Songs of Other Days 227 



**Fair as a lily, joyous and free, 

 Light of that prairie home was she, 

 Every one who knew her felt the gentle power 

 Of Rosalie, the prairie flower." 



As was usual with the sentimental song-heroines 

 of that day, Eosalie died and was buried in the 

 final verse of the song. 



Another favourite that I recall was **My Blue- 

 eyed Bonnie Eloise." This came from the big 

 Republic to the South, too. I can only recall the 

 opening verse and I feel that I may be ''mixed" 

 on it. 



"Oh, sweet is the vale, where the Mohawk gently glides, 

 On its clear winding way to the sea, 

 But fairer than all storied streams on earth to me 

 Is the Belle of the Mohawk Isle." 



The negro melodies of Stephen Collins Foster 

 and the Jacobite ballads of Bonnie Scotland were, 

 of course, often sung and were always popular. 



THE OLD-TIME FmDLE 



In pioneer days about the only musical instru- 

 ment to be found in the old farmhouse was the 

 violin — or rather, the fiddle. 



And speaking about fiddling, dear reader, did 

 you ever think when listening to such music that it 

 was the joint production of a cat and a horse and 

 a man or woman. You didn't, eh I Well, here's a 

 little verselet that will set you ruminating: 



