"Twas long i' the night, and the bairnies grat: Their mither she under the mools heard that;

That heard the wife under the eard that lay; "Forsooth maun I to my bairnies gae!"

That wife can stand up at our Lord's knee,
And " May I gang and my bairnies see ?"

She prigged sae sair, and she prigged sae lang,
That he at the last gae her leave to gang.

"And thou sall come back whan the cock does craw, For thou nae langer sall bide awa."

Wi' her banes sae stark, a bowt she gae ;
She's riven baith wa' and marble gray.*

Whan near to the dwalling she can gang,
The dogs they wow'd till the lift it rang.

Whan she came till the castell yett,
Her eldest dochter stood thereat.

The original of this and the following stanza is very fine : "Hun sköd op sinè modigè been,

Der revenedè muur og graa marmorsteen."
"Der hun gik igennem den by.

De hundè de tudè saa höjt i sky."

"Why stand ye here, dear dochter mine? How are sma brithers and sisters thine ?"

"For sooth ye're a woman baith fair and fine; But ye are nae dear mither of mine."

"Och! how should I be fine or fair?

My cheek it is pale, aad the ground's my lair."

"My mither was white, wi' lire sae red; But thou art wan, and liker ane dead."

"Och! how should I be white and red, Sae lang as I've been cauld and dead ?”

When she cam till the chalmer in,
Down the bairns' cheeks the tears did rin.

She buskit the tane, and she brush'd it there; She kem'd and plaited the tither's hair.

Till her eldest dochter syne said she,

"Ye bid Child Dyring come here to me."

Whan he cam till the chalmer in,
Wi' angry mood she said to him :

"I left you routh o' ale and bread; My bairnies quail for hunger and need.

"I left ahind me braw bowsters blae ; My bairnies are liggin i' the bare strae.

"I left ye sae mony a groff wax light; My bairnies ligg i' the mirk a' night.

"Gin aft I come back to visit thee,
Wae, dowy, and weary thy luck shall be."

Up spak little Kirstin in bed that lay :
"To my bairnies I'll do the best I may."

Ay when they heard the dog nir and bell,
Sae gae they the bairnies bread and ale.

Ay whan the dog did wow, in haste

They cross'd and sain'd themsells frae the ghaist.

Ay whan the little dog yowl'd wi' fear, (And O gin I were young!)

They shook at the thought that the dead was near. (I' the greenwood it lists me to ride.)

or,

(Fair words sae mony a heart they cheer.)

9. Bowster, bolster; cushion; Lift, sky, firmament; air.

10. Groff, great; large in girt. 23. Cald, cold.

Quail, are quelled; die.
Need, want.
29. Ahind, behind.
Braw, brave; fine.
31. Dowy, sorrowful.
33. Nirr, snarl.
Bell, bark.

3. Sained, blessed; literally, signed with the sign of the cross. Before the introduction of Christianity, Runes were used in saining, as a spell against the power of enchantment and evil genii. Ghaist, ghost.

Note VII.

Up spoke the moody Elfin King,

Who won'd within the hill.-Vol. V. p. 166.

In a long dissertation upon the Fairy superstition, published in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part of which was supplied by my learned and indefatigable friend Dr John Leyden, most of the circumstances are collected which can throw light upon the popular belief which even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland. Dr Grahame, author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of the Perthshire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded, with great accuracy, the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this topic, in the vicinity of Loch-Katrine. The learned author is inclined to deduce the whole mythology from the Dru

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