Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

118
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
TO EVAN MACCOLL.
My greeting to thee, Bard revered,
Sweet minstrel of Loch Fyne !
Heaven bless, and shield, and pros-
per aye,
Mo char aid I thee and thine.
May time deal ever tenderly,
Maccoll ! with thine and thee ;
Long may thy tuneful Highland harp
Throb sweetest minstrelsy.
The sterling virtue of the Gael,
Their deeds of bravery.
Their guileless hearts so warm and
true,
"Who can portray like thee %
And sweetly dost thou sing the
charms.
The gracefulness divine
Of Highland maids, in speech en-
deared —
Thy mother tongue and mine.
"lona," "StafFa," and "Loch Awe,"
"Loch Lomond" & "Loch Fyne,"
The " Brander Pass " and " Urqu-
hart's Glen,"
Thou grandly dost outline.
Thy " Child of Promise," beauteous
gem,
A plaintive, soothing psalm,
Thy " Falling Snow," brings to the
heart,
A sweet, a holy calm.
Thine own " Glenshira," by thy
muse.
Is now a classic land ;
New York, October 1879,
Its scones of grandeur have been
limned
With skill by Royal hand.
Oh bless her. Princess of our race !
That Rose without a thorn.
So dearly cherished in our hearts.
The loved Louise of Lorn.
Thine odes, thy sonnets, and thy
songs,
AU rich in melody.
Shall with delight be read and sung
While Awe flows to the sea.
Oh Bard beloved! in boyhood's morn
I sang thy mountain lays ;
With joy perused thy poesie
'Mong famed Breadalbane's braes.
I dreamed not then the rich delight
My future had in store —
Thy noble friendship, treasured dear,
Within affection's core.
The happy ceilidhs to thy home.
The charming converse there ;
Thy Highland hospitality.
How cordial, and how rare !
Though fair Canadia, now thy home,
Be full of charms to thee.
Thy heart oft yearns to see Argyll,
And thine own " Rowan Tree."
My wishes warm to thee I waft.
Charmed songster of Loch Fyne ;
And oh, may Heaven's blessmg rest,
My friend, on thee and thine !
DUNCAN MAOGREGOR CRERAR.
HISTORY OF THE GLAN MACKENZIE; with Genealogies of the Principal
Familieg. By Alexander Mackenzie, Editor of the Celtic Magazine, &o. In-
TerLesa : A. & W. Mackenzie, 1879.
We caanot, of course, review this work in oxir own pages, but the following extracts
will show the reader how it has been received by the literary critics, A few copies are
still for sale at 253. It makes a handsome New-Year's gift :—
"It opens with the liteiary feud as to the origin of the Mackenzies, the author
vigorously supporting the theory of their descent from the ancient Earls of Ross
in opposition to tho popular traditional account which traces them to Colin Fitz-
gerald, an Irish cnief, who, fleeing from his country, found a refuge in Scot-
land, and scored a triumph by saving the King's life from the attack of a savage
buck— a story bearing a remarkable resemblance to the myth regarding John
of Galloway, the reputed founder of the house of Buccleuch. The Fiizgerald
fable may be looked upon as exploded, and the documents evidencing it as forgeiies ;