8 i THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES /o. LAYS AND LYRICS OF ENGLAND And Verses Various BY M. C. TYNDALL J. BAKER & SON, CLIFTON AND 25 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON 1S9S AUTHOR'S NOTE IT should be mentioned that six of the poems in this volume were published some years ago in a book entitled Rhymes, Real and Romantic, which is now out of print, and having been frequently asked for, they are reproduced here, and will be found in the following order :-- "The Wreck of the Birkenhead." "In a Garden." " Indian Summer." "The Lost Churchyard." "The Viking's Galley," and "Elizabeth's Garden at Heidelberg." tu CONTENTS OF ROYAL ENGLAND God's Gift to England "Ready" "Brother to Brother Spake" Before and After At Hougoumont . The Wreck of the "Birkenhead ' A Farewell to the Colours "And the Toast was Drunk in Silence" "The Wooden Walls of England" The Ensign of England The Church Schools of England . 7 10 13 17 19 22 24 26 29 IN RURAL ENGLAND In a Garden Indian Summer v 35 37 CONTENTS A Somersetshire Garden . PACT • 39 Bristol Bells • 42 In the West Country . • 45 . 47 The Hill of the Seven Barrows 5o My House of Dreams . . 53 Clovelly . A Welcome in Spring . • 57 In Summer Time . • 59 A Summer Night . . 60 " Tally Ho ! " . . 61 The Great Frost of 1890-91 • 64 The World's Highway . . 66 White Wings ... • 69 The Swan Song • 72 A Nosegay 1 • 74 VERSES VARIOUS Nursery Rhymes 79 "Sweet Seventeen" 82 Our Country Cousins 85 l: A Valentine" 87 vi CONTENTS Then and Now The Sea . A Captive. Cupid in the Garden Love's Posy On the Burgenstock The Glen . PAGE 8 9 93 96 98 100 101 103 OF THE DAYS OF OLD— BALLADS The Norseman's Feast. The Viking's Galley . The Norse Ships at Narbonne The Relief of Leyden, 1574 El Dorado .... Elizabeth's Garden at Heideleerg "The Terror by Night" . A Memory of the "'Forty-Five :: At the Galleys .... The Ballad of the King of Spains Daughter The Wilful Princess The Little Dancing Ghost .... vii 107 no 114 118 1^5 127 130 132 i34 136 M4 148 CONTENTS . IN THE COURTS OF THE TEMPLE I'AGE "Defenders of the Faith : ' 155 "Before the Angel" 157 A Christian Martyr 159 The Ideal Life 161 Sonnet 163 A Haunted House 164 "If" 166 " Miserrimus " 168 The Way of the World 170 Vlil OF ROYAL ENGLAND B GOD'S GIFT TO ENGLAND Jubilee f>gmn Tune — "St. Albans " (Haydn). GLORY and thanksgiving Be to God on high, For the Queen He gave us In the time gone by. England's sons and daughters, Here on English sod, Praise for countless mercies Render unto God; For the stainless record Sixty years have seen, For the gift He gave us In our gracious Queen ! England's sons and daughters Come to keep the feast : North and South and Westward, And the restless East. 3 LAYS AND LYRICS All her boundless Empire, Land and isle and sea, Come their Queen to honour At her Jubilee ! Glory and thanksgiving Be to God on high, For the Queen He gave us Sixty years gone by Sixty years of Progress, Honour, freedom, fame, Evermore extending England's ancient name. Justice, truth, and mercy, Mark her sway benign, Reigning well and wisely Longest of her line! Well may England's people, In exultant words, For the Queen He gave them Praise the Lord of Lords ! Praise Him for the blessings Righteous acts have wrought, Christian work increasing, Powers of Evil fought ; 4 OF ENGLAND Poor, and sick and sinful, Succoured, taught, and fed ; Deeds of mercy offered Unto Christ the Head. And our Queen stands foremost In all righteous ways, So for these His mercies Be to God the praise. Praise for gifts unnumbered In this longest reign, Wonders yet unfolding, That the years attain. Manifold inventions, Sound, and steam, and light, Enterprise exploring Field, and flood, and height. Unto God be glory Now and evermore, From all hearts in England Loyal as of yore ! Rise up, then, ye people ! Every rank and creed, All her loyal subjects Give our Queen God speed ! LAYS AND LYRICS Pray that God may bless her, Guard her through all strife, And at last ma}* crown her With Eternal Life. Glory to the Father, Glory to the Son, And the Holy Spirit Ever Three in One! OF ENGLAND READY" Suggested by the picture of a Lion on guard in Daily Graphic for January ir, 1396, the time of the war scare. T l HE Nations watched Britannia with furtive eyes of hate, As calm she sat, and silent, above her narrow strait ; They deemed her sunk in slumber, absorbed in greed of gold ; They thought the Lion by her had grown effete and old. They marked the gathering war-clouds with ill- disguised content : " She stands alone, and friendless, and will not dare resent ! " And thus the Nations muttered, till one rose in his place To hurl with reckless challenge an insult in her face. * * * * * LAYS AND LYRICS Who said Britannia slumbered ? Who deemed her pride gone by? Lo ! every man in England has thrown them back the lie ! A sound thrilled through the Island, a growl the stillness brake, The Nations wondered awestruck, the Lion is awake ! From seaboard unto seaboard, from Portsmouth to the Nore, From Plymouth Sound to Spithead, all round the Southern shore, In squadron after squadron, full armed from keel to peak, The great war - vessels muster along the silver streak. And o'er the dim horizon, from lands beyond the sea, Her vast Colonial Empire, where British hearts beat free; From North, South, East, and Westward, by ties of blood held dear, Her children's loyal voices give their great Mother cheer. 8 OF ENGLAND Britannia rouses slowly, her patience suffers long, But her wrath, once kindled, blazes before the sense of wrong ; The spirit of their fathers her sons inherit yet, And the Lion once awakened, he doth not soon forget ! And thus before the Nations Britannia stands and waits, Her royal beast beside her to guard the narrow straits ; "God and St. George for England!' the watch- word of her might : Heaven give us peace with honour, and God de- fend the right ! LAYS AND LYRICS "BROTHER TO BROTHER SPAKE."*' A ( CROSS the great Atlantic with trumpet tongue there came Brave words as bravely spoken, that flash as beacon