So on my lonesome life thy love Would lie in light for ever. In vain the cruel curse of carth With nought to boast, save honest And beauty all thy dower! Such might have been-such should have been, But other lot befell; I am the lowly son of toil, It ever seems to me that love Should level all degrees; No scutcheon needs a noble soul- Then welcome, sternest teacher, Toil; THE LORDS OF LABOUR. THEY come, they come, in a glorious march, Ho! these are the Titans of toil and trade, Brave hearts like jewels light the sod, Through the mists of commerce shine, But they well may laugh at the roofs of state, Ho! these are the Titans of toil and trade, Each bares his arm for the ringing strife And better their well-won wreaths, I trow, Then hurrah for each hero, although his deed DAVID RAESIDE. DAVID RAESIDE was born of humble parents in the parish of Dunlop, Ayrshire, about the year 1841. With a view towards preparing himself for the ministry, he attended classes in the University of Glasgow, but failing health compelled him to abandon his public studies. Addicted to versifying from his youth, he solaced the hours of sickness by composing hymns and short poems. He died at Paisley in 1865, about the age of twenty-four. A volume of "Hymns and Poems" from his pen was published posthumously. Raeside gave promise of literary eminence, but a long period of feeble health impeded the cultivation of his genius. WINTER. THERE'S nae grain on the field, there's nae leaf on the tree, There's nae smile on yon broad sun that's glowerin' at me; There's nae bricht neuck o' blue tae be seen in the sky, As the cauld days o' winter gae gloomily by. Ae day gaes by greetin' big rain-draps o' tears, An' they fa' on the cauld pow that auld nature, wears; But they bring nae fresh leaves whaur the wither'd anes lie As the cauld days o' winter gae gloomily by. Neist day gaes by mournin' wi' nae tears tae shed, An' it breathes its cauld breath on the things that are dead; An' it soughs through the trees wi' a sorrowfu' cry As the cauld days o' winter gae gloomily by. Anither gangs shiverin' wi' frost an' wi' snaw, As it creeps o'er the bare fields an' covers them a'; Oh! there's little in nature to gladden the eye But the spring yet will come clothed with Then let this cheer the heart 'mang the storm and the rain; And in life's leafless winter keep this in your eye, That fresh buds will outburst when cauld winter's gane by. CAROLINE OLIPHANT. CAROLINE OLIPHANT was the youngest child of Laurence Oliphant, Esq. of Gask, Perthshire, and niece of Carolina Oliphant, Baroness Nairne.* She was born at Gask, on the 16th January 1807. Her parents removed to the neighbourhood of Durham, when she was about a year old; they subsequently went to the Continent, and did not return to Gask till 1821. The subject of this notice began to write verses at the age of thirteen; she afterwards studied the Scriptures in the original tongues, and read the philosophical works of Professor Dugald Stewart. In 1826 she accompanied other members of her family to Clifton, Gloucestershire, where, with a short interval, she continued to reside. Delicate from childhood, she was now often confined to her room. She relieved the monotony of the sick-chamber, by composing verses chiefly of a sacred character. In 1830 she went to Leamington for the advice of Dr Jephson. She did not rally. Returning to Clifton, she there died on the 9th of February 1831, at the age of twenty-four. From a MS. volume of her poetry, a selection has been printed in the "Life and Songs of Lady Nairne," London, 12mo. Possessed of no ordinary share of poetic genius, she devoted her lyre chiefly to sacred themes. The conversations in her sick-chamber were most edifying, and her memory is deeply cherished by those who contemplated her religious earnestness. * See ante, p. 57. HOME IN HEAVEN. AIR-"Vicar of Bray." A wind-bound exile far from home, To see the land I long to gain. Let those who know no lovelier shore Their shells and sea-weed idly heap, Then mourn to see their paltry store Dispersed and sinking in the deep. And oh! I wish fair winds would come Already some I held most dear, OH, NEVER! NO, NEVER! OH! never, no, never, AN interesting song-writer and respectable musician, James Manson was born in the parish of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, about the year 1812. His father was a tailor and clothier, and intended his son to succeed him in his business. But young Manson did not take to the duties of the needle, and occupied a large portion of his time in