Campbell." The whole page has been crumpled and torn, either purposely or by much fingering. The blank leaf at the end of the volume contained an affecting relic, that is to say, an unusually long lock of auburn hair from the head of Highland Mary. The lock was affixed to the leaf by a tiny pin, and two little pieces of paper wafered over it. This hair is religiously guarded, together with the Bible, in the mausoleum at Alloway. The front leaf of the second volume is inscribed, "Thou shalt not fors wear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. Matt., 5th ch., 33rd verse. On the opposite page, although somewhat mutilated, is distinctly, in the poet's own handwriting, "Robert Burns, Mossgiel."

Thus Cromek's story has been confirmed, and some of Burns's most impassioned lyrics explained, as far as explanation was needed, by the recovery of this Bible on the other side of the Atlantic! Long may this relic rest undisturbed in its present sanctuary!

FROM THE

HIGHLAND MARY.

"LIFE AND LAND OF BURNS."

By ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

It is the privilege of genius to confer immortality on things mortal, and give to beauty a fame which can die only with the language in which that fame is bestowed. All the true songs of our nation have been written from the heart, and addressed not to creatures of fancy, but to beings of flesh and blood-warm and real. This is known to the world, who have shown at all times a lively curiosity to learn the history of those who have given life to poetry, and to whose charms we are indebted for the finest productions of the muse. Who would be unwilling to hear the story of the Rosalind of Spenser, the Sacharissa of Waller, or the Highland Mary of Robert Burns?

Mary Campbell, for such is the name of the most famous of the heroines of northern song, was a mariner's daughter, a native of Ardrossan, in Ayrshire; and lived, when she won the heart of the poet, in the humble situation of dairymaid in the "Castle of Montgomery." All who have

written of her, have spoken of her beauty, the swarm of admirers which her loveliness brought, and the warmth, yet innocence, of her affection for the poet of her native hills. A single song is all that the prolific muse of Burns addressed to her before "hungry ruin had him in the wind ;" and he was about to quit the banks of the Ayr, of the Irvine, and

XVIII.

Honour to Scotland and to BURNS!
In him she stands collected.
A thousand streams one river make,
Thus genius, heaven-directed,
Conjoins all separate veins of power
In one great soul creation,

And blends a million men to make
The Poet of the nation!

XIX.

Honour to BURNS? and her who first
Let loose the abounding river
Of music from the Poet's heart,

Borne through all lands for ever!
How much to her mankind has owed
Of song's selected treasures!
Unsweetened by her kiss, his lips
Had sung for other measures.

XX.

Be green for aye, green bank and brae
Around Montgomery's Castle !

Blow there ye earliest flowers! and there
Ye sweetest song birds nestle !
For there was ta'en that last farewell,
In hope, indulged how blindly;
And there was given that long last gaze

"That dwelt" on him " sae kindly."

XXI.

No word of thine recorded stands,
Few words that hour were spoken:
Two Bibles there were interchanged
And some slight love-gift broken.
And there thy cold, faint hands he pressed,
Thy head by dewdrops misted;

And kisses, ill-resisted first,

At last were unresisted.

XXII.

Ah, cease!—she died. He too is dead.
Of all her girlish graces,

Perhaps one nameless lock remains :
The rest stern Time effaces.

Dust lost in dust. Not so; a bloom
Is hers which ne'er can wither;
And in that lay, which lives for aye,
The twain live on together.

HIGHLAND MARY'S GRAVE.

FROM "THE PEOPLE'S JOURNAL."

DURING the past few years the Greenock Burns Club has caused the grave of Highland Mary to be dressed and planted with flowers. But the ground at one time having sunk below the level of the adjoining graves, it was too wet for successful growth, and even when leaves did appear, they were not allowed to remain more than a few days till they were plucked and carried away as mementoes. On one occasion, two gentlemen from a distance visited the grave, and expressed astonishment that it was not planted with flowers. The reason was explained to them, whereupon one walked away a few feet, plucked a flower, which he threw on Highland Mary's grave, and then asked his friend to lift it and put it in his pocket-book, because they would be able to say when they got home that it was from Highland Mary's grave. The Committee of the Club lately (1891) resolved to take the advice of a practical gardener as to the best mode of decorating the grave, and asked Mr. Hugh Crichton, chief gardener to Mrs. J. T. Caird, Belleaire, to report. That gentleman stated that the ground from its situation was unsuitable for growing plants or flowers, and recommended that the hollow of the ground should be filled up with cement, and that white boulders should be broken up and placed in the cement, the grave thus being arched over. That suggestion has been carried out, and has a very pleasing appearance. The Committee of the Club got the monument