16 STUDIES OF NATURE 



Kirtle; but, as we hurry past, we catch a 

 glimpse by the river-side of just such a pensive 

 glade as that on which the incomparable Helen 

 might have received the dart which was in- 

 tended for her lover ; and, thereafter, for the 

 rest of the journey, the sobbing cadences of the 

 old ballad go murmuring through the mind, or 

 break into half- audible song with the rumble 

 of the train for accompaniment. Strange con- 

 fluence of the ancient and the new ! 



I wish I were where Helen lies ! 

 For night and day on me she cries ; 

 I wish I were where Helen lies, 

 On fair Kirkconnel Lea ! 



Helen fair, beyond compare ! 

 I'll weave a garland o' thy hair, 

 And wear the same for ever mair, 



Until the day I dee. 



1 wish my grave were growing green, 

 A winding-sheet about my een, 



And I in Helen's arms lying 

 On fair Kirkconnel Lea ! 



At Mauchline the clouded Arran looms in 

 the West, and I remember with much interest 





