When he, to whom are given the keys of earth and

heaven,

Has no power to pardon me?"

"O I am sent from a distant clime,
Five thousand miles away,

And all to absolve a foul, foul crime,
Done here 'twixt night and day."

The Pilgrim kneeled him on the sand,
And thus began his saye

When on his neck an ice-cold hand

Did that Grey Brother laye.

NOTES

ON

THE GREY BROTHER.

From that fair dome, where suit is paid

By blast of bugle free.-P. 189. v. 3.

The barony of Pennycuik, the property of Sir George Clerk, Bart., is held by a singular tenure; the proprietor being bound to sit upon a large rocky fragment, called the Buckstane, and wind three blasts of a horn, when the king shall come to hunt on the Borough Muir, near Edinburgh. Hence, the family have adopted, as their crest, a demi-forester proper, winding a horn, with the motto, Free for a Blast. The beautiful mansion-house of Pennicuik is much admired, both on account of the architecture and surrounding scenery.

To Auchendinny's hazel glade.— P. 189. v. 3. Auchendinny, situated upon the Eske, below Pennycuik, the present residence of the ingenious H. Mackenzie, Esq. author of The man of Feeling, &c.

And haunted Woodhouselee.-P. 189. v. 3.

For the traditions connected with this ruinous mansion, see the ballad of Cadyow Castle, p. 164.

Who knows not Melville's beechy grove.-P. 189. v. 4. Melville Castle, the seat of the honourable Robert Dundas, member for the county of Mid-Lothian, is delightfully situated upon the Eske, near Laswade. It gives the title of viscount to his father, lord Melville.

And Roslin's rocky glen.-P. 189. v. 4.

The ruins of Roslin Castle, the baronial residence of the ancient family of St Clair. The Gothic Chapel, which is still in beautiful preservation, with the romantic and woody dell in which they are situated, belong to the right honourable the Earl of Rosslyn, the representative of the for mer lords of Roslin.

Dalkeith, which all the virtues love.-P. 189. v. 4. The village and castle of Dalkeith belonged, of old, to the famous earl of Morton, but is now the residence of the noble family of Buccleuch. The park extends along the Eske, which is there joined by its sister stream of the same name.

And classic Hawthornden.-P. 189. v. 4.

Hawthornden, the residence of the poet Drummond. A house of more modern date is enclosed, as it were, by the ruins of the ancient castle, and overhangs a tremendous precipice,

upon the banks of the Eske, perforated by winding caves, which, in former times, formed a refuge to the oppressed patriots of Scotland. Here Drummond received Ben Jonson, who journeyed from London, on foot, in order to visit him. The beauty of this striking scene has been much injured, of late years, by the indiscriminate use of the axe. The traveller now looks in

vain for the leafy bower,

"Where Jonson sate in Drummond's social shade."

Upon the whole, tracing the Eske from its source, till it joins the sea, at Musselburgh, no stream in Scotland can boast such a varied succession of the most interesting objects, as well as of the most romantic. and beautiful scenery.

THE

FIRE-KING.

"The blessings of the evil Genii, which are curses, were upon " him.” Eastern Tale.

This ballad was written at the request of MR LEWIS, to be inserted in his "Tales of Wonder." It is the third in a series of four ballads, on the subject of Elementary Spirits. The story is, however, partly historical; for it is recorded, that, during the struggles of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, a KnightTemplar, called Saint-Alban, deserted to the Saracens, and defeated the Christians in many combats, till he was finally routed and slain, in a conflict with King Baldwin, under the walls of Jerusalem.

BOLD knights and fair dames, to my harp give an ear, Of love, and of war, and of wonder to hear;

And you haply may sigh, in the midst of your glee,

At the tale of Count Albert, and fair Rosalie.