Wilsons Tales of the Borders and of Scotland

Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of?by Revised by Alexander Leighton

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Title: Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV.
Author: Revised by Alexander Leighton
Release Date: December 22, 2004 [EBook #14421]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS AND OF SCOTLAND.
HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE.
WITH A GLOSSARY.
REVISED BY ALEXANDER LEIGHTON,
One of the Original Editors and Contributors.
VOL. XXIV.
LONDON: WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 1884

CONTENTS.
THE MINSTREL'S TALES--
I. EDMUND AND HELEN, (John Mackay Wilson), 5
II. THE ROMAUNT OF SIR PEREGRINE AND THE LADY ETHELINE,...... (Alexander Leighton), 43
III. THE LEGEND OF ALLERLEY HALL, (Alexander Leighton),................................. 52
IV. THE LEGEND OF THE LADY KATHARINE, (Alexander Leighton),..................... 57
V. THE BALLAD OF AILIE FAA,.......(Alexander Leighton),................................. 67
VI. THE LEGEND OF THE FAIR EMERGILDE, (Alexander Leighton),..................... 72
VII. THE ROMAUNT OF THE CASTLE OF WEIR, (Alexander Leighton),..................... 78
VIII. THE ROMAUNT OF ST. MARY'S WYND, (Alexander Leighton),..................... 87
IX. THE LEGEND OF MARY LEE,.......(Alexander Leighton),................................ 98
X. THE BALLAD OF AGE AND YOUTH,...(Alexander Leighton),................................. 107
XI. THE LEGEND OF CRAIGULLAN,.....(Alexander Leighton),................................ 113
XII. THE HERMIT OF THE HILLS,...(John Mackay Wilson),................................... 119
XIII. THE BALLAD OF RUMBOLLOW,....(Alexander Leighton),................................. 123
XIV. THE LEGEND OF THE BURNING OF MRS. JAMPHRAY, ................(Alexander Leighton),..... 133
XV. THE BALLAD OF BALLOGIE'S DAUGHTERS,........ (Alexander Leighton),..................... 141
XVI. THE LEGEND OF DOWIELEE,........(Alexander Leighton),................................. 145
XVII. THE BALLAD OF MAID MARION,....(Alexander Leighton),.................................. 154
XVIII. THE BALLAD OF ROSEALLAN CASTLE,......... (Alexander Leighton),...................... 158
XIX. THE BALLAD OF THE TOURNAY,.....(Alexander Leighton),.................................. 160
XX. THE BALLAD OF GOLDEN COUNSEL,...(Alexander Leighton),.................................. 164
XXI. THE BALLAD OF MATRIMONY,.......(Alexander Leighton),................................. 168
XXII. THE SONG OF ROSALIE, .........(Alexander Leighton),.................................. 171
XXIII. THE BALLAD OF THE WORLD'S VANITY,....... (Alexander Leighton),...................... 173
XXIV. THE SIEGE: A DRAMATIC TALE,........(John Mackay Wilson),............................ 177
XXV. FAREWELL TO A PLACE ON THE BORDERS,....... (Rev. W.G.),............................... 207
GLOSSARY,...................................... 211
GENERAL INDEX,................................. 251

WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS, AND OF SCOTLAND.
THE MINSTREL'S TALES.

I.
EDMUND AND HELEN.

CANTO FIRST.
Come, sit thee by me, love, and thou shalt hear A tale may win a smile and claim a tear-- A plain and simple story told in rhyme, As sang the minstrels of the olden time. No idle Muse I'll needlessly invoke-- No patron's aid, to steer me from the rock Of cold neglect round which oblivion lies; But, loved one, I will look into thine eyes, From which young poesy first touched my soul, And bade the burning words in numbers roll;-- They were the light in which I learned to sing; And still to thee will kindling fancy cling-- Glow at thy smile, as when, in younger years, I've seen thee smiling through thy maiden tears, Like a fair floweret bent with morning dew, While sunbeams kissed its leaves of loveliest hue. Thou wert the chord and spirit of my lyre-- Thy love the living voice that breathed--"aspire!"-- That smoothed ambition's steep and toilsome height, And in its darkest paths was round me, light. Then, sit thee by me, love, and list the strain, Which, but for thee, had still neglected lain.
II.
Didst thou e'er mark, within a beauteous vale, Where sweetest wild-flowers scent the summer gale, And the blue Tweed, in silver windings, glides, Kissing the bending branches on its sides, A snow-white cottage, one that well might seem A poet's picture of contentment's dream? Two chestnuts broad and tall embower the spot, And bend in beauty o'er the peaceful cot; The creeping ivy clothes its roof with green, While round the door the perfumed woodbine's seen Shading a rustic arch; and smiling near, Like rainbow fragments, blooms a rich parterre; Grey, naked crags--a steep and pine-clad hill-- A mountain chain and tributary rill-- A distant hamlet and an ancient wood, Begirt the valley where the cottage stood. That cottage was a young Enthusiast's home, Ere blind ambition lured his steps to roam; He was a wayward, bold, and ardent boy, At once his parents' grief--their hope and joy. Men called him Edmund.--Oft his mother wept Beside the couch where yet her schoolboy slept, As, starting in his slumbers, he would seem To speak of things of which none else might dream.
III.
Adown the vale a stately mansion rose, With arboured lawns, like visions of repose Serene in summer loveliness, and fair As if no passion e'er was dweller there Save innocence and love; for they alone Within the smiling vale of peace were known. But fairer and more lovely far than all, Like Spring's first flowers, was Helen of the Hall-- The blue-eyed daughter of the mansion's lord, And living image of