THE PALMER

1806

'O OPEN the door, some pity to show, Keen blows the northern wind!

The glen is white with the drifted snow, And the path is hard to find.

'No outlaw seeks your castle gate, From chasing the king's deer,

Though even an outlaw's wretched state Might claim compassion here.

'A weary Palmer, worn and weak,
I wander for my sin;

O, open, for Our Lady's sake!
A pilgrim's blessing win!

"I'll give you pardons from the Pope,

And reliques from o'er the sea,

Or if for these you will not ope,

Yet open for charity.

'The hare is crouching in her form,

The hart beside the hind;

An agèd man amid the storm,

No shelter can I find.

'You hear the Ettrick's sullen roar,
Dark, deep, and strong is he,
And I must ford the Ettrick o'er,
Unless you pity me.

'The iron gate is bolted hard,
At which I knock in vain;
The owner's heart is closer barred,
Who hears me thus complain.

'Farewell, farewell! and Mary grant,
When old and frail you be,

You never may the shelter want
That's now denied to me.'

The ranger on his couch lay warm,
And heard him plead in vain;
But oft amid December's storm

He'll hear that voice again:

For lo! when through the vapours dank Morn shone on Ettrick fair,

A corpse amid the alders rank,

The Palmer weltered there.

THE MAID OF NEIDPATH

1806

There is a tradition in Tweeddale, that, when Neidpath Castle, near Peebles, was inhabited by the Earls of March, a mutual passion subsisted between a daughter of that noble family and a son of the Laird of Tushielaw, in Ettrick Forest. As the alliance was thought unsuitable by her parents, the young man went abroad. During his absence the lady fell into a consumption; and at length, as the only means of saving her life, her father consented that her lover should be recalled. On the day when he was expected to pass through Peebles, on the road to Tushielaw, the young lady, though much exhausted, caused herself to be carried to the balcony of a house in Peebles belonging to the family, that she might see him as he rode past. Her anxiety and eagerness gave such force to her organs, that she is said to have distinguished his horse's footsteps at an incredible distance. But Tushielaw, unprepared for the change in her appearance, and not expecting to see her in that place, rode on without recognizing her, or even slackening his pace. The lady was unable to support the shock; and, after a short struggle, died in the arms of her attendants. There is an incident similar to this traditional tale in Count Hamilton's Fleur d'Épine.

O, LOVERS' eyes are sharp to see,
And lovers' ears in hearing;

And love in life's extremity

Can lend an hour of cheering,

Disease had been in Mary's bower,

And slow decay from mourning,
Though now she sits on Neidpath's tower
To watch her love's returning.

All sunk and dim her eyes so bright,
Her form decayed by pining,

Till through her wasted hand at night
You saw the taper shining;

By fits, a sultry hectic hue

Across her cheek was flying;
By fits, so ashy pale she grew,
Her maidens thought her dying.

Yet keenest powers to see and hear
Seemed in her frame residing;
Before the watch-dog pricked his ear,
She heard her lover's riding;

Ere scarce a distant form was kenned,
She knew, and waved to greet him;
And o'er the battlement did bend,

As on the wing to meet him.

He came he passed an heedless gaze,

As o'er some stranger glancing;

Her welcome, spoke in faltering phrase,

Lost in his courser's prancing

The castle arch, whose hollow tone

Returns each whisper spoken,

Could scarcely catch the feeble moan

Which told her heart was broken.

WANDERING WILLIE

1806

ALL joy was bereft me the day that you left me,
And climbed the tall vessel to sail yon wide sea;
O weary betide it! I wandered beside it.

And banned it for parting my Willie and me.

Far o'er the wave hast thou followed thy fortune, Oft fought the squadrons of France and of Spain; Ae kiss of welcome's worth twenty at parting,

Now I hae gotten my Willie again.

When the sky it was mirk, and the winds they were wailing,

I sat on the beach wi' the tear in my ee,

And thought o' the bark where my Willie was sailing, And wished that the tempest could a' blaw on me.

Now that thy gallant ship rides at her mooring,
Now that my wanderer's in safety at hame,

Music to me were the wildest winds' roaring,

That e'er o'er Inch-Keith drove the dark ocean

faem.