 THE "SCOTCH TRADE" IN ENGLAND. 
 
 " Not ignorant was the youth that still no few 
 Of his adventurous countrymen were led 
 By perseverance in this track of life 
 To competence and ease ; to him it offered 
 Attractions manifold and this he chose." 
 
 WOKDSWORTH. 
 
 THERE is a trade in England called the " Scotch," 
 Whose mission is to clothe the outward form 
 Of that inexplicable creature man. 
 Hence many go to church, and market eke, 
 Marriage, and merrymaking, balls and plays, 
 Or, as it may be, join the funeral train 
 In broad-cloth, silks, and satinets bedight, 
 That else might have been seedy, or, perhaps, 
 Tattered or out at elbows. Some pursue 
 Their avocations comfortably clad, 
 Whose corporations might have patent been 
 To all the hostile elements of heaven. 
 
 And when the dreary winter night descends, 
 
 When frost congeals the lake, and turns the glebe 
 
 To ridge of adamant, and subtle winds 
 
 Find every crevice of life's tenement, 
 
 And sap the structure with disease and death, 
 
 'Tis then it is in many an English home
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 67 
 
 The Scottish Trade has furnished that in which 
 
 The sons of labour warmly, soundly sleep, 
 
 And rise refreshed for duties of the day. 
 
 And thousands in this traffic are engaged ; 
 
 And here it is that Capital invests 
 
 Her millions. Long this trade the test of time 
 
 Has stood, and is of centuries the growth. 
 
 And hence the hardy, enterprising Scot 
 
 Foregoes his native land, and for a time 
 
 Leaves all he loves behind ; and this is much : 
 
 Yes, there's the burn he paddled in langsyne, 
 
 The banks and braes where first he gathered flowers, 
 
 Or stormed the wasp's or wild bee's citadel ; 
 
 There is the river, too, where first he learned 
 
 The swimmer's art, or from its deeps allured 
 
 The scaly denizens with simple snare ; 
 
 There is the woodland where he ofttimes culled 
 
 Wild fruit, when things of little worth were great, 
 
 Or went bird-nesting as the case might be ; 
 
 And what still dearer made it, was that there 
 
 He met wi' Jessie " when the kye cam' name." 
 
 But there's a place, and one that's dearer still 
 
 In memory's highest, holiest sanctuary 
 
 Enshrined it lies, and there will still remain 
 
 While beats the very latest pulse of life : 
 
 His father's hearth ! there, too, the rustic church 
 
 That tells of ancient days, around whose walls 
 
 The dust of his progenitors is laid, 
 
 Perhaps of some who gained the martyr's crown, 
 
 Planted that tree, and watered it with blood,
 
 68 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Beneath whose shadow we can sit serene, 
 Nor priest, nor potentate make us afraid ; 
 And there the venerated village school 
 Where dominie Syntax plied the stinging " taws ;" 
 Of recollections redolent it is, 
 Bickerings with snowballs, shinty, or the 
 Bools, and as the Caledonian blood would rise, 
 A bout at fisticuffs would close the scene. 
 Perhaps the youthful Scot is born a bard, * 
 Then who can tell with what regretful thoughts 
 He leaves his native river famed in Song, 
 The ruin rich in legendary lore, 
 The battle-field where Scotland's rights were won, 
 "And the grey mountain where the morning cloud 
 Reclines, and down whose shaggy sides abrupt 
 The torrent roars, his nightly lullaby, 
 Whose murmurs yet shall haunt his southern dreams. 
 
 But now the day of parting has come round, 
 
 And up the old kirk-road a party small 
 
 Is slowly wending : generations three 
 
 Are represented there j their hopes and fears 
 
 They have, and as the mental scale between 
 
 Is struggling, hands are grasped, and tears descend ; 
 
 * Several in connection with this trade have evinced a talent, 
 or rather genius for Poetry, among whom I may mention the late 
 Donald Macpherson of Newcastle-upon-tyne. Mr. Macpherson 
 died young, but a small posthumous collection of pieces published 
 by his friends, gives sufficient evidence that he was a genuine 
 Poet.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAM1N. 69 
 
 A stalwart youth is he that for the South 
 Is destined, one of truly manly mould, 
 By toil, and temperance disciplined, and well- 
 Formed for the contest in the war of life. 
 But there's another point in which he is 
 Still stronger fortified, and this it is, 
 That he from reason's dawn has had his mind 
 Imbued with precepts from the volume fraught 
 With wisdom from above, and hand in hand 
 Example walked with precept, and this made 
 The teaching efficacious. Again, 
 The party has returned ; no, there is one 
 Awanting 'tis auld collie from a height 
 He whines a sad farewell, and when the form 
 Beloved is seen no more, with drooping ears 
 And tail runs whimpering home, declines his food 
 And in some darksome corner spends the day. 
 
 Next, see our Scot in his adopted home. 
 
 Has he forgot his country 1 certes no, 
 
 Nor yet his training ; on the table lies 
 
 The Book of books, and omnipresent Burns. 
 
 Perhaps the buiJc of minor bard is there, 
 
 Of local reputation only, prized 
 
 As calling up associations strong 
 
 Of early, happy, unforgotten days, 
 
 And prints and paintings on the walls disclose 
 
 How full the owner's heart of Fatherland.
 
 70 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 The chapel knows his liberal support, 
 
 And seminary too, the first may bear 
 
 Perchance some name in honour of the North, 
 
 " John Knox," " St. Andrew's," and so forth, but this 
 
 May be excused from feelings national. 
 
 And should some ane o' Granny Scotland's weans 
 Appear, on whom misfortune's blight has fallen, 
 He meets a brother, finds a helping hand 
 That bids the broken heart to sing for joy, 
 And gives him loftier views of fellow-men. 
 
 In business diligent, success is gained, 
 And competence and wealth the fair result ; 
 Yea, some, ere age her signature has set, 
 Have bought the lands on which they laboured erst, 
 And closed in honoured affluence their days. 
 Exceptions are there, must be owned, a few ; 
 Yes, some discomfited recross the Tweed 
 All can't be winners in the game of life. 
 
 And gladly we would testimony bear, 
 
 That he of whom we have essayed to sing 
 
 Is almost always found upon the side 
 
 Of liberal politics a progress man ; 
 
 And marked for shrewd and sound intelligence. 
 
 Some have attained the magisterial Bench, 
 
 And one even reached a seat in Parliament, * 
 
 * In Undercliffe Cemetery, Bradford, Yorkshire 
 
 In Memory of 
 
 EGBERT MILLIGAN, ESQ., 
 Of Acacia, Rawdon. 
 Born in Scotland,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 71 
 
 Who has not read the " Excursion 1 " and who has, 
 
 Must thereby have a better man become, 
 
 Else he most sadly has perverted been ; 
 
 And there we find th' illustrious Wordsworth puts 
 
 The most enlightened, lofty sentiments ; 
 
 Most charged with masculine, Christian common sense, 
 
 Into the mouth of one the mouth of whom 1 
 
 A Scotch itinerant draper, and none else. 
 
 But when the natal day of Burns comes round, 
 
 Or dear St. Andrews ; then in feather full 
 
 Our friend, th' expatriated Scot, is seen. 
 
 The board is spread, and " warm, reekin', rich," 
 
 The " chieftain o' the puddin' race " is there ; 
 
 And flanked, it may be, with the sheep's head singed, 
 
 That grins a welcome. Song, and toast, and speech 
 
 Are flowing racy round reserve is gone, 
 
 And strong fraternal feeling reigns supreme. 
 
 Then Scotland's hills, and dales, and lochs, and streams ; 
 
 He became a resident in Bradford in 1803. 
 His talents and industry, guided by integrity and honour, 
 Eaised him to high distinction as a merchant. 
 He was the first Mayor of Bradford, in 1847 ; 
 He represented the town in two successive Parliaments 
 With fidelity and diligence. 
 
 He was generous and warm-hearted in his hospitalities ; 
 Liberal in support of religious and benevolent institutions. 
 He departed this life in the faith and hope of the Gospel, 
 July 1st, 1862. Aged 75.
 
 72 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Her battlefields, her bards and patriots 
 
 Yea, all that hallows, beautifies the past, 
 
 Or makes the present worthy, rises in 
 
 A sea of glory, lit with fancy's rays, 
 
 Till the house seems th' enthusiasm to share, 
 
 And echo tells it in the ear of night. 
 
 Tis now for twice ten years in every town 
 In England's every shire, that we have known 
 The members of this Trade, and sooth to say 
 Some ciphers are, but this must be the case 
 As long as Adam's leaven runs through man ; 
 But sure I am the major portion are 
 A credit to the land that gave them birth, 
 Nor could another country under heaven 
 Produce as many men of such a stamp, 
 And we have met among them not a few, 
 Of Nature's own Nobility, who hold 
 Direct their patent from the King of Kings.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 73 
 
 VICTIMS OF ALCOHOL. 
 
 The summer's eve her lazy mists had spread 
 
 From bank to bank of Mersey's muddy stream, 
 
 And half concealed her multifarious craft. 
 
 Aboard a steamer I had got, about 
 
 For Scotland's west metropolis to sail. 
 
 Here met, among the passengers, with two, 
 
 A man and woman, strangers they to me, 
 
 Yet, from some cause indefinite, I took 
 
 An interest in them. Evidently he 
 
 Was one who had by labour earned his bread, 
 
 And though he scarcely had attained the time 
 
 Of life's meridian was much broken down, 
 
 And prematurely old, his countenance 
 
 Bore marks of mental imbecility, 
 
 His manner was eccentric, quiet withal, 
 
 Indeed, he seemed a harmless maniac. 
 
 The woman was much younger, better dressed, 
 
 And handsome, yet a shade of sorrow deep 
 
 Sat on her face, and sometimes I could see 
 
 In her dark thoughtful eye the rising tear. 
 
 Her poor companion's painful history 
 
 At last from her I learned : in Scotland he 
 
 Engaged in a distillery had been, 
 
 And to this sorry state had brought himself
 
 74 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 By drinking. She, a sister of his wife, 
 
 Had been with him unto his native place, 
 
 There an asylum sought ; but guardians had 
 
 Refused admittance, they returning were 
 
 To his poor heart-struck wife, who was at home 
 
 With eight young children, and in poverty. 
 
 Now midnight spread her solemn, sable wing, 
 
 O'er land and main, the livid lightning flashed 
 
 And thunder muttered in the distance deep, 
 
 When the poor invalid was taken ill ; 
 
 Upon the steerage floor himself he threw, 
 
 Convulsed, and cramped, together coiled as we 
 
 Have seen the hedgehog in the winter tide. 
 
 In dreadful agony he seemed, but brief 
 
 His sufferings were, few minutes he was gone ; 
 
 So sudden unexpected was the change, 
 
 With grief his guide was overwhelmed, and met 
 
 With sympathy from all ; the corpse was wrapped 
 
 In tarpawline, and to the leeward laid. 
 
 All night I paced the deck, and oft revolved 
 
 The thought, in what a melancholy state 
 
 The widowed mother, and the orphans eight 
 
 Would be, when this sad burden was brought home. 
 
 For years I now had an abstainer been, 
 
 But, had I not, that night had made me one. 
 
 " Touch not, taste not, handle not,"* should be 
 The text still paramount in every mind, 
 
 * Colossians, ii. 21.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 75 
 
 No man is safe that takes it in his hand, 
 Whate'er he is, whate'er he may have been ; 
 To-day he stands, to-morrow he may fall, 
 And fall to rise no more ; nor do I know 
 A wretch beneath the firmament of heaven 
 Deserving our commiseration more 
 Than one to drink enslaved. One early morn 
 To one of Glasgow's many dramshops came 
 A man in life advanced, and farther still 
 Advanced in ruin's road, for he was one 
 Errant from God, from Nature, and from Truth. 
 He asked a glass of spirits, which he drank 
 With greatest gusto, and a second j now, 
 He said, " I feel much better," and addressed 
 The landlord and assistant thus : ! men, 
 Of drink beware, and do beware in time, 
 Else ye may one day be what I am now. 
 That first glass set before me, my desire 
 So ardent was, so irresistible, 
 That I had drunk it though a voice from heaven 
 Declared the act would seal my endless woe."
 
 76 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF JOHN KELSO HUNTEE, 
 
 ARTIST, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE RETROSPECT OF AN ARTIST'S LIFE," ETC. 
 Better known by his nom de plume of 
 
 TAMMAS TURNIP, ESQ. 
 
 ' ' A warmer heart death ne'er made cold. " BURNS. 
 
 YE carrots, beets, and parsnips a', 
 Ye bowkail stocks baith grit and sma', 
 Ye greens defyin' frost and snaw, 
 
 Come mourn wi' me, 
 For Tammas Turnip's noo awa, 
 
 In verity. 
 
 Dundonald's bonny banks and braes 
 May dowie hing their simmer claes, 
 For ane that scanned their every phase 
 
 Wi' lovin e'e, 
 And painted them, and penned their praise, 
 
 They'll nae mair see.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 77 
 
 The breeze amang the ruined wa's 
 Of Auchans House a requiem blaws, 
 The swallows, howlets, and the daws 
 
 Are makin' mane, 
 And like a tear the raindrap fa's 
 
 For him that's gane. 
 
 I stood within the Castle's pale, 
 The wind sang with a dreary wail, 
 And tauld a melancholy tale 
 
 As down it broke, 
 Through auld Craigbury's hazle veil 
 
 And bowers of oak. 
 
 That bonnie bird, the lintie grey, * 
 Was twitterin' round the gowden spray, 
 The cushat poured her plaintive lay 
 
 In dark retreat, 
 And ne'er, methinks, was, till that day, 
 
 Sae sadly sweet. 
 
 * This songster was a great favourite of the deceased, and 
 many a nest of them he nursed in the days of his apprenticeship 
 in Dundonald. It generally builds its nest in the gorse. Tam- 
 mas (a name in which he rejoiced) was also very partial to the 
 cushat, and sometimes was the cause of the "moping owl" 
 complaining to the moon.
 
 78 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 All richly shone the yellow broom,* 
 The hawthorn shed a sweet perfume, 
 The orchard with its fragrant bloom 
 
 Enriched the air, 
 And yet the shadow of the tomb 
 
 Was lingerin' there. 
 
 
 The ivy and the eglantine 
 
 Around the oak of ages twine, 
 And wreaths of snawy daisies shine 
 
 Alang the lea, 
 I marked, but still the task was mine, 
 
 Wi' pensive e'e. 
 
 The ancient hamlet seemed to ha'e 
 A languid look, an aspect wae, 
 And in reflection's ear to say 
 
 I'm nae mair thine, 
 The dear Dundonald of the day 
 
 Of auld langsyne. 
 
 The western shore lay full in view, 
 Its sun-lit sea, and mountains blue, 
 Whence youthful fancy often drew 
 
 Her visions bright, 
 But now it rose in sombre hue, 
 
 And saddened light. 
 
 * On my last visit to Auchans I saw one of the finest specimens 
 of the broom that I have seen for some years ; it was in full 
 blossom, a magnificent spectacle.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 79 
 
 O ! truly man is like a flower 
 That blossoms for a fleeting hour, 
 In a' their beauty and their power, 
 
 They're here the day, 
 But death descends, a withering shower, 
 
 And where are they ? 
 
 And age and ailments are a load 
 Makes life's descent a weary road, 
 And friends fall as we onward plod, 
 
 Till oft upon 
 The confines of the dark abode 
 
 We stand alone. 
 
 Then ! young man in full hey-day 
 Of life, on pleasure's flowery way, 
 Pause and reflect, as you survey 
 
 Your sometime fate, 
 For think you must, and think you may 
 
 When 'tis too late. 
 
 Eternal Nature from her throne 
 Of Beauty still keeps smilin' on, 
 But when a few short years have flown 
 
 O'er Time's sad shore, 
 The place to which we once were known, 
 
 Knows us no more.
 
 80 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Another warning 'tis to me, 
 That where he is I soon shall be ; 
 The day of life its drowsy e'e 
 
 Is closing fast, 
 And whispers of eternity 
 
 The dark'ning west. 
 
 But there's a land, a kingdom where 
 There is no death, nor no night there, 
 But all that's pure, and good, and fair, 
 
 Shall bloom for aye, 
 Be beautiful beyond compare 
 
 In endless day.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 81 
 
 THE QUAKER AND THE SCEPTIC DANDY. 
 
 IT happened in those days when Jehu ruled 
 
 The " road " with sway supernal, gentlemen 
 
 Were sometimes found professors of the whip, 
 
 As Barclay, Barnton, and many more. 
 
 Meantime the " rail," a mighty secret, lay 
 
 Among the mysteries of Time untold. 
 
 It happened what then happened 1 you will say, 
 
 This simply, that a worthy Quaker got 
 
 Upon a stage-coach, and beside him sat 
 
 What some might term a dandy, swell, or spark, 
 
 Or by some other designation known, 
 
 With which we will not interlard our page ; 
 
 But he was quite as fine as dress, and rings, 
 
 And chains, and studs could make him, and although 
 
 The day of modern hirsute had not dawned, 
 
 Yet underneath his nose a something grew 
 
 Where Jenny Wren might well have built her nest. 
 
 Of scent, and of cigars an odour strong 
 
 He bore about him, and his language oft 
 
 Polluted was with expletives profane, 
 
 And was as weak and wicked as attempt 
 
 To turn religion into ridicule. 
 
 At length he of the contest spoke, betwixt 
 
 The youthful David and the Philistine,
 
 82 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And said it was impossible that e'er 
 
 A shepherd lad should with a sling have made 
 
 Such deadly fracture in the giant's skull. 
 
 With stern, but tranquil look the Quaker eyed 
 His fellow-traveller, and said, " Well, friend, 
 Of one thing sure I am, it would have been 
 A feat quite easily accomplished, if 
 Goliah's head has been as soft as thine."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 83 
 
 LET WEEL ALANE. 
 
 AN ELECTION SQUIB. 
 
 Ye needna spread your Tory traps, 
 In hopes our votes to gain ; 
 
 Auld Ayrshire leuks for better praps, 
 Sae just let weel alane. 
 
 Ye taxed our parritch and our shoon, 
 
 And even daured to lay 
 Your burdens on the things aboon 
 
 The vera licht o' day. 
 
 Our kirks ye filled wi' hireling priests 
 To preach the " right divine," 
 
 Wha said sham graces at your feasts, 
 And swilled the bluid-bought wine. 
 
 The roast ye ruled for mony a day, 
 Nor spiered the turnspit's price ; 
 
 But things ha'e ta'en anither sway, 
 And now we'll get a slice.
 
 84 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Our vera trades that clad your boukes, 
 Were talked of wi' disdain ; 
 
 Ay, sometimes formed the theme of jokes 
 Amang your menial train. 
 
 "We served you leal, we served you lang, 
 
 And got a scanty fee, 
 Whatever might be right, or wrang, 
 
 The lion's share had ye. 
 
 We fed your game, your postage paid, 
 And soundly banged your faes, 
 
 And pensions to your youngsters gied 
 When in their swaddlin' claes. 
 
 Our kail were thin, our backs were bare, 
 
 For we had landlords than 
 Wha held a patrick or a hare 
 
 Of mair account than man. 
 
 But now those powers, the Pen and Press, 
 Have taught you to surrender, 
 
 And learn the spring that sauce for goose 
 Is also sauce for gander. 
 
 Your sails ye're trimmin' to the tack, 
 
 But weel we ken the game, 
 For Tories like the papist pack 
 
 Have ever been the same.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 85 
 
 Of power ye've made the same abuse 
 
 In every land and day, 
 From Nimrod down to Claverhouse, 
 
 And cut-throat Castlereagh. 
 
 Nae doot your wallet weel crammed is 
 
 And ready for the scuffle, 
 A lesson from your uncle Dizz, 
 
 That grand incarnate shuffle. 
 
 But ye will serve the County best 
 
 To tak' an early train, 
 41 Skedaddle " is the word confest, 
 
 Sae just let weel alane.
 
