True is her heart—were I under hiding, And fifty men in pursuit of my footsteps, I should find protection, when they surrounded me most closely, In the secret recess of that shieling. EASY IS MY BED, ETC. 'Oh for the day for turning my face homeward, That I may see the maiden of beauty— Joyful will it be to me to be with thee, Fair girl with the long heavy locks! Choice of all places for deer-hunting Are the brindled rock and the ridge! How sweet at evening to be dragging the slain deer Downwards along the piper's cairn! EASY IS MY BED, ETC. 'Great is my esteem for the maiden Who parted from me by the west side of the enclosed field; Late yet again will she linger in that fold, Long after the kine are assembled. It is I myself who have taken no dislike to thee, Though far away from thee am I now. It is for the thought of thee that sleep flies from me; Great is the profit to me of thy parting kiss! EASY IS MY BED, ETC. 'Dear to me are the boundaries of the forest; Far from Creiff is my heart; My remembrance is of the hillocks of sheep, And the heath of many knolls. Oh for the red-streaked fissures of the rock, Where in spring time the fawns leap; Oh for the crags towards which the wind is blowing— Cheap would be my bed to be there! EASY IS MY BED, ETC.' 'The following describes Rob's feelings on the first discovery of his damsel's infidelity. The airs of both these pieces are his own, and, the Highland ladies say, very beautiful.
'Heavy to me is the shieling, and the hum that is in it, Since the ear that was wont to listen is now no more on the watch. Where is Isabel, the courteous, the conversable, a sister in kindness? Where is Anne, the slender-browed, the turret-breasted, whose glossy hair pleased me when yet a boy? HEICH! WHAT AN HOUR WAS MY RETURNING! PAIN SUCH AS THAT SUNSET BROUGHT, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL IT? 'I traversed the fold, and upward among the trees— Each place, far and near, wherein I was wont to salute my love. When I looked down from the crag, and beheld the fair-haired stranger dallying with his bride, I wished I had never revisited the glen of my dreams. SUCH THINGS CAME INTO MY HEART AS THAT SUN WAS GOING DOWN, A PAIN OF WHICH I SHALL NEVER BE RID, WHAT AVAILETH ME TO TELL IT? 'Since it has been heard that the carpenter had persuaded thee, My sleep is disturbed—busy is foolishness within me at midnight. The kindness that has been between us, I cannot shake off that
