POETRY.
THE SONG OF THE PEEBLES PEDLAR.
As I cam' doon the water-side I heard the water on the stanes (I saw the brichtly-coloured stanes)
But nocht heard I o' kelpies' manes,
Nor saw them play wi' drooned men's banes, As I cam' doon the water-side.
As I cam' doon the side o' Tweed, Frae Stobo back tae Peebles Toon (I saw the roofs o' Peebles Toon), I heard in pools the suckin' sown' 0'•eddies swirlin' slowly roun' As I cam' doon the side o' Tweed.
As I cam' doon the water-side The lauchter that I heard was no' (Och aye, I'm very sure 'twas no') Lauchter o' fairy folk that go Wi' "milk-white limbs" alang the flow :
Sic havers mock the water-side.
Nae need for tae invent a thing— And kelpies nane have ever seen. Does't no' suffice that in atween Sic banks o' trees, and grasses green, Sic singin' waters intervene Miraculous as onything?
Aye, always doon the water-side The things I see suffice for me (It's a' miraculous tae me): Ilk tree, and flourish in the tree, And this auld water the the sea Whimplin' and lauchin' by my side.
JEAN LINDSAY.
Previous page
