seems not to have agreed with his active disposition, for he never followed it. He afterwards wrought in the several capacities of a husbandman, a miller, and a smith; and about 1816 became a smuggler. In 1828, he was met on Long Horsley moor by Williamson of Morpeth, who captured his casks; but he, himself, took leg-bail, and escaped. Being well known, his personal freedom was now in peril; yet having saved some money out of the risks he had run, he purchased a hunting mare for his safety, and concealed himself for a time near the residence of his brother at the Blackcock, a row of cottages a few miles north of Morpeth. Once, while he was on a visit to his father at Angerton, the house was beset by a party of excisemen who effected an entrance at the moment when Purvis, with only his shirt and drawers on, made his exit at one of the windows. His pursuers saw him and gave him chase: he entered an adjoining wood bordering on the Wansbeck, and hid himself in the Ox-pool,* where he remained with his head only above the water, till the others withdrew. His clothes were brought to him by his sister, and he got away unscathed. In March 1829, being present at a fox hunt on Thornton moor, an exciseman attempted to secure him, but, putting spurs to his mare, he speedily cleared all obstructions, and left his enemy far behind. At last finding it was unsafe for him to remain in the district, he sold his mare, and prepared to emigrate to America. Still he had to make another desperate effort for liberty; for when he and a comrade were at Bedlington on the way to Shields, our hero was again beset by Williamson and another officer, and he betook himself to flight. When hard run, he entered a cottage on the Blythe, the mistress of which, to her disgrace be it registered, gave intimation to the excisemen of her guest, which the latter observing, sprang through the window, driving the casement before him, and made off. In his flight he met at the foot of a bank with his comrade, exchanged clothes with him and lay quiet, while the other ran off in sight of the avengers of the law and was taken. Purvis again withdrew in safety, went to Shields, sailed to America, married a native of that country, and became an agriculturalist in which he was very successful till the period of his death, which took place six years ago.-R. White's MSS.

* Or Oaks-pool, a deep hole in the bed of the stream, partly shaded with trees.

Lines

ON THE DEATH OF

ROBERT SURTEES, ESQ., OF MAINSFORTH,

EXTRACTED FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE FOR MARCH 1842; AND BELIEVED TO BE FROM THE
GIFTED PEN OF MRS. SOUTHEY, BETTER KNOWN AS A POET UNDER THE NAME OF
MISS CAROLINE BOWLES.

"TIS HARD TO DIE IN SPRING."

SHORT time after this he was laid upon his sick-bed, when a bright sun reminded him of his favourite time of year, and he said, "I shall never see the peach blossom, or the flowers of spring. It is hard to die in spring!"

"God," he said, "had placed him in a Paradise, and he had every thing that could make a man happy."

Yet eminently calculated as he was to enjoy such blessings, and nervous as his constitution was, he met the nearer approach of death with composure-with gratitude and resignation to the will of Him whose benificence had given and whose pleasure it now was to take away.-Memoir of Robert Sur tees, Esq., by Geo. Taylor, Esq.

""Tis hard to die in Spring!" were the touching words he said, As cheerfully the light stole in the sunshine round his bed. ""Tis hard to die in spring, when the green earth looks so gay: I shall not see the peach blossom." "Twas thus they heard him say.

'Twas thus the gentle spirit-Oh! deem it not offenceDeparting, fondly linger'd among the things of sense: Among the pleasant places, where God his lot had cast

To walk in peace and honour-bless'd, and blessing to the last.

While some (though heavenward wending) go mourning all their

years,

Their meat (so Wisdom willeth) the bitter bread of tears;
And some, resisting proudly the soft persuasive word,
Must feel-in mercy made to feel-the terrors of the Lord.

There are whom He leads lovingly, by safe and pleasant ways; Whose service-yea whose very life--is gratitude and praise: Diffusive, useful, kindly; enjoying, to impart;

Receiving, to distribute-the service of the heart!

To such this earthly frame of things is not "a vale of tears;"
Some vestige of its primal form amid the wreck appears:
And, though immortal longings oft in secret soar above,
The heart awhile contented fills its lower sphere of love.

"God placed me in a Paradise!" so spake his grateful heart-
As grateful still, from all he loved when summon'd to depart:
And blessed he in life and death, to whom, so called, 'twas given,
Before aught faded here, to pass from Paradise to Heaven!

tively few that have borne it, can be the hero.

There is a resemblance between this ballad, and that of "Fair Mabel of Wallington," inserted at page 141, of the first volume of the Table Book. The incidents, and the catastrophe are the same. There are three Seatons on the northern coast, viz: Seaton Carew, Seaton Delaval, and Monk Seaton, and it is not a very easy matter to determine the one where "Seaton yetts" were; but, as the 'yetts must mean the outer-gates of some large Mansion, probably Seaton Delaval is the true locality, and the heroine was one of the family of Delaval. Seaton is described as "ayont the sea," and the bridegroom brings his lady "o'er the sea." No one residing in the county of Durham, would in the present day, speak of a Northumbrian maritime village, as 'ayont,' or 'o'er," the sea, but when we call to mind how the interior of the northern counties, was in the feudal ages, infested with

robbers, raiders, and marauders of all sorts, we may easily conceive that a Durham lover who, a la' Johny Cope, liked "to sleep in a hale skin," would prefer a sea voyage to Seaton Delaval, to a then more dangerous one by land; and to one making such voyages to and fro,' Seaton would be 'o'er' and 'ayont' the sea.

Tollington Park, 1843.

J. H. DIXON.

WE were seven brave sisters,
Five of us died with child;
And nane but you and I, Maisrey,
So we'll gae maidens mild.'

O haud your tongue now Lady Margaret,
Let a' your folly be;

I'll gar you keep your true promise,
To the lord ayont the sea.

O there is neither Lord nor Knight
My true love e'er shall be,
Except it be Lord Darlington,
And he winna come here to me.

But when the hour o' twelve was past
And near the hour o' ane,

Lord Darlington came to the yetts,
Wi' thirty Knights and ten.

It's he has wedded the Lady Margaret,

And brought her o'er the sea;

And there was nane that lived on earth,

Sae happy as was she.

But when nine months were come and gane,

Strong travailling took she;

And ne'er a leech in a' the land

Could ease her maladie.

1 The term "mild" so frequently applied by the old ballad writers to a young female, has no doubt its origin, in the adjective "mitis' one of the numerous titles given to the Virgin, by the Latin Church. In many versions of the ancient Hymns the word is trans lated "mild" though "gentle" would more properly express the meaning.

Where will I get a little wee boy,
That will win meat and fee;
That will gae on to Seaton's yetts
And bring your mother to me?

O! out then spake the little foot page,
And knelt on bended knee-

"O here am I a little wee boy

That will win both meat and fee; That will gae on to Seaton's yetts And bring your mother to thee."

Then he is on to Seaton's yetts
As fast as gang could he;
-Says "ye must come to Darlington
Your daughter for to see."

But when she came to Darlington town,
Where there was little pride,
The scobbs were in the lady's mouth,
The sharp sheer in her side.

Lord Darlington stood on the stair,

And gart the gowd rings flee;

My halls and bowers, and a' shall gae waste If my bonny love die for me.

O haud your tongue Lord Darlington,
Let a' your folly be;

I bore the bird within my side,

I'll suffer her to dee.

He that marries a daughter o' mine,

I wot he is a fool:

If he marries her at Candemas tide
She'll be frae him at Yule.

I had seven ance in companie,
This night I go my lane;

When I come to the salt water

1 wish that I may drown.

1 Sores.