 86 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 THE ATHEIST AND THE MILESTONE, &c. 
 
 'TWAS on a Sabbath evening, but it was 
 A city Sabbath, one not relished much 
 By him who while this century was young 
 Had spent his Sabbaths in provincial town, 
 And hamlet of the West : well I remind 
 When duty called me early through the street, 
 The sweet and holy silence that prevailed, 
 But broken by the voice of prayer or praise; 
 Few were abroad : perhaps, with stealthy step, 
 Some matron on a needful errand bent, 
 As noiselessly she ope'd and shut the door, 
 As if a " whist " personified ; indeed, 
 Even animals inferior, and birds 
 Seemed conscious of the sacred day of rest, 
 
 But I must make a movement retrograde. 
 I said, 'twas on a Sabbath evening, that 
 I called upon a friend a friend of yore, 
 A man I much esteemed, I knew him kind, 
 And generous to a fault ; his heart was large, 
 And strong his sympathies with Adam's race; 
 Upon the sunny side of men and things 
 He ever looked, abhorred the foetid breath 
 Of slander, frank and intellectual was ; 
 Through the same scenes of beauty picturesque 
 We both in youth had roamed, both deeply loved,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 87 
 
 Which time and distance only made more dear. 
 This brought from memory's storehouse served to knit 
 The bond of friendship faster ; but I am 
 Full sorry to confess my friend sometimes 
 Sat in the scorner's and the scoffer's chair, 
 And was reputed atheist in creed. 
 
 It has been said that nought so monstrous as 
 
 An atheist ever lived, but much we know 
 
 To controvert this theory have seen 
 
 The baleful influence of that belief ; 
 
 Its beverage is poison thrice distilled 
 
 In crucible infernal; but eftsoons, 
 
 Again I find I have digressing been. 
 
 My friend spoke of the hardships he had borne 
 
 In struggling with a numerous family, 
 
 Where death and sickness often inroads made, 
 
 And means were but inadequate ; he said, 
 
 " I've suffered much that must remain untold, 
 
 And what the world would slow be to believe. 
 
 Hard by an ancient village in the West, 
 
 There stands a milestone ; many, many a time 
 
 I've thither gone while others were asleep, 
 
 And bathed that milestone with my burning tears." 
 
 Confession pitiful ! the voice of Truth 
 And Nature wrestling with a man insane, 
 For if there's one entitled to the term, 
 It is the wretch repudiating God.
 
 88 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Well stricken now in years the sceptic was. 
 
 The power who spares not pious nor profane, 
 
 Summoned him hence. I was besouth the Tweed, 
 
 And heard not in what frame of mind he met 
 
 His last emergency ; but seldom had 
 
 The shades of twilight fallen upon his grave, 
 
 When, in a dream, methought I met him in 
 
 A lonely, half-dilapidated house. 
 
 His erst superior personel was gone, 
 
 Dwindled and shrunk he looked, and o'er his face 
 
 A veil of smoke impenetrable hung ; 
 
 But there about him was a something weird, 
 
 And dark, and dismal, indescribable, 
 
 Such as I ne'er beheld in earthly form. 
 
 He said, " I'll write them, for they had no right 
 To put me into hell." I said, " Are you 
 In hell 1 " He answered, " Yes, I am in hell ; 
 They've put me there that I reformed may be." 
 
 I woke and now the morning's earliest hour 
 
 Struck slow and solemn through the slumb'ring town, 
 
 Proud chanticleer replied, the watch-dog's howl 
 
 Came musically mournful from afar, 
 
 And through the azure sky the waning moon 
 
 In plaintive beauty sought the dappled west, 
 
 The glorious galaxy of stars, methought, 
 
 If conscious of what is passing here below, 
 
 Had eyes, and tears, they well might weep for man.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 89 
 
 A SABBATH MORNING IN GULILAND. 
 
 ' ' For where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
 there am I in the midst of them." Matthew xviii. 20. 
 
 THE summer sun had o'er the landscape shed 
 
 A flood of radiance, on the hedgerows hung 
 
 The sparkling dewdrops, every sphere a gem, 
 
 And on the rose's balmy breast they lay 
 
 In holy beauty, trefoil's crimson cone, 
 
 And lukengowan hung the heavy head, 
 
 The voice of Nature sang of love and joy, 
 
 Even on the ruin's hoary brow there seemed 
 
 A glimpse of gladness, as in fancy's eye 
 
 It stood illumed in light of other days, 
 
 Man, bird, and beast were glad, and insect gay 
 
 Enjoyed its hour of life, around the eaves 
 
 The swallows twittered, and the sturdy cock 
 
 Strode through the loaning, challenging strange steps, 
 
 And calling distant echoes to account, 
 
 The sleek kine cropped the fragrant herbage, and 
 
 The weary horse released from weekly toil 
 
 Lay stretched at length, for it was Sabbath morn.
 
 90 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A dreamy, moody, thoughtful, bashful boy, 
 
 Frank and impetuous, fond, affectionate, 
 
 Yet never better pleased than when alone, 
 
 Perched on an old oak chest that long had been 
 
 An heirloom in the family, I sate 
 
 And drank deep draughts of pleasure from the scene. 
 
 And now my grandsire who had long attained 
 
 The wonted boundary of human life, 
 
 Yet walked with form erect, and on whose cheek 
 
 There lingered still the roseate hue of health, 
 
 Said let us worship God : then rose in sweet 
 
 And solemn symphony the song of praise, 
 
 For he who led had tutored been in youth 
 
 To music's science, " French " the tune they sang, 
 
 And psalm the seventy-six, the chapter read 
 
 Isaiah's final, fraught with sacred fire 
 
 And eloquence we seek elsewhere in vain ; 
 
 Then came the fervent prayer, so deeply thus 
 
 It lent a tremor to the voice of age; 
 
 And though in language of the olden time, 
 
 Had thereby still a greater charm for me, 
 
 And sank the deeper in the youthful breast. 
 
 All things before were beautiful, but now 
 The meanest seemed in heavenly halo set ; 
 Nor time with all its trials, griefs, and cares, 
 Crosses and losses, scenes of picturesque, 
 Pathetic beauty, classical remains 
 Of hoary grandeur sanctified by eld,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 91 
 
 The bustling city, desert's lonesome waste, 
 Whate'er has been encountered or enjoyed 
 In life sequestered : wanderings far and wide, 
 Can ne'er that morning's memories efface, 
 As fresh as but of yesterday, and may 
 Awake remembrance in th' eternal world.
 
 92 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 TO COWPEK. 
 
 "Far from the world, ! Lord, I flee, 
 
 From strife and tumult far, 
 From scenes where sin is waging still 
 Its most successful war." 
 
 COWPEB. 
 
 DEAR Cowper, I have loved you much, 
 And eke have loved you long ; 
 
 But here for once, the sooth to say, 
 I think you in the wrong. 
 
 The Christian's armour furnished is 
 
 Of heavenly temper high, 
 His duty is in this to fight, 
 
 And not to turn and fly. 
 
 There may be in the battle-field 
 
 Who faint or fearful be, 
 And succour of the stronger need 
 
 In their extremity. 
 
 Then, like a craven, why retreat 1 
 
 And let the wicked win 
 The victory, and leave success 
 
 Upon the side of sin.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 No, gird the loins up of the mind, 
 And seek the thickest fight, 
 
 When hostile objects will recede, 
 And darkness turn to light. 
 
 Yes, seek the thickest, hottest fight, 
 You may be safe even there, 
 
 Entrenched in heaven's own barrier- 
 The barrier of prayer. 
 
 93
 
 94 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. HUGH GLOVER, 
 OF NORTH SUNDERLAND. 
 
 "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." 
 Psalm cxii. 6. 
 
 WE parted lately, through my mind there passed 
 
 A strong presentiment it was our last ; 
 
 And though fast friends of old, the suns had set 
 
 Of thirty years, since we before had met. 
 
 And many a painful, many a pleasing thought 
 
 From memory's recess that conference brought, 
 
 Companions of our early days all gone, 
 
 We stood upon the verge of life alone ; 
 
 But days departed, dear, dear, happy days, 
 
 Returned again in all their magic rays 
 
 Of things past-purified, of time refined, 
 
 The base, the gross, earth earthy left behind. 
 
 In those sweet days what joy, what bliss was ours 1 
 
 When birds, and bees, and butterflies, and flowers 
 
 Seemed prizes greater than the bard's renown, 
 
 The victor's laurels, or the monarch's crown ; 
 
 Then burns were rivers, and the rivers seas, 
 
 And kennel-dams, and mudpies ecstasies ; 
 
 And there were ghosts, and giants, brownies too, 
 
 And fairies of a very verdant hue, 
 
 Warlocks, and witches, and that famous lune, 
 
 The impious man imprisoned in the moon.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 95 
 
 But manhood's dawn drew on, and ardent grew 
 The thirst for knowledge, with resources few ; 
 Still all that fortune in our power had placed 
 Were early sought, and eagerly embraced. 
 
 But now the woods and fields we oft had ranged, 
 
 For the damp, dingy workshop were exchanged, 
 
 No song of birds, no voice of waters there, 
 
 No wild flowers breathing odours on the air ; 
 
 True, there were flowers, but minus scent and bloom, 
 
 The false, extraneous offspring of the loom ; 
 
 That loom ! whose toil was one unvarying round, 
 
 With one unchanged monotony of sound ; 
 
 But evils oftentimes are mixed with good, 
 
 If man their purport rightly understood. 
 
 The coarsest web of life with care unrolled, 
 
 And Christian charity shows threads of gold, 
 
 For now the week's half-holiday a zest 
 
 Imparted, time had ne'er before possessed, 
 
 And our old haunts so loved, and so revered, 
 
 By absence only were the more endeared. 
 
 When tired of rambling, some sequestered nook 
 
 Was sought, and there perused a favourite book : 
 
 But one most frequent into service pressed 
 
 Was Cowper, paramount o'er all the rest ; 
 
 We took sweet counsel, too, on things divine, 
 
 And talked of Scotland's days of auld langsyne. 
 
 And 'tis amusing to retrace the road 
 
 And think how warm young patriot feelings glowed,
 
 96 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Fraught with a wisdom much beyond thy years, 
 Thy converse was, and thus by thy compeers 
 Was prized, and eke a piety sincere, 
 And modesty that made it still more dear. 
 
 When came the nights of winter, long and bleak, 
 And others in the tavern closed the week, 
 We met, and round no fire in all the land 
 Was there a happier, more fraternal band ; 
 Our pleasures rose on hope's celestial wings 
 And soared superior to terrestrial things, 
 Hopes that may brighten in eternal day, 
 When earth and all its things have passed away. 
 
 Now of that band the sole survivor I 
 Still see the past in chastened beauty lie ; 
 And still as memory haunts the hallowed shore, 
 She hears the surge's solemn song "no more."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 97 
 
 ON BEADING THE SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM 
 
 THOMSON, AT THE OPENING OF THE 
 
 BRITISH ASSOCIATION IN EDINBURGH, 
 
 2ND AUGUST, 1871. 
 
 " It is true that a little philosophy inclineth men's minds to 
 atheism ; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about 
 to religion." BACON. 
 
 THIS certainly is Science run insane, 
 
 A freak fantastical, enough to bring 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton's spirit from its rest ; 
 
 Or on his monumental busto raise 
 
 A blush of shame wealth, time, and talents spent 
 
 In gathering the vintage of the wind, 
 
 And worse, pernicious, to the public mind ; 
 
 But fit of pity, or contempt to move 
 
 A smile, they verily themselves may call 
 
 Mere " animals," an " evolution " that 
 
 Would turn them into scavengers, were sure 
 
 A transformation for their country's good. 
 
 According then to something that's ycleped, 
 Hypothesis, or hobby, or humbug, 
 Or other phantasma, it does appear 
 The orbs that navigate ethereal space 
 
 Sometimes their heads together knock like rams, 
 H
 
 98 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Or belligerous bulls ; but these may be 
 
 But similes too tame when speaking of 
 
 Such gentlemen gigantic, so we will 
 
 Say trains at speed express, which are perchance 
 
 More classical, and nearer the sublime ; 
 
 But when those grand collisions do take place, 
 
 The fragments fly about, or debris, which 
 
 My granny would have aptly "moolins" termed. 
 
 And that of old some fragments of this kind 
 
 Have reached the earth, and thus our terrene globe 
 
 With man and animals has peopled been, 
 
 And in its pristine verdure was arrayed. 
 
 Methinks I see in shape of centipede 
 
 Our race's great progenitor descend, 
 
 Horsed on a pebble, and suppose his jaunt 
 
 Of miles some millions, and I do suspect 
 
 His contact with the earth were of such kind 
 
 As would a little rather discompose 
 
 His vital organs, or perhaps it were 
 
 As Jonathan would say, a "tarnal smash," 
 
 "Prodigious !" surely, may we not expect 
 
 Some morning fine a deputation of 
 
 Those ten-mile fellows that star-dumplings eat, 
 
 Sup moonshine porridge, and around their necks, 
 
 By way of comforters, wear comets' tails ; 
 
 Nor should I be at all "surprised " although 
 
 My terrier Bessie should start up at once 
 
 A lioness, and stun the ear of night, 
 
 Or shake the street Avith her terrific roar.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 99 
 
 No doubt, Sir William, you're a learned man, 
 
 Of intellect potential, a savant 
 
 Of deep research, and it may well be deemed 
 
 Absurd, impertinent, in such as I 
 
 Who little know of school, of college less, 
 
 And sprung from peasant race, thus in a strain 
 
 Didactic, to attempt to talk to you ; 
 
 And yet an ant may teach an elephant, 
 
 And I would very humbly beg to say 
 
 There is a book called " Genesis " which you, 
 
 Sir William, with some profit might peruse. 
 
 I beg your pardon, and mean no offence, 
 
 But there, in proper spirit, if you would 
 
 Just deign to read, you will discover soon 
 
 And from the best authority besides, 
 
 How life on earth originated, and 
 
 Whence all the verdure with which she is clothed, 
 
 This were a surer and a safer guide 
 
 Than science of the ignis-fatuus school.
 
 100 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 WRITTEN ON A VIEW OF THE BAY OF AYR. 
 
 AFTER long months in London's sterile streets, 
 
 Of wheels, and voices, tumult, and turmoil, 
 
 Of callous wealth, and bloated vice, and pinched 
 
 Pale faces worn with penury, and toil ; 
 
 And lynx-eyed selfishness still seeking whom 
 
 It may devour, how passing, pleasing sweet 
 
 This draught of beauty sinks upon the soul ; 
 
 A spirit speaking of the vast unseen, 
 
 A holy song of love, and peace, and joy, 
 
 That lends to faith and hope the wings of mom. 
 
 Ben-Ghoil, sublimity of ancient days, 
 
 In ocean's darksome depths thy base is laid ; 
 
 Thy head majestic wrapped in golden clouds 
 
 Of sunset glory. Well I mind the hour 
 
 When first thou broke on my enraptured gaze 
 
 A retrospect it is of threescore years. 
 
 One sabbath eve serene of early spring, 
 
 Among thy peaks and crags still lingering lay 
 
 The skirts of winter. Spell-bound and entranced 
 
 I stood, and found a something in myself 
 
 Unknown before, my mental being seemed 
 
 At once expanded, and o'ercharged with thought 
 
 Of novel nature, indefinable, 
 
 That, almost with the patriarch of old, 
 
 I could have said, " how dreadful is this place ; " 
 
 What is the era of thy birth, none knows, 
 
 Nor ever shall, perhaps there was a tide
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 101 
 
 When scarcely rose thy summit o'er the deep, 
 
 Scarce formed a resting place for vagrant bird, 
 
 And there may be an hour in unborn time 
 
 When thy foundations to the sun exposed 
 
 Shall lie, and all the multitude of waves 
 
 That long their ceaseless serenade have sung, 
 
 Be heard no more. What changes on these shores 
 
 Thou witnessed hast ! the aborigines 
 
 In painted skins, with arms of adamant ; 
 
 JThe Roman, Dane, and English all alike 
 
 Our country seek to subjugate, and all 
 
 Alike defeated ; thus the wave assails 
 
 A rock impregnable to wound itself; 
 
 Tide after tide of human life thou hast 
 
 Beheld arise upon the track of time 
 
 To swell, and chafe its fleeting hour and sink 
 
 In the dark ocean of eternity. 
 
 Down to the shore, the landscape on the left 
 Slopes sweetly, there a variegated scene 
 Of beauty rich disclosing, verdant lawns 
 With woodlands skirted, fields of golden grain, 
 That waving seem to woo the husbandman ; 
 And villas in whose shining panes are seen 
 The ruddy light, the dying day's farewell. 
 Grey Greenan, on the promontory pitched, 
 A veteran sentinel, o'er which the storms 
 Of centuries have swept, yet looming still 
 Through dusk, and dawn, a relic picturesque, 
 To glad the eye of home-bound mariner.
 
 102 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE EEJECTION OF THE EDINBURGH 
 
 WATEK BILL BY THE HOUSE OF LOKDS, 
 
 JULY, 1871. 
 
 The object of this Bill was to bring a supply of water to 
 Edinburgh from St. Mary's Loch, a distance of nearly 60 miles, 
 and at a cost of 500,000. 
 
 " I know your hearts are full of guile, 
 And crooked are your ways." 
 
 St. Mary's heard ! and suddenly her face 
 
 Was with a smile of gratitude suffused ; 
 
 The guardian spirit of the waters raised 
 
 A song of victory, that lingering seemed 
 
 In love with echoes of the neighbouring hills ; 
 
 The Shepherd's* monument the part of clerk 
 
 Performed, responding with a deep " Amen ! " 
 
 Grieved had they been to think the classic wave 
 
 Should subject to a bearish council be, 
 
 And now she was enfrancised, were rejoiced. 
 
 City of shams and shuffles manifold, 
 From which sincerity has banished been, 
 And conscience, inconvenient, turned adrift ; 
 
 * Hogg's.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 103 
 
 Men should say what they mean, mean what they say ; 
 But he who trusts to you for this will find 
 He leans himself upon a broken reed. 
 
 You muster strong in churches it must be 
 Confessed, but equally as strong in stews, 
 And houses where the poison-draught is sold 
 That drives men maddened down the steep descent 
 To ruin swift and irremediable. 
 
 The antique portion of your structure has 
 
 Been picturesque pronounced, and sooth it is ! 
 
 And doubly so in verity for there 
 
 Can pictures be produced of vice, and crime, 
 
 Of destitution, degradation, sin, 
 
 And suffering, such as London's lowest slums 
 
 Are strangers to, yea, huddled there in dens, 
 
 In cribs, and stys, in darkness, and in filth, 
 
 And pestilential atmosphere, unkempt, 
 
 Unwashed, untaught, in rags, and nakedness ; 
 
 Delirious with adulterated drinks, 
 
 Are hundreds perishing from day to day, 
 
 O'er which the white- winged messengers of love 
 
 On mercy's mission, passing drop a tear, 
 
 To see their Maker's image thus disgraced.* 
 
 * This piece of portraiture, dark though it be, is fully 
 corroborated by Bailie Lewis, in a lecture which he delivered 
 in the Queen Street Hall, on the "Lapsed Masses of Edinburgh, 
 and means of their social elevation," 13th March, 1872.
 
 104 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 But on your vesture there's another stain, 
 So black, so deep, indelible, that all 
 The waters of the Forth, nor rains of heaven, 
 Nor snows, nor torrents of a thousand hills, 
 Can ever wash away. In places high 
 The canker sits, is winked at, patronized ; 
 Ay, we have known officials eminent 
 In place and power, instruct subordinates 
 To give such evidence as would have been 
 Rank perjury, and sad to say, this crime 
 The path to favour and preferment is, 
 While truth and honesty as surely fail. 
 
 But there is one that you could not corrupt, 
 Who, had he lifted up his hand and sworn 
 That black was white, and vice versa, might 
 Have still been in your service, but he chose 
 The nobler and the better part, and though 
 He lost his place, kept his integrity. 
 
