year. The following lyrics evince fancy and deep pathos, causing a regret that the author did not more amply devote himself to the composition of songs. THE HIGHLANDER.* FROM the climes of the sun, all war-worn and weary, The Highlander sped to his youthful abode; Fair visions of home cheer'd the desert so dreary, Though fierce was the noon-beam, and steep was the road. Till spent with the march that still lengthen'd before him, He stopp'd by the way in a sylvan retreat; The light shady boughs of the birch-tree wav'd o'er him, The stream of the mountain fell soft at his feet. He sunk to repose where the red heaths are blended, On dreams of his childhood his fancy past o'er; But his battles are fought, and his march it is ended, The sound of the bagpipe shall wake him no * Many years ago, a poor Highland soldier, on his return to his native hills, fatigued, as was supposed, by the length of the march and the heat of the weather, sat down under the shade of a birch tree on the solitary road of Lowran, that winds along the margin of Loch Ken, in Galloway. Here he was found dead; and this incident forms the subject of these verses.-Note by the Author. "The Highlander" is set to a Gaelic air in the fifth volume of R. A. Smith's "Scottish Minstrel." ELLEN. THE moon shone in fits, And the tempest was roaring, And the fierce rain was pouring; Fair Ellen sat sighing, "The drawbridge is down, That spans the wide river; Whom death cannot sever? And those arms long to fold thee, 'Tis midnight, my love; O say, what can hold thee?" But scarce flew her words, When the bridge reft asunder, As he plunged in the billow, As she sprang from her pillow. She scream'd o'er the wall, But no help was beside her; Rose the horse and his rider. But the dark cloud pass'd over; Say, what is that flame, O'er the midnight deep beaming? And whose are those forms, In the wan moonlight gleaming? Which their pale corses cover; THOMAS MOUNSEY CUNNINGHAM. THOMAS MOUNSEY CUNNINGHAM, an elder brother of Allan Cunningham, is entitled to commemoration among the song-writers of his country. His ancestors were lords of that district of Ayrshire which still bears their family name; and a small inheritance in that country, which belonged to his more immediate progenitors, was lost to the name and race by the head of the family having espoused the cause and joined the army of the Marquis of Montrose. For several generations his forefathers were farmers at Gogar, in the parish of Ratho, Midlothian. John Cunningham, his father, was born at Gogar on the 26th March 1743, whence he removed in his twenty-third year to fill the situation of land-steward on the estate of Lumley, in the parish of Chester, and county of Durham. He next became overseer on the property of Mr Mounsey of Rammerscales, near Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire. He married Elizabeth Harley, a lady of good connections and of elegant personal accomplishments, and with the view of acquiring a more decided independence in his new condition, took in lease the farm of Culfaud in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright. Of a family of ten, Thomas was the second son; he was born at Culfaud on the 25th June 1776. During his infancy, the farming speculations of his father proved unfortunate, and the lease of Culfaud was abandoned. Returning to his former occupation as a land-steward, John Cunningham was employed in succession by the proprietors of Barncaillie and Collieston, and latterly by Mr Miller of Dalswinton. Thomas was educated at the village-school of Kellieston, and subsequently at the academy of Dumfries. The circumstances of his parents required that he should choose a manual profession; and he was apprenticed by his own desire to a neighbouring millwright. It was during his intervals of leisure, while acquiring a knowledge of this laborious occupation, that he first essayed the composition of verses; he submitted his poems to his father, who mingled judicious criticism with words of encouragement. "The Har'st Home," one of his earliest pieces of merit, was privileged with insertion in the series of "Poetry, Original and Selected," published by Brash and Reid, booksellers in Glasgow. Proceeding to England in 1797, he entered the workshop of a millwright in Rotherham. Under the same employer he afterwards pursued his craft at King's Lynn; in 1800 he removed to Wiltshire, and soon after to the neighbourhood of Cambridge. He next received employment at Dover, and thence proceeded to London, where he occupied a situation in the establishment of Rennie, the celebrated engineer. He afterwards became foreman to one Dickson, an engineer, and superintendent of Fowler's chain-cable manufactory. In 1812 he returned to Rennie's establishment