The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume V Part 10

OH, MY LOVE'S BONNIE.

Oh! my love's bonnie, bonnie, bonnie; Oh! my love's bonnie and dear to me; The smile o' her face, and her e'e's witchin' grace, Are mair than the wealth o' this warld can gie.

Her voice is as sweet as the blackbird at gloamin', When echo repeats her soft notes to the ear, And lovely and fresh as the wild roses blooming, That dip in the stream o' the Carron so clear.

But poort.i.th 's a foe to the peace o' this bosom, That glows sae devoutly, dear la.s.sie, for thee; Alas! that e'er poort.i.th should blight love's young blossom, When riches nae lasting contentment can gie.

Yet hope's cheerfu' sun shall aboon my head hover, And guide a lone wanderer, when far frae thee; For ne'er, till it sets, will I prove a false lover, Or think o' anither, dear la.s.sie, but thee.

WILLIAM DOBIE.

An accomplished antiquary, and writer of verses, William Dobie was born in 1790, in the village of Beith, Ayrs.h.i.+re. Educated at the parish school, he was in his thirteenth year apprenticed to a mechanical profession. At the close of his apprentices.h.i.+p, he commenced business in his native district. In 1822, the munificence of a wealthy relative enabled him to retire from his occupation, which had proved unsuitable to his tastes. For several years he resided in London. He subsequently made a tour through Britain, and visited the Continent. His "Perambulations in Kintyre," a ma.n.u.script volume, is frequently quoted by Mr Cosmo Innes, in his "Origines Parochiales Scotiae," a valuable work printed for the Bannatyne Club. In 1840 he prepared a history of the parish of Kilbirnie, for the "New Statistical Account." He afterwards published an account of the church and churchyard of Kilbirnie, in an interesting pamphlet. Recently Mr Dobie has superintended the erection of a monument to Sir William Wallace, on Barnweil Hill, near Kilmarnock, which has been reared at the entire cost of William Patrick, Esq., of Roughwood. The greater number of the many spirited inscriptions on the monument are the composition of Mr Dobie.

THE DREARY REIGN OF WINTER 'S PAST.

AIR--_'Loch Errochside.'_

The dreary reign of Winter 's past, The frost, the snow, the surly blast, To polar hills are scouring fast; For balmy Spring 's returning.

Adown Glen-Garnock's lonely vale, The torrent's voice has ceased to wail; But soft low notes, borne on the gale, Dispel dull gloom and mourning.

With toil and long fatigue depress'd, Exhausted nature sunk oppress'd, Till waken'd from her slumbering rest, By balmy Spring returning.

Now in flower'd vesture, green and gay, Lovelier each succeeding day; Soon from her face shall pa.s.s away, Each trace of Winter's mourning.

Lo, at her mild benign command, Life rouses up on every hand; While bursts of joy o'er all the land, Hail balmy Spring returning.

E'en murmuring stream and raving linn, And solemn wood in softened din, All join great Nature's praise to hymn, That fled is Winter's mourning.

While all on earth, and in the skies, In transports fervently rejoice, Shall man refuse to raise his voice, And welcome Spring returning?

If such ingrates exist below, They ne'er can feel the sacred glow, That Nature and the Muse bestow, To cheer the gloom of mourning.

ROBERT HENDRY, M.D.

A man of un.o.btrusive literary merit, and no inconsiderable poetical ability, Robert Hendry was born at Paisley on the 7th October 1791.

Descended from a respectable family in Morays.h.i.+re, his paternal great-grandfather fixed his residence in Glasgow. His grandfather, after serving as a lieutenant under the Duke of c.u.mberland in Holland, quitted the army, and settled as a silk manufacturer in Paisley. Under the name of "The Hollander," this gentleman had the distinction of being lampooned by Alexander Wilson, during the days of his hot youth, prior to his embarkation for America. Of his two sons, the elder removed to London, where he became senior Alderman, and died on the eve of his nomination as Lord Mayor.

The grandson of "The Hollander," by his second son, the subject of this memoir, was, in his twelfth year, apprenticed to his maternal uncle, a medical pract.i.tioner. On the completion of a course of philosophical and medical study at the University of Glasgow, he obtained his diploma, and settled as a surgeon in his native town. Amidst due attention to his professional duties, he became ardently devoted to literary pursuits.

Besides conducting several local periodicals, he contributed to some of the more important serials. During the year 1826, which proved so disastrous to the manufacturing interests in Paisley, he devised a scheme for the relief of the unemployed, and his services were appropriately acknowledged by the magistrates. He afterwards sought the general improvement of the burgh, and among many other fiscal and sanitary reforms, succeeded in introducing into the place a supply of excellent water. Declining the provosts.h.i.+p offered him by the Town Council, he retired a few years since to the village of Helensburgh, where he continues to reside.

