The Douglass cam' frae Liddisdale, Johnstone and Maxwell also cam Their wooing skill to prove, And young Cranstoun, of Crailing, too, Among the rest frae southron land But his was the love o' the gude green lands, And his was the love o' the gaudy glare And his was the love o' the faultless formThe rose and the lillye dye And he has sought the maiden's side His artful tale to try. He try'd at morn, he try'd at e'en, But sae it fell on a bonny summer night The maid did walk in her green mantle The star o' love frae 'boon the hill Did glitter on the stream, And musing was young Mary's mind, Celestial was her theme And never wist she till the southron knight Did break the waking dream. Now give me love, thou proud maiden, Gi'e love for love again; Uncourteous was the southron knight, O! darksome was the lonely bower, And he has tried to force the maid She couldna bow the arm o' strength,- But little wist he o' the girdle o' heaven There's nane that wears our Ladye's belt And he that tries ungentle skaith There was a say, I have heard it said, There was a say, I have heard it said, That from that day no am'rous maid The seasons cam', the seasons went In sunshine or in shade; The Spring could see the flow'rets flush And autumn see them fade: But Time might come, or Time might go, 'Tis fair to see the king of day Frae the burnished ocean springing— 'Twas fairer to see the maid walk forth, And the little birds a singing. The matins were meet and the vespers sweet In Jedworth's holy fane; But far more sweet i' the ear o' heaven The maiden's simple strain. And evermore in hall or bower Were gallants not a few And vows they vowed, some false I wis, And aye the angels wad listen and look. O some cam' east, and some cam' west, O she was light to every e'e. There was young Buccleuch frae Branksome ha', The young Cranstoun frae Crailing tower, O his was the love of kind esteem- Though narrow was fair Crailing's land, O he was the lord o' the keenest sword, That helpless misery aye could move; Why does Lord Cranstoun thoughtfully stray O he is in love with a fair maiden, O some wad ride at Valour's ring, But it sae fell out in a sweet evening, And young Cranstoun has followed her And he faultered forth revealings soft, My wealth is sma, quo' the young Cranstoun, But the heart of love, and the hand of weir And the maiden smiled with a kindly smile,- He pledged to her his earliest love, Sae tender and sae true; And she gave him her maiden kiss Three little weeks they cam' and went: And a lady bright was led by her knight, NOTE. Although the scene of the above Ballad is laid on the Scottish side of the Border, we have been induced to insert it. The tradition is not peculiar to Scotland, and the mention of Cheviot and the introduction of several English Border names, but above all the poetical excellence of the composition are we hope a sufficient apology.-Ed. T. B. Edward Lawson. FROM THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 1806. DWARD LAWSON, of Sunderland, a native of Northumberland, was for many years settled in the parish of Bishopwearmouth, where he rented successively several small farms, particularly at Hendon Grange, near Ryhope, and in the vicinity of Hilton Ferry. During his residence at the latter place, when he had nearly attained his 80th year, his occupation becoming unprofitable, he gave up his farm, and engaged himself in the service of a gentleman in the same neighbourhood, by whom he was employed in the fields or stable, or in such other work as he was capable of attending to, being always considered trusty and well disposed. As he had long prided himself on his dexterity in mowing, when he was almost ninety, he anxiously solicited his employer for the loan of a guinea, to wager against the skill of a much younger competitor. For the last fifteen years of his life, he resided in Sunderland, in the house of a grand-daughter, by whom, with the assistance of other descendants, he was decently and respectably maintained; still, however, keeping up his connexion occasionally with the family of his late master, who had removed into the environs of the town. Being one day, when he was upwards of a hundred years old, requested by his mistress to purchase her some fowls, with an expectation that he would bring them from the market, which was held very near his own residence in Sunderland, he set out on foot for a village seven miles distant, where he had some acquaintance, and having procured some fowls of a superior quality, returned home from his marketing without delay. He was a strong muscular man, about five feet six inches high; he was simple and of an easy temper, never distressing himself about any thing beyond the occurrence of the moment, a circumstance which probably contributed much to the prolongation of his life. Having never been afflicted with any species of infirmity or ill health, he retained his bodily vigour to a very late period, and his other faculties, with the exception of his sight which failed him in his last year, to his death at the advanced age of 106, in the summer of 1805. He left a son upwards of 70, whom he always called his lad, a man of stouter make than his father, who bore at the moment of the death of his venerable sire every appearance of reaching a very advanced age. |