The pearl and the rose are the emblems of Mary,

The Maid of Glenconnel-once lovely and gay, A false lover woo'd her-ye damsels, be wary

Now scath’d'is the blossom-now dimm'd is the ray.

You have seen her, when morn brightly dawn'd on the mountain,

Trip blithely along, singing sweet to the gale,
At noon, with her lambs, by the side of yon fountain,

Or wending, at eve, to her home in the vale.

With the flowers of the willow-tree blent in her tresses,

Now, woe-worn and pale, in the glen she is seen, Bewailing the cause of her rueful distresses,

How fondly he vow'd,--and how false he has been.

CXXXVII.

THE MERMAID

To yon fausê stream, that near the sea,

Hides monie a shelve and plumt,
And rives wi' fearfu' din the stanes,

A witless knieht did come.

The day shines clear, far in he's gane,

Whar shells are silver bricht,
Fishes war louping a' around,

And sparkling to the licht:

ago. It is believed, notwithstanding some modern expressions, to be very ancient. The lady mentions that it was very popular on the Carrick coast of Ayrshire. It bears a striking resemblance to a fragment written by Mr Pinkerton, and to be found in his collection, beginning thus,

There is another piece to be found in Jamieson's Collection of Popular Ballads and Songs, called the “Waterwoman” a translation from the German of Goethe, exactly similar in the story, and nearly so in description with the Mermaid.” We do not know at what period the “ Waterwoman” first made its appearance; but should be inclined to suppose, from internal evi. dence, that it was not imitated from “ Pinkerton's fragment," which, among other things, wants the catastrophe.

* Brief, literally a writ, here a sentence. In the account of Gourie's Conspiracy, appended to Gall's “ Gabions," it is used in the sense of “ irresistible spell." 1 The Mermaid's face to see. It appears that Mermaids could injure even by 2 look; and on this circumstance turns the ballad of “ Clerk Colvin."

Frae 'neath a rock, sune, sune she rase,

And statelie on she swam, Stopt in the midst, and beck'd and sang,

To him to stretch his hand.

The Mermaid leuch", her brief was gane,

And kelpie's + blast was blawing,
Fu' low she duked, ne'er raise again,

For deep, deep was she fawing.

My friend is the man I would copy thro' life,
Ke harbours no envy, he causes no strife;
No murmurs escape him, tho' fortune bears hard,
Content is luis portion, and peace his reward.

Still happy in his station,
He minds his occupation,

Nor heads the snares,

Nor knows the cares,
Which vice and folly bring.
Daily working, wearily,

Nightly singing, cheerily.
Dear to him his wife, his home, his country, and his king.

His heart is enlarg'd, tho' his fortune is scant,
He lessens his little for others that want,
Tho' his children’s dear claims, on his industry press,
He has something to spare for the child of distress.

He seeks no idle squabble,
He joins no thoughtless rabble,

To clear his way,

From day to day.
His honest views extend;
When he speaks, 'tis verily,

When he smiles, 'tis merrily.
Dear to him his sport, his toil, his honour, and his friend.

How charming to find in his humble retreat,
That bliss so much sought, so unknown to the great,
The wife only anxious her fondness to prove;
The playful endearments of infantine love.

Relaxing from his labours
Amid his welcome neighbours,

With plain regale,
With jest and tale,