as a clerk, with a liberal salary. On leaving his father's house to seek his fortune in the south, he had been strongly counselled by Mr Miller of Dalswinton to abjure the gratification of his poetical tendencies, and he seems to have resolved on the faithful observance of this injunction. For a period of nine years his muse was silent; at length, in 1806, he appeared in the Scots Magazine as the contributor of some elegant verses. The editor was eloquent in his commendations; and the Ettrick Shepherd, who was already a contributor to the magazine, took pains to discover the author, and addressed him a lengthened poetical epistle, expressive of his admiration. A private intimacy ensued between the two rising poets; and when the Shepherd, in 1809, planned the "Forest Minstrel," he made application to his ingenious friend for contributions. Cunningham sanctioned the republication of such of his lyrics as had appeared in the Scots Magazine, and these proved the best ornaments of the work. Impatient of criticism, and of a whimsical turn of mind, Cunningham was incapable of steadfastly pursuing a literary career. Just as his name was becoming known by his verses in the Scots Magazine, he took offence at some incidental allusions to his style, and suddenly stopped his contributions. Silent for a second period of nine years, the circumstance of the appropriation of one of his songs in the "Nithsdale Minstrel," a provincial collection of poetry, published at Dumfries, again aroused him to authorship. He made the publishers the subject of a satirical poem in the Scots Magazine of 1815. On the origin of the Edinburgh Magazine, in 1817, he became a contributor, and under the title of the "Literary Legacy," wrote many curious snatches of antiquities, sketches L of modern society, and scraps of song and ballad, which imparted a racy interest to the pages of the new periodical. A slight difference with the editor at length induced him to relapse into silence. Fitful and unsettled as a cultivator of literature, he was in the business of life a model of regularity and perseverance. He was much esteemed by his employer, and was ultimately promoted to the chief clerkship in his establishment. He fell a victim to the Asiatic cholera on the 28th October 1834, in the 58th year of his age. During his latter years he was in the habit of examining at certain intervals the MSS. of prose and poetry which at a former period he had accumulated. On those occasions he uniformly destroyed some which he deemed unworthy of further preservation. During one of these purgations, he hastily committed to the flames a poem on which he had bestowed much labour, and which contained a humorous description of scenes and characters familiar to him in youth. The poem was entitled "Braken Fell;" and his brother Allan, in a memoir of the author, has referred to its destruction in terms of regret.* The style of Thomas Mounsey Cunningham seems, however, to have been lyrical, and it may be presumed that his songs afford the best evidence of his power. In private life he was much cherished by a circle of friends, and his society was gay and animated. He was rather above the middle height, and latterly was corpulent. He married in 1804, and has left a family. → See Scottish Monthly Magazine, August 1836. ADOWN THE BURNIE'S FLOWERY ADOWN the burnie's flowery bank, See where the stream out ower the linn We'll pu' the rose frae aff the brier, THE HILLS O' GALLOWA'.t * Written when the author was quite a youth. Like many other Scottish songs composed early in the century, and which at the time of publication were unacknowledged by their authors, the "Hills o' Gallowa"" came to be attributed to Burns. It is included Wi' music wild the woodlands rang, An' saftly slade the hours awa', It isna owsen, sheep, an' kye, It isna gowd, it isna gear, The warld's drumlie gloom to cheer; Ye powers wha rowe this yirthen ba', When gloamin' daunders up the hill, That through the muir meand'ring rows; My birken pipe I'll sweetly blaw, among his songs in Orphoot's edition of his poetical works, which was published at Edinburgh in 1820. In the "Harp of Caledonia," the editor, Mr Struthers, assigns it to the Ettrick Shepherd. Along with those which follow, the song appeared in the "Forest Minstrel." The heroine was Julia Curtis, a maiden in Galloway, to whom Cunningham was early attached. She is also celebrated by the poet in the "Braes of Ballahun," and her early demise is lamented in the tender stanzas of "Julia's Grave." The latter composi tion first appeared in the Scots Magazine, for 1807, P. 448. An' when auld Scotland's heathy hills, THE BRAES OF BALLAHUN.