The Press.
London, England, 1857-09-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 19,1857.

verses for her favourite melodies. To the development of
her native genius, her juvenile condition abundantly con•
tributed : the locality of her birthplace, rich in landscape
scenery, and asauciated with family traditions and legends
of curious and chivalric adventure, might have been sutfl•
cient to promote, in a mind less fertile than her own, senti.
ments of poesy. In the application of her talents she was
influenced by another incentive. A loose ribaldry tainted
the songs and ballads which circulated among the
peasantry, and she was convinced that the diffusion of a
more wholesome minstrelsy would essentially elevate the
moral tone of the community. Thus, while still young,
she commenced to purify the older melodies, and to corn.
pose new songs, which were ultimately destined to occupy
an ample share of the national heart.

The first piece that we ever saw from the
pen of Lady Nairn was " The Mitherless
Lammic," which many years ago we chanced
to meet with in an obscure journal. Its
purity of feeling and delicacy of touch are
quite inimitable, and we rejoice to know that
it is a favourite amongst the peasantry of
Scotland :

THE MITHERLESS LAMMIE.
The mitherless lammie ne'er missed its sin mammie,
We tentit it kindly by night and by day,
The bairnies made game o't, it hail a blithe hame o't,
Its food was the gowan—its music was "mai."
Without tie or fetter, it couldna been better,
lint it would gae witless the world to see ;
The foe that it fear'd not, it saw not, it heard not,

Was watching its wand'ring free Bonnington Lea.
Oh, what then befell it, 't were wean' to tell it,

Tod Lowrie kens best, wi his lang head sae sly;
He met the pet lammie, that wanted its mammie,
And left its kind Name the wide world to try.
We miss'd it at day-dawn, we missed it at night-fa'in',
Its wee shed is tenantless under the tree,
Ae dusk i' the gloamin' it wad gae a roamin' ;
T will frolic nae mair upon lionnington Lea.
The moral of seduction and the fate of
female wilfulness could scarcely be touched
with more pathetic grace, and with less
coarseness.

If we are to trust tho statements that we
have heard, and which we observe repeated
by the editor of this compilation, a peerage
was given (or at least revived) in consequence
of one national song from Lady Nairn. It is
said here :

Carolina Oliphant had many suitors for her hand : she
gave a preference to William Murray Nairn, her maternal
cousin, aho had been Baron Nairn, barring the attainder
of the title on account of the Jacobitism of the last Baron.
The marriage was celebrated in June, 18013. At this period,
Mr. Nairn was Assistant Inspector-General of Barracks in
Scotland, and held the rank of major in the army. By Act
of Parliament, on the 17th June, 1821, the attainder of the
family was removed, the title of Baron being conferred on
Major Nairn. This measure is reported to have been
passed on the strong recommendation of George IV.; his
Majesty having learned, during his state visit to Scotland
in 1142..?,, that the !tong of" The Attainted Scottish Nobles"
was the composition of Lady Nairn. The song is certainly
one of the best apologies for Jacobitism.
And the song runs thus:—
Oh, some will tune their mournful strains,
To tell o' hame•made sorrow,
And if they cheat you o' your tears,
They 'll dry upon the morrow.
Oh, some will sing their airy dreams,

In verity they're sportin',
My sang's o' nae sic thieveless themes,
But wakin' true misfortune.
Ye Scottish nobles, ane and a',
For loyalty attainted,
A nameless bardie's was to see
Your sorrows unlamented ;
For if your fathers ne'er had fought
For heirs of ancient royalty,
Ye 're down the day that might hae been
At the top o' honour's tree a'.
For old hereditary right,
For conscience' sake they stoutly stood;
And for the crown their valiant sons
Themselves have shed their injured blood ;
And if their fathers ne'er bad fought
For heirs of ancient royalty,
They 're down the day that might hae been
At the top o' honour's tree a'.
There is boldness and pathos in these verses.
Observe the vigour of the phrase in the first
stanza, " thieveless themes," and the refrain
is spirited and free. The rhyming, as is often
the case with Scotch poets, is not consonant.
" Snortin'" is made to rhyme with " misfor-
tune," and " royalty " is placed in metrical
apposition to " tree a'." To a Gaelic car these
assonant rhymes seem allowable, but our
Southern tastes do not like them ; but Camp-
bell, and Scott also, largely indulged in them.
In " The Lass of Gowrie," by Lady Nairn, there
are many differences from the ordinary song.
She tells a story and introduces a landscape
with much effect. The first stanza is the
same in both pieces, but Lady Nairn's poem