ON READING, IN A NEWSPAPER,

THE DEATH OF JOHN MCLEOD, Esq.

BROTHER TO A YOUNG LADY, A PARTICULAR FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR'S.

SAD thy tale, thou idle page,

And rueful thy alarms :

Death tears the brother of her love

From Isabella's arms.

Sweetly deckt with pearly dew
The morning rose may blow;
But cold successive noontide blasts
May lay its beauties low.

Fair on Isabella's morn

The sun propitious smil'd;

But, long ere noon, succeeding clouds
Succeeding hopes beguil'd.

Fate oft tears the bosom chords
That nature finest strung:

So Isabella's heart was form'd,
And so that heart was wrung.

Dread Omnipotence, alone,

Can heal the wound he gave;

Can point the brimful grief-worn eyes...!
To scenes beyond the grave.

Virtuous blossoms there shall blow;
And fear no withering blast;
There Isabella's spotless worth
Shall happy be at last.

Woe ne'er assails in vain ;

Embolden'd thus, I beg you'll hear
Your humble slave complain,

How saucy Phoebus' scorching beams,
In flaming summer-pride,

Dry withering, waste my foamy streams,.
And drink my crystal tide.

The lightly-jumping glowrin trouts,
That thro' my waters play,
If, in their random, wanton spouts,
They near the margin stray;

If, hapless chance! they linger lang,

I'm scorching up so shallow,

* Bruar Falls, ip Athole, are exceedingly picturesque and beautiful; but their effect is much impaired by the want of trees and shrubs.

They're left the whitening stanes amang, In gasping death to wallow.

Last day I grat wï' spite and teen

As Poet B**** came by,

That, to a bard I should be seen
Wi' half my channel dry :
A panegyric rhyme, I ween,
Even as I was he shor'd me;
But had I in my glory been,

He, kneeling, wad ador'd me.

Here, foaming down the shelvy rocks,
In twisting strength I rin ;
There, high my boiling torrent smokes,
Wild-roaring o'er a linn:
Enjoying large each spring and well
As nature gave them me,

I am, altho' I say't mysel,
Worth gaun a mile to see..

Would then my noble master please
To grant my highest wishes,
He'll shade my banks wi' tow'ring trees,
And bonnie spreading bushes;
Delighted doubly then, my Lord,
You'll wander on my banks,
And listen mony a grateful bird
Return you tuneful thanks.

The sober laverock, warbling wild,
Shall to the skies aspire;

The gowdspink, music's gayest child,
Shall sweetly join the choir:

The blackbird strong, the lintwhite clear,
The mavis mild and mellow;

The robin pensive autumn cheer,
In all her locks of yellow :

:

This too, a covert shall ensure,

To shield them from the storm;
And coward maukin sleep secure,
Low in her grassy form:

Here shall the shepherd make his seat,
To weave his crown of flow'rs;
Or find a shelt'ring safe retreat,
From prone descending show'rs.

And here, by sweet endearing stealth,
Shall meet the loving pair,

Despising worlds with all their wealth
As empty idle care;

The flow'rs shall vie in all their charms
The hour of heav'n to grace,
And birks extend their fragrant arms
To screen the dear embrace.

i

Here haply too, at vernal dawn,
Some musing bard may stray,
And eye the smoking, dewy lawn,
And misty mountain, grey;
Or, by the reaper's nightly beam,
Mild-chequering thro' the trees,
Rave to my darkly dashing stream,
Hoarse-swelling on the breeze.

Let lofty firs, and ashes cool,
My lowly banks o'erspread,
And view, deep-bending in the pool,
Their shadows' wat'ry bed!

Let fragrant birks in woodbines drest,
My craggy cliffs adorn;

And, for the little songster's nest,
The close embow'ring thorn.

So may old Scotia's darling hope,
Your little angel band,

Spring, like their fathers, up to prop
Their honour'd native land!

So may

thro' Albion's farthest ken,

To social-flowing glasses,

The grace be-" Athole's honest men, "And Athole's bonnie lasses!".

ON SCARING SOME WATER FOWL

IN LOCH-TURIT,

A wild scene among the hills of Oughtertyre.

WHY, уe tenants of the lake,

For me your wat'ry haunt forsake ?›
Tell me, fellow-creatures, why
At my presence thus you fly?
Why disturb your social joys,
Parent, filial, kindred ties ?-
Common friend to you and me,
Nature's gifts to all are free: