A CAMERONIAN BALLAD.

By JAMES HOGG.

"O WHAT is become of your leel, good man,
That now you are a' your lane?
If he has joined with the rebel gang,
You will never see him again."
"O say nae the rebel gang, ladye,
It's a term nae heart can thole,
For they who rebel against their God,
It is justice to control.

"When rank oppression rends the heart,
An' rubs with stroke o' death,
Wha wadna spend their dear heart's blood,
For the tenets o' their faith?

Then say nae the rebel gang, ladye,
For it gives me muckle pain;
My John went away with Earlyton,
And I'll never see either again."

"O wae is my heart for thee, Janet,
O sair is my heart for thee!
These Covenant men were ill advised,
They are fools, you may credit me ;
Where's a' their boastfu' preaching now,
Against their king and law,

When mony a head in death lies low,
And mony mae maun fa'?"

"Ay, but death lasts no for aye, ladye,
For the grave maun yield its prey;
And when we meet on the verge of heaven,
We'll see who are fools that day;

We'll see who look in their Saviour's face,
With holiest joy and pride,

Whether they who shed his servants' blood,
Or those that for him died.

"I wadna be the highest dame

That ever this country knew,

And take my chance to share the doom
Of that persecuting crew.

Then ca' us nae rebel gang, ladye,

Nor take us fools to be,

For there is nae ane of all that gang,
Would change his state with thee."
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VOL. LXXII.

"O weel may you be, my poor Janet,
May blessings on you combine!
The better you are in either state,
The less shall I repine.

But wi' your fightings an' your faith,
Your ravings an' your rage,
There you have lost a leel helpmate,
In the blossom of his age.

"And what's to come o' ye, my poor Janet, Wi' these twa babies sweet?

Ye hae nobody now to work for them,
Or bring you a meal o' meat ;

It is that which makes my heart sae wae,
An' gars me, while scarce aware,
Whiles say the things I wadna say,
Of them that can err nae mair."

Poor Janet kissed her youngest babe,
And the tears fell on his cheek,
And they fell upon his swaddling bands,
For her heart was like to break;
"O! little do I ken, my dear, dear babes,
What misery's to be thine,

But for the cause we have espous'd,

I will yield thy life and mine.

"O! had I a friend, as I hae nane,
For nane dare own me now,
That I might send to Bothwell Brigg,
If the killers would but allow,
To lift the corpse of my brave John,
I ken where they him will find,
He wad meet his God's foes face to face,
And he'll hae nae wound behind."

"But I went to Bothwell Brigg, Janet,
There was nane durst hinder me,
For I wantit to hear all I could hear,
An' to see what I could see;

And there I found your brave husband,
As viewing the dead, my lane,

He was lying in the very foremost rank,
In the midst of a heap o' slain."

Then Janet held up her hands to Heaven, An' she grat, an' she tore her hair,

"() sweet ladye, O! dear ladye, Dinna tell me ony mair!

There is a hope will linger within,
When earthly hope is vain,

But when one kens the very worst,
It turns the heart to stane !"

"O! wae is my heart, John Carr,' said I, That I this sight should see!'

And when I said these waefu' words,
He liftit his e'en to me.

'O art thou there, my kind ladye,
The best o' this world's breed,

And are you gangin' your lieve lane,
Amang the hapless dead?'

"I hae servants within my ca', John Carr, And a chariot in the dell,

An' if there is ony hope o' life,

I will carry you hame mysel." 'O! lady, there is nae hope o' life

And what were life to me!

Wad ye save me frae the death of a man,
To hang on a gallows tree?

"I hae nae hame to fly to now,
Nae country an' nae kin,

There is not a door in fair Scotland,

Durst open to let me in.

But I hae a loving wife at hame,

An' twa babies dear to me;

They hae nobody now that dares favour them, An' of hunger they a' maun dee.

"Oh! for the sake of thy Saviour dear,

Whose mercy thou hop'st to share,

Dear lady, take the sachless things,

A wee beneath thy care!

A lang farewell, my kind ladye,

O'er weel I ken thy worth,

Gae send me a drink o' the waters o' Clyde,
For my last drink on earth.""

"O! dinna tell ony mair, ladye,
For my heart is cold as clay;
There is a spear that pierces here,
Frae every word ye say."

"He was nae fear'd to dee, Janet,

For he gloried in his death,

And wish'd to be laid with those who had bled

For the same enduring faith.

"There were three wounds in his boardly breast, And his limb was broke in twain,

And the sweat ran down with his red heart's blood,
Wrung out by the deadly pain.

I row'd my apron round his head,
For fear my men should tell,
And I hid him in my lord's castle,
An' I nurs'd him there mysel'.

"An' the best leeches in a' the land
Have tended him as he lay,

And he never has lack'd my helping hand,
By night nor yet by day.

I durst'na tell you before, Janet,
For I fear'd his life was gane,
But now he's so well, ye may visit him,
An' ye's meet by yoursels alane."

Then Janet she fell at her lady's feet,
And she clasp'd them ferventlye,

And she steepit them a' with the tears o' joy,
Till the good lady wept to see.

"Oh! ye are an angel sent frae Heaven,

To lighten calamitye!

For in distress, a friend or a foe,

Is a' the same to thee.

"If good deeds count in Heaven, ladye,
Eternal bliss to share,

Ye hae done a deed will save your soul,
Though ye should never do mair."
"Get up, get up, my kind Janet,
But never traw tongue or pen,
That a' the world are lost to good,
Except the Covenant men.'

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Wha wadna hae shar'd that lady's joy,
When watching the wounded hind,

Rather than those of the feast and the dance,

Which her kind heart resign'd?

Wha wadna rather share that lady's fate,

When the stars shall melt away,

Than that of the sternest anchorite,

That can naething but graen and pray?

INDEX.