AULD ROBIN GRAY.

WHEN the sheep are in the fauld, when the cows come hame,

When a' the weary warld to quiet rest are gane, The woes of my heart fa' in showers frae my ee, Unkenned by my gudeman, who soundly sleeps by me.

Young Jamie loo'd me weel, and sought me for his bride;

But, saving ae crown piece, he'd naething else beside.

To make the crown a pound, my Jamie gaed to

sea;

And the crown and the pound, O, they were baith for me!

Before he had been gane a twelvemonth and a day,

My father brak his arm, our cow was stown away; My mother she fell sick- - my Jamie was at seaAnd Auld Robin Gray, O! he came a courting

me.

My father cou'dna work—my mother cou❜dna

spin:

I toiled day and night, but their bread I cou’dna

win;

Auld Rob maintained them baith, and, wi' tears in his ee,

Said, "Jenny, O! for their sakes, will you marry me?"

My heart it said na, and I looked for Jamie back; But hard blew the winds, and his ship was a

wrack;

His ship it was a wrack! Why didna Jamie dee? Or, wherefore am I spared to cry out, Woe is me?

My father argued sair- -my mother didna speak, But she looked in my face till my heart was like to break ;

They gied him my hand, but my heart was in the

sea;

And so Auld Robin Gray, he was gudeman to

me.

I hadna been his wife a week, but only four,
When, mournfu' as I sat on the stane at my door,
I saw my Jamie's ghaist—I cou'dna think it he,
Till he said, "I'm come hame, my love, to marry
thee!"

O sair, sir did we greet, and mickle say of a’;
Ae kiss we took, nae mair I bade him gang awa.
I wish that I were dead, but I'm no like to dee;
For O, I am but young to cry out, Woe is me!

I gang like a ghaist, and I carena much to spin,
I darena think o' Jamie, for that wad be a sin;
But I will do my best a gude wife aye to be,
For Auld Robin Gray, O, he is sae kind to me.
Lady Anne Barnard.

A GOLDEN WEDDING SONG.

GUIDED and guarded by our God,
Two pilgrims have together trod —
Now bright with smiles, now wet with tears—
Life's checkered path for fifty years!

This is their "golden wedding day:
Ring out, O bells, your sweetest lay!
And you, dear friends, give loving cheers,
To crown their march of fifty years.

How few of us saw blushing bride
And joyous groom stand side by side;
We had not known life's hopes or fears,
So long ago as fifty years.

Their fates were woven into one,
Ere our first threads of life were spun ;
And rich and rare the weft appears,
With golden warps of fifty years.

There's frost upon their honored heads,
The silvery rime that nature spreads;
But from their hearts the tide careers,
Unchecked, unchilled, for fifty years.

This is their "golden wedding day;
Now let us hush our song, and pray
That He whose love their lot endears,
Whose grace has filled their fifty years,

May guide them still, and still ordain
Each cup of bliss, or chastening pain;
May soothe their griefs and wipe their tears
Through many more than fifty years!

And when earth's pilgrimage is done,
And life's last goal is bravely won,
Take them to dwell in those bright spheres
Where moments grow to fifty years.

Wm. C. Richards.

THE DYING OLD MAN

TO HIS YOUNG WIFE.

KATE, there's a trembling at my heart,
A coldness on my brow;

My sight is dim, my breath is faint,
I feel I'm dying now;

But ere my vision fadeth quite,

Ere all my strength be o'er,

O, let me look into thy face,

And press thy hand once more.

I would my latest glance should fall
On one I hold most dear;

But, ah, thy cheek is wet again,—
Wipe, wipe away the tear.

Such tears of late have often gemmed
Thy drooping eyelid's fringe;
Such tears of late have washed away
Thy young cheek's ruddy tinge.

I brought thee from a simple home,
To be an old man's bride

Thou wert the altar where I laid
Affection, joy, and pride;
My heart's devotion, like the sun,
Shone forth with glowing power,
And kept its brightest glory-rays
To mark its setting hour.