Dr Hendry was an intimate acquaintance of Tannahill; and afterwards ranked among his friends the poet Motherwell and Robert Archibald Smith.

He has at various time contributed verses to the periodicals. Latterly his attention has been more especially directed to scientific pursuits.

OH, LET NA GANG YON BONNIE La.s.sIE.

Oh, let na gang yon bonnie la.s.sie Cam' to see you a' yestreen; A winning gate 's about that la.s.sie, Something mair than meets the een.

Had she na baked the Christmas pasty, Think ye it had been sae fine?

Or yet the biscuit sae delicious That we crumpit to the wine?

Her ringlets are the gift o' nature, Flowing gracefu' o'er her brow; The turn, the hue o' ilka feature, Form, and colour, nature drew.

She 's meikle sought, and meikle thought o', Lang unwedded canna be; Wi' kindness court the comely creature, Cast the glaumrie o'er her e'e.

Have ye an ear can be delighted?

Like a seraph she can sing, Wi' charming grace and witching manner, Thrilling o'er the music string.

Her tell the tale that moves to pity, But wi' heart and feeling speak; Then watch the turn o' ilka feature, Kiss the tear that weets her cheek.

She sooms na aye in silk or satin, Flaunting like a modern belle; Her robe and plaid 's the simple tartan, Sweet and modest like hersel'.

The shapely robe adorns her person That her eident hand wad sew; The plaid sae graceful flung around her, 'Twas her tastefu' manner threw.

She 'll mak' a thrifty loving woman To a kind weel-doing man, Forby a tender-hearted mother-- Win the la.s.sie if ye can.

For weel she 's worth your heart and treasure; May your bridal day be near-- Then half a score o' bairns hereafter-- May ye live a hunder year.

HEW AINSLIE.

Hew Ainslie was born on the 5th April 1792, at Bargeny Mains, in the parish of Dailly, and county of Ayr. Receiving the rudiments of education from a private teacher in his father's house, he entered the parish school of Ballantrae in his tenth year, and afterwards became a pupil in the academy of Ayr. A period of bad health induced him to forego the regular prosecution of learning, and, having quitted the academy, he accepted employment as an a.s.sistant landscape gardener on the estate of Sir Hew Dalrymple Hamilton. At the age of sixteen he entered the writing chambers of a legal gentleman in Glasgow, but the confinement of the office proving uncongenial, he took a hasty departure, throwing himself on the protection of some relatives at Roslin, near Edinburgh. His father's family soon after removed to Roslin, and through the kindly interest of Mr Thomas Thomson, Deputy-Clerk Register, he procured a clerks.h.i.+p in the General Register House, Edinburgh. For some months he acted as amanuensis to Professor Dugald Stewart, in transcribing his last work for the press.

Having entered into the married state, and finding the salary of his office in the Register House unequal to the comfortable maintenance of his family, he resolved to emigrate to the United States, in the hope of bettering his circ.u.mstances. Arriving at New York in July 1822, he made purchase of a farm in that State, and there resided the three following years. He next made a trial of the Social System of Robert Owen, at New Harmony, but abandoned the project at the close of a year. In 1827 he entered into partners.h.i.+p with Messrs Price & Wood, brewers, in Cincinnati, and set up a branch of the establishment at Louisville.

Removing to New Albany, Indiana, he there built a large brewery for a joint-stock company, and in 1832 erected in that place similar premises on his own account. The former was ruined by the great Ohio flood of 1832, and the latter perished by fire in 1834. He has since followed the occupation of superintending the erection of mills and factories; and has latterly fixed his abode in Jersey, a suburb of New York.

Early imbued with the love of song, Mr Ainslie composed verses when a youth on the mountains of Carrick. A visit to his native country in 1820 revived the ardour of his muse; and shortly before his departure to America, he published the whole of his rhyming effusions in a duodecimo volume, with the t.i.tle, "Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns." A second volume from his pen, ent.i.tled, "Scottish Songs, Ballads, and Poems," was in 1855 published at New York.

THE HAMEWARD SANG.

Each whirl of the wheel, Each step brings me nearer The hame of my youth-- Every object grows dearer.

Thae hills and thae huts, And thae trees on that green, Los.h.!.+ they glower in my face Like some kindly auld frien'.

E'en the brutes they look social, As gif they would crack; And the sang o' the birds Seems to welcome me back.