The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-10-19
a moment white then melt fnr ever.
Or like the bnIealIS lace.
That hit ere you can pn:nF Ihel, place
or like the rainbow : lar-ly TORN.
Evauish3ng amid the >',.FT. 90

! VI iik" the Rainbow = lovely TORN.
EvanIshing amid The stun.
Ia the poem # Tam a. ~alul..r th.r.
are many Passages of great .W.crncsS. .,nd
believe II :, the h,s' p.,.r Gu,r. ,.ct
wrote. Aftci passing ti.r :,t.l. ~ ;rI,sy
reTclry, the hour approaches when lam
mann rIde : and werl mounted on his
grey mare Meg, lac started ont from the
hotel at Ayr, took the road toward Ano-
way amidst thunder storm aud drizzling
rain, thinking Of his "sulky. su!lcu dame"
who was at home awaiting his return,
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath TO keep 1t warm
The road from Ayr to AIloway has been
changed within the last II years, in order
To make "a mole direct route, but the new
road runs III sight of the old road which
Tam . sLantcr I1ufue yed on that eyentful
night. The window in which lie looked
aud SAW such fIightful sights has been
closed up solIdly with stone, because those
vampires, the relic hunters, kept breaking
off small PORTIONS OF the wall. and would
carry II away, notw outstanding the guards
attention. So they jus: closed the window
up. II is said that witches will never speak
nor harm any person long as You do not
speak first. but as soon as you open your
mouth, look out for trouble. Tam watched
the witches dancing To music furnished by
his satanic majesty, who was seated in the
large front gothic window, and who resem-
bled a " Towzle Tyke," Il woody dog.
to gle them music was his charge"
Everything went on prospeIou>ly enough,
until Tam, under the excitement Of seeing
witch dressed i'll her Guilty sark," per-
forming some wonderful terpsichor, an /, at,
entirely lorgeis himself for the momeut.
and bawls out well done, Guilty sark,"
and IN an instant the lights are cu;iuguish-
ed, as If 10y magic; Tam thinks what he
has done. staggers 10 his mare, drives his
heels into her sides, and gets out of
there" and makes for the stone bridge
which crosses the Doom. IL is "A popular
superstition that witches cannot cross a
running stream. They can 90 to the mid
die of the bridge, but beyond that point
they dare not cross. Tam O'Shaute. when
lac mounted his male, headed her toward
his home and FOR the bridge which is about
GOO feet away from the church. lie was fol-
lowed by the witches in wild confusion, and
had reached the bridge, but just ~ he was
crossing the key stone, a witch had caught
poor Maggie by the tail, pulled II out land
left poor Maggie scarce stump" This
bridge crossing the Doom is about twenty
live feet wide, ana is built of hard flint
stone. and consists of a single arch The
Doom is not more than eighteen feet in
width, but is very rapid, and after one of
those quick rain storms, which come up in
Scotland with scarcely moments warn
ing, the water becomes very turbulent.
Burns cottage the place where he was
born, is about one hundred feet from Kirk
Alloway, and on the same side of the road.
1t is a low, matched roof building, one
story in heighth, white in color, built of
stone and plas;ercd on the outside. Ii is
really three cottages adjoining each other,
and which have apparently been built at
different times. | do not know whether
Burns occupied all three Of the cottages or
not, but the middle one he certainly did
occupy, for it contains his table, his clock,
some of his books, dishes, and his bed.
The bed is nothing more Than an alcove
or recess cut in the wall. The Burns
Society have built an addition to the build
ing, in which they hold their regular
monthly meeting, eat good dinners, and
have good time generally.
Robert Burns was in love with Mary
Campbell. She lived on the banks Of the
Ayr, about five miles from Ailoway, aud
about half a mile from the old ruined
castle of Montgomery. She is said to have
been \ beautiful Scotch girl. with raven
black, glossy hair, with blooming cheeks,
and with bright blue eyes. have seen the
hawthorn tee under which Barns met
his Highland Mary for the last time 1t
Is said that Burns aud Mary Campbell
were TO have been married to each ot her
III the short space of three weeks, but
unfortunately she took sick of fever and
died in the space OF a week, after their
last meeting under the hawthorn tree.
Read /" Highland Mary" and ITO Mary
in Heaven it will give you a fuller aud
better idea of Burns love making than
can dc.
| remembered while at Ayr of hearing an
expression which is frequently used III this
country, and inquired of the speaker the
meaning of it. The expression used was
AS mad March hare" was III
formed that this expression was not an idle
one, but was full of meaning. The hares
OF Scotland are larger than our rabbits, and
in the month of March are very wild and
playful, ieaping and tumblirg around, and
cutting up such wild and strange antics
that their piayfulness has grown into a
Scottish proverb, las wild as March
hare
While ! was az Armagh, in Ireland, sit
ting in the waiting room Of the Antrim
Arms Hotel. quite 4 number of country
men were sitting around the bl light blazing
aud cheerful peat lire; and presently the
conversation turned upon fairies, ghosts
aud hobgoblins, and eventually led To the
subject of the banshee. The appearance of
the fabulous baushee is q sure token of
death to some member of the household. |
inquired what this baushee was like, and
was told it WAS dsembodied spirit which
would visit household as warning that
death would soon visit them, and its pres
ence is made known by low mournful
wall, ending in a shrek. That it generally
appears at night soon after night-fall; and
after it has left. the inmates prepare them
selves for the worst. Some Of the guests
firmly believed in the banshce; while
others argued against its existence. At
any rate, | received more legendary in-
struction and information in that one
evening than bad ever received before or
since, concerning the Irish people, their
customs and belief.
There is another place of some interest |
visited, and which | have not in any of my