 In councils for the commonweal convened, 
 Where wisdom, peace, and charity should dwell, 
 Folly perverse, and discord rampant reign, 
 An exhibition of bear-garden style ; 
 How much degenerate since hailed by Burns 
 As " Scotia's darling seat," his monument 
 To Glasgow's custody you should transfer, 
 And in its stead, and on its site erect 
 A temple to the Janus Deity.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 105 
 
 Tis well that you are under the control 
 Of others better, wiser than yourself, 
 Who, by the discipline of rod and rein, 
 Can bring you to the pace of common sense. 
 
 Perhaps the regimen that Babylon's king 
 Of old was under, were advisable, 
 To wit a season septenary at grass.
 
 106 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM OF JAMES TEMPLETON, 
 THE AYRSHIRE "LEGREE." 
 
 A wretch that would potatoes plant 
 With ashes of his mother, 
 
 And send unto the knacker's yard 
 The body of his brother. 
 
 HERE, buried in a Yankee kailyard, lies 
 
 What some called " Roughie," " Bluster," or the "Bear;" 
 
 Others of plainer speech bestowed on him 
 
 The name of "Miser," "Skinflint," and the like ; 
 
 From other quarters came the epithets 
 
 Of "Villain," "Scoundrel," and such compliments, 
 
 And at his nephew's funeral he was called 
 
 A " Murderer." Perchance some fiend purloined 
 
 The child that his reputed mother bore, 
 
 And left this moral monster in its stead ; 
 
 For he was only an amalgama 
 
 Of demon, boor, and brute in human form. 
 
 His servants were oppressed, insulted, snubbed, 
 And fed on offals, sweepings of the shops,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 107 
 
 And shambles ; refuse fit but to be thrown 
 To dogs, or to the dunghill. When our town 
 Was inundated, grocer's goods destroyed 
 With sand and debris, these he purchased with 
 Pretence of feeding pigs and poultry ; but 
 He thereon fed his servants, sister's sons. 
 
 With malady of mind his father once 
 
 Afflicted was ; the miscreant to save 
 
 Expense of an asylum, undertook 
 
 His keeping, beat him, hung him by the feet, 
 
 And when he failed to quell, or overcome 
 
 The patient thus, he grasped him by the throat 
 
 Until insensibility ensued. 
 
 This once I saw, and was ashamed to think 
 
 My native county had produced a man 
 
 Who was commensurate with such a deed, 
 
 His father in his abberations oft 
 
 Denounced his son, and on his head invoked 
 
 The curse that he should wed a barren wife ; 
 
 And some were struck, and well indeed they might 
 
 Forsooth ! this malediction was fulfilled. 
 
 It well may be supposed the wretch that could 
 
 Thus treat his father, would a coward be ; 
 
 And he was one, as great as e'er disgraced 
 
 The land illustrious by the birth of Bruce, 
 
 The sword of Wallace, and the song of Burns.
 
 108 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Misfortunes seldom single come, 'tis said, 
 Embarrassments, and difficulties next 
 This house assailed, and ruin imminent 
 Appeared, and he the only son, that should 
 Have braved the adverse tide, shrunk from his post, 
 And to his mother left it, who against 
 Hope still hoped on, and with a fortitude 
 That few have equalled, none e'er yet surpassed, 
 Struggled, and strove, and finally o'ercame ; 
 Yet was there not in all the western shire, 
 Perhaps from point of Troon to Peterhead, 
 A mother more dishonoured by her son. 
 
 Unto a harmless imbecile at last 
 
 The old man sunk ; and on his partner years, 
 
 And care, and toil, had wrought the accustomed change ; 
 
 And now their son unnatural, seized on 
 
 Their stock and lease on his own niggard terms, 
 
 And drove his aged parents from their home ; 
 
 But ere his mother left that hearth where she 
 
 Had been respected, reverenced, and loved 
 
 By all who knew her, save her worthless son, 
 
 And from whose door the poor had often gone 
 
 With blessings on their lips, and grateful tears, 
 
 She stood like ancient pythoness, with form 
 
 Dilated, and, to the despoiler thus 
 
 " What you have done to me will henceforth stand 
 
 Against you as engraven with a pen 
 
 Of iron in the adamantine rock."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 109 
 
 She lived to see the man that had her thus 
 So deeply wronged, a prisoner for debt. 
 
 But still the darkest passage is untold 
 At every meal, Legree, with lengthened face, 
 A lengthened blessing asked, and thanks returned, 
 And every night he household worship made ; 
 With mockery of his Maker closed the day, 
 That mirth created in the depths of hell. 
 
 What was the aggregate of all at last ? 
 
 From fell oppression both of man and beast, 
 
 Extortion, robbery, and murder eke, 
 
 A few poor, paltry hundred pounds, and what 
 
 The consummation ? died in foreign land, 
 
 The wretched owner to an alien left 
 
 His ill-got gatherings, mortgaged with a curse.
 
 110 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON READING A WORK IN WHICH THE 
 
 AUTHOR, IN A VERY RIDICULOUS MANNER, 
 
 ATTEMPTS TO CLAIM A CONNECTION 
 
 WITH BURNS. 
 
 How many now are fond to cling 
 To Burns's car of fame, 
 
 A selfish subterfuge to bring 
 Themselves into a name. 
 
 FROM Maidenkirk to John o' Groat's and eke 
 From Troon's peninsula to Peterhead, 
 Let all the bells ring out their merriest peals, 
 And all the thistles wave their purple tops, 
 And every " opening gowan wet wi' dew " 
 Its sweetest smile subscribe ; and let the bards 
 The boldest numbers of their lyres awake, 
 Till echo from her cavern cry " encore ! " 
 Let sculptors too, and painters be prepared 
 With something worthy of the grand event ; 
 That to the ends of earth it may be known 
 A most august discovery has been made 
 One that shall see the exit of the sun. 
 Yes, be it known to all, both small and great, 
 To rich and poor, illiterate and learned,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. Ill 
 
 A certain savant has a pilgrimage 
 
 Made to Mossgiel, and there a mouse has caught 
 
 Which he, by proofs indubitable, knows 
 
 To be a lineal descendant of 
 
 That which the Poet turned up with the plough ; 
 
 Moreover, he, too, subsequently went 
 
 To Mauchline's classic town, and spent the night 
 
 In the same house where Poosie Nansie dwelt, 
 
 And in the morning found upon his beard 
 
 A " crawlin' ferlie," but so "plump," and "grey," 
 
 And " grozet " like, he knew it of the breed 
 
 Which Burns on Miss's fine lunardi saw, 
 
 A fact beyond all controversy quite. 
 
 Another thing of greater import still, 
 
 He all the archives of the place ransacked, 
 
 And with that garrulous inhabitant 
 
 The " oldest " talked, and finally found out 
 
 That he himself a cousin-germain is 
 
 To Jamie Humphrey, he on whom the bard 
 
 A " bletherin' " immortality conferred.
 
 112 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 EVOLUTION SUMMARILY DISPOSED OF. 
 
 'TWAS in a hall of England's North 
 
 Two livery servants lately sat, 
 A-talking " Tichborne " and so forth 
 
 In sort of easy, friendly chat. 
 
 Their master was a learned squire 
 
 A very worthy man was he 
 Distinguished had at college been, 
 
 And taken what is called degree. 
 
 Said Dick to Tom, " Canst thou tell me 
 What this thing is called ' evolution ? ' 
 
 I've heard our great folks talking on't, 
 But it surpasses my solution." 
 
 Quoth Tom, " Why, Dick, I must confess 
 That there, I'm like thyself, at sea ; 
 
 But very strongly I suspect 
 Some spirit-rapping card it be. 
 
 One night at table 'twas discussed, 
 And this I heard our master say 
 
 ' He looked upon it as about 
 The greatest humbug of the day.' "
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 113 
 
 THE CHARGE OF CROMWELL'S IRONSIDES 
 AT MARSTON MOOR. 
 
 "Borne up, however, by a higher sentiment than glory, they 
 carried in their charge greater power, and this body of a thousand 
 horse was never beaten. When with their fearful war-cry, 
 " Religion," Cromwell hurled them on the foe, the tide of battle 
 waa always turned. " J. I. THADLY. 
 
 AND now it seemed the royal scale 
 By Fate was destined to prevail, 
 But Cromwell's barbed horsemen stood 
 Untried, a reservation good ; 
 They stood with aspect stern and proud, 
 Like some portentous thunder-cloud, 
 Impatient as a throughbred hound 
 From leash about to be unbound ; 
 All men of mould, selected by 
 A general with a soldier's eye, 
 By discipline and temperance braced, 
 And confidence in heaven placed, 
 Which lent unto their arms a power 
 Resistless in the battle's hour ; 
 Well-trained their horses, swift and strong, 
 Their swords were ponderous, sharp, and long, 
 And where those deadly weapons fell 
 They like the thunderbolt would tell ; 
 I
 
 114 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Nowhere on European ground 
 
 Could such a squadron have been found. 
 
 The word is given ! away, away, 
 
 They rush like lions on the prey, 
 
 The birds and beasts in terror fled, 
 
 Earth groaned, and shook beneath their tread ; 
 
 On, on they go, and faster still, 
 
 Impetuous, irresistible. 
 
 Thus in some wide unsheltered bay 
 When tempests wake their loudest bray, 
 Foam-crested, huge, deep, dark, and strong, 
 A wall of waters sweeps along 
 For leagues impelled before the blast, 
 And still more furious and more fast, 
 Till headlong on the trembling shore 
 It tumbles with terrific roar ; 
 Nor faster flings that surge the sand 
 Along the beach, than Cromwell's band 
 Drove back the royal troops amain, 
 Down-trodden, fugitive, and slain. 
 
 f 
 *--* 
 
 *
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 115 
 
 EPITAPH FOE JOHN RAMSAY, JUN., MILLER. 
 
 BORN IN KILMARNOCK, AYRSHIRE, 2ND JUNE, 1831 ; 
 
 DIED THERE 23RD MARCH, 1856. 
 
 PAUSE ! pensive passenger, a moment, 
 Here lies one that claims a tear of sympathy. 
 
 Born with the best qualities 
 
 Both of mind and body, 
 Whether for enjoyment, utility or ornament ; 
 
 Health, strength, 
 And manly beauty were his. 
 
 A keen perception 
 
 Of whatever was great, good, or beautiful, 
 And an inherent nobility of nature 
 Which rendered him incapable of a mean action. 
 
 Kind, generous, 
 Affectionate, and confiding, 
 He allowed himself to become an instrument 
 
 To carry out the malignity, 
 
 And whims of a morbid-minded, 
 Unprincipled, ignorant, and selfish parent, 
 Whose villainous machinations, 
 
 And idiosyncrasies 
 Had deprived him of his natural guardian ;
 
 116 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And who committed him to the charge of 
 
 A brutal and niggardly relative, 
 
 Where oppression, 
 And the want of due sustenance, 
 Sowed the seeds of a disease 
 Which carried him off in the dawn of manhood, 
 Blotted out of the hook of existence 
 By the folly and wickedness of those 
 Whose duty it was to foster and protect him. 
 He was formed by the Creator 
 For a long, happy, and useful life, 
 
 And might have been 
 An estimable and worthy member of society. 
 
 My former griefs have found in plaintive strains 
 A voice that served to mitigate their pains, 
 But here, untold, the poignant pangs corrode, 
 For language proves unequal to the load.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 117 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE LAIRD OF KESTALRIG'S DAUGHTER," 
 
 " BAULDY MILL," " THE SMITH'S A GALLANT 
 
 FIREMAN," &c. 
 
 'Tis now a period longer than the life 
 Vouchsafed to many, since our friendship first 
 Was formed, since first the classic grounds we ranged 
 Of dear old Ayrshire, conned, and quoted Burns, 
 And worshipped " Wallace Wicht ; ""nor were forgot 
 Our noble sires of covenanting times, 
 Whose valour, faith, and fortitude to us 
 A heritage of liberty bequeathed. 
 
 Years passed, and business called to distant lands, 
 
 And mountains rose, and rivers rolled between ; 
 
 Meantime upon the landscape of my life 
 
 The shadows of adversity came down, 
 
 Dark, ominous, unlovely, evil tongues, 
 
 111 health, and poverty, domestic jars, 
 
 The death of relatives both near, and dear ; 
 
 My former friends and neighbours knew me not, 
 
 And even some to whom in better days 
 
 The helping hand I'd lent, came, looked, and on 
 
 The other side passed by ; and there were those 
 
 Still stronger bound to gratitude and love, 
 
 I dealt them good, but evil they returned, 
 
 Compassed my ruin, o'er the wreck rejoiced, 
 
 Then to the downfallen struck the coward's blow.
 
 118 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 There is a place, a holy, and a high, 
 
 Although in humblest homes, and there man conies 
 
 For consolation in adversity ; 
 
 But here I found my most inveterate foe, 
 
 Tormentor, studied, and implacable, 
 
 A woman's form, a fiend's malignity. 
 
 How widely different a part was yours ! 
 My adverse fortune only seemed the bond 
 To strengthen, as the precious ore by fire 
 Is purified, through all vicissitudes 
 The good Samaritan you stood revealed. 
 
 Years since with stealthy pace again have sped, 
 And many changes brought, some sad indeed ; 
 Smart, Maxwell, Fergusson, and others,* men 
 Of worth and genius, whom, 'twas well to know, 
 Of whom it may be said the sordid world 
 Unworthy was, alas ! have gathered been 
 Into the garner of mortality. 
 
 And now upon ourselves the night descends, 
 A finger points unto the " silent land ; " 
 
 * Alexander Smart, author of " Rambling Rhymes," &c. ; 
 Patrick Maxwell, editor of Miss Blamire's Poems, and author of 
 several pieces of considerable merit ; William Fergusson, author 
 of ''Poems and Songs," &c. ; William Air Foster, author of the 
 "Otter Hunt, "&c.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 119 
 
 And o'er the tug and turbulence of life 
 A still, small voice of warning may be heard, 
 " Prepare to meet thy God ! " but He has said 
 " Fear not ! " and why forebodings dark indulge ? 
 Our all is in the hand of mercy, love, 
 And justice infinite, who knows our state, 
 Whose fiat formed us, planted in each breast 
 The hope, the love of immortality ; 
 Nor can he in the end himself belie.
 
 120 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 IN MEMOEIAM OF MY GEAND-DAUGHTER, 
 
 AGNES BEOWN EAMSAY, 
 WHO DIED 12TH JUNE, 1871 ; AGED NINE YEARS. 
 
 "He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down." Job xiv. 2. 
 
 HEALTH, features fair, and symmetry were thine, 
 
 A goodly child, and one that promise gave 
 
 Of vigorous intellect, possessed of all 
 
 Those native, artless ways that win the heart ; 
 
 A light of love that shed its radiance o'er 
 
 That hearth where now hath set a darkness deep, 
 
 A darkness that no dawn shall dissipate. 
 
 I fondly hoped that thou wouldst bear my name 
 
 When I was gone, and of a handsome race 
 
 Perhaps the mother be j but otherwise 
 
 It ordered was, and thou hast joined the long, 
 
 Long train of kindred spirits that have passed 
 
 The precincts of that dark, mysterious state ; 
 
 The ways of Heaven inexplicable are, 
 
 And it may be, indeed, must be the best, 
 
 That love, and wisdom infinite ordains ; 
 
 For now thou art beyond the griefs, and cares, 
 
 The snares insidious, and trials all, 
 
 That form our portion in this sinful sphere ;
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 121 
 
 Perhaps a pure intelligence before 
 
 The throne of glory excellent ; or, by 
 
 The limpid river of eternal life, 
 
 Where angels tune their harps among the flowers 
 
 Of amaranthine loveliness, and I 
 
 May find thee one of many that shall bid 
 
 Me welcome to that land of love and joy, 
 
 Where sorrow shall, and sighing flee away. 
 
 Gft> 

 
 122 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 THE SMUGGLER. 
 
 THE barque she is safe in the bight of the bay, 
 And yonder the moon comes to pilot our way ; 
 Now then, my auld comrade, ere morn lifts her e'e 
 Afar owre the Lanrickshire muirs we maun be. 
 
 I've twa ready barkers, a weel-loaded whip, 
 That e'en through a helmet can gi'e the richt tip ; 
 And here is a blade that has nickit the crowns 
 Of some of tbe bauldest o' Clavers' dragoons. 
 
 King Geordie's red flunkies in Killie now lie, 
 It's said they are comin', and welcome ! say I ; 
 I'll wager we'll gi'e them some lessons o' lare, 
 To keep in remembrance the county of Ayr. 
 
 The smuggler was stalwart, the smuggler was brave ; 
 Stood " Scran " at his elbow, her mane like the wave, 
 Her tail like a torrent, a gallant grey meere, 
 As docile's a dog, and as fleet as a deer. 
 
 He mounted, one touch, but unarmed was his heel, 
 Her sides ne'er were pierced with the barbarous steel ; 
 And away like a shaft shot beneath the young moon, 
 While after, for luck, went a shower of auld shoon.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 123 
 
 THE TARTAN OF LOKNE. 
 
 LONG Ayrshire's been famed, as the maist o' folks ken, 
 For leal bonny lasses, and strappin' brave men, 
 For butter and cheese, and for cattle and corn, 
 And last, though not least, for the Tartan of Lome. 
 
 For poplins of Erin, or Spittalfields ware, 
 Nor e'en the gay fabrics of Lyons we care ; 
 While Manchester prints we can look on wi' scorn, 
 They a' maun gi'e place to the Tartan of Lome. 
 
 We've the birthplace of Bruce, and our national Bard, 
 And wha of our Campbells and Neils hasna heard 1 
 And Ayrshire may now heigher still cock her horn, 
 She's got a new lift frae the Tartan of Lome. 
 
 My ain native county ! richt bauld he maun be 
 That either would sing or say aught against thee ; 
 Lang, lang mayest thou carry thy laurels unshorn, 
 And still in the wreath shine thy Tartan of Lome.
 
 124 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF A WELL-KNOWN SCEPTIC. 
 
 " The fool hath said in his heart, ' there is no God.' " 
 Psalms xiv. 1. 
 
 HE died as he had lived, in unbelief, 
 
 Hardened, impenitent, and to the grave 
 
 Descended with a lie in his right hand ; 
 
 A wreck that sunk in darkness, unredeemed 
 
 By even a single ray of hopeful light, 
 
 Betwixt the worship of the Golden Calf, 
 
 And sensuality his soul was shared ; 
 
 A habit strengthening with the lapse of years, 
 
 Sin's most revolting, hopeless slavery. 
 
 We see but darkly, yet, tis surely well 
 
 That he no longer haunts our marts and fairs, 
 
 And social circles, scattering the seed 
 
 Of doctrines baleful, in prolific soils 
 
 Of youth, and ignorance, and grieving much, 
 
 Men of maturer and enlightened mind; 
 
 But pilgrims are we, travelling through a waste 
 
 And howling wilderness, a land of death, 
 
 Of darkness and dismay, a vale of tears ; 
 
 Our foes are fell without, and worse within, 
 
 And much we need the Hand Divine to guide 
 
 Our wayward steps, and pour the oil and wine 
 
 Of grace into our wounds, nor aught besides 
 
 The living waters of eternal life 
 
 Can satisfy our souls, and he who seeks 
 
 His summum bonum in the mammon power, 
 
 Or joys of sense, assuredly shall find 
 
 That he has built his house upon the sand.
 
 GLEANINGS OP THE GLOAMIN. 125 
 
 THE LAND WHENCE WE'LL NEVEE EETUEN. 
 
 " Death only lies between ; a gloomy path, 
 Made yet more gloomy by our coward fears." 
 
 BLAIE. 
 
 O ! SHORT, dark, and stormy has been our life's day, 
 And rugged, and steep, and perplexing the way ; 
 But now we're approaching the mystical bourne, 
 And go to the land whence we'll never return. 
 
