The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-12-03
A Heroine of Burns.

tenderness as his attachment TO one on whom
he has himself conferred the poetic appella-
tive OF Highland Mary. The love Of the
poet for this young woman was broken oil
by the event of her sudden DEATH She al |
so appears, from his own descriptions, to
have been singularly gentle ard affections
ate creature. These circumstances, en-
balmod in the heart-touchng strains of the
poet himself have excited, regarding her,
an interest such as has rarely indeed bciallen
a maiden Of her humble rank.
All that has hitherto been known or un
dcrsood regarding Highland Mary may be
expressed in few sentences. Her name
WAS Mary Campbell, and she had been a
servant ut Coilslicld House,in Burnss neigh
borhood, IN Ayrshire, and likewise with his
friend, Mr.. Gavin Hamilton, in Mauchlinc.
Burns himself places on record that she was
"a warm-hcarlod, charming young creature
as ever blessed man with generous love-"
lie adds: " After pretty long tract Of the
most ardent eciprocal attachment, we met
by appointment on the second Sunday of
May, in scquestcred spot by the banks of
the Ayr, where we spent the day in taking
farewell, before she should embark for the
West Highlands, TO arrange matters among
her friends for our projected change of life.
At the close of the autumn following she
crossed the sea to meet me at Grecnock,
where she was seized with a malignant fever
which hurried my dear girl to the grave in
few days, before could even hear of her
illness" This is the bulk Of her story. Mr.
Cromck, who published "Reliqucs of
Burns" had learned some more minute par
ticulars. "1hc adicn,' he says, twas per-
formed with all those simple and striking
ccremonas which rustic sentiment has de-
vised to prolong tender emotions and inspire
awe The lovers stool on each side of
small purling brook they avcd their hands
in the stream, and holding Bible between
them, pronounced their vows TO be faithful
to each other. They patcd-ncvcr to meet
again.
There arc, however, no memorials Of this
parting comparable to the verses in which
Burns has recorded it. For cXample:-
"N-i many vow and locked embrace,
Our parting was fu tender;
And rlcdeing aft to meet gain,
We tore ourselves asundcr.
But, Oh, fell deaths untimcly frost,
That npt my flower sac earl,
Now green's the sod and cauld the clay
That wraps my Highland Mary.
"Oh pale, pale now those rosy lips
aft hac kssd sac fonlly
And closed for aye the sparkling glance
That dwclt on me sac kindly;
And mouldcrng now in silent dust
That heart that loed Inc dearly
But still within my bosom's core
Shall live my Highland Mary r
Or the still more aGtciiorato verses, etc
Mary in Ilearcn," which he composed sew
cra years after the death Of their subject
under remarkable circumstances. Burn;
was now f,rmer on the banks Of the Nth
husband, and the father Of several child
ren. lie had passed through scenes Of gay
and elegant life in Edinburgh, and INDUCED
in many passionate, though temporary at
tachments. Still, under all circumstances
the image Of the simple Highland pil ha,
remained deep in his heart, and he could
never recall her melancholy fate without Q
Iana. One harvest evening, in the ycai
l7S9, after he had been all day with his reap
ers, his wife observed him grow very SAD
about something. lie had remembered thai
it was the anniversary Of the death of Mary
lie "at length wandered out into the barn.
yard, TO which his wife, in her anxiei, foi
his health, followed him, entrealing him il
vain to observe hat the fros, had Sc. in, and
to return to the Greside. On being agaic
and agan requested to DO so, he alwayi
promised compIiance--but still remained
where he was, sirding up and down slowly
and contemplating the sky, which was sim
gularly clear and starry. At last Mrs
Burns found him stretched on a mass oi
straw with his eyes fixed on a beautiful plan
ct that shone like another moon," and pre-
vailed on him to come in. lie Immediately
on entering the house, called for his desk
and wrote, exactly as they now stand, witl
all the ease of one copying from memory
the sublime and pathetic verses ;''*-
"Thou lingering star with lcsscning ray,
That loy'st to greet the carly morn
Again thou usher'st in the day
My Mary from my soul was torn
Oh, Mary dear departed shade
Where is thy place of blissful rest ?
See'st thou thy lover lowly laid
Hearst thou the groans that rcnd his breast.
THAT sacred hou. can ! forget
Can forget the hallowed grove,
Where by the winding Ayr we met,
To live one day of parting love
Eternity will not efface.
Those records dear to transports past
Thy image nt our last embrace,
All little thought we twas our last
ayr, gurgling, kissed his pebbed shore,
Ocrhung with wild woods, thickninl
green
The fragrant birch, and hawthorn hoar
Twned am'rous round the raptured scene
The flowers sprang wantou to be prest,
The birds sang love on every spray
Till too, loo soon, the glowing west
Proclaimed the speed Of winged day.