Canadian Forestry Journal, March, iqi6. 



435 



On the Destruction of Drumlanrig Woods 



(First published in the Scots- 

 Magazine for July, 1803, where it is 

 stated the verses had been found 

 ""written on the window-shutter of 

 a small inn on the banks of the 

 Nith," and that they were "supposed 

 to have been written by Burns.") 



As on the banks of winding Nith 

 Ae smiling simmer morn I stray- 

 ed, 

 And trac'd its bonie holms and 

 haughs, 

 Where linties sang, and lammies 

 play'd, 

 I sat me down upon a craig, 



And drank my fill o' fancy's 

 dream, 

 When from the eddying deep below 

 Up rose the Genius of the Stream. 



Dark like the frowning rock his 

 brow, 

 And troubled like his wintry wave, 

 And deep as soughs the boding wind 

 Among the caves the sigh he gave. 

 'And come ye here, my son,' he 

 cried, 

 'To wander in my birken shade ? 

 To muse some favorite Scottish 

 theme 

 Or sing some favorite Scottish 

 maid? 



'There was a time, it's nae lang syne, 



Ye might hae seen me in my pride. 



When all my banks sae bravely saw 



Their woody pictures in my tide ; 



When hanging beech and spreading 



elm 



Shaded my stream sae clear and 



cool ; 



And stately oaks their twisted arms 

 Threw broad and dark across the 

 cool. 



'When, glinting thro' the trees, ap- 

 pear'd 



The wee white cot aboon the mill. 

 And peaceful rose its ingle reek. 



That, slowlv curling, clamb the 

 hill. 

 But now the cot is bare and cauld, 



Its leafy bield for ever gane, 

 And scarce a stinted birk is left 



To shiver in the blast its lane. 



'Alas,' quoth I, 'what ruefu' chance 

 Hast twin'd ye o' your stately 

 trees? 

 Has laid your rocky bosom bare? 

 Has stripp'd the deeding aff your 

 braes? 

 Was it the bitter easten blast, 

 That scatters blight in early 

 spring? 

 Or was't the wil' fire scorch'd their 

 boughs? 

 Or canker-worm wi' secret sting? 



'Nae eastling blast,' the Sprite re- 

 plied — 

 Tt blaws na here sae fierce and 

 fell, 

 And on my dry and halesome banks 

 Nae canker-worms get leave to 

 dwell : 

 Man ! cruel man ! the Genius sigh'd, 

 As through the cliffs he sat him 

 down : 

 'The worm that gnaw'd my bonnie 

 trees. 

 That reptile wears a Ducal crown. 



At the government nurseries lo- 

 cated at Berthierville, for the Prov- 

 ince of Quebec, at St. Williams, On- 

 tario, for the Province of Ontario 

 and at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, 

 for the Dominion Government, and 

 at Sutherland, Saskatchewan, stock 

 will again be available this year. 

 The number of trees shipped from 



Indian Head has steadily increased 

 from over two and one-half million 

 in 1910 to about three and three- 

 quarter million in 1914. These trees 

 are distributed among farmers 

 throughout the prairie provinces 

 mainly for shelter belts, woodlots 

 and the beautifying of grounds 

 around buildings. 



