Ho! my bonnie Mary,
My dainty love, my queen,
The fairest, rarest Mary
On earth was ever seen!
Ho! my queenly Mary,
Who made me king of men,
To call thee mine own Mary,
Born in the bonnie glen.
Young was I and Mary,
In the windings of Glensmoil,
When came that imp of Venus
And caught us with his wile;
And pierced us with his arrows,
That we thrilled in every pore,
And loved as mortals never loved
On this green earth before.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
Oft times myself and Mary
Strayed up the bonnie glen,
Our hearts as pure and innocent
As little children then;
Boy Cupid finely taught us
To dally and to toy,
When the shade fell from the green tree,
And the sun was in the sky.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
If all the wealth of Albyn
Were mine, and treasures rare,
What boots all gold and silver
If sweet love be not there?
More dear to me than rubies
In deepest veins that shine,
Is one kiss from the lovely lips
That rightly I call mine.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
Thy bosom's heaving whiteness
With beauty overbrims,
Like swan upon the waters
When gentliest it swims;
Like cotton on the moorland
Thy skin is soft and fine,
Thy neck is like the sea-gul
When dipping in the brine.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
The locks about thy dainty ears
Do richly curl and twine;
Dame Nature rarely grew a wealth
Of ringlets like to thine:
There needs no hand of hireling
To twist and plait thy hair,
But where it grew it winds and falls
In wavy beauty there.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
Like snow upon the mountains
Thy teeth are pure and white;
Thy breath is like the cinnamon,
Thy mouth buds with delight.
Thy cheeks are like the cherries,
Thine eyelids soft and fair,
And smooth thy brow, untaught to frown,
Beneath thy golden hair.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
The pomp of mighty kaisers
Our state doth far surpass,
When 'neath the leafy coppice
We lie upon the grass;
The purple flowers around us
Outspread their rich array,
Where the lusty mountain streamlet
Is leaping from the brae.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
Nor harp, nor pipe, nor organ,
From touch of cunning men,
Made music half so eloquent
As our hearts thrilled with then.
When the blythe lark lightly soaring,
And the mavis on the spray,
And the cuckoo in the greenwood,
Sang hymns to greet the May.
Ho! my bonnie Mary, &c.
PROFESSOR MORLEY, EDITOR OF "EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE," ON CELTIC
LITERATURE AND THE CELTIC PROFESSORSHIP.
PROFESSOR MORLEY, at a meeting called by the Gaelic Society of London,
in Willis' Room, spoke as follows, and we think his remarks, being those
of a great and unprejudiced Englishman of letters, well worth
reproducing in the _Celtic Magazine_:--
He said that the resolution, which had a fit proposer in a distinguished
representative of the north, was seconded by one [himself] who had no
other fitness for the office than that he was altogether of the south,
and had been taught by a long study of our literature to believe that
north and south had a like interest in the promotion of a right study of
Celtic. We were a mixed race, and the chief elements of the mixture were
the Celtic and Teutonic. The Teutonic element gave us our strength for
pulling together, the power of working in association under influence of
a religious sense of duty; but had we been Teutons only, we should have
been somewhat like the Dutch. He did not say that in depreciation of the
Dutch. They are popularly associated with Mynheer Vandunck, but are to
be associated rather with grand struggles of the past for civil and
religious liberty, for they fought before us and with us in the wars of
which we had most reason to be proud, and gave the battle-field upon
which our Sidney fell at Zutphen. Nevertheless, full as Dutch literature
is of worthy, earnest thought, it is not in man to conceive a Dutch
Shakspere. This was not his first time of saying, that, but for the
Celtic element in our nation, there would never have been an English
Shakspere; there would never have been that union of bold originality,
of lively audacity, with practical good sense and steady labour towards
highest aims that gave England the first literature in the world, and
the first place among the nations in the race of life. The Gael and
Cymry, who represented among us that Celtic element, differed in
characteristics, but they had in common an artistic feeling, a happy
audacity, inventive power that made them, as it were, the oxygen of any
combination of race into which they entered. He had often quoted the
statement made by Mr Fergusson in his "History of Architecture," that,
but for the Celts, there would hardly have been a church worth looking
at in Europe. That might be over expressive of the truth, but it did
point to the truth; and the more we recognise the truth thus indicated
the sooner there would be an end of ignorant class feeling that delayed
such union as was yet to be made of Celt with Saxon--each an essential
part of England, each with a strength to give, a strength to take. We
had remains of ancient Celtic literature; some representing--with such
variation as oral traditions would produce--a life as old as that of the
third century in songs of the battle of Gabhra, and the bards and
warriors of that time, some recalling the first days of enforced fusion
between Celt and Teuton in the sixth century. There were old
manuscripts, enshrining records, ancient when written, of which any
nation civilised enough to know the worth of its own literature must be
justly proud. Our story began with the Celt, and as it advanced it was
most noticeable that among the voices of good men representing early
English literature, whenever the voice came from a man who advanced
himself beyond his fellows by originality of thought, by happy audacity
as poet or philosopher, it was (until the times of Chaucer) always the
voice of a man who was known to have, or might reasonably be supposed to
have, Celtic blood in his veins; always from a man born where the two
races had lived together and blended, or were living side by side and
blending. Before the Conquest it was always in the north of England,
afterwards always along the line of the west, until in the latter part
of the fourteenth century, London was large and busy enough to receive
within itself men from all parts, and became a sort of mixing-tub for
the ingredients of England. From that time the blending has been
general, though it might even now be said that we are strongest where it
has been most complete. With such opinions then, derived by an
Englishman who might almost call himself most south of the south, from
an unbiassed study of the past life of his country, he could not do
other than support most heartily the resolution--"That a complete view
of the character and origin of society, as it exists in these countries,
cannot be given without a knowledge of the language, literature, and
traditions of the Celts." He welcomed heartily the design of founding a
Celtic Chair in the University of Edinburgh as a thing fit and necessary
to be done, proposed to be done in a fit place, and by a most fit
proposer. The scheme could not be better recommended than by the active
advocacy of a scholar like Professor Blackie, frank, cheery, natural;
who caused Mr Brown and Mr Jones often to shake their heads over him,
but who was so resolved always to speak his true thought frankly, so
generous in pursuit of worthy aims, with a genial courage, that
concealed no part of his individuality, that he could afford to look on
at the shaking of the heads of Mr Brown and Mr Jones, while there could
be no shaking of the public faith in his high-minded sincerity. As to
the details of the establishment of the chair there might be
difficulties. The two Celtic languages had to be recognised. The ideal
Professor whom one wished to put in the new chair should have, with
scholarly breadth of mind, a sound critical knowledge of the ancient
forms of both, and of their ancient records, and he would be expected to
combine with this a thorough mastery of at least Gaelic, which he would
have to teach also as a spoken tongue. Whatever difficulty there might
be in this was only so much the more evidence of the need of putting an
end to the undue neglect that had made Celtic Scholarship so scarce.
Nothing would ever be done by man or nation if we stayed beginning till
our first act should achieve perfection. He could only say that it was
full time to begin, and that the need of a right study of Celtic must be
fully recognised if the study of English literature itself was to make
proper advance in usefulness, and serve England in days to come, after
its own way, with all its powers.
A PLEA FOR PLANTING IN THE HIGHLANDS.--No. I.
AS this Magazine is devoted to subjects of interest and importance to
Highlanders and the Highlands, no more fitting subject could be dealt
with in its pages than that of Forestry.
Whatever conduces to the wealth of a district, to the amelioration of
its climate, and beauty of its scenery, is most praiseworthy. It is
undeniable that planting extensively and widely will effect these
objects, and of this subject it is proposed now to treat.
That great part of Scotland was at one time forest is universally
admitted. The remains of magnificent trees are to be constantly met with
in the reclamation of land, many of the peat bogs being the formation of
decayed vegetation.
It is frequently asked by the inexperienced, how it is, that while great
trees are found in bogs, planted trees will not now grow except in a
dwarfish degree, but the answer is obvious. These peat bogs are
themselves the product of vegetation as before noted, and it is an
ascertained fact that the tendency of these peat bogs and formations is
to increase both by absorbing the surrounding soil, and by exercising an
upward pressure. Many theories and allegations have been put forth as to
the period or periods when the original forests of Caledonia were burnt.
It may be generally admitted in the absence of any authentic
contemporaneous record, that three particular periods are commonly
pointed at, first in the time of the Roman occupation, second in the
reign of Edward the First, and third in the time of Mary, Queen of
Scots.
The three principal native trees in the Highlands, as now understood,
which grow to any size, are the fir, oak, and ash; and it may be said
roundly, that few standing trees exist in Scotland of a greater age than
300 years. No doubt there may be exceptions, but the rise of the
plantations of beech, sycamore, plane, chestnut, &c., cannot be put
further back than the accession of James VI. to the English throne. That
Scotland was, in the early part of the 17th century, very bare may be
inferred from the numerous Acts passed to encourage planting, and the
penalties imposed upon the cutters of green wood. A great part of the
Highlands must ever lie entirely waste, or be utilized by plantations.
The expense of carriage to market was till lately in the inland and
midland districts so great, that no inducement was held out to
proprietors to plant systematically and continuously. The opening up of
the Highlands by the Caledonian Canal at first, and now more especially
by railways, has, however, developed facilities for market which should
be largely taken advantage of. The market for soft woods, such as fir,
larch, and birch, is ever widening; and great as is the consumption now,
it cannot be doubted it will still greatly increase.
What greater inducement can there be to any exertion whatever, than that
of pleasure combined with profit? We undertake to show that on this
point both co-exist. To an idle man it is pleasant to saunter about and
observe the growing of his plants, contrasting their progress from month
to month, and year after year. The child of tender years, the most
ignorant peasant, have alike their faculties of interest and observation
aroused and excited by the contemplation of the gradual rise and change
in the progress of the plant. We have heard from those unable to speak
the English language, and in the poorest circumstances, poetic
description and the liveliest manifestation of admiration at a thriving
growing wood. Again, to the man who is engrossed with harassing mental
occupations, what pleasure and satisfaction is this contemplation; and,
as in the case of our immortal novelist, not only giving immediate
consolation and happiness, but powerfully incentive to intellectual
effort.
Let us turn, however, to the practical bearings of our subject; and we
shall take the case, say, of an estate of 20,000 acres. Let us suppose
500 acres to be arable, and 4,500 acres, either from the nature of the
soil or its altitude, to be unfit for any improvement whatever. 1000
acres would be probably required for ordinary pasture lands, and 10,000
acres for hill pasture. It is far from our wish that any plantations
should diminish the already scanty population, or unduly press upon the
pastoral agricultural occupants. We therefore have given roughly what
may be held as full souming for stocks upon such an estate. It must
be always recollected it is not acres alone that will sustain sheep or
cattle, or maintain a first-class stock; on the contrary, it is the
quality of the ground, and whether enclosed and drained. The matter of
enclosure is one that has long been recognised as most essential in the
case of sheep grounds, but the cost until the introduction of
wire-fencing, was so great, as to be almost prohibitory. Hill pastures
should be enclosed just as in the case of arable lands, and with
efficient drainage and judicious heather burning, it is not too much to
say that at least one-third more in number could be pastured on the same
ground, and the stock would be of a higher class than on lands unfenced
and undrained.
We have now left 4000 acres or so for plantation. If the proprietor be
in a position to do so, and do not object to lay out some money
unproductively, he will cause trees to be planted along all the roads
through the estate, putting clumps and beltings near the farm steadings.
This is a matter that is sometimes entirely neglected, rendering the
buildings conspicuous, bare and ugly, a blot on the landscape. In other
cases, the plantations are too near the buildings, making them
uncomfortable and unhealthy. Two things, viz., shelter and beauty, are
required, which a judicious eye should easily combine. The proprietor,
when there is appearance of a natural growth should select such for
enclosure, and on such an estate we place this at 500 acres. Only those
who have practical knowledge and experience in the matter, can realise
the extraordinary vitality of the seeds of birch, fir, oak, and others,
over a great part of the Highlands. Nothing is required over thousands
upon thousands of acres, but simple enclosure. These natural trees are
both beautiful and valuable, and therefore their encouragement does not
admit of question. No tree is more beautiful than the birch, which is
found all over the Highlands, makes great annual progress, and commands
a steady price. Blank spaces, &c., may be filled in with other woods for
the purposes of adornment.
There now remains the plantation, properly so called, upon our estate of
3,500 acres. The selection of this ground is a matter requiring careful
consideration, because the land best adapted for planting is generally
the best pasture, and every proprietor will, of course, endeavour to do
his tenant as little injury as possible. At the same time, he will
require to bear in mind that the too common idea that any ground will do
for planting is a serious error. It is not often that the person who
plants lives to reap the full benefit of his labours, and it would
therefore be doubly hard, if these labours were thrown away.
Forestry, however, is now so generally understood, that with reasonable
precaution no mistake ought to occur in the selection of the ground, or
the tree best suited to the soil. Hard wood is of course out of the
question in a great Highland plantation. Time occupied in reaching
maturity, and carriage to market unconsidered, iron has entirely
superseded this class of wood. Therefore fir and larch form the staple
for Highland plantations. On the other hand, for beltings, roadsides,
and in the vicinity of houses, hard wood should be planted. Two hundred
years ago people generally were wise in this respect, for they planted
ash trees and the like, each of which could stand by itself and bid
defiance to the elements. These now form beautiful and picturesque
objects round old _duchuses_, where hardly one stone stands on another,
and thus alas! in many cases alone denoting where respectable families
once had their homes; under whose spreading branches stout lads and
bonnie lasses interchanged love tokens, and went over that old, old
story, which will never die.
With the introduction of larch about the end of last century, which soon
became, and deservedly, a favourite in the Highlands, it unhappily was
used as a single belting in exposed places near farm houses and
steadings. The consequence, as every one who travels through the
Highlands must be painfully conscious of, has been trees shapeless and
crooked, giving no shelter, and unpleasing in view. A ludicrous
illustration of this may be seen from the Highland Railway between
Forres and Dunphail, the larches having grown up zig-zag, according as
the several winds happened to prevail. It is well known that no regular
plantation can in beauty equal a natural one. There is too much
stiffness and form, but the man of taste will avoid straight lines, and
utilize the undulations of the land, blending the landscape as it were
into one harmonious whole.
Let us now in the last place look at the pecuniary results. The
enclosure, drainage, and planting will of course vary according to
locality and the nearness to sources of supply and labour, but it may be
said that L3 sterling per acre is a very ample sum for all costs. If
there were one great block of plantation, it would not amount to
one-half. Returns, again, must also vary, depending on proximity to
railway or sea-board, but we have heard it stated by those well
qualified to give an opinion, that from 30s to L2 per acre per annum
will be an ultimate probable return. When it is considered that the
lands we have referred to, putting both pastoral and shooting rents
together, will not approach six shillings per acre per annum, the
pecuniary advantages are seen to be enormous.[A]
No life insurance policy is equal to a large and judicious plantation
by a proprietor, as a provision for his younger children. The premium in
this case will not need to run longer than twenty-five years, and he has
not only beautified his estate and made it more valuable, but also
transmitted it to his heir without incumbrance.
No wonder then that in the county of Inverness large proprietors, such
as the Earl of Seafield, Mackintosh, Sir John Ramsden, and others, have
taken this matter up on a great scale. To them large plantations ought
to be in the same category as minerals are in England; and, unlike their
English brethren, this source of wealth is not exhaustive but
re-current.
To the public these plantations are not only objects of beauty and an
amelioration of climate, but the thereby greatly increased wealth of the
country ensures diminished taxation.
These remarks are purposely made in the simplest language, because
chiefly intended to attract the intelligent attention of the commonality
of the people resident in, or connected with, the Highlands, and the
subject will be again brought up.