 Still there are things beautiful, things which it may 
 Be painful to part with, to part with for aye ; 
 But hope sings that Beauty's light brighter shall burn 
 In realms of the land whence we'll never return. 
 
 No black boding shadows of evil are there, 
 No sorrow, nor sighing, bereavement, nor care ; 
 No death, nor disease, of this weary sojourn 
 Are known in the land whence we'll never return. 
 
 There nought ever enters to hurt or destroy, 
 But all is fruition of love, peace, and joy ; 
 Then let us our loins gird, and bid our lamps burn, 
 Prepared for the land whence we'll never return.
 
 126 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 TO AILSA CRAIG. 
 
 DWELLER in cloud-land, tenant of the earth, 
 Of air, and sea, all elements thou knowest, 
 And hast proved ! the bolt on whose red wing 
 Destruction rides with death, a thousand times 
 Hath smitten thee, yet left still unimpaired 
 Thy strength and symmetry, or made thee but 
 More picturesque, more truly beautiful ; 
 The storm-cloud now is gathering on thy breast 
 In gloomy grandeur, dread magnificence, 
 And yet I love thee most at distance seen, 
 When in thy spirit-robe thou seemest a part 
 Of summer's evening sky, then have I thought 
 That on thy brow the hand of Heaven had writ 
 " Eternal ; " but, no ! for thou only art 
 A thing of time, and destined thus to meet 
 The general doom, though at a longer date ; 
 The dawn shall seek thee, and the noontide hour, 
 And eve with balmy breath, with glowing cheek, 
 And dewy locks, but thou shalt not be found, 
 Nor on the earth a place have evermore. 
 
 Girvan, October, 1871.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 127 
 
 TO THE " CUSHIE DOO." 
 
 IDOL of my early days, 
 
 Come, come thou in the rays 
 
 Youthful fancy round thee threw ! 
 
 Be again my " cushie doo." 
 
 Never ! no, it cannot be ; 
 
 And the fault is all in me. 
 
 What a transport filled my breast 
 When I first beheld thy nest ! 
 Flat it was, and hard and bare; 
 Two white eggs were lying there, 
 Worthless in reality, 
 Yet a treasure great to me ; 
 But a treasure greater still 
 When the brood was fledged, with bill 
 Smacking, and distended breast, 
 Up they rose to guard their nest, 
 And each wilful, struggling bird 
 To my bonnet was transferred. 
 Four long miles with cranium bare, 
 On I trudged then, nor did care 
 If it shone, or rained, or blew, 
 There was but one point in view : 
 Stopping oft to feast my eyes 
 On the panting, hapless prize ;
 
 128 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Not a single thought to spare 
 For the stricken parent pair, 
 Making all the sylvan vale 
 Vocal with their plaintive tale. 
 Thus we are, in every stage, 
 Selfish, whether youth or age, 
 Boyhood's happy moments flown, 
 In that woodland deep, alone, 
 There I loved to sit, and be 
 Tranced with thy sad melody, 
 While the hare was flitting by, 
 And the redbreast, summer shy, 
 Started at the pheasant's cry ; 
 Then that woodland old and grand 
 Was to me a spirit-land, 
 Whence I dreams of bliss would s^e 
 Eobed in immortality. 
 There the ivy flung its cloak 
 Richest round the aged oak ; 
 There the fox-glove stateliest grew ; 
 There the wild rose freshest blew. 
 Such imagination's power 
 Was in youth's delightful hour. 
 
 I've heard in England's southern pale 
 The thrilling notes of nightingale ; 
 But in some native, long-loved scene, 
 Where memory's favourites convene, 
 'Twere sweeter, though more bleak the view, 
 To hear thy strains, dear "cushie doo."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 129 
 
 ON READING A LECTURE ON THE LIFE 
 
 AND WRITINGS OF BURNS, BY AGRIPPA 
 
 M'GRUB, OF GRINDERHALL. 
 
 Ho ! what is this 1 a something fit to set 
 
 A sexton's spade a-laughing, or might make 
 
 A tombstone caper with a coffin's lid. 
 
 Apollo is my witness ! unto none 
 
 I'll yield in admiration of the bard. 
 
 But must we on himself and genius hear 
 
 Tirades eternal, that some petty soul 
 
 May shine in the great luminary's light, 
 
 Wretches whose lives are libels on their creeds, 
 
 Who would the carcass of their mother sell 
 
 For cat's-meat ; on whose brains a thought ne'er dawned 
 
 But what looked down the lane of sordid self ? 
 
 Most zealously they worship, it is true, 
 
 The Trinity ; but it is that of Pounds, 
 
 Shillings, and Pence, and in reality 
 
 As little care for Burns, or aught he wrote 
 
 As little feel its influence benign 
 
 As Ailsa Craig or summit of Ben-Ghoil. 
 
 But 'tis considerate, doubtless, and stands well ; 
 
 May give a precedence, perchance bring grist 
 
 Unto their mills enthusiasm to feign, 
 
 And veneration for the illustrious dead. 
 
 But none have sent a louder bruit abroad 
 Than the toad-eaters of Lord Tournament ;
 
 130 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 His truckling tools, still ready at the beck 
 
 To hang themselves as drags upon the car 
 
 Of Progress and Keform. Expert are they 
 
 At every gathering where a chance is given, 
 
 To deal their dirty butter out in tons, 
 
 Till decency crys " Faugh ! " and even the greased 
 
 Turn up their noses at the noisome dish. 
 
 Can creatures such as they sincerely be 
 
 Admirers of the independent Burns ? 
 
 I would as soon believe that Satan could 
 
 The gospel preach, or Graham of Claverhouse 
 
 A hero proved by murdering John Brown. 
 
 Oh ! had they lived, and Burns among them come 
 Preaching his famous truth, " the rank is but 
 The guinea stamp," they, certes would have made 
 The place too hot to hold him in a trice. 
 
 I was in old Edina at the time 
 
 The Centenary celebrated was, 
 
 And much disgusted, vexed, and scandalized 
 
 To look on men, the antipodes of all 
 
 That Burns has loved and lauded ; to the wheel 
 
 Putting their servile shoulders, joining loud 
 
 The popular acclaim; ay, men whose wealth, 
 
 And influence, and energy are spent 
 
 Against the cause for which Burns lived and sung, 
 
 And prematurely died. Their fulsome breath 
 
 Is ever ready to distend the sails 
 
 Of Fortune's favourites, and as prone to set 
 
 Their feet on trampled worth. Forsooth, their names
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 131 
 
 In lists of public charities may shine, 
 
 And swell the grand subscriptions of the Church ; 
 
 But who has heard of them e'er doing good 
 
 By stealth 1 None, verily. They cant about 
 
 The brotherhood of man ! yet fleece the backs, 
 
 And grind the faces of the poor, nor know 
 
 Genius or worth if in an humble garb ; 
 
 On virtuous misfortune turn the back, 
 
 And grasp the hand that threw it in the dust ; 
 
 And, were it in their power, would make of all 
 
 Beneath them soulless sycophants and serfs. 
 
 On platforms they preach love, inculcate truth, 
 
 And practise malice and duplicity 
 
 Diabolus himself could not surpass, 
 
 The last in tavern, and the first in church ; 
 
 Stately and stiff with Pharisaic starch, 
 
 Orgies, and rites devotional in turn, 
 
 Sermons, and psalms, and bacchanalian songs. 
 
 A fiery ordeal Burns was doomed to pass ; 
 
 But is at length triumphant, and now shines 
 
 A constellation of first magnitude. 
 
 Still, had some friends, so noisy now, lived when 
 
 His light was first on the horizon seen, 
 
 They would have foremost been with foulest fogs 
 
 Boeotian to have sought to quench its beams, 
 
 Given him the shoulder cold, more closely drawn 
 
 The purse's strings, and his detractors been. 
 
 Such characters the bard would from his path 
 Have spurned at once, and in his satire fierce 
 Consigned them to eternal infamy.
 
 132 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN, 
 
 A DAY OF DARKNESS AND DISTRESS, 
 AND NO COMFORTER. 
 
 I KNEW him in prosperity, 
 
 A magistrate, and he 
 Was ever known 'twixt man and man 
 
 To act with equity. 
 
 And his a goodly presence was, 
 
 His intellect was high, 
 And knowledge had unveiled her depths 
 
 Beneath his searching eye. 
 
 His sensibility was keen, 
 
 His sympathies were great ; 
 Want ne'er appealed to him and went 
 
 Unaided from his gate. 
 
 But of the sceptic school of France, 
 
 Alas ! he deeply drank, 
 And left the living well of truth, 
 
 To choose the Stygian stank. 
 
 Age came, and poverty withal, 
 And death had frequent been 
 
 Among his kindred, and his friends 
 Estranged he'd also seen.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 133 
 
 I paid a visit to my friend ; 
 
 He said, " I'm glad to find 
 There is an auld acquaintance yet, 
 
 That bears me still in mind. 
 
 " The flees that in the sunshine flit, 
 
 The frost sune sweeps awa' ; 
 They kent the ' Bailie ' every ane, 
 
 But nane kens Pate ava." 
 
 Much grieved was I to see him thus, 
 
 For in his trying hour 
 I knew that he had nought to bear 
 
 Him up but human power. 
 
 I left, and wandering in the south, 
 
 A journal chanced to see, 
 In which I met a paragraph 
 
 That struck me painfully : 
 
 For there I read that my poor friend 
 
 Had died by his own hand, 
 And left an orphan family 
 
 To bear the bitter brand.
 
 134 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 ME. WILLIAM FERGUSSON, EDINBURGH. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " POEMS AND SONGS," ETC. 
 
 " Oh why has worth so short a date, 
 
 While villains ripen grey with time T 
 Must thou, the noble, generous, great, 
 Fall in bold manhood's hardy prime ! " 
 
 BURNS. 
 
 AGAIN the grave, insatiate, has closed 
 
 Above a worthy, and a dear, dear friend, 
 
 Cut down in noon of life, with nature's gifts 
 
 Richly endowed, an ample heart was his, 
 
 That made his neighbours' wants and woes his own ; 
 
 His kin were all mankind, and still he strove 
 
 Unostentatiously to do them good. 
 
 A pioneer of progress, ever in 
 
 The van, regardless of the scoffs and sneers 
 
 Of interested, narrow-minded men ; 
 
 Of single heart and eye, despising all 
 
 The arts by which too many in our day 
 
 Rise into place and power, and even fame. 
 
 Most true it was, he could not through the past 
 
 Reckon a line of titled ancestors
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 135 
 
 With coronet or crown, too often won 
 
 By deeds, or rather crimes, whose crimson hue 
 
 Perpetuates a stain on history's page : 
 
 No, but that true nobility was his, 
 
 Inherent worth, which earthly potentates 
 
 With star or garter never could confer ; 
 
 And genius, too, was his, the tuneful lyre 
 
 He swept, and whether grave or gay his theme, 
 
 The audience would confess a master hand. 
 
 Two other friends I formerly had had, 
 Two warm, fast friends, such as we seldom meet 
 In now-a-days ; the one had gone unto 
 His last account, the other been withdrawn 
 By business to a distant land ; and when 
 Poor Fergusson's remains descended to 
 Their final resting-place, my tears fell fast ; 
 I in that city found myself alone.
 
 136 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 . THE WAIL OF THE DISCONSOLATE. 
 
 OH ! loved and lamented, and though from this sphere 
 For ever departed, in memory still near ! 
 Yes, mind must relinquish her power to review 
 The past, when I think not, dear angels, of you. 
 
 So formed for to reap the enjoyments of life, 
 So furnished with parts to prevail in its strife, 
 And just in the dawning of manhood's glad day, 
 How saddening to think ye were summoned away. 
 
 That natures so earnest, so generous have been 
 The dupes of the false, and the prey of the mean, 
 Of malice and ignorant avarice made 
 The tools, and your lives were the price that you paid ! 
 
 The voice of the comforter speaks but in vain. 
 Unwelcome, though friendship is heard in the strain, 
 And scenes though in light and in beauty arrayed, 
 Seem dark and unlovely through sorrow's deep shade. 
 
 Time was when from nature sweet solace I drew, 
 And song was a source of delights ever new ; 
 But lost to the heart is their generous sway 
 Since my bonny lads have been laid in the clay.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 137 
 
 One hope still remains, but at times it appears 
 Like the vestige of life in the valley of years, 
 Or moon of the midnight, whose shadowy form 
 Is struggling and trembling in gusts of the storm. 
 
 That hope is, when time and its trials are o'er, 
 To meet on a fairer, a happier shore j 
 But favourites of heaven are called earliest home, 
 In mercy removed from the evil to come. 
 
 O ! loved and lamented, and though from this sphere 
 For ever departed, in memory still near ! 
 Yes, mind must relinquish her power to review 
 The past, when I think not, dear angels, of you.
 
 138 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON HEARING FAMILY WORSHIP IN A 
 SHEPHERD'S SHEILINGL 
 
 " But haply in some cottage far apart, 
 May hear, well pleased, the language of the soul, 
 And in His book of life the inmates poor enrol. " 
 
 BUKNS. 
 
 'TWAS on that night, the sequel of the week, 
 In waning autumn, crops had gathered been, 
 And woods were sere, the crescent moon uprose 
 From the sharp summit of an eastern hill. 
 Night's azure vault with stars resplendent shone, 
 Which called the thoughts to spirit^worlds away, 
 Beyond the range of time, of death and sin. 
 Returning from a visit to the tower 
 Where Watt of Harden erst held lawless sway, 
 A barren moor I crossed, where not a tree 
 Nor shrub was seen to shelter from the blast. 
 Here stood a shepherd's sheiling, whence arose 
 A simple, solemn, and sweet song of praise ; 
 The days of other years, of early years, 
 In a sweet world of sunshine set, appeared, 
 Again those days of darkness and distress, 
 When the church travailed in the wilderness ; 
 And Scotland's wastes, and solitudes, and caves, 
 Were hallowed with the voice of prayer and praise.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 139 
 
 It was a baptism, one of blood and fire, 
 
 Yet purified professors of their dross, 
 
 And in the aftertime bore golden fruit. 
 
 Hence what we now have heard, and ofttimes read, 
 
 And millions yet unborn shall hear and read, 
 
 Admire, and love in Burns' deathless strains. 
 
 In England's vast cathedrals I have heard 
 
 A sea of thrilling, melting music float 
 
 Through the far-echoing, gorgeous, Gothic aisles, 
 
 That lent to glowing thoughts celestial wings ; 
 
 But still it kindled holier feelings far, 
 
 This simple psalm in shepherd's sheiling sung.
 
 140 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 EICH ! RICH ! RICH ! OR, HOOPER 
 M'CALLOUS. 
 
 " Fools make a mock at sin." Prov. xiv. 9. 
 
 'TwAS in Dunedin, on the afternoon 
 
 Of market day, that duty called me to 
 
 A place associated strongly with 
 
 The blackest page of Scotland's history ; 
 
 For there, in evil days, the martyr took 
 
 His final farewell of terrestrial things, 
 
 And with his blood his testimony sealed ; 
 
 But God sometimes from darkness brings forth light, 
 
 And good from evil ; our forefathers sowed 
 
 The seed in tribulation, and hence we 
 
 Of conscience so much liberty enjoy. 
 
 While in my avocation I was joined 
 By one whose company I had endured 
 Ofttimes, although it ever irksome was ; 
 Our natures knew no more affinity 
 Than is betwixt the songster and the snake. 
 
 Minus a coat, in brief, in rags and dirt, 
 
 His toes protruding from his worn-out shoes, 
 
 And drunk, so drunk as scarcely capable
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 141 
 
 Of Locomotion, there appeared a man, 
 
 At least, what might, or should have been a man. 
 
 M 'Callous seemed delighted, overjoyed, 
 
 Pleased, and amused beyond expression quite, 
 
 Exclaiming, "Man that's rich! that's rich! that's rich!' 
 
 I thought upon the hovel unto which 
 
 His tottering limbs were bearing him, 
 
 Perhaps a starving family to meet, 
 
 And oaths and blows dispense of food instead ; 
 
 I thought upon the state the holy light 
 
 Of morn would find him in, with stomach sick ; 
 
 Nerves shaken, aching head, and palate parched, 
 
 His heart transfixed with dagger of remorse, 
 
 Perhaps, despair, the sequel suicide ; 
 
 And said he seemed to me an object of 
 
 Deep sympathy. M'Callous by himself 
 
 Another judging, said, " Ay, and a heap 
 
 You care for him." Now this man had received 
 
 An education liberal, and in 
 
 The city's service held official place ; 
 
 A member of the Church he was withal. 
 
 It is not mine to judge, or yet to say, 
 
 How little of Christ's spirit he possessed, 
 
 Or how unlike the Apostle Paul he was ; 
 
 But sure I am, the man that could behold 
 
 What I have here attempted to describe, 
 
 And think it rich ! rich ! rich ! his was a soul 
 
 But poor ! poor ! poor indeed. 
 
 None more reveres his country's laws than I, 
 
 Yet there are times and seasons when the law
 
 142 
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Stands in the course of justice, interrupts 
 Its exercise ; for had I made my stick, 
 And the M 'Callous corpus intimate, 
 I should have only given him his deserts ; 
 But in reflection's glass I looked, and saw 
 " Indicted for, convicted of assault" 
 Again, there's little honour to be earned 
 By chastising that paltry thing a coward.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE OLOAMIN. 143 
 
 A DREAM. 
 
 "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 
 Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 
 
 ONE night I dreamed that in a vale 
 
 Extending far and wide 
 I roamed, and full of mirth and glee, 
 
 Went Watty* by my side. 
 
 And on the left a long arcade 
 
 Of lofty trees there lay, 
 With branches densely interlaced, 
 
 Impervious to the day. 
 
 Its nether bourne in darkness closed 
 
 A veil of deepest shade, 
 And silence o'er it reigned like that 
 
 By death and ruin made. 
 
 And down that vista dark and deep, 
 "Wee Watty" ran with speed ; 
 
 I called upon him long and loud, 
 But still he gave no heed. 
 
 * A little favourite terrier.
 
 144 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And now a voice was heard to say, 
 
 " You call on him in vain, 
 For know that Watty never will 
 
 From thence return again." 
 
 " I am much grieved at this," I said 
 " And never thought that he 
 
 For aught on earth would e'er have been 
 Induced to part with me." 
 
 And then I heard the voice to say, 
 
 But in a sterner strain, 
 " Then know that Watty never will 
 
 From thence return again." 
 
 A few days passed, when came a note 
 
 One which I sadly read ; 
 It brought the melancholy news, 
 
 My favourite was dead.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 145 
 
 ON SEEING A PRINT OF THE DEATHBED 
 OF CALVIN. 
 
 THE Antichrist secundus thou mayest well 
 Be called ; for surely, save the Man of Sin, 
 None ever more perverted Christian truth. 
 God, in his love and mercy sent it down 
 The image of an emanation from 
 His own perfections, ruinated man 
 To rescue and to renovate. But thou 
 Stamped thy repulsive dictum on its page, 
 The cause of doubt, perplexity, dismay, 
 To many an ardently inquiring mind; 
 Schism, contention, controversies long, 
 And loud, and bootless wrath and bitterness, 
 Of charity subversive, giving cause 
 For foes of truth to triumph and blaspheme. 
 Others, of different spirit, in disgust 
 Have turned away, repudiated all, 
 From subterfuge to subterfuge have passed, 
 To perish in the doubter's shoreless sea. 
 The baleful shadow of thy sombre creed 
 Dimmed the glad morning of my youthful days. 
 What clergymen and catechisms taught 
 I never dared to doubt, but such the form 
 My young philosophy would sometimes take 
 " 'Twere surely better we had never been ! " 
 L
 
 146 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 Thanks be to God ! at length divested of 
 My predilections educational, 
 I searched the sacred volume, and there found 
 A God to love and worship. To the flames 
 Thou doomed Servetus ! for the exercise 
 Of right of conscience, and thy dreadful God 
 Is but a sterner transcript of thyself.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. H7 
 
 WILLIE FINNIK 
 
 AN ELECTION CANTICLE, 
 
 YE men of Northern Ayrshire, now 
 Don't stand and play the ninny ; 
 
 Come to the poll with heart and soul, 
 And vote for Willie Finnie. 
 
