“The grave of Burns’s Son, which we had just seen by the side of his Father, and some stories heard at Dumfries respecting the dangers his surviving children were exposed to, filled us with melancholy concern, which had a kind of connection with ourselves.”

“The body of Burns was not allowed to remain long in this place.  To suit the plan of a rather showy mausoleum his remains were removed into a more commodious spot of the same kirkyard on the 5th July 1815.”—­(Allan Cunningham.)

‘Ellen Irwin; or, the Braes of Kirtle’, comes next in this series of “Memorials of a Tour in Scotland, 1803.”  It has already been printed, however, (p. 124), in its proper chronological place, among the poems belonging to the year 1800.—­Ed.

* * * * *

TO A HIGHLAND GIRL

(AT INVERSNEYDE, UPON LOCH LOMOND)

Composed 1803.—­Published 1807

Classed in 1815 and 1820 as one of the “Poems of the Imagination.”—­Ed.

[This delightful creature and her demeanour are particularly described in my Sister’s Journal.  The sort of prophecy with which the verses conclude has, through God’s goodness, been realized; and now, approaching the close of my 73rd year, I have a most vivid remembrance of her and the beautiful objects with which she was surrounded.  She is alluded to in the poem of ‘The Three Cottage Girls’ among my Continental Memorials.  In illustration of this class of poems I have scarcely anything to say beyond what is anticipated in my Sister’s faithful and admirable Journal.—­I.  F.]

  Sweet Highland Girl, a very shower
  Of beauty is thy earthly dower! 
  Twice seven consenting years have shed
  Their utmost bounty on thy head: 
  And these grey rocks; that [1] household lawn; 5
  Those trees, [A] a veil just half withdrawn;
  This fall of water that doth make
  A murmur near the silent lake;
  This little bay; a quiet road
  That holds in shelter thy Abode—­10
  In truth together do ye seem [2]
  Like something fashioned in a dream;
  Such Forms as from their covert peep
  When earthly cares are laid asleep! 
  But, O fair Creature! in the light 15
  Of common day, so heavenly bright, [3]
  I bless Thee, Vision [4] as thou art,
  I bless thee with a human heart;
  God shield thee to thy latest years! 
  Thee, neither know I, [5] nor thy peers; 20
  And yet my eyes are filled with tears.

    With earnest feeling I shall pray
  For thee when I am far away: 
  For never saw I mien, or face,
  In which more plainly I could trace 25
  Benignity and home-bred sense
  Ripening in perfect innocence. 
  Here scattered, like a random seed,