Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 1, 1893

THE CELTIC .MONTHLY.
prejudice. For Tennyson was essentially Eng-
lish. Ee did not seem to tal e cognisance of
the treaties of Union binding England and
Wales, Scotland, and [reland into one kingdom.
A study of Tennyson is good for the soul ; but
undoubtedly his attitude to Celts emphasises
the words ot the Venetian who wrote the
"Relation of England*'' in 1500:— "The Mu-
lish are great lovers of themselves, and of
i : ig belonging to them. They think that
there are no other men than themselves, and no
other world but England."
R. Mackenzie Couper.
THE SPELL OF THE MOUNTAINS.
II\st thou e'er heard it,
Heard it and understood —
The sough of the low winds warning,
Sweeping across a wood ;
The tension of nerve in the silence,
The hush e'er the coming storm,
Riving the pine from the mountains
A helpless and quivering form ;
The voice of the wild hills calling
In the roar of the cataract's foam
Dashing against your heart-strings,
Pursuing wherever you roam 1
Hast thou e'er watched the dawning
As her touch thro' nature thrills,
The pulse of new life awaking
In the hush of the slumbering hills ;
The whirring noise of the wild duck,
Skimming the mountain tarn ;
The gentle lowing of cattle,
Warm-housed below in the barn ;
< I. id's dumb creation arising
At the call of that mystic hour,
1 tividing the day from the darkness,
To praise I lis infinite power :
Sinking again into slumber,
To awail the new-born day,
V\ hose trumpeting herald proclaimeth
The night, is passing away 1
Far out on the plains of Iceland,
While with untrodden snow,
The rein l< r a e i ai ing in I housands,
tin .i bi Us as they go;
The weak, the fallen, the luckless,
Wild hearts with fever afire :
\\ ho fall in the face are trampled —
The race for n life's desire.
a life, ii e only,
Rein de ir and doe must My,
To drink of the brackii 1>
Of the wild North Sea -or die.
In the silence of virginal forests,
in the heat of the tropical grove,
Wherever man's restless ambition
His brother to exile drove ;
In the marble halls of a palace.
By the tottering steps of a throne,
Be that man a son of the mountains,
The mountains will claim their own.
Once in a life, if once only,
With heart and brain afire,
Thro' the ranks of love or friendship,
Comes the thirst of a life's desire :
To hear the falls of the Spean,*
In their tumbling vehemence roar,
Or watch the salt spray dashing
In a storm on the " Dorus Mor." t
When the spell of the mountain calling
Rends the soul with her plaintive cry,
Back to the heather-clad mountains
Her sons must return — or die,
Alice C. MacDonell, of Keppoch.
' 7 A river in Lochaber. | Near Corryvrechan.
FACAL MISNEACHAIDH.
Du
Mi.
deireannach
A Ciiakaii), Tint mi Vuir fill' ..ai a aju- a' guidhe
soirbheachadh leibh agus leis an leabhran iir tha 'nis
air an t-solus fhaicinn airson an dara h'uair. Tha mi
'cuir mo Ian aonta ris na sgriobh " Ponnruadh " 's
an aireamh mil dheircadh, nach dean sibh dcarmad
air a' Chainnt, ach na smuainichibh gu'm bheil mi
airson 'nr comhairleachadh no airson ceap-tuislidh
'clutir na 'r rathad, is mi nach 'oil, hilhidh mi taingeil
toilichte le na bheir sibh dhuinn agus cha bhi mi
talach air na Gaill gur urrainn daibhsan na lihios aim
a leughadb cho math ruinn fhein, cha mhisde sinne
ai;iis is flieairrdc iails.m e. Tha mi a' deanamh mo
dhlchioll air an leabhran a dheanamh aithnichte do
i hairdean 's tuo luchd-e61ais, is fhiach e sin.
Fhnair mi na tha mi 'cuir le so mu na Biobuill
Eirionnach, oho aite sbnruichte 'n so air nach 'eil na
h'uile a taghal Buaidh leibh, Lo u h
I etrai r feom Treasury Sederunt Book No. 7.
Edinburgh, 9th August, 1692.
Upon a representation made by John Blair,
agent for the Church, anent 3000 Irish Bibles
which were coming from England for the use
of the Highlanders here, and ihat there was
£1000 Scots as a part of the expense of the
printing thereof yet due. Precepl drawn on
So- Patrick .Murray for payment to the said
John Blair of the said £1000 Scots for the use
above specified, which is to be reimbursed to
him out of the vacant, stipends, in regard the
precepts drawn formerly on Cassingray, as
general collector of the vacant stipends, proved
ineffectual. Inde 683 6s. 6d.
23 Dee., 1692.— "2500 Irish Bibles from
England to John Blair allowed pass duty tree."