 He has nae skill the man that will 
 Seek shelter in the spinny ; 
 
 Ye'll find an oak of good old stock 
 In honest Willie Finnie. 
 
 His principles are staunch and true 
 Nae wasp that seeks the hinny 
 
 Of place, or pensioner corrupt 
 Is honest Willie Finnie. 
 
 Then, Northern Ayrshire, never deign 
 For Tory sprouts to whinny ; 
 
 But prove a steed of better breed, 
 And bear in Willie Finnie. 
 
 Their Corn Laws, their Penal Code, 
 Their Wars that left sae skinny 
 
 And lank and lean the public purse, 
 Cry "Vote for Willie Finnie."
 
 148 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 And deeds that here must nameless be, 
 Which aft ha'e brought the briny 
 
 And het tears owre auld Scotland's cheeks, 
 Cry" Vote for Willie Finnie." 
 
 Come, gi'e the Tory tool the route, 
 
 Tie to his tail a tinnie ; 
 And send him to the right about 
 
 Make room for Willie Finnic,
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 149 
 
 EPITAPH FOE TAMMAS TURNIP, ESQ. 
 
 HERE lie the roots, the rind, the bulb, and stem 
 
 Of Tammas Turnip, Esquire ; in the day 
 
 Of fresh fertility, he was a plant 
 
 That on his native glebe could well be seen. 
 
 Albeit that in his planthood's early tide, 
 
 By poortith's fly he was most sorely cropped, 
 
 And grubs of that same genus eke assailed 
 
 His tender roots, but Tammas well enjoyed 
 
 The showers and sunshine, and most gratefully 
 
 He drank the dews, and thus grew up apace 
 
 In spite of all, and seedlings from his stem 
 
 Sprang many, and sank deep their healthy roots 
 
 In other soils ; but winter came at last, 
 
 With biting frost, and blanched his verdant leaves, 
 
 Yet never touched his heart, which fresh and firm 
 
 Stood to the last, nor ever knew that state, 
 
 The " fozy " termed. His roots at length gave way, 
 
 Death grubbed him up, and o'er him threw of earth 
 
 A ponderous mound, which underneath he waits 
 
 The renovation of another spring.
 
 150 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 OH I THEKE IS A WAY. 
 
 OH ! there is a way, and that way it is steep, 
 But enter, and down with increased pace you keep ; 
 Tis known as the path of the drunkard by name, 
 The highway of sorrow, of sin and of shame. 
 
 And pitfalls and trap-doors unnumbered it hath 
 That lead unto ruin, destruction, and death ; 
 Yet myriads have gone down that way in all time, 
 Of every class, creed, colour, country, and clime. 
 
 God warns from His word ; from the pulpit, the press 
 And platform, still issue appeal and address ; 
 In warning and wailing the bard gives his song, 
 The saint in his sorrow exclaims, " Lord, how long 1 " 
 
 Yet down that deep vista unheeding, unthinking, 
 Still thousands in dream of delirium are sinking ; 
 And dreadful it is the reflection to make, 
 It is in eternity only they wake.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE OLOAMIN. 151 
 
 TO MY DOG " BESSIE." 
 
 BESSIE, we both are far from where we first 
 
 Beheld the light and drew the vital air ; 
 
 And dear old granny Scotland's hills, and dales, 
 
 And woods, and streams may never see again. 
 
 Amidst a population manifold 
 
 We dwell, and yet though on the mountain's top, 
 
 Or in the desert were not more alone. 
 
 To-morrow should we die, no one would reck, 
 
 And no one miss us, yet sometimes thou hast 
 
 Admirers casual ; as through the streets 
 
 We pass, I not unfrequently have heard 
 
 " Look at that pretty little dog ! " for of 
 
 The breed thou of the handsomest art one ; 
 
 And unto one another we are much. 
 
 Thy kindly ways, and gambols so grotesque, 
 
 Might well engage the pen of Doctor Brown ;* 
 
 They serve sometimes to banish grief and care, 
 
 And bring a laughter which the heart belies; 
 
 Thy gratitude is passing great for e'en 
 
 A trivial kindness, and my coming home 
 
 Is hailed with frantic joy. I sorry am 
 
 To say that in thee, Bessie, I have found 
 
 * Author of " Rab and his Friends."
 
 152 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 More of my Maker, more of love and truth, 
 Than oft in Nature's masterpiece, mankind. 
 Grim, unprovided age and I have met, 
 Concomitant infirmities withal ; 
 A strong presentiment that want may be 
 Attendant on my^exit from the stage. 
 But, my poor Bessie, shouldst thou live to see 
 My last crust in the cupboard, of that same 
 The best, the largest portion shall be thine. 
 
 London, 1870.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 153 
 
 THE MISPLACED. 
 
 THE red round sun of winter set 
 
 Behind the western mountains blue ; 
 The night her neighbour gloamin met, 
 
 And they had kissed, and bid adieu. 
 By Irvine's banks of faded green 
 
 I roamed with easy reckless tread ; 
 Pondering of joys of earlier days, 
 
 Away for ever ever fled. 
 
 When, 'neath a willow grey that flung 
 
 Its shadow o'er the tumbling flood, 
 All melancholy o'er his harp 
 
 A youthful minstrel pensive stood ; 
 The bloom was faded on his cheek, 
 
 His eye expressive, deep, and slow, 
 Was turned with strange reflecting gaze 
 
 Upon the passing stream below. 
 
 He raised his harp of rustic form, 
 
 Which art to polish ne'er had striven, 
 
 Save where with withered harebells hung, 
 'Twas all as first from nature given.
 
 154 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 He eyed it with an absent look, 
 
 He tuned the strings all one by one, 
 
 Then placed it on the ground with care, 
 And thus his plaintive tale began : 
 
 " Ye naked forests, sad to see, 
 
 Where drowsy birds no shelter find ; 
 Ye barren, bleak, bleak mountain tops, 
 
 Long beaten by the winter wind ; 
 Ye plains no more in verdure drest, 
 
 Ye valleys all in ruins laid, 
 Thou red swollen river raging on, 
 
 That erst in silver sweetly played. 
 
 " Ye stars that through the gloom of night 
 
 Emit a faint and glimmering ray, 
 That oft with feelings wild I've seen 
 
 Along the unclouded welkin stray ; 
 Parts of great Nature's awful frame, 
 
 Hear ye an artless bard complain, 
 And tell her in her leafless bower, 
 
 The burden of my humble strain. 
 
 " Say why has she into my breast 
 
 Infused that wayward, restless fire, 
 That leads to follow fancy vain, 
 
 And labour o'er the luckless lyre. 
 And why do fate's black surging waves 
 
 To quench that flame for ever rise ? 
 Why am I doomed a path to seek 
 
 Which fate has barred, which fate denies ?
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 155 
 
 " And why do e'en her simplest scenes 
 
 Bid feeling's subtle ocean swell, 
 Till raptures kindle in my soul 
 
 Unfit were angel's tongue to tell 1 
 And yet to noisome cell confined, 
 
 I gain by fits a transient taste, 
 That serves like dying sunbeam bright, 
 
 Which shows the sky with storms defaced. 
 
 " Oh ! had some humble shed been mine, 
 
 Where mountains rear the lofty head, 
 Where torrents roar, aud eagles soar, 
 
 And tempests sing a song of dread ; 
 Then had I joyous hailed the dawn, 
 
 The dewdrops glancing on the thorn ; 
 And wandering o'er the wild flowers sweet, 
 
 Have heard the hermit cushat mourn. 
 
 " Or had it been my lot to range 
 
 The mighty ocean's empire wide, 
 And twine in song its wonders great, 
 
 Far dancing o'er the bounding tide ; 
 The lands where ancient bards have sung, 
 
 Where first the flowers of science blew ; 
 The sad remains of grandeur gone, 
 
 Through rapture's rising tear to view ! 
 
 " But 'tis not so ; the morning comes, 
 And brings no joy ; and as the day 
 
 Wheels her swift course, my life she sees 
 In lonely languor wear away.
 
 156 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 As is the wanderer of the wave 
 When cast upon the thirsty sand ; 
 
 As is the lark in durance placed 
 By some relentless cruel hand ; 
 
 " Yet, why unmanly thus complain ? 
 
 Come, resolution ! arm my soul ; 
 Tis heaven ordains, fret not while joy 
 
 Pervades creation as a whole. 
 But a few days, or years at most, 
 
 Till the unchained immortal mind 
 Shall mount to its eternal source, 
 
 And leave earth's sordid dust behind." 
 
 He ceased, he vanished through the night, 
 
 But echo long with silver tongue, 
 From rock, and vale, and vaulted cave, 
 
 Hymned o'er the notes he last had sung. 
 Yet oft when darkness veils the world 
 
 With contemplation's sober stride, 
 While lingering there, methinks I hear 
 
 His notes along the waters glide.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 157 
 
 ON VISITING THE ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES 
 IN THE BEITISH MUSEUM. 
 
 THE clouds and shadows of the past hang o'er 
 
 Those dreadful days so heavily, we fail 
 
 To find their era ; still our sympathies 
 
 Are with the peoples, though remote, unknown, 
 
 Whose fate it was the victims to become 
 
 Of cruelties so horrid. Here we learn 
 
 How desperately wicked is the heart, 
 
 And to what degradation we descend 
 
 When destitute of knowledge of the truth. 
 
 Deeds that are such as fiends might shudder at, 
 
 Or be ashamed of; yet we here see men 
 
 (If with that name they may be dignified) 
 
 In depths of dark depravity so sunk, 
 
 As glory in them bid the sculptor's art 
 
 Transmit them to posterity extant 
 
 As trophies of renown. The adamant 
 
 Is eloquent ; we verily have here 
 
 " Sermons in stones," and learn how much the world 
 
 Indebted stands to Christianity.
 
 158 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 THE SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED O'ER THE 
 SLEEPING BEREAVED. 
 
 SLEEP on, grieved and weary one, sweet be thy rest,. 
 Thy visions a radiance from land of the blest ; 
 No spirits of darkness can ever come near 
 To sadden their glories while we're watching here. 
 
 Thy brow once so placid, so smooth, and so fair, 
 Is now dark, and furrowed with sorrow and care ; 
 But God sends afflictions to those He would win, 
 To wean them from earth and to part them from sin. 
 
 faint not, fear not ! in faith be thou strong ! 
 The road may be rugged, but now 'tis not long ; 
 Thy trust be in Him that is mighty to save, 
 Who triumphed o'er hell, over death, and the grave. 
 
 The day is departing, the night drawing near, 
 But lights from the city celestial appear ; 
 And there we will meet, all our chastisements gone, 
 "Where death, sin, and sorrow alike are unknown. 
 
 London, 1870.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 159 
 
 ANDEEW AND JAMES ; OR, THE CONSEQUENCES 
 OF INTEMPERANCE. 
 
 Or all the ills that underneath the sun 
 
 Assail humanity, thou art the worst, 
 
 alcohol ! Whether 'tis famine, war, 
 
 Or pestilence, what does immediately 
 
 Extinguish life is mild, is merciful, 
 
 Compared with thine. Days, months, and even years, 
 
 Thy votaries and victims must endure 
 
 Pangs worse than ever Grand Inquisitor 
 
 On heretics inflicted, or the red 
 
 Revengeful Indian on his enemy. 
 
 These torture but the body, thou the mind 
 
 And frame corporeal eke, till oft the wretch, 
 
 Driven to despair, o'erleaps the bounds of life, 
 
 And desperately braves the world eterne. 
 
 Here is a case in point. Poor Andrew comes, 
 
 A miserable, melancholy wreck. 
 
 Well nurtured was he, educated well, 
 
 His patrimony liberal, and might 
 
 Have risen to civic honours in the town ; 
 
 But the fire-fiend entrapped him in his youth, 
 
 And we have known him thus for twice ten years ;
 
 160 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 He begs an alms, and buys a dram therewith, 
 
 And tells the donor, gratefully, it will 
 
 A momentary glimpse shed through the gloom. 
 
 James is a kind and single-hearted man ; 
 
 Accosts him, for his welfare asks. They were 
 
 Old neighbours. James : " Where, Andrew, do you 
 
 sleep ? " 
 
 "I sleep in hell," said Andrew with a frown. 
 James : " Andrew, don't talk thus. I have you known 
 Long time, and sympathize with your sad state, 
 And you might be so good as tell me where 
 You sleep." Andrew : " And I have told you, sir, 
 I sleep in hell ; which way I fly is hell ; 
 Myself am hell." This closed the colloquy, 
 And James stood struck as Andrew limped away.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 161 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS AT 
 GUILILAND. 
 
 AND oh ! how sweet when Summer's parting day 
 Had in her ruddy glories robed the west ' 
 
 And waxing dubious was the ruin grey, 
 Or seen a giant spectre of the past 1 
 
 The balmy breeze brought ocean's roundelay 
 A soothing vesper song of peace and rest, 
 
 So sweet, so holy, that it seemed to bear 
 
 A native burden to my grandsire's prayer. 
 
 Morn came : an angel of celestial light, 
 Diffusing fragrance, beauty, love, and joy ; 
 
 Painting might limn, and Poetry indite, 
 And all their efforts vainly would employ 
 
 To yield such visions to the mental sight 
 As wrap the fond, enthusiastic boy, 
 
 The embryo Bard, with fervid fancies teeming, 
 
 A thing of hoping, trusting, loving, dreaming. 
 
 And, in the long, and darksome winter night, 
 
 When up the chimney went the cheering blaze, 
 And gathered round the hearth the circle tight, 
 While songs went round, and tales of other days ; 
 M
 
 162 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 The outward darkness only made more bright 
 
 The scene within, and served our joys to raise ; 
 And well I mind how grateful was to me 
 The tempest's music in the aged tree. 
 
 And kind, kind, single, honest hearts were there, 
 Unknown to selfishness, unknown to guile, 
 
 Such as I never yet have found elsewhere, 
 
 Though wide my wanderings have been the while ; 
 
 And still through many a shade of grief and care, 
 And distance, dawns again the happy smile 
 
 Of those dear days, that still will have the power 
 
 I hope, to gild my life till latest hour.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 163 
 
 AN INCIDENT IN A SHIPWRECK. 
 
 A SHIP had foundered far at sea, and night 
 Came on the waste of waters darkly down ; 
 The rack drave wildly o'er the boding moon, 
 At times a trembling solitary star appeared, 
 Which still more dismal made the scene ; 
 The wind, by fits, howled fearfully, like some 
 Grim monster roused, and ravenous for prey. 
 All in one boat the passengers and crew 
 Were crowded, and the seamen said unless 
 That lightened of her cargo she should sink. 
 This barbarous expediency soon 
 Was perpetrated : indiscriminate 
 The passengers were flung into the sea. 
 At last they seized a boy, a comely boy, 
 Whose parents both before his eyes had sunk, 
 He said, " Oh, sirs, don't throw me overboard ! 
 Allow me first to say my prayers, and then 
 I will go out myself." The hand was stayed 
 Of ruffian selfishness ! Rude natures awed, 
 As the young hero knelt, and unto God 
 His soul commended, and, serenely firm, 
 Went down into the dark, unfathomed deep !
 
 164 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MRS. JOHN MILLER, 
 
 OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of 
 trouble." Job xiv. 1. 
 
 ANOTHER to the shoreless sea has gone, 
 And proved the awful mystery of death ; 
 Another link of life dissevered, and 
 The good removed removed in early age 
 From haunts of living men, alas ! no more 
 To visit earth till day of final doom 
 And restitution. May the stroke to us 
 Be sanctified ! May God vouchsafe His grace 
 To bid us take our cross and follow Christ 
 Through good and evil ; and may we in all 
 The dispensations of His providence 
 Enabled be to say, " Thy will be done."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 165 
 
 LINES. 
 
 POOR, friendless, among strangers thrown, 
 And low with sickness laid ; 
 
 In silent watches of the night 
 To God for help I prayed. 
 
 And help came down, and health returned 
 
 With dawning of the day ; 
 Forget this great deliverance 
 
 I hope I never may. 
 
 Girvan, 12th October, 1871. 
 
 A REMINISCENCE. 
 
 THE tide of half a century rolls back 
 
 Its sullen waters, and again I see 
 
 My erst preceptor of the Sabbath school, 
 
 So meek, so earnest, and so patient ; full 
 
 Of love and kindness, yet so firm withal 
 
 When duty thus directed. He had much 
 
 Of his great Master's spirit was indeed 
 
 An Israelite in whom there was no guile ; 
 
 But ere the wonted years of human life 
 
 Had run their circuit, he was summoned hence. 
 
 His life was blameless, and his exit peace. 
 
 The late Thomas Gilchrist, of Kilmarnock.
 
 166 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 KILLIECRANKIE. 
 
 His charge on the hillside the shepherd was keeping 
 Where murmured the brook, and the willow was weeping, 
 And Tweed by his side 'mong the fern was a-sleeping, 
 When rose the loud sounds of the battle afar. 
 
 Then thick grew the mists o'er the mountains presiding, 
 For shades of old heroes the storm were bestriding, 
 Come forth from the caves where they'd long been residing 
 To list to the sounds of the battle afar. 
 
 And still stood the flock, struck with terror and wonder, 
 As when roars through dark heaven the red rattlin' 
 
 thunder, 
 
 And Tweed crept the plaid of his dear partner under, 
 And howled at the sounds of the battle afar. 
 
 'Tis gone ! War has spent the last bolt in his quiver, 
 Yet rolls down the hill his deep sanguine river, 
 And trust we the power of the Stuart for ever 
 Has ceased, with the sounds of the battle afar.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 167 
 
 ON VISITING THE LOW CHUKCH OF 
 KILMAENOCK. 
 
 AFTER THE LAPSE OF NEARLY FIFTY YEARS. 
 
 'Tis long, and yet the retrospect seems brief, 
 
 Since last I service heard within these walls : 
 
 Twas on an autumn's evening, sweetly calm, 
 
 As sabbath should; all beautifully blue 
 
 The hills appeared, and o'er the west still hung 
 
 The crimson glories of departing day. 
 
 That closing hymn still lingers in my ear ; 
 
 The leader of the choir was an adept 
 
 In his profession, never have I heard 
 
 Another who performed the part so well.* 
 
 And when that surge of music died away 
 
 In the rich twilight, what a thrill arose 
 
 Of varied feelings, exquisite, commixed, 
 
 Indefinable, but to be conceived ! 
 
 How many voices that once swelled that song 
 
 Have silenced been ! How many then in health 
 
 Have joined the congregation of the dead ! 
 
 Few, few are left, and some with tottering steps 
 
 Stand on the confines of eternity. 
 
 Of all my father's house not one remains 
 
 To welcome back the weary wanderer. 
 
 * The late Mr. Robert Templeton.
 
 168 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 DIOGENES IN A NEW LIGHT. 
 
 DIOGENES, as most of us have heard, 
 
 Set out one day an honest man to seek, 
 
 And doubtless deemed the task an arduous ; 
 
 For though it was high noon, to aid his search 
 
 He took a lantern. What was the result 
 
 Of this adventure never has transpired, 
 
 But if the cynic sage should fated be 
 
 Again to walk the earth, he might descry 
 
 A city somewhere in the "Land o' Cakes," 
 
 Perchance from Fortha's banks not far remote, 
 
 And if he there should institute the quest 
 
 He did of old, he'd all the lanterns need 
 
 That e'er were made since days of Tubal-Cain, 
 
 And all the lamps that e'er were trimmed with oil, 
 
 Of whale, or seal, or paraffine supreme, 
 
 And all the candles, rushlights, dips, and moulds, 
 
 Were ever formed or fashioned, bought or sold, 
 
 And all the gas of Europe, from a jet 
 
 Wide as the cratur of Vesuvius. 
 
