WORDSWORTH'S LINES OX HIS GRACE 211 



' Hate, euvy, oft the Douglas bore ; 

 But he has superadded uiore, 



And sunk them in contempt. 

 Follies and crimes have stain'd the name ; 

 But, Queensberry, thine the virgin claim — 



From aught that 's good exempt.' 



These lines are a slight departure from my subject 

 — the destruction of the woods of Drumlanrig and 

 Neidpath. But let us see what an English poet says 

 on the Duke's conduct — Wordsworth, who sets forth 

 in a sonnet, composed presumably at either one of 

 the denuded estates : 



' Degenerate Douglas ! oh, the unworthy lord ! 

 Whom mere despite of heart could so far please 

 And love of havoc (for with such disease 

 Fame taxes him), that he could send forth word 

 To level with the dust a noble horde, 

 A brotherhood of venerable trees, 

 Leaving an ancient dome, and towers like these, 

 Beggared and outraged ! Many hearts deplored 

 The fate of those old trees ; and oft with pain 

 The traveller, at this day, will stop and gaze 



On wrongs which Nature scarcely seems to heed ; 

 For sheltered places, bosoms, nooks, and bays. 

 And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed, 

 And the green silent pastures, yet remain.' 



Wordsworth's lines lack the fire and poetic genius 

 of Burns's denunciation. Smollett, when journeying 

 northwards, was attracted by the beauty of the woods 



