man. His literary productions are numerous; but he will be longest remembered for his songs, some of which, exquisitely pure, simple, and pawkily wise, have obtained a world-wide renown. Two of his songs especially, "Castles in the Air" and "Ilka Blade o' Grass keps its ain drap o' Dew," are known to every singer of "a guid Scotch sang." He was born in 1808, at the West Port of Edinburgh, and lost his father, who was a brewer, when he was only ten years old. Being the youngest of the family, which consisted of three daughters and himself, his early training devolved upon his mother, who did all in her power to obtain for her children the advantages of an ordinary education. While yet a mere boy, however, he had to exert himself for his own support and the assistance of the family. He was accordingly apprenticed to a house-painter, and very soon attained to considerable proficiency in his trade. On growing up to manhood he made strenuous exertions to obtain the educational advantages which were not within his reach at an earlier period of life, and about his twentieth year he attended the University of Edinburgh for the study of anatomy, with a view to his professional improvement. At a subsequent period he turned his attention to the art of painting on glass, and he was long well known as one of the most distinguished of British artists in that department. When the designs and specimens of glass-painting for the windows of the House of Lords were publicly competed for, the Royal Commissioners of the Fine Arts adjudged those produced by Mr Ballantine as the best which were exhibited, and the execution of the work was entrusted to him. Although Mr Ballantine began at a very early age to woo the Muse, some of his most popular pieces having been produced about his sixteenth year, he made his first appearance in print in the pages of Whistle Binkie." In 1843 the early edition of his well-known work, "The Gaberlunzie's Wallet," was published in monthly numbers, illustrated by the late Alexander Ritchie. This production was enriched with some of his best lyrics. There was something taking in the very title of the work, and the evidences of original genius which it displayed were strong and unmistakable. It proved that the author had an eye to the picturesque, an ear for verse, and a true feeling both for the humorous and pathetic. A cheap edition was issued by the Edinburgh Publishing Company in 1874. This work was followed by "The Miller of Deanhaugh," which likewise contains a number of songs and ballads. In 1856 Messrs Constable & Co., of Edinburgh, published an edition of his poems, including many of those which had been previously given to the world. This volume contains the happiest effusions of his genius, and at once procured him a prominent place in the country's literature. In 1875 a volume appeared from his pen, entitled "One Hundred Songs," and a later production, containing a love tale in the Spenserian stanza called "Lilias Lee," and "Malcolm Canmore," an historical drama, was issued in 1872. Mr Ballantine died in December, 1877, at the ripe age of seventy. His poetry is not the mere dreamy effusion of sentimental fancy, but a faithful transcript of the impressions produced upon an honest heart and a discerning mind by mutual contact with the realties of life. One of his reviewers has said that "his exquisite taste for the beautiful in natural scenery and in language, his keen eye to observe, and his warm heart to commiserate the sorrows of mankind, render him a sweet singer' after Nature's own heart; while his thorough mastery of the fine language of old Scotland, in all its wealth and pith of expressive terms and familiar idioms, gives him the power to wield at will the sympathies and feelings of a large portion of his fellow-countrymen." The grand lesson of his life is that while loving and wooing the poetic spirit, he resolutely minded his business. Lord Cockburn, who was an admirer of the man as well as the poet, condensed the moral of his dual life in one happy phrase: Ballantine, he said, "made business feed the Muses, and the Muses grace the business." CASTLES IN THE AIR. The bonnie, bonnie bairn sits pokin' in the ase, His wee chubby face, an' his towzy curly pow, He sees muckle castles towerin' to the moon, For a' sae sage he looks, what can the laddie ken ? Sic a nicht in winter may weel mak' him cauld; He'll glower at the fire, and he'll keck at the light; Creep awa', my bairnie, creep afore ye gang; Creep awa', my bairnie, ye're ower young to learn Ye'll creep, an' ye'll laugh, an' ye'll nod to your mither, The wee birdie fa's when it tries ower soon to flee; ILKA BLADE O' GRASS KEPS ITS AIN DRAP O' DEW. Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is kind, For ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew. Gin reft frae friends, or cross'd in love, as whiles nae doot ye've been, Grief lies deep-hidden in your heart, or tears flow frae your een, Believe it for the best, and trow there's good in store for you, In lang, lang days o' simmer when the clear an' cludless sky Sae lest 'mid fortune's sunshine we should feel ower proud an' hie, An' in our pride forget to wipe the tear frae poortith's ee, Some wee dark cluds o' sorrow come, we ken na whence or hoo, But ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew. THE SNAWY KIRKYARD. A' Nature lay dead, save the cauld whistlin blast O! snelly the hail smote the skeleton trees The wee Muirland Kirk, whar the pure Word o' God Through a' the hale parish, nae Elder was known And aye when I think on the times lang gane by, In soothing sad sorrow, in calming mad mirth, His breath, like the south wind, strewed balm on the earth, And weary souls laden wi' grief aft were driven To seek comfort frae him, wha aye led them to Heaven. Now age wi' his hoar-frost has crispit my pow, I hae health for my portion. and truth for my dower, And mony puir bodies my awmrie hae shared, A SONG TO HIS MOTHER. Mine ain wee mensefu', mindfu' minny, Just sit ye still a wee, an' dinna Tent your ain callant, Until he sketch your picture in a Wee hamely ballant. |