* TUNE-"Roslin Castle." Now smiling summer's balmy breeze, Oh! blissful days, for ever fled, And mark'd each blooming hawthorn bush, Why starts the tear, why bursts the sigh, To soothe this sad, this troubled breast; The virgin blush of lovely youth, Sair I pled, though fate, unfriendly, Stang'd my heart wi' waes and dules, That some faithfu' hand might kindly Lay't among my native mools. Cronies dear, wha late an' early Aye to soothe my sorrows strave, Torn awa' frae Scotia's mountains, JULIA'S GRAVE. YE briery bields, where roses blaw! The pleasures o' my youthfu' days! And blushing blooms, the zephyr flies, Syne wings awa', and wanton plays Around the grave whare Julia lies. Nae mair your bonnie birken bowers, As up the glen I joyless stray; For a' my hopes ha'e flown away, And when they reach'd their native skies, Left me amid the world o' wae, To weet the grave where Julia lies. It is na beauty's fairest bloom, It is na maiden charms consign'd, And hurried to an early tomb, That wrings my heart and clouds my mind; But sparkling wit, and sense refined, And spotless truth, without disguise, Make me with sighs enrich the wind That fans the grave whare Julia lies. THE UNCO GRAVE.+ BONNIE Clouden, as ye wander I maun seek an unco grave. Ballahun is a romantic glen, near Blackwood House, in the river Nith. The Clouden is a stream which flows into the Nith, at Lincluden College, near Dumfries. FAREWEEL, YE STREAMS. AIR-"Lassie wi' the Yellow Coatie." FAREWEEL, ye streams sae dear to me, My bonnie Clouden, Nith, and Dee; Ye burns that row sae bonnily, Your siller waves nae mair I'll see. Yet though frae your green banks I'm driven, My saul away could ne'er be riven; For still she lifts her e'en to heaven, An' sighs to be again wi' thee. Ye canty bards ayont the Tweed, Or blythely on your whistles blaw, An' sing auld Scotia's barns an ha's, Her lasses lilting o'er the lea. To you the darling theme belangs, Oh, mind, amang your bonnie sangs, An' bravely fell for you an' me. My gallant brithers, brave an' bauld, Aye true unto your country be. Her dear-bought freedom wrest frae thee! JOHN STRUTHERS. JOHN STRUTHERS, whose name is familiar as the author of "The Poor Man's Sabbath," was born on the 18th July 1776, in the parish of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. His parents were of the humbler rank, and were unable to send him to school; but his mother, a woman of superior intelligence, was unremitting in her efforts to teach him at home. She was aided by a benevolent lady of the neighbourhood, who, interested by the boy's precocity, often sent for him to read to her. This kind-hearted individual was Mrs Baillie, widow of the Rev. Dr Baillie, of Hamilton, who was then resident at Longcalderwood, and whose celebrated daughter, Joanna Baillie, afterwards took a warm interest in the fame and fortunes of her mother's protégé. From the age of eight to fourteen, young Struthers was engaged as a cowherd and in general work about a farm; he then apprenticed himself to a shoemaker. On the completion of his indenture, he practised his craft several years in his native village till September 1801, when he sought a wider field of business in Glasgow. In 1804, he produced his first and most celebrated poem, "The Poor Man's Sabbath," which, printed at his own risk, was well received, and rapidly passed through two editions. On the recommendation of Sir Walter Scott, to whom the poem was made known by Joanna Baillie, Constable published a third edition in 1808, handing the author thirty pounds for the copyright. Actively employed in his trade, Struthers continued to devote his leisure hours to composition. In 1816 he published a pamphlet "On the State of the Labouring Poor." A more ambitious literary effort was carried out in 1819; he edited a collection of the national songs, which was published at Glasgow, under the title of "The Harp of Caledonia," in three vols. 18mo. To this work Joanna Baillie, Mrs John Hunter, and Mr William Smyth of Cambridge contributed songs, while Scott and others permitted the re-publication of such of their lyrics as the author chose to select. Struthers married early in life. About the year 1818 his wife and two of his children were snatched from him by death, and these bereavements so affected him, as to render him unable to prosecute his labours as a tradesman. He now procured employment as a corrector of the press, in the printing office of Khull, Blackie, & Co. During his connexion with this establishment, he assisted in preparing an edition of "Wodrow's History," and produced a History of Scotland" from the political Union in 1707 to the year 1827, the date of its publication. These works—the latter extending to two octavo volumes-were published by his employers. On a dissolution of their copartnership, in 1827, Struthers was thrown out of employment till |