Poetry > Ballads in the Cumberland dialect

182
NOTES.
When he beheld the breathing roses glow,
And the soft heavings of the living snow;
The waving ringlets of the auburn hair,
And all the rapturous graces of the fair?
Ah! what defence, if fixt on him he spy
The languid sweetness of the steadfast eye!”
LtJSIAD. ’ j
The charms of the fair have indeed, in all ages, t
triumphed over the human breast. The piety ofj
David and the wisdom of Solomon gave way when
opposed to their force; and Julius Ctesar, the con¬
queror of the world, forgot his fame and his victories'!
in the arms of an Egyptian beauty. Even the mighty1
Hercules threw down his club, with which he had
achieved so many arduous enterprises, and became a ;
humble suitor at the feet of an imperious fair one.
Note 16, p. 34.—'Twos last Leady Fair, &c.
This fair is held bn Lady-day, at Wigton; and,
like other Cumbrian fairs, passes away amidst mirth,
music, and dancing.
Note 17, p. 36.— Wf Laird Hodgson, &c.
In Cumberland the appellation of laird is applied
to the proprietors of landed property, and to their
eldest sons. Their oldest daughters are styled ladies.
Note 18, p. 36.
For that was thepleace my grand/adder was bwom in.
A predilection for the place of our nativity is a
patriotic prejudice, that does honour to our feelings,
and shows a heart formed for receiving the best
impressions. It displays itself in early life, and does
not diminish with years, with absence, with travel.