Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-11-15


ly virtues of the sweet Scotch maiden.
Many doubtless imagine that An
ME Laurie" was but figment OF the
Imagination. as was the Sweet Alice"
of Dr. Thomas Dunn English. Not so.
She was the dainty daughter Of Sir
Robert Laurie Of Maxwelton, whose es-
tate lay just over the river from Dunn
fries-and by the way. that same town
Of Dumfres furnished the original set
tiers OF Alexandria, the old Virginia
town on the Potomac | wonder If
any Of her descendants are buried In
that old churchyard in Alexandria
where the newest Of the gray stones
are nearly a century old.
Young William Douglas Of Finland
wooed her aud in his wooing wrote the
song. They say that every lover is a
poet in his heart. We sadly chronicle
the fact that. while young Douglas
wooed her, country laird won her,
one Sir Alexander Ferguson. who was
possessed of title and gold in place
Of poetic fire. all of which goes to
prove that the feminine heart Of that
day was much the same as now. But
In one wax the Douglas won. he rem
dered his fair inamorata and himself
famous. while Sir Alexander Is lost In
obscurity The song ms originally writ
ten runs thus:
Maxwelton banks are boHny.
Where early fas the dew,
Where ME and Annie Laurie
Made UP the promise true;
Made Up the promise true,
And never forget will l.
And foF bonny Annie Laurie
I'll las me down and die.
Sizes hzekif ike the peacock,
She's hrrisiit ike the swan.
She's iiffit about the middle.
Her vsist ye veei micht span:
Her waist ye weel MIGHT span.
And sar has a rolling eye.
And for bonny Annie Laurie
III lay ME down and die.
The literary history Of Scotland. the
richest of tie world. tells us that the
fair Annie was born Dec l6. 1852.
Two centuries have passed and carried
away the iieetiug generations born
since she waS lass CT IS. but the
tender grace of the lovers song is still
finding warm response in the heart of
every loYpr Poor Douglas. Doubt
less he kept the faith and laid him
down and died The musty voice of
the past does not tell us much of him.
Possibly some grass widow soothed
his sorrow. hut II Ia mare in keeping
that we should imagine him wander
ing like some pale ghost about the
banks OF the Nth. sad and dreary
hearted. mourning the loss Of his Annie
Laurie
The delightful air of the old song
was composed by Lady .Iane Scott and
viii live so long as music has devotee
or heart to heart responsive beats. The
wording of the song has undergone seY-
eral changes. the present version being
the work of Lady Spottswood of the
same family az that Spottswood Of Vir-
rinia to whom nr Ticknor referred
when he wrote the martial lines:
The kindliest Of the kindly band
That. rarely hating ease.
Yet rode with spottswood round the land
And Raleigh round the seas
A literary Genius.
In the little village of East Aurora.
N. Y, there s book publisher and lit
erary genius of the name OF Ebert
Hubbard. familiarly known to the
thousands who know and admire bin
through his writings and his beautiful
de luxe editions as Fra Eihcrtgs This
man once carried dinner pail--not al
ways McKinieyized- and worked for
day wages He thinks. writes his
thought in vigorous aud picturesque
English and each month sends US q
few of them in The Philistine at 10
cents per.
In 1898 Hubbard was in Italy. lie
writes:
To refuse 10 give to the beggafs is to invite in
suit and insolcnee Desperation is written on the
dark faces that beseech you. and when you reniem-
Der how, not many moons ago. this superhuous
Italian populace exploded in one wild yell and
made dash for the baker shop windows you do
not wonder.
Naples, Rome, Florence and Milan were placed
under martial law. snd at Milan alone in the
month Of May. is0s. 200 people were shot by the
soldiers in the streets during my brief stay.
| saw volleys fred into crowds The living
would scurry away like frightened rabbits into
alleys, houses. side streets cellars. but there On
the sidewalks and in the streets lay the fallen and
tumbled dead-mcn. women and children In less
tkan Ave minutes time wagons with soldiers
dashed up. the dead and dying were thrown like
cord wood into the springless tunhrels, and with
cracking Of whips the horses snd wagons dashed
away. Some Of the soldiers remained. and with
hose and buckets and brooms every yestige OF
blood was washed away. The newspapers made
no reports. Some OF them denied that volley
had been frcd.
And now the king Of Italy has gone by quick
and painless route into the beyond. He was only
man-not a great man: neither was he a bad
man, only vain, ignorant. selfish man, with
transient moods OF wanting to do right whose
feet had been caught IN mesh Of wrong and
who hadn't the power to get away. To kill him
was absurd. tor the wrong for which he stood still
exists II Is the institution and policy, NOT the
man More volleys will be fired into the crowds
that cry for bread The death carts will continue
to dump their victims into cofsniess graves
Pity the Helpless.
shed tears for the homeless. the Asrassed, the
oppressed. tor the women who hold hungry babes
to famished breasts, for the ignorant and brutal
who wrench at their bonds and WHO By violence
hope TO aehieye freedom.
For the dead king waste no pity. fie himself
caused thousands Of men to be killed. lie lived
by the sword and died by the bullet. What els<
could he expect. lie invited his tate. lie was
only elase at the last. and death has set him
free.
Italy has less than one-half lhe population Of
the United States yet she has nsyy that out
matches ours She maintains an army Of $4,000
men in time Of peace She cannot possibly ad-
vance and carry The army that rides upon her
back Italy Is the extreme type oi nj European
countries except Switzerland. Holland. Norway
and sweden 4hsse last stand for inteilieence,
scbriety beauty and wsrth. ltals Is rotSing At
the core The moss IS Il work nusIing down the
palaces that Csprino planned; he grass springs
| from befwecu the paving stones where Michael
Angelo trod. and De nsl.t Romans and ceuzslx