Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads

Farewell, litigious strife;

And come, my cheerful wife,

Thy words have saved my life, God bless us both,

And all mankind likewise,

From the calamities,

Which do as fogs arise,

From foul despair;

Let doubtful Christians fly,

In their extremity,

To God, who sits on high,

By fervent prayer.

He is a man's friend in chief,

The fountain of relief:

When I was lost in grief,

And at the worst,
My dear indulgent bride,

Her council was my guide;

In God I'm satisfied,

In whom I trust.

My children, wife, and I,

We will ourselves apply

To true industry,

And leave the rest
To Providence divine;
Henceforth I'll not repine,

I hope that me and mine

Shall still be blest.

Thus, by the good wife's care,
The husband in despair

Was brought at length to bear

His sorrows rife;

The bitter cup of grief,

Her words did yield relief,

She was his friend in chief,
And faithful wife.

Good men and women, pray,
That hear me now this day,

Labour now without delay,

To live in love:

Assist each other still,

In fortune good or ill,

Then you'll have a blessing still,

Come from above.

VIII.

Smoking Spiritualized.

By Ralph Erskine, V.D.M.

THE Rev. Ralph Erskine, or, as he chose to designate himself, "Ralph Erskine, V.D.M.," the pious author of "Smoking Spiritualized," was born at Monilaws, in the county of Northumberland, on the 15th of March 1685. He was brother to the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, minister of the gospel at Stirling, and son of the Rev. Henry Erskine, who was one of the thirty-three children of Ralph Erskine of Shieldfield; a family of considerable repute,

and originally descended from the ancient house of Marr. He was educated at the College in Edinburgh, and obtained his license to preach from the Presbytery of Dunfermline on the 8th of June, 1709. Receiving an unanimous invitation from the Church at Dunfermline in May 1711, he accepted the call, and was ordained over them in August the same year. In July 1714, he married Margaret Dewar, the daughter of the Laird of Lassodie, by whom he had five sons, and five daughters, all of whom died in the prime of life. In 1732, he married Margaret, daughter of Mr. Simson of Edinburgh, by whom he had four sons, one of whom, with his wife, survived him. He published a great number of sermons,-A Paraphrase on the Canticles,—a volume entitled Scripture Songs, a Treatise on Mental Images, or Faith no Fancy; but his Gospel Sonnets were not published till after his decease. On the 29th October 1752, he was seized with a nervous fever, which terminated his life on the 6th of November, after an illness of only eight days, in the sixtyeighth year of his age.

The Smoking Spiritualized is, at the present day, a standard publication with our modern ballad-printers, but their copies are one and all exceedingly corrupt. Erskine no doubt wrote this curious poem as an antidote to a class of broadsides at one time very common, and still to be found in country inns, in which scripture is profanely paraphrased, and made to encourage tippling; such as

"Give him strong drink
Until he wink,

That's sinking in despair."

Of this latter description of publications the editor could have given several specimens, but their profanity induces him to withhold them. They are very witty and quaint, and that is their only recommendation.

FART I.

THIS Indian weed, now withered quite,
Though green at noon, cut down at night,
Shows thy decay ;

All flesh is hay: