Pity whose complaint is love,
Whate’er my reason thus to speak,
’Tis hard to separate from its object,
Sad’s the condition I am in.
The love which I in secret gave,
Of which I’d better never speak,
Unless I quickly get relief,
Withered and thin I’ll soon become.
The man whom I have so loved,
A love I never must confess;
Has me put in lasting bonds,
For me a hundred times ’tis pity.
Pity.
[276] This lady is elsewhere called “Contissa Ergadien,” _the Countess
of Argyle_. From the name given her here, she would appear to be a
daughter of the Earl of Argyle, but she might as countess be styled Ni
vic Cailein, or the daughter of Colin. We know that Sir Colin Campbell
of Glenurchy, was uncle and tutor to Archibald, first Earl of Argyle,
and that having himself married Margaret, eldest daughter of Stuart
last Lord of Lorn, he arranged a marriage between his nephew and
Isabella, the second daughter, who became Countess of Argyle. She was
most likely the authoress of these lines, but we have no key to the
piece of domestic history to which they refer.