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
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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