literary studies. He afterwards attended classes in the University of Glasgow. After some years of desultory literary labour, he was placed on the staff of the Glasgow Herald, and, as a newspaper writer, proved efficient and serviceable. Songs which he composed from time to time were set to music, and sung by admiring circles in Glasgow and throughout the west of Scotland. In 1858 he had the deep misfortune to be struck with blindness, but the sad deprivation did not overcome his poetical enthusiasm. By employing an amanuensis he prepared for the press a volume of his poetical compositions, which commanded a wide sale. A copy of the work is now rare. Mr Manson was at length attacked by paralysis, and entirely confined to his sick-room. He died in Glasgow on the 3d September 1863, at the age of fifty-one. Besides his poetical volume, Mr Manson edited a local musical publication, and contributed to the "British Empire," a biographical and statistical work, published at Glasgow in 1856. Life's first fairest hours are fleeting- Hope, and Joy, and Love's fond greeting ROBIN GOODHEART'S CAROL. TUNE-"The Brave Old Oak." "TIS Yule, 'tis Yule! all eyes are bright, The merry laugh, and the jocund tale, "Tis Yule! 'tis Yule! all eyes are bright, 'Tis Yule! 'tis Yule! see the old grandsire He laughs with the young, and a fitful fire For his thoughts grow young, and he laughs While his aged head nods time. 'Tis Yule! 'tis Yule! etc. "Tis Yule! 'tis Yule! and the infant's heart And youths and maidens, with guileless art, 'Tis the warmest night of all the year, WILLIAM EDMONSTONE AYTOUN, D.C.L. WILLIAM EDMONSTONE AYTOUN was descended from an ancient Scottish house, sprung from the Norman family of De Vescy. Sir Robert Aytoun, a cadet of the Scottish family, was a distinguished poet early in the seventeenth century.* The subject of this sketch was born at 21 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, on the 21st June 1813. His father, Roger Aytoun, Esq., W.S., was great-grandson of the seventh laird of Inchdairnie, the old family estate. Through his grandmother, he represented the Edmonstones of Ednam and Corehouse, and inherited from his mother, who was a daughter of Keir of Kinmonth, a Perthshire landowner, a taste for Jacobite traditions, and a love of Scottish ballad. He received his education at the Academy and the University of Edinburgh, and subsequently obtained an acquaintance with the modern languages during a residence in Germany. Abandoning an early intention to join * The Poems of Sir Robert Aytoun, edited by Charles Rogers. Edinburgh, 1844. 8vo. WILLIAM EDMONSTONE AYTOUN, D.C.L. 349 the English bar, he was admitted a Writer to the Signet in 1835; he passed advocate in 1840. He speedily attained a respectable practice; but his tastes were not wholly directed towards legal studies. In 1836 he had contributed to Blackwood's Magazine translations of Uhland's finest poems; in 1840 he published in the Family Library "The Life and Times of Richard the First." Along with Mr Theodore Martin he produced the "Bon Gaultier Ballads" in 1841. In 1843 he at once passed into a poetical reputation by his spirited "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers." In 1845 he was elected to the Professorship of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in the University of Edinburgh, an appointment which enabled him to dedicate a large portion of his time to periodical literature. He now contributed one or two articles monthly to Blackwood's Magazine. With that periodical he continued a connection till the close of his life. In 1852 he was nominated by Lord Derby to the Sheriffdom of Orkney. In April 1849, Professor Aytoun married Jane Emily, youngest daughter of the celebrated Professor John Wilson. This amiable gentlewoman died childless on the 15th April 1859. He married on the 24th December 1863, Fearne Jemima, second daughter of the late James Kinnear, Esq., W.S. Among the latter works of the Professor may be named "Firmilian, or the Student of Badajoz," a poem, in goodhuinoured ridicule of the spasmodic poets; "Bothwell," a poem; and “Norman Sinclair," a romance. An edition of the older "Scottish Ballads," with introduction and notes, appeared under his care in 1858. After an illness of some duration, Professor Aytoun died at Blackhills, near Elgin, on the 4th August 1865. His remains were brought to Edinburgh, and there interred in the Dean Cemetery. Through the kindness of Messrs Blackwood, we are privileged to subjoin his popular lay, "The Old Scottish Cavalier.' |