BORDER BALLAD.

I.

MARCH, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale,

Why the deil dinna ye march forward in order?
March, march, Eskdale and Liddesdale,

All the Blue Bonnets are bound for the Border.
Many a banner spread,

Flutters above your head,

Many a crest that is famous in story.
Mount and make ready then,

Sons of the mountain glen,

Fight for the Queen and our old Scottish glory.

2.

Come from the hills where your hirsels are grazing,
Come from the glen of the buck and the roe;
Come to the crag where the beacon is blazing,
Come with the buckler, the lance, and the bow.
Trumpets are sounding,
War-steeds are bounding,

Stand to your arms, and march in good order,
England shall many a day

Tell of the bloody fray,

When the Blue Bonnets came over the Border.

From the Pirate.

[1821.]

CLAUD HALCRO'S SONG.

FAREWELL to Northmaven,
Grey Hillswicke, farewell!
To the calms of thy haven,
The storms on thy fell-
To each breeze that can vary
The mood of thy main,
And to thee, bonny Mary!
We meet not again!

Farewell the wild ferry,

Which Hacon could brave,
When the peaks of the Skerry

Were white in the wave.
There's a maid may look over
These wild waves in vain,-~
For the skiff of her lover-
He comes not again!

The vows thou hast broke,

On the wild currents fling them; On the quicksand and rock

Let the mermaidens sing them :

New sweetness they'll give her
Bewildering strain ;

But there's one who will never
Believe them again.

O were there an island,
Though ever so wild,
Where woman could smile, and
No man be beguiled—
Too tempting a snare

To poor mortals were given;
And the hope would fix there,
That should anchor in heaven.

SONG OF

HAROLD HARFAGER.

THE sun is rising dimly red,
The wind is wailing low and dread;
From his cliff the eagle sallies,
Leaves the wolf his darksome valleys;
In the mist the ravens hover,
Peep the wild dogs from the cover,
Screaming, croaking, baying, yelling,
Each in his wild accents telling,
"Soon we feast on dead and dying,
Fair-hair'd Harold's flag is flying."

SONG OF THE ZETLAND FISHERMAN.

FAREWELL, merry maidens, to song, and to laugh,
For the brave lads of Westra are bound to the Haaf;
And we must have labour, and hunger, and pain,
Ere we dance with the maids of Dunrossness again.

For now, in our trim boats of Noroway deal,

We must dance on the waves, with the porpoise and seal;
The breeze it shall pipe, so it pipe not too high,
And the gull be our songstress whene'er she flits by.

Sing on, my brave bird, while we follow, like thee,
By bank, shoal, and quicksand, the swarms of the sea;
And when twenty-score fishes are straining our line,
Sing louder, brave bird, for their spoils shall be thine.

We'll sing while we bait, and we'll sing while we haul,
For the deeps of the Haaf have enough for us all :
There is torsk for the gentle, and skate for the carle,
And there's wealth for bold Magnus, the son of the earl.

Huzza! my brave comrades, give way for the Haaf,
We shall sooner come back to the dance and the laugh;
For light without mirth is a lamp without oil;
Then, mirth and long life to the bold Magnus Troil!

HALIDON HILL.

SCOTT's dramatic compositions are his least successful efforts; indeed, they are dramatic only in appearance, and neither in spirit nor construction. Besides the translation of "Goetz von Berlichingen," which appeared in 1799, Scott wrote four plays: "The House of Aspen" (which was indeed partly a translation from the German), published in 1830, though composed some thirty years before; "Halidon Hill," written and published in 1822; "The Doom of Devorgoil," and "The Ayrshire Tragedy," which came out together in 1830. Of these "The House of Aspen" and "The Doom of Devorgoil" were undoubtedly intended for the stage. The first was offered to Kemble, who at one time thought of playing it, but was afraid of the "blood and thunder" character of some parts of it. "The Doom of Devorgoil" was composed for Scott's friend, Terry, but was found unfit for representation on account of the supernatural machinery of the plot. "Halidon Hill"

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and "The Ayrshire Tragedy" are purely dramatic sketches, written without any reference to the theatre; indeed, in his preface to the former Scott expressly gave warning that the drama (if it can be termed so) is in no particular either designed or calculated for the stage. We have selected a scene from "Halidon Hill," chiefly as a specimen of Scott's blank verse. The work is "designed," the author tells us, to illustrate military antiquities and the manners of chivalry." The plot is taken with some modification from Scottish history, the battle of Homildon Hill (1402) being transferred to Halidon Hill, an imaginary Regent being introduced, and some private traditions of the Swinton family, with which Scott was connected, being worked into the story. The action of the piece turns on young Gordon's generous resolve to forgive a desperate family feud, in which his father had fallen by Swinton's hand, and range himself under the command of the latter, on hearing his offer to lead the Scottish soldiers in a fresh charge against the English, who had already routed them. Only a small band followed the brave warrior and his new found friend, who were both slain in the fight.

HALIDON HILL.

Tumults behind the

A part of the Field of Battle betwixt the two Main Armies.
scenes; alarums, and cries of "Gordon, a Gordon," "Swinton," &c.

Enter, as victorious over the English vanguard,
VIPONT, REYNALD, and others.

VIPONT.

'Tis sweet to hear these war-cries sound together,-
Gordon and Swinton.

REYNALD.

'Tis passing pleasant, yet 'tis strange withal.

Faith, when at first I heard the Gordon's slogan
Sounded so near me, I had nigh struck down
The knave who cried it.