BUSH BALLADS AND RHYMES 



FRAGMENTARY SCENES 



FROM 



THE ROAD TO AVERNUS 



AN UNPUBLISHED DRAMATIC LYRIC 



Scene I 

 "DISCONTENT" 



Laurence Raby 

 Laurence : 



I SAID to young Allan M'llveray, 



Beside the swift swirls of the North, 

 When, in lilac shot through with a silver ray, 



We haul'd the strong salmon fish forth, 

 Said only, '* He gave us some trouble 



To land him, and what does he weigh ? 

 Our friend has caught one that weighs double, 



The game for the candle won't pay 



Us to-day. 



W^e may tie up our rods and away." 



I said to old Norman M'Gregor, 



Three leagues to the west of Glen Dhu — 

 I had drawn, with a touch of the trigger, 



The best bead that ever I drew — 

 Said merely, *' For birds in the stubble 



I once had an eye — I could swear 



216 



