J. F. Campbell Collection > Minstrelsy of the Scottish border

INTRODUCTION.
Hail, from tliy wanderings long, my mucli-lov'd sprite !
Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail !
Tell, in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,
Trail'st the long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail.
Where dost thou deck the much-disordered hall,
AVhile the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps.
With early voice to drowsy workman call.
Or lull the dame, while mirth his vigils keeps ?
'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said.
Thou pliedst the kindly task in years of yore :
At last, in luckless hour, some erring maid
Spread in thy nightly cell of \'iands store :
Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more '
Then wake (for well thou canst) that wond'rous lay,
How, while around the thoughtless matrons sleep.
Soft o'er the floor the treach'rous fairies creep.
And bear the smiling infant far away :
How starts the nurse, when, for her lovely child,
She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare !
O snatch the innocent from demons vilde,
And save the parents fond from fell despair !
In a deep cave the trusty menials wait.
When from their hilly dens, at midnight's hour.
Forth rush the fairy elves in mimic state,
And o'er the moonlight heath with swiftness scour :
In glittering arms the little horsemen shine ;
Last, on a milk-white steed, with targe of gold,
A fay of might appears, whose arms entwine
The lost, lamented child ! the she^^herds bold t
The unconscious infant tear from his imhallowed hold.
* See liuiodiiiiioii, p. xlvi.
-f- For an arcount of the Fairy superstition, see Inlroduction to the Tale of Tamlane.