 Suppose him thus equipped, and mounted on 
 
 A fiery dragon, and around his neck, 
 
 By way of handkerchief, a comet's tail, 
 
 And that from noon till night he searched, re-searched 
 
 The city's circuit, it were all in vain ; 
 
 Discomfited he certainly should be.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 169 
 
 ON SEEING IN THE TOWER OF LONDON THE 
 
 BLOCK AND AXE WITH WHICH LORDS 
 
 BALMERINO, KILMARNOCK, AND LOVAT 
 
 WERE BEHEADED IN 1746. 
 
 THERE was a day when shuddering thousands gazed 
 
 On those grim instruments of regal power ; 
 
 Bold Balmerino's blood that block dedewed, 
 
 Kilmarnock's too, a good, but erring man, 
 
 And Lovat's whom adversity, nor years, 
 
 Nor even death approximate, when armed 
 
 With penal terrors, could to wisdom bring. 
 
 Infatuation pitiful ! to indulge 
 
 In levity, when tottering on the verge 
 
 The confines dark of an eternal world. 
 
 One deep dint tells with what a will, and strength, 
 
 The final stroke was given. Necessity 
 
 Inexorable is, and sometimes calls 
 
 For sacrifices such for commonweal 
 
 So surgeons amputate gangrenous limbs.
 
 170 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 JAMIE TAIT AND THE DOCTOR, 
 
 JAMIE had had a long and heavy bout 
 Of drinking, and now paid the penalty 
 Which all must do who Nature's laws infringe ; 
 Delirium Tremens led him to the verge 
 Of death's dark vale, and on his brain at last 
 Dawned reason dimly, while athwart the haze 
 Stalked the grim ghosts of past delinquencies. 
 A web of checkered vice his life had been. 
 The doctor called a man of skill, and sense, 
 But partial to a joke, and, it was said, 
 Sometimes made one a little out of place. 
 Jamie : " Weel, doctor, I suppose ye think 
 Me out o' danger noo 1 " The doctor liked 
 His patient not, indeed, no one could do 
 That knew him throughly. The Doctor : " now 
 Just keep yourself as quietly as you can, 
 And we will do our best ; but, mind, henceforth 
 You must renounce intoxicating drinks." 
 Jamie : " but, Doctor, I am feared if I 
 Should dee the noo my soul may be be lost." 
 The Doctor : " Mr. Tait, upon that point 
 Don't give yourself the least uneasiness, 
 For 'tis a mere impossibility 
 That you should lose what you have never had."
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 171 
 
 IN MEMOKIAM OF DOCTOR CONNELL. 
 
 WHETHER as husband, father, brother, son, 
 Friend, man of science, Christian citizen, 
 The dead we may regard, in each, in all 
 He stands pre-eminent : a mind like his 
 We but too rarely meet, transcendent worth 
 And talents brilliant happily combined. 
 From us in early life he was withdrawn, 
 But still survives in many memories, 
 An honour to the place that gave him birth ; 
 And on the page of history descends 
 A bright example to posterity.* 
 
 * Vide " The History of Kilmarnock."
 
 172 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A FLYING SHOT. 
 
 IN dwells an ancient pedagogue, 
 
 A dotard, one long laid upon the shelf, 
 
 Who has an ass, a Rosinante it is 
 
 Of donkeys, this he deems a Pegasus, 
 
 And sometimes mounts the beast, and capers cuts 
 
 The most fantastical, and assanine, 
 
 Don Quixote de la Mancha of the poets. 
 
 Appolo swears should e'er he set a foot 
 
 Within the sacred precincts, he will send 
 
 A shaft right through him ; still the muses think 
 
 As scavenger he might admitted be, 
 
 Or curiosity, should he consent 
 
 His rubbish manufactory to close. 
 
 IDEM. 
 
 HE that would one consummate humbug see, 
 Full grown, full blown, in all its glory green, 
 Ridiculous even to sublimity ; 
 A nonpareil, a perfect pattern sheen, 
 Must to Edina go, where surely he 
 Will find his wishes gratified ; I mean 
 To say, if he should but contrive to drop 
 Upon a customer baptized John H e.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 173 
 
 DOCTOR MEIKLEJOHN. 
 
 THIS professional was Surgeon of Police to the City of Hillie- 
 bulloo, and the constables haying found a young woman lying 
 on the street in a state of insensibility, concluded that she was 
 drunk, and took her to the office, where she was deposited 
 among the roughs with very little ceremony. On being subjected 
 to the scientific skill of Meiklejohn, she was pronounced to be 
 drunk. This happened early in the day. In the evening no 
 change having taken place in the poor girl's condition, the case 
 was submitted to another surgeon, who found it to be palsy. 
 The patient was of superior religious and moral character, and 
 died, as was supposed, in consequence of the treatment which 
 she met with while in the custody of the Police. Meiklejohn 
 was afterwards very officious in the inspection of butcher-meat, 
 frequently showing more zeal than knowledge, and more regard 
 for the success of the prosecution than the ninth commandment. 
 In one instance he endeavoured to induce an official to give such 
 evidence as would have been direct perjury ; but the party here 
 attempted to be tampered with at once indignantly spurned the 
 proposition. 
 
 ON HEARING THAT DOCTOR MEIKLEJOHN HAD INSPECTED 
 THREE CARCASES OF BEEF. 
 
 ERE Meiklejohn would beef inspect, 
 He ought to know his own vocation ; 
 
 At least be able to detect 
 The palsy from intoxication.
 
 174 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 A FIT CONNECTION. 
 
 JOCK BURGESS said the " Standard " was 
 
 A " dounricht imposition," 
 And for Kilmarnock's sake he would 
 
 Set up an opposition. 
 
 His threat soon put the "Standard's " staff 
 
 Into a pretty fike ; 
 They took Jock into partnership, 
 
 But " like aye draws to like." 
 
 DAVID THE KING, AND NATHAN THE 
 PROPHET. 
 
 " And Nathan said unto David ' Thou art the man.' " 
 2 Samuel xii. 7. 
 
 IF an imposture Judaism had been, 
 
 An engine of the State, contrived to keep 
 
 The crowd subordinate, the prophet would 
 
 Have, doubtless, cloaked the erring king ; but here 
 
 He held his mission from the God of Truth ; 
 
 And hence the guilty monarch was reproved 
 
 So fearlessly, emphatically too, 
 
 Compelled to sit in judgment on himself, 
 
 And hear the dreadful penalty annexed.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 175 
 
 ON SEEING A DILAPIDATED WEAVER'S SHOP 
 IN KILMARNOCK. 
 
 HERE darkness dwells with ruin green and grey, 
 There seems a something dismal in the place ; 
 It wears a blighted, an unhallowed look, 
 But this may partly be a fancy from 
 Remembrance of its sometime history. 
 For here of yore an arrant sceptic sat, 
 Venting his blasphemies, and scoffs, and sneers, 
 Still striving to subvert his neighbour's faith 
 And make them all as reprobate's himself. 
 
 The trying hour of sickness came at last. 
 
 The sea of life was troubled, tempest-tossed 
 
 The wretched mariner, no haven known, 
 
 No guiding star, no chart, nor compass his, 
 
 Nor helm, nor anchor, thus he drifted on, 
 
 Despair was imminent ; to God for help 
 
 He cried, that God whose word so openly, 
 
 So oft he had derided, and contemned ; 
 
 Health was vouchsafed, but perverse, unreclaimed, 
 
 Again he sank into his former state.
 
 176 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON LEAVING MY DOG BESSIE IN LONDON. 
 
 So, stern necessity's decree 
 
 Says, Bessie I maun part wi' thee, 
 
 In this cauld-hearted Babylon lea'e 
 
 Thy bonny sel' ; 
 And 'tis a greater grief to me 
 
 Than tongue can tell. 
 
 Nae mair thou'll meet me at the door, 
 And raise thy wee bit fond uproar, 
 Or whid sae briskly on before, 
 
 Alang the street ; 
 And seldom ha'e I seen sic four 
 
 Wee mettled feet. 
 
 The things I lo'e ha'e a' ae fate, 
 And, Bessie, thou maun gang the gate 
 Of a' the rest, and sooth I say't 
 
 Wi' heart richt sair ; 
 My bonny pet, my wee conceit, 
 
 We meet nae mair.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 177 
 
 A PEG TO HANG A TRUTH UPON. 
 
 'TwAS on a sultry summer afternoon, 
 Sick of the city, that gigantic bore, 
 I wandered down the river's bank, and soon 
 Was deeply wrapt in Nature-loving lore, 
 For round my path hung many a fair festoon 
 Of flowers, so simply beautiful, and o'er 
 The champaign floated many a thrilling lay, 
 Sweet songs of love, and rest, the dirge of day. 
 
 At length I came unto a fallen tree, 
 Of huge proportions, not o'er many a rood 
 Like Milton's Satan stretching, but you'd see 
 At once that it for centuries had stood 
 In storm and sunshine, but eventually 
 From crust to core was only rotten wood, 
 Without one solitary solid piece, 
 As rotten as the Edinburgh Police. 
 
 But what about this tree 1 I think you'll say, 
 My very courteous reader, this is all, 
 That it spread broadly on a certain day, 
 And bore its head magnificently tall, 
 And that from hue of green it turned to grey, 
 Or rather brown, and tottered to its fall, 
 But as the beadle comes to shut the door, 
 As said our old divines, I add no more. 
 
 N
 
 178 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MR. T. D. 
 
 LATE INSPECTOR OF MARKETS FOR THE CITY OF 
 STARCHEDUP. 
 
 So Thomas has departed, it will be 
 
 A loss to none except the publican. 
 
 A heart more carious death has never pierced, 
 
 Nor paralysed a hand more apt to play 
 
 At fast and loose, nor ever set his seal 
 
 On lips more prone to speak duplicity 
 
 Poor man ! he walked in vice's tortuous ways. 
 
 The consummation was inevitable, 
 
 Who sow the wind, the whirlwind must reap. 
 
 Bankrupt in fortune, health and character, 
 
 He died, and left a blighted memory, 
 
 That like a lurid light sits o'er his grave, 
 
 To those who navigate the sea of life 
 
 A beacon warning of the dangerous rock.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 179 
 
 ON RECOVERING FROM A SEVERE ILLNESS. 
 
 LONG sleepless nights of agony were mine, 
 And days where pallid suffering sate supreme, 
 Death was desired, and even sought with prayer, 
 But the Divine Disposer of events, 
 Who holds the seals of destiny, at length 
 Vouchsafed deliverance in the grateful form 
 Of convalescence ; many and severe 
 My chastisements have been, yet often mixed 
 With signal mercies, mercies manifold, 
 Yet I'm unworthy of the least of all 
 That Goodness Infinite has made to pass 
 Before me, may I still be blessed with grace 
 To cherish lasting gratitude, Amen ! 
 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1874.
 
 180 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MR. JOHN BALLANTINE, 
 KILMAENOCK. 
 
 " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end 
 of that man is peace." Psalms, chap. 37, verse 37. 
 
 How calmly beautiful the summer day 
 
 On breast of earth and ocean fades away, 
 
 And though departed, still it leaves behind 
 
 Its fruits, that prove a blessing to mankind, 
 
 But these will perish in their native course, 
 
 Eeturn to kindred elements perforce, 
 
 So calmly beautiful the Christian soul 
 
 Sinks into rest, and gains the final goal, 
 
 While works of faith, and labours love has wrought 
 
 Shall but by years be to perfection brought, 
 
 Like circles on the deep expanded be 
 
 Till time shall vanish in eternity.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAHIN. 181 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF BAILIE MATHEW CRAIG 
 OF KILMARNOCK. 
 
 A SHADE of sadness sits upon the town ; 
 A public loss has been sustained ; a man 
 Of worth and talent, one of whom high hopes 
 Were entertained, in the full bloom of life 
 Has been struck down ; we mourn, and justly, 
 One so well endowed the duties to discharge 
 Of private life, and set his signature 
 As boldly on the page of common-weal. 
 
 In 1874, a culprit who was executed in Durham, confessed that 
 his reading the writings of Bradlaugh and Holyoake had been 
 the cause of his untimely and disgraceful end. 
 
 SUCH is the fruitage of the Upas tree 
 
 Of atheism, and its apostles are 
 
 But like the Scribes and Pharisees of old, 
 
 They compass sea and land a proselyte 
 
 To make, and being made, we find he is 
 
 A two fold more the child of hell than they ; 
 
 Orime, suicide, and sensuality 
 
 Grow rankly in the soil where God's ignored.
 
 182 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF W. W., EDINBURGH. 
 
 Now Willie's got his hindmost meal 
 And drap o' barley-bree, 
 In Nature's arithmetical 
 A cipher but was he. 
 
 Sae slender were the faculties 
 Which he possessed for thinking, 
 They only reached a single theme, 
 Which eating was, and drinking. 
 
 When " Evolution " threw him off, 
 She made a blunder big, 
 For, from his stomach and brain, 
 He should have been a pig. 
 
 A METHODIST'S PEAYER. 
 
 LORD have us, and keep us, 
 
 And make us, and mend us, 
 
 From Darwin and Huxley, 
 
 And Tyndall defend us, 
 
 But hoping their nonsense 
 
 We never will take on, 
 
 As long as we have Newton, 
 
 And Butler, and Bacon, 
 
 O ! would they but leave their philosophy crank ey, 
 
 And sit at the feet of our Moody and Sankey.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 183 
 
 WHO WAS FOR SEVERAL YEARS A MEMBER OF THE 
 TOWN COUNCIL OF EDINBURGH. 
 
 IF sheer ill-nature, want of common-sense, 
 And manners, with the very frequent use 
 Of expletives profane, and language coarse, 
 Could have conferred an immortality ; 
 Then David had not died, but been the last 
 Of Adam's race, and from his sphere beheld 
 The sun himself descend to endless night. 
 
 CALVINISM. 
 
 " Calvinism has a house, but no door." 
 
 BELIEVING was our duty clear, 
 She said, but Heaven's decree 
 
 Made this unto the many sheer 
 Impossibility. 
 
 And yet they would be doomed for aye, 
 Was plain from " scripture view ; " 
 
 Because they did not that which they 
 Had not the power to do. 
 
 O ! great, and glorious mystery, 
 You must and yet you can't ; 
 
 And unto all eternity 
 
 You'll damned be if you don't.
 
 184 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 WRITTEN IN THE ALBUM OF THE HERMITAGE 
 OF KIRROUCHTRIE, MINNIGAFF. 
 
 WHEN skies are bright, when woods and fields are dressed 
 
 In summer's garniture, when gemmed with dew 
 
 The wild flower pranks the sod, on beauty's wing 
 
 The songsters flit and trill their happy notes 
 
 Of love and joy, and down the echoing glade 
 
 The cushat wakes her melting melody. 
 
 Mtthinks, 'twere sweet to linger here, and seek 
 
 The Architect Almighty in his works ; 
 
 The pure, the good, the beautiful, and leave 
 
 Corroding griefs, and rankling cares behind. 
 
 EPITAPH FOR DRAPER HUGHIE. 
 
 HERE Draper Hughie's web's laid up 
 Among death's dead-stock ware, 
 
 And just as queer a piece of goods 
 As e'er was entered there. 
 
 The cloth he sold, the rhymes he wrote, 
 
 Were much alike in body; 
 For both were in the way of trade, 
 
 And both partook of shoddy. 
 
 But what is stranger still, though quite 
 
 In keeping with the whole, 
 Was, Hughie had a shoddy heart, 
 
 And eke a slwddy soul.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 185 
 
 EPITAPH FOR THE REV. A. P. B K. 
 
 HERE lies Bauldy B k, who believed in a plack, 
 
 Though Rev. proceeded his name ; 
 He took every shift to accomplish his drift, 
 
 Ay, even put a screw on his wame. 
 
 In Palestine's land he fought many a band 
 
 Of black, and of blood-thirsty faes, 
 All infidels hot, but Turks they were not, 
 
 What then 1 you will ask only fleas. 
 
 Sorely flurried one night, nearly worried outright, 
 He desperately jumped in the water ; 
 
 Where withont any blows he slew all his foes, 
 As Samson did at his last slaughter. 
 
 ON HEARING THAT THE BLACK-FACED APE 
 
 HAD DISAPPEARED FROM THE ROYAL 
 
 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 
 
 " Darwinism triumphant.'' 
 
 HE'S from the Gardens gone, the black-faced ape, 
 
 The keepers sought the neighbourhood, but they 
 
 Have found him not, for he has changed his shape, 
 
 (At least so Darwin's sage disciples say,) 
 
 And made a protoplastical escape, 
 
 By " evolution " spirited away ; 
 
 And yet, perhaps, may write himself M.P., 
 
 Or back his signature with L.L.D.
 
 186 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 
 
 TO A ME. D. D., A COPIOUS CONTRIBUTOR OF 
 VERSE TO SOME LOCAL JOURNALS. 
 
 " Poeta nacitur non fit." 
 
 YOUR writing so much, sir, 
 
 Appears unto me 
 Somewhat like a monkey 
 
 When climbing a tree. 
 
 The more that he climbs, 
 
 And the higher he goes, 
 Serves only his nakedness 
 
 More to expose. 
 
 TO G. T., M.D., ABERDEEN. 
 
 WHEN Nature formed thy little head 
 She left it minus common sense ; 
 
 But gave thee self-esteem instead, 
 Supported well with impudence. 
 
 TO A MR. COUSIN. 
 
 SOME ask to whom you cousin are, 
 But from your temper evil, 
 
 And pride, I readily infer 
 You're cousin to the Devil.
 
 GLEANINGS OF THE GLOAMIN. 187 
 
 TO ME. G E C E, 
 
 INSPECTOR OF HACKNEY COACHES FOR THE CITY OF 
 HILLIEBULLOO. 
 
 C R, you have not yet been hanged, 
 
 But certainly will be ; 
 For nature " gallows " on your face 
 
 Has written legibly. 
 
 IMPEOMPTU ON EEADING A EEVIEW IN 
 THE ATHENAEUM. 
 
 WHAT of Scotch poets do they make 
 In London, sometimes slay 'em ; 
 
 Ay, there they have a slaughter-house, 
 Ycleped the Assenseum.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 A. 
 
 As a good deal depended on their horses, expense was not 
 spared in procuring animals fitted for the purpose ; and there 
 was nothing on which the veterans delighted so much to dwell 
 as the feats of their favourite steeds. There was one bay mare 
 especially, of unrivalled speed and bottom, whose achieveme nts 
 were long the theme of conversation ; indeed, some of them still 
 linger in the memory of ' ' the oldest inhabitant. " In a case of 
 emergency a messenger was despatched on this mare from 
 Holmes to the farm of Lauriston, upwards of two miles, which 
 he accomplished in so short a time, as almost to lead us to 
 believe that his partner in this exploit was descended from the 
 famous "Skewball. " My grandfather's mare was a "trump " 
 " a better never lifted leg." Her refusing to take the ditch, and, 
 when forced over, coming in contact with a party of soldiers, is 
 no poetical fiction. It was a family stock-anecdote, and among 
 the first things which I heard in the annals of smuggling. The 
 sagacity of the horse, in picking out his path in the dark, is well 
 known to all equestrians ; and which, I believe, is in a great 
 measure owing to his acute sense of smell. From my earliest 
 years I was fond of the horse, and a close observer of his habits 
 and character. His strength and speed, fortitude, docility, 
 patience, and gratitude, should render him an object of our
 
 190 NOTES. 
 
 deepest regard ; and I am of opinion that the law is too lenient 
 which allows the man to escape with fine or imprisonment, who 
 is convicted of cruelty to such a noble animal. He should get 
 a taste of the cat-o'-nine-tails. That the horse has the faculty of 
 reason I am fully convinced, and that the difference in this point 
 betwixt him and his rider or driver, is only in degree. My 
 friend, the late Alexander Rodger " of poetic brief," said, that 
 when he met a Glasgow carter and his horse, he generally found 
 that the latter was the more rational of the two. 
 
