Blair Collection > Selections from the Gaelic bards

18 MODERN GAELIC BAUDS.
Work the jib-sheet without flinching,
When she nears the wind ;
Bring it up and down in order,
To each fitting hold,
As the wind may chance to follow,
Or the high topp'd wave ;
And if he find the tempest rising,
Or loud groaning come,
He '11 bring it, with good grasp heroic,
To the gunwale down.
THE LOOK-OUT ORDERED TO THE FORE.
Now, rising, let this slow man go
Up to the prow ;
Our harbour with unerring knowledge
He must show ;
Every art descrying keenly
Whence the wind can blow,
And telling to the steersman surely
The right way to go.
Each landmark he must note and gather
From afar,
Since it, with Him who rules the seasons,
Is our guiding star.
THE MAN RET ASIDE FOR THE HALYARD.
At the halyard place this wight
Who is no sloven,
But athletic, full of might,
Skilled and well-proven.
Careful ever, free of haste,
With dark frowns ready ;
And to guide his rope well placed,
Dainty but not heady.
With a tug and with a twist
The sail restraining,