 B 
 
 In the beginning of this century, when we were familiar with 
 all the woods, banks, and braes of the parish of Dundonald, and 
 with not a few of its parishioners, the men who had mingled in 
 the busy times of the smuggling were mostly "wede away." 
 But of the few that were left, their tales and personnel are so 
 deeply impressed on our memory, that they must remain there 
 as long as that faculty retains her seat. And we are convinced 
 from their physique (worn though they were with years and 
 infirmities), as also from the many well-authenticated stories 
 which we have heard of their feats of strength and capability of 
 enduring fatigue, that for such men we would now seek the 
 country in vain. They were brave, even to temerity, and 
 occasionally exhibited traits of a chivalrous character. Some 
 carried the "kent," a cudgel of about five feet long, generally of 
 well-seasoned oak, and loaded. Others preferred the loaded 
 whip. However, in some instances, weapons more effective 
 than either the "kent" or loaded whip were had recourse 
 to, and though much inferior to the soldiers in point of 
 equipment, they were often a match for them. In those 
 days some doughty deeds were done, deeds that would have 
 done honour to a better cause ; deeds that savoured more of the 
 times of Wallace and Bruce than of the close of the eighteenth 
 century. At one time, a heavy seizure of brandy had been made 
 at Holmes, as much as to load three carts. The excise officers, 
 supported by a strong body of infantry, were on their way to
 
 NOTES. 191 
 
 Ayr with the prize ; but a numerous party of smugglers had 
 been collected, and were lying in ambush in Rosemount Planting, 
 whence they suddenly sallied, and, taking the soldiers by 
 surprise, defeated them, broke their guns and bayonets, and 
 recaptured the brandy. A keen battle or skirmish was once 
 fought near Dundonald, on the road leading to Irvine, at a place 
 called Eoddlerig, a short distance beyond the Winehouseyett, 
 near the site of the Auchans gatehouse. This contest was 
 maintained with great obstinacy on both sides for some time, 
 and several severe wounds were given. At last the defenders 
 of the revenue were forced to yield. The leader or chief of the 
 smugglers was a most formidable antagonist. Possibly, such 
 another man could not have been found in the county of Ayr, or, 
 perhaps, in broad Scotland. From the following passage it will 
 also appear that, when excited, he had something of a savage 
 temper. On this occasion he encountered an excise officer, whose 
 weapon offensive was a sword. The smuggler had only his 
 "kent," yet he soon unhorsed his foe, and, as he lay on the 
 ground, rode his horse over him, with the intention of treading 
 him to death ; but the horse leaped over the fallen man. The 
 smuggler a second time sought to accomplish his purpose, but 
 was again foiled by his generous steed. At this he was so exas- 
 perated, that he drew his "kent" and felled the noble animal 
 which had thus acted so much superior to its master. To those 
 who are unacquainted with the subject, it may seem preposterous 
 to suppose that a band of half-armed peasantry should have been 
 able to cope with, and even overcome regularly trained and 
 disciplined men with all the advantages of proper arms and 
 accoutrements. But it is well known to have been the case, and 
 not in one single instance only. To be convinced that such 
 things are practicable and possible, we have only to turn to 
 Drumclog. Claverhouse was an able leader, whatever he might 
 be in other respects, and the corps which he commanded on that 
 ever memorable day were the first in the service, viz., the Life 
 Guards ; yet we all know how it fared with them. Of this 
 battle, Sir Walter Scott, who was no partisan of the covenanters,
 
 192 NOTES. 
 
 thus speaks : " It was even much more brilliant than they durst 
 have ventured to anticipate, for, with no great loss on their part, 
 they had totally routed a regiment of picked men, commanded 
 by the first officer in Scotland, and one whose very name had 
 long been a terror to them." Old Mortality. 
 
 C. 
 
 This genuine specimen of the Ayrshire peasant of last century 
 was my maternal grandfather. He was not a man of high 
 stature, but particularly well formed, energetic, and active. As 
 regards his strength, I need only mention, what was well known, 
 that at the age of sixty-four he carried a "lade" or sack of 
 meal, weighing 280 Ibs. , an English mile, After retiring from 
 the ranks of the smugglers, he farmed part of the lands of 
 Corsehill, Dreghorn, and afterwards took a lease of the farm of 
 Guililand, Dundonald, where he died in 1817, at a very advanced 
 age. But too many of those engaged in the contraband trade 
 fell into intemperate habits ; to this my grandfather was an 
 exception. He had an almost perfect constitution, walked in 
 the simplicity of Nature's ways, and he had his reward. He 
 died without any previous illness, and apparently without pain, 
 or rather fell asleep, coming " to the grave like a shock of corn 
 in its season." My grandfather had much to tell of 1745, or the 
 Hielandman's year, as he called it ; also of the rinderpest or 
 murrain of that period. He was of good family, which he never 
 forgot ; his forefathers having been at one time proprietors of 
 the estate of Bourtreehill, Irvine. They were noted as men 
 of strict integrity, great strength, and length of arm ; and to 
 distinguish them from another family of that name, were called 
 "the long -armed Fultons," which personal peculiarity has de- 
 scended to the writer of this note. Robert, the laird, and his 
 brother John were out with the Covenanters in 1679. On the 
 day being lost at Bothwell Brig, they fled to Irvine, and took 
 shelter in an inn, the landlord concealing them in a rack among 
 the hay. A party of the royal dragoons pursued them hot-foot, 
 tracked them to the inn, and having found their horses, swore
 
 NOTES. 193 
 
 that the riders must be somewhere on the premises. Several 
 places were searched without success. At length, coming to the 
 rack, they thrust their swords down among the hay. The 
 Covenanters were both severely, but not mortally, wounded. 
 However, they had nerve enough to suffer in silence, and when 
 the soldiers had left the town, they got their wounds dressed, 
 and sailed for Holland. This anecdote, with others which I 
 heard at my grandfather's, tended much to form the strong 
 sympathy which I still entertain with the Covenanters, I can 
 yet remember with what indignation I first read ' ' Old Mor- 
 tality." The work was not mine, otherwise I should certainly 
 have burned it. 
 
 D. 
 
 JOHN M'ADAM was in the service of his brother James, one of 
 the most successful men in the trade, but who died in early life, 
 leaving John a pensioner on his widow. Mrs. M'Adam rented 
 the grazing at the Castle Hill, of Dundonald, with the adjoining 
 premises of Winehouseyett, and John was appointed ranger 
 thereof, and might have been seen limping up the hill when the 
 summer dawn was breaking, or when the day was advanced a 
 bit seated on a stone at the end of the house looking up the 
 Kilmarnock road, with his old crummie-stick betwixt his legs. 
 Nature had been liberal to John, and, both on his frame and 
 physiognomy, had given evident tokens of manhood. He was 
 fully six feet in height, and though lame, as most of the veterans 
 were, showed that he had once stood upon a pair of well-formed 
 limbs, while in chest and shoulders he might have been a model 
 for a Hercules. For strength of arm he was also remarkable, as 
 well as for the peculiar formation of that member of the body. 
 Once when speaking to an old villager about him, he said that the 
 bone of John M 'Adam's arm was like that of the leg of a cart horse 
 He had a strongly marked, expressive countenance, on which a 
 smile of sly humour was often apparent, especially when relating 
 his smuggling adventures. Once at the putting up of a hay 
 stack it was John's post to stand on a ladder and fork it to the 
 

 
 194 NOTES. 
 
 builders. Two men who were handing it up to him made a 
 paction to test his strength, by giving him a forkful which was 
 as much as both of them could lift, thinking that he would not 
 be able to " send it home." But in this they were mistaken, for 
 John tossed it clean over his shoulder. Such a man, when well- 
 mounted, carrying a good ' ' kent, " or loaded whip, a pair of pistols 
 in his belt, and perhaps a glass of brandy in each side of his jacket 
 and one in the middle, would care little for either soldier or ex- 
 ciseman. But on taking a sketch from the landscape of life, we 
 are bound to give both lights and shadows, and John M'Adam, 
 although an effective man where courage, strength, and dexterity 
 were required, was not at all times a- trust- worthy one, as the fol- 
 lowing passage will show, it will also give rather an amusing 
 instance of how superstition and imposture may sometimes be 
 promoted : One night John having purloined a chest of tea and a 
 keg of brandy, concealed them in a clump of whins at the foot of the 
 Warliehill. His brother on taking stock discovered the deficiency. 
 At that time there lived in Kilmarnock a famous spaewife, hight 
 Mrs. Taylor, who stood at the top of her profession, and charged 
 accordingly, her fee being 1 Is. a pretty round sum in those 
 days. On the next morning after the goods had gone amissing, 
 Mr. M'Adam gave John a guinea, instructing him to go to 
 Kilmarnock, and lay the case before Mrs. Taylor. On reaching 
 Kilmarnock, John met with some of his old cronies, drank the 
 guinea, and came home ' ' glorious, far aboon the mune. " The next 
 day his brother asked him what was the result of his visit to 
 Mrs. Taylor. John represented it as something "awfu'," what 
 he never would undertake again, saying that she took him 
 into a darksome back room, where he felt a strong smell of 
 brimstone, and heard strange and unearthly sounds, after she 
 had gaen through some of her cantrips, a great mirror appeared on 
 the wa', in front of which an eldrich-looking light was burning, 
 something like a corpse-candle that he had heard his grand- 
 mother describe, and by the aid of this infernal taper he saw a 
 transcript of Dundonald Hills. Mrs Taylor now pointed sig- 
 nificantly to a clump of whins at the foot of the Warliehill, At
 
 NOTES. 195 
 
 this point, said John, I clean lost consciousness ; but I'll wager 
 should you gang to that place, that ye will find the "guids." 
 Mr. M 'Adam lost no time in seeking the place indicated, and sure 
 enough the "guids " were there, and many were the encomiums 
 bestowed on Mrs. Taylor. This story got wind, and like other 
 stories lost nothing on the way ; the spaewife was set down as an 
 oracle, and, although she lost that guinea, it was the means of 
 making many a "goose lay golden eggs." 
 
 E. 
 
 SERGEANT CHARLES EWART, of the 2nd Royal N. B. Dragoons, 
 or Scots Greys, who took an eagle at Waterloo, was a native 
 of Kilmarnock. In 1842 I met him at Davy Hulme, near 
 Manchester, spent the afternoon and took tea with him and 
 Mrs. Ewart. He then ranked as an ensign of the 5th Royal 
 Veteran Battalion, was seventy-three years of age, and in height 
 I should say at least six feet three. Mr. Ewart was a man of 
 large bony frame one of those who even in youth would have 
 no superfluous flesh about him, all nerve and sinew ; in short, 
 was the remains of a once very powerful man, and, being 
 " Master of fence " to the regiment, would be a foe that neither 
 lancer, guard, nor cuirassier would have much chance with 
 
 " Clap in his walie nieve a blade, 
 
 He'll mak' it whissle ; 
 An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned 
 Like taps o' thrissle." 
 
 He spoke of Waterloo, but feelingly and modestly, "and seemed 
 not much inclined to fight his battles over again. One incident 
 related was rather amusing. On entering Brussels after the 
 engagement, he met Mrs. Ewart, who saluted the horse first, by 
 throwing her arms round its neck. This piqued the sergeant a 
 little, who exclaimed, with a strong expletive, "It seems, 
 Maggie that ye think mair o' the horse than ye do o' me." 
 Mr. Ewart informed me that he was born at Waterside, Kil-
 
 196 NOTES. 
 
 marnock, and bred a barber. "But," said he, "the shaving 
 didna suit me at a'; I stood ower heigh aboon the folks' heads." 
 A few days after, I met Mr. Ewart again in Manchester. He 
 asked me when I was coming down to see him. I said, " I will 
 take the boat and be down some day soon." Mr. Ewart "If 
 you need a boat to come to Davy Hulme, ye're not o' the richt 
 Ayrshire breed. " The contest for the eagle has been so often 
 described, and by abler pens than mine, that I shall thus leave it 
 " alone in its glory." But there is another episode of Waterloo 
 with which Sergeant Ewart was connected, and which I would 
 beg to relate, chiefly as an erroneous version of it has been given 
 by Mr. James Paterson in his autobiography. After capturing 
 the eagle Sergeant Ewart was ordered to the rear with his 
 trophy, and while standing there he observed two officers, a 
 French and British, engaged in single combat. The Briton 
 mastered his antagonist's sword, and gave him his life, when 
 the Frenchman drew a pistol and shot him. Sergeant Ewart 
 immediately rode up and cut the dastard down. 
 
 F. 
 
 1766. MTJNGO CAMPBELL was appointed Excise Officer at Salt- 
 coats, including Ardrossan, at this date, and continued there till 
 Lord Eglinton. was shot, 1769 24th October. Trial of Mungo 
 Campbell. 
 
 1769. July 3. Mr. Campbell had information that some 
 smuggled goods were to be landed at Castlecraigs, [rocks south 
 of the Castle, now removed to make the harbour,] a noted haunt 
 of the smugglers. John Brown, tide waiter, and Jas. M 'Donald, 
 salt officer, accompanied him early next morning, and found a 
 favourite servant of Lord Eglinton's driving a horse and cart 
 towards Parkhouse, loaded with some casks containing 80 gallons 
 rum. Seized the rum, and horse and cart, which they took to 
 Irvine. The horse and cart, supposed to belong to Lord Eglinton, 
 was returned. Trial of Mungo Campbell. 
 
 1769. October 24. Mungo Campbell set out from Saltcoats
 
 NOTES. 197 
 
 about 10 a.m., with his gun, and accompanied by Mr. Brown 
 above mentioned, for the double purpose of having a shot [on the 
 lands of Montfod, where he had liberty from Dr. Hunter, the then 
 proprietor,] and to examine several places, the known haunts of 
 smugglers. Having searched the bank for a woodcock without 
 success, they went to the high ground marked " I " on the plan 
 accompanying the Trial. [This high ground, we may state, is 
 known by the name of Caff Hill, and is west of Montfod House.] 
 The ground at letter "I" is high, commanding a view of the shore, 
 particularly the spots called Castlecraigs, Horse Isle, and foot 
 of Montfod Burn, to which smugglers resort. Perceiving no 
 smugglers under cover of the Horse Island, where such were in 
 use to lye, they returned by the foot of Montfod Burn, a common 
 haunt of smugglers, and crossed by a short cut a neck of marshy 
 ground, not inclosed, near Newhouse [Burnfoot], which to them 
 was known to be a hiding place for smuggled goods, and thus 
 entering upon the lands leading to Castlecraigs, the most remark- 
 able place of all for smuggling. Trial of Mungo Campbell. 
 
 G. 
 
 Craigbury Bank, a precipiece forming the background of 
 Dundonald Castle in a view from the east. It is skirted by a 
 fine old natural wood, which had once some strong attractions 
 for the lover of scenic beauty. The oak of centuries stood there, 
 richly covered with ivy, which formed a secure retreat for the 
 cushat, whose sweet wailings were often heard to echo through 
 the grove. It was a preserve for game, and its well-protected 
 tenants were ever and anon making themselves heard and seen. 
 Birds of song were also numerous, and the stately foxglove and 
 other wild flowers grew there in the greatest luxuriance ; while 
 the grey ruin, with its legends of the past, threw a solemn 
 grandeur over all. The axe of the spoiler has of late years been 
 busy in Craigbury Bank, and it is now sadly shorn of its ancient 
 honours.
 
 198 NOTES. 
 
 H. 
 
 " PILMORE MOUNT" An extensive tract of old woodland on the 
 margin of the farm of Guililand. It was also a preserve, and 
 well stocked with game and other representatives of the various 
 feathered tribes. No sweeter or lonelier spot could the young 
 enthusiast have found to hold his communings with things 
 unseen. There was something so awfully solemn in its gloamin' 
 hour that I have said, " Surely the spirits of the dead are here." 
 
 " And there was the woodland, so deep and so lone, 
 Where ofttimes indulging day-dreams I had gone, 
 Unconscious how fleetly the moments had fled, 
 Till round me the shadows of twilight were spread. " 
 
 The gothic axe has also been here, and the dear old trees which 
 had so long been a shelter to bird and beast, shed fragrance and 
 beauty o'er the landscape, basked in the sunshine, and wrestled 
 with the storm, live now but in painful remembrance. 
 
 I. 
 
 JOHN URIE was, possibly, one of the most expert in the use of 
 his weapons of all the men who were engaged in the contraband 
 trade of that time. In his latter years he resided in Loans, and, 
 when far advanced in life, sometimes to the great amusement of 
 his friends and neighbours, 
 
 " The old man would shake his years away, 
 And act his young encounters." 
 
 John, however, when roused a bit, like some of his comrades, 
 showed a little of the "rough." Once at a rencounter in the 
 vicinity of Dundonald, he got his eye on an excise officer who 
 had once crossed his path, and winding the thong of the loaded 
 whip round his arm, he charged the exciseman, brought him to 
 the ground, and then rode over him.
 
 NOTES. 199 
 
 K. 
 
 ALEXANDER BRYSON was one of the elite of the smugglers, strong, 
 resolute, and an excellent horseman. As regards fear he had as 
 little of that as a thoroughbred bull-dog, and sometimes shewed 
 a spirit that might be termed fool-hardy, of which the following 
 is an instance : One night he set out alone with a couple of 
 kegs, but the revenue officers having been apprised of it, two of 
 them were lying in wait for him, and throwing themselves across 
 the road, they drew their swords and ordered him "to stand and 
 deliver." But Bryson did not understand this, it did not "suit 
 his stomach at all, " so he spurred his horse and attacked them 
 with the "kent." The issue of such a contest may be easily 
 conceived. Bryson was disabled by a wound in the right arm ; 
 but not till he had hurt both of his antagonists severely. He 
 said, " if it hadna been for that confounded nick, he would have 
 pinned them baith." He once accompanied a friend home from 
 Glasgow who was carrying a heavy sum of money, and afraid 
 that he might be robbed, as several depredations had taken 
 place in the neighbourhood. Coming to that part of the road 
 where they were most likely to be "stopped," four men were 
 seen loitering in the distance. " Yonder they are," said Bryson, 
 and drawing a heavy stake from the hedge, he cried, " Come on, 
 two of them are dead men at anyrate." Whoever the parties 
 were they disappeared, Bryson's friend maintaining that they 
 had smelt the auld smuggler. 
 
 Alexander Bryson was a native of Eaglesham, where he closed 
 a long and eventful life. In his latter years he was very lame, 
 and rather of a cynical character, garrulous on everything 
 connected with the smuggling ; but especially the merits of his 
 matchless black horse. A short time previous to his death, and 
 when he was so lame as to require the aid of two sticks in 
 walking, he was talking of the smuggler's Waterloo, the battle 
 of the Roddlerig, when he became so excited that he completely 
 forgot all his infirmities, and jumping off the seat, fell on the floor, 
 from which he could not rise without assistance ; possibly one of 
 the most striking instances of the spirit triumphing over the flesh.
 
 200 NOTES. 
 
 L. 
 
 JOHN LEES was a smuggler rough and ready, one who neither 
 feared fire nor water, and was occasionally selected when a piece 
 of sharp service was required. John was once in a skirmish at 
 Balsaggart Moss, Kirkmichael. Both sides mustered equal. It 
 was man to man, and a hard struggle for a short time, but the 
 Government party were ultimately routed. John's antagonist 
 was a sergeant, whom he disarmed of a fine silver-hilted sword, 
 which spoil he concealed by thrusting it perpendicularly into the 
 soil ; but it was so well hidden that he could not find it again. 
 The pistols and loaded whip of this old opponent of the excise 
 laws are still in the custody of his nephew, Mr. David Lees, 
 residing at Drybridge, Dundonald, who is well posted up in the 
 stirring and eventful times of the contraband trade of the 
 West, or Laigh Lan'. The handle of this whip is strong, and 
 heavily loaded, and fully an inch in diameter at the butt-end. 
 When used, the thong was wound round the arm, and taking 
 into account the spring of the weapon, and movement of the 
 horse, it would be a very deadly one ; I should say an article 
 fit to fell an ox. 
 
 'M. 
 
 TAM FULLARTON. On one occasion a smuggling party, of 
 which Tarn was a member, had come from the coast of Troon 
 through a defile in Dundonald hills, leading by the bottom of 
 the Awt or Aut, now forming a fine hanging wood of most 
 picturesque appearance. They were about to emerge on the 
 high road, within a short distance of the village, when they 
 perceived a detachment of dragoons ready to intercept them. 
 Tarn was a man of great bodily strength, courage, and dexterity, 
 and, from this incident it would appear, not deficient in general, 
 ship. He requested his comrades to take charge of his horse 
 and retrace their road, while, he said, he " would taigle the red 
 anes a wee, till they got out of danger." Placing himself behind
 
 NOTES. 201 
 
 an uncemented stone wall, he hurled huge fragments of rock with 
 such force and precision, that not one of the soldiers would 
 venture forward. Tarn never slackened fire till such time as he 
 thought his comrades were safe, when, with a shout of triumph, 
 he disappeared in the bush. The soldiers were unacquainted 
 with the tract, and, not relishing Tarn's adamantine artillery, 
 they preferred to take the turnpike road, and by the time that 
 they had reached the coast, the smugglers were out of their 
 power. Tarn was afterwards known as " the man who threw a 
 stane dyke at the sodgers." 
 
 N, 
 
 Sir Fergus de Barclay, commonly called " The Deil o' Ardros- 
 san," was famed for his breed of horses and success on the 
 Turf, which was vulgarly attributed to the power of an enchanted 
 bridle which he received on forming a compact with the devil. 
 The contests and achievements of some of the favourites of Sir 
 Fergus's stud were much talked of throughout the country, and 
 in course of time became invested with the marvellous. This 
 infernal compact was ultimately broken, and the magic bridle 
 given to another. Henceforth Sir Fergus was defeated in all 
 his matches, and his pet grey mare, Miss Sportsly, disgracefully 
 distanced ; while domestic misfortune darkened the close of his 
 life. Thus we see that in former times the devil rewarded his 
 servants much in the same way that he does in ours. Indeed, 
 I believe they have had a kindred fortune from Cain downwards. 
 
 O. 
 
 The smugglers frequently showed considerable presence of 
 mind, and were very fertile in expedients and stratagems in 
 cases of exigency, of which many instances might be given. 
 Most of their operations were conducted under the cloud of 
 night. However, a small party were one day on the road, with
 
 202 NOTES. 
 
 a few casks of brandy in a cart, when, on looking behind them, 
 they perceived that they were followed by their legal foes. Few 
 or none of the horses of that period were trained to work with- 
 out what were termed ' blinders," and when, by accident or 
 otherwise, this part of the harness was removed whilst the horse 
 was in the cart, he would immediately run off. The horse in 
 question was, like most of them in the service, a spirited and 
 powerful animal. The smugglers turned his head homewards, 
 and took off the blinders, when he laid his ears on his neck and 
 set out at full gallop, and by the time that he reached the excise 
 officers, was tearing on at such a rate, that they were glad to 
 give him a wide berth. The horse went straight home and took 
 all the brandy safely there, which was soon lodged in one of 
 Lowrie Weir's private cellars, the entrances to which were some- 
 times so artfully contrived as to baffle the best of the revenue 
 officers. On this occasion they were completely defeated ; the 
 horse and cart they found, but could not come by the aqua vitse, 
 nor bring any direct charge against the proprietor. Lawrence 
 or Lowrie Weir, as he was familiarly called was most ingenious 
 in constructing those places of concealment, some of which might 
 possibly yet be found in the parishes of Dundonald or Symington. 
 The Charter-stone of the Lepers' House, which was founded 
 by King Robert Bruce, at King's Ease, Prestwick, Ayrshire, was 
 a blue block weighing 140 Ibs. , of the form of a sheep's kidney, 
 and exceedingly smooth, which, with its peculiar shape, made 
 the lifting of it a difficult task. Indeed, there was only one way 
 of accomplishing this, which was to place the protuberant side 
 of the stone uppermost, and clasp the hands in the hollow. 
 Being able to lift the charter-stone had tune out of mind been 
 reckoned a test of manhood, and parties often met there for that 
 purpose, 
 
 " The young contending as the old surveyed." 
 
 A troop of smugglers was at one time passing that way, 
 having got quit of their stock in trade, and in no dread of either 
 "red-coats or " gangers," they took to lifting the charter-
 
 NOTES. 203 
 
 stone, when one of them surprised his comrades by laying it on 
 the horse's pillion. Who this Samson was my informant did not 
 say ; but, owing to the source from which it was derived, I 
 have no doubt of its authenticity. This stone has been built 
 into the wall of the churchyard, where it is still shown to the 
 curious in souvenirs and relics. 
 
 JAMES M'ADAM. It has often been said that "there are black 
 sheep in every flock," and there were also some of that hue among 
 the smugglers of the west, and things were sometimes done 
 which the majority were sorry for and ashamed of ; but that they 
 were capable of acts of generosity, even to their enemies, is known 
 to all who are conversant with their history, of which, perhaps, 
 the following instance may suffice : At that time there was not 
 a bridge across the Irvine at Old Rome ; it was commonly called 
 " Rome Ford," One night a party of smugglers came there in 
 hot haste the river was much swollen, and, by some, thought 
 to be dangerous ; but the myrmidons of the law were hanging on 
 their rear, and they had either to ford or fight. They chose the 
 former, thinking, from the state of the river, that the other party 
 would not attempt it. The smugglers got all safely over al- 
 though it was a tight tie with them and scarcely had they reached 
 terra firma when the supporters of the revenue arrived at the 
 opposite bank. One of the excise-officers attempted to take the 
 water, but, a smuggler (Mr. James M'Adam), endeavoured to 
 dissuade him, telling him what they had found it, and that, in 
 all probability, he would lose his life. However, in went the 
 exciseman, and was carried down by the current. When Mr. 
 M'Adam saw this, he plunged in, but by the time that he over- 
 took him, the other had turned the bend of the river, and was 
 nearly opposite w hat is termed ' ' the icehouse, " on Fairlie grounds, 
 and doubtless would have soon sunk, when Mr. M'Adam got 
 hold of his bridle-reins, and brought him ashore, and we may
 
 204 NOTES. 
 
 suppose, on that side of the river that was safest for himself and 
 his comrades. Thus Mr. M'Adam saved a man's life who was 
 anything but a friend, and that at the imminent risk of his own. 
 
 SMUGGLERS. " Smugglers and their adherents were though 
 a careless and dangerous set men of spunk, and spirit, and 
 power, both of mind and body ; nor was there anything the least 
 degrading in an ardent, impassioned, and imaginative youth 
 becoming for a time too much attached to such daring and ad- 
 venturous, and even interesting characters. They had all a fine, 
 strong, poetical smell of the sea, mingled to precisely the proper 
 pitch with that of Bordeaux brandy. As a poet Burns must have 
 been much the better of such temporary associates ; and as 
 a man, let us hope notwithstanding Gilbert's fears not much 
 the worse." Review O/'LOCKHART'S LIFE OF BURNS Blackwood's 
 Magazine, May, 1828. 
 
 At that period in which the smuggling was carried on in the 
 west, it was regarded in a very different light to what it is in 
 our day. By many the excise laws were considered unjust and 
 _ tyranical, and that it was a duty and an achievement to evade 
 them. Even magistrates were known to have had a share in the 
 trade ; and some of the first men in the county, in point of rank 
 and property, were purchasers of the goods. All those who 
 entered the service had an oath administered to them by their 
 employers. 
 
 In conclusion, I would beg to say it is a matter of deep regret 
 that ever the smuggling trade found a footing amongst us ; a 
 rapid declension of morals was the consequence, to which some 
 of the session books of that period bear ample testimony. 
 Indeed, the blight was perceptible long after the last lugger had 
 left our shores. Moral evil once perpetrated, who can say when 
 its baleful seed may cease to germinate ? Perhaps only at the 
 day of judgment.
 
 NOTES. 205 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE CUSTOM HOUSE RECORDS 
 OF IRVINE. 
 
 THE following extracts will serve in some measure to show the 
 extent of the contraband trade of that period, as well as the 
 spirit in which it was carried on : 
 
 October 14th, 1727. Officers deforced, and severely beaten 
 between Irvine and Kilmarnock. 
 
 November 7th, 1728. Custom House attempted to be robbed. 
 
 November 10th, 1730. A troop of dragoons quartered in Kil- 
 marnock. 
 
 July 9th, 1733. Custom House broken open, and a consider- 
 able quantity of brandy and rum, tea, &c. , carried away by a 
 party of about 40 or 50 armed men, supposed from Beith. 
 
 September 12th, 1733. 12 casks of brandy seized in one of 
 the present magistrate's houses. 
 
 Same date, Custom House attacked by a mob of about 50 men 
 armed with guns. 
 
 May 26th, 1764. Report that smuggling has so far increased 
 that goods to the amount of 20,000 have been brought into 
 the precincts of Irvine within the last twelve months, notwith- 
 standing the King's cruisers, and the land officers, &c. 
 
 October 6th, 1764. An Isle-of-man boat with spirits all 
 landed, and taken into the country by 100 men mounted on 
 horses, and who put the officers to defiance.
 
 206 NOTES. 
 
 October 19th, 1764. 150 carts and horse loads of spirits, tea, 
 &c., landed Only four casks got by the officers, the rest all 
 conveyed away by cadgers, and carriers, supposed to be from 
 Glasgow, and the country adjoining. A cutter to be placed at 
 Troon, and never to leave the station. 
 
 December 8th, 1768. A party of smugglers, with casks under 
 them, crossed the bridge at Irvine (the river being flooded), shots 
 interchanged, two of the smugglers seized, in prison. 
 
 February 21st, 1769. A vessel arrived from Dublin. Officers 
 placed on board, but during the night a party of twenty boarded 
 the vessel, tied the officers, and carried off a quantity of goods 
 concealed on board. 
 
 October 4th, 1770. Within these fourteen or twenty days 
 there has been enormous smuggling carried on at Troon, and 
 along the coast. A cutter is again requested, and a force of 
 military. 
 
 September 19th, 1771. Report that smuggling is still carried 
 on at Troon, and the smugglers and their accomplices (who are 
 numerous) are become more and more insolent and audacious. 
 Three officers severely beaten. Beg military to be sent. 
 
 January 17th, 1775. Report vessels loading at Dunkirk with 
 tea for Troon and Ladyburn. 
 
 April 4th, 1775. Report vessel loaded at Dunkirk with a 
 
 valuable cargo chiefly tea, with two young men named 
 
 and , from neighbourhood of Troon, on board. 
 
 April 31st, 1775. Officers again deforced and beaten. 
 December 21st, 1777. A cargo run at Troon. 
 July 1st, 1778. Two cargoes run at Troon. 
 
 June 5th, 1781. An English cutter, called the Thunderer, 
 with 20 guns, and 70 men, having and on board ex- 
 pected to land her cargo at Ladyburn.
 
 NOTES. 207 
 
 November 20th, 1783. Report a smuggling vessel bad run her 
 cargo at Troon, discharged before sunrise. Officers saw country 
 people with horse and carts carrying ballast to her, but durst not 
 approach them. Application for dragoons. 
 
 August 1st, 1786. Collector and comptroller to send to the 
 Board in Edinburgh the quantity of spirits supposed to have 
 been fraudulently landed in the district, in the year, from the 1st 
 August, 1785, to 1st August, 1786. They estimate such at Troon 
 to have been 15,000 gallons of brandy, said to have been sold for 
 5s. 6d. per gallon, and the supposed profit 2s. per gallon.
 
 KILMARNOCK : 
 PRINTED BY M'KIE AND DRENNAN, 2 KING STREET.
 
 PHRENOLOGICAL CHART. 
 
 BY MRS HAMILTON, PHRENOLOGIST, 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON, 1861. 
 
 Circumference of the head, 23i 
 
 From the Occipital Bone to Individuality, 15 
 
 From Destructive to Individuality, 12 
 
 Anterior Lobe, 8 
 
 Coronal or Moral Region, 8 
 
 Posterior Region, 8 
 
 " The dome of thought, " Man know thyself, 
 
 The palace of the soul." | Then others learn to know." 
 
 1 It is heaven upon earth to have man's mind to move in charity rest in Pro- 
 vidence and turn upon the poles of truth." 
 
 CEREBRAL DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANS. 
 
 1. Amativeness 20 
 
 2. Philoprogenitiveness 20 
 
 3. Ooncentrativeness 19 
 
 4. Adhesiveness 20 
 
 The Love of Life 19 
 
 * Appetite for Food 17 
 
 5. Combatiyeness 20 
 
 6. Destructiveness 19 
 
 7. Secretiveness 16 
 
 8. Acquisitiveness 20 
 
 9. Constructiveness 20 
 
 10. Self-Esteem 20 
 
 11. Love of Approbation 20 
 
 12. Cautiousness 19 
 
 13. Benevolence 20 
 
 14. Veneration 18 
 
 15. Firmness 20 
 
 16. Conscientiousness 20 
 
 17. Hope 17 
 
 18. Wonder 20 
 
 19. Ideality 20 
 
 20. Wit 19 
 
 21. Imitation 19 
 
 22. Individually 17 
 
 23. Form , 19 
 
 24. Size 19 
 
 25. Weight 20 
 
 26. Colour 18 
 
 27. Locality 20 
 
 28. Number 18 
 
 29. Order 20 
 
 30. Eventually 20 
 
 31. Time 19 
 
 32. Tune 20 
 
 33. Language 19 
 
 34. Comparison 20 
 
 35. Causality 20 
 
 Sanguine, 8; Nervous, 8; Fibrous, 7. 
 Eelative proportion of Organs Very Large, 20 ; Bather Large, 18 ; Moderate 
 
 16; Small, 12: Very Small, 10. 
 NOTE. The Organs that are large are those that are naturally most powerful, 
 
 and which may be most easily cultivated, and in some instances need to 
 
 be restrained. 
 
 THE CRANIUM OF JOHN RAMSAY, 
 
 Author of " Wood Notes of a Wanderer," <kc. 
 This gentleman's constitutional qualities are composed of very 
 warm, solid, and enduring elements. His brain is of the largest 
 size, and is well balanced in the three divisions, indicating a 
 mind capable of comprehending great principles of truth ; em- 
 bracing within its range every department of practical science.
 
 He is formed by the Creator to enlarge the sphere of his useful- 
 ness, and support his position in honesty of principle, steadiness 
 of purpose, and the most faithful and enduring domestic affection ; 
 he might travel in the way of business, and to advance his 
 interests, but he could not remain long absent, home to such a 
 mind is sweet home. All his affections are passions, particularly 
 for children, and even animals will recognise in the tones of his 
 voice the strong fatherly instinct. He could tame the wildest, 
 and would make an excellent equestrian, and would experience 
 the greatest delight in providing for a great number of pets. 
 Auld acquaintance with him will never be forgotten. Clanish as 
 a Highland Chief ; and well fitted for generalism in a defensive 
 war, but extremely tender to life. His formation of brain is only 
 to be found as one in ten thousand, embodying the patriot, the 
 enthusiasm of the poet, and the nobility of the prince, and these 
 high sentiments are modified by the strong sense of justice, and 
 courage to protect the weak against the oppression of the more 
 powerful. He will be an excellent judge of animals, quite 
 delighted in observing their instincts, and good estimate of the 
 weight of anything ; indeed, his brain, as a whole, is so well 
 balanced, and his constitution solid and enduring as to fit him for 
 any situatioii of responsibility, as well as for mechanical enter- 
 prise, and directing numbers, giving them employment. He is 
 like the eagle, would not build his nest in the grass, soaring in 
 ambition, and large hearted in affection, and money-making in 
 order to support his independence, subject to unequal states 
 from the large development of conscientiousness and medium 
 hope, naturally confiding, he has gained much wisdom by ex- 
 perience, he has a remarkable memory for past events, a rich vein 
 of playful humour, and will be the centre of magnetic attraction 
 both to young maidens and matrons. Wherever he moves he will 
 diffuse a cheerful gladdening influence, and will be welcomed 
 with a gracious smile and a warm shake of the hand ; would be 
 very successful as an architect, fine order, and would be 
 systematic in all his arrangements, have a place for everything, 
 and everything done in proper time, deep rich toned voice for 
 eloquence, and if trained for the profession, would be most 
 successful as a pleader at the bar, and as an orator, with a fine 
 perception of equity and justice ; critical in investigating truth, 
 and capable of forming and expressing his opinions with inde- 
 pendence of spirit ; intended by nature to multiply his relations, 
 and to enlarge the sphere of his public usefulness ; very temperate 
 in his habits, has fought bravely, and has attained great self- 
 control, as by nature his passions were very powerful, and his 
 temperament impulsive ; a most faithful husband, a tender 
 father, and steady friend. His words will bear the impress of 
 truth.
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 THE following Opinions of the Press on the Literary merits of 
 the Author are respectfully submitted to the Public : 
 
 " ' Woodnotes of a Wanderer,' by J. Ramsay, Kilmarnock, is 
 a really spirited and clever volume of poems, written by a self- 
 taught individual." Rev. George Gilfillan, in " Hogg's In- 
 structor," March, 1S59. 
 
 "Mr Ramsay's muse, unlike that of many of our minor poets, 
 is bold and versatile. The descriptive, the pathetic, the humor- 
 ous, and the satirical, flow in turns from his pen ; and in thought 
 and expression he is often forcible. . . . Several of Mr 
 Ramsay's smaller poems also display the characteristics of a 
 vigorous, poetic mind." "History of Kilmarnock," by A. M'Kay, 
 published in 1858. 
 
 "Mr. Ramsay's volume may take an honourable place on the 
 library shelves, and bear the jostling of Robert Nicholl and 
 William Thorn fearlessly. We earnestly hope that the gifted 
 author will reap s'ome substantial every-day wheat from his fine 
 show of Parnassian flowers, for he richly merits a ray or two 
 from the sunny side of Fortune's face." Eliza Cook 's Journal, 
 1852. 
 
 " 'Eglinton Park Meeting,' the leading poem in the second 
 edition, is among the latest of his writings ; and if we may judge 
 from the strong poetical vein pervading it, his genius appears 
 only to require cultivation to undertake a more daring flight. "- 
 From " The Contemporaries of Burns and the, more Recent Poets 
 of Ayrshire."
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "The 'Address to Dundonald Castle,' and 'Musings on the 
 Clyde,' are poems of a high order, and would of themselves have 
 entitled Mr Ramsay to the poetic wreath." Kelao Chronicle, 
 24th November, 1865. 
 
 "In 'Eglinton Park Meeting' we have not only felicity of 
 description, poetic appreciation of nature, and a keen sense of 
 the incongruous, but a free use of sarcasm, and that peculiarly 
 bitter and slashing talent of denunciation which is one of the 
 most prominent features of his writings. We are fond of the 
 fine bold sentiment of the 'Musings on the Clyde,' which often 
 concentrates itself in stanzas both vigorous and keen." Dum- 
 friesshire and Galloway Herald, 18th May, 1866. 
 
 "Our extracts will show that Mr. Ramsay is a true poet of 
 no mean calibre ; that when he attempts a high flight he can 
 sustain himself without fear, and when he attempts a lowly 
 subject, he can treat it fitly without becoming ridiculous." 
 Ayrshire Express, 2nd June, 1866. 
 
 " The volume before us gives undoubted evidence of true 
 poetic genius. " London Scotsman, 13th March, 1869. 
 
 "It is rare to find a poet of so much versatility. Nothing 
 comes wrong to him gifted alike in the humorous, the grave, 
 the satirical, and the political. As a contrast to the rich vein of 
 humour in ' The Old Smuggling Days,' we quote from ' The 
 Vision,' a poem of very high merit, whether for originality, 
 breadth of thought, or strong religious feeling." Ayr Advertiser, 
 S9th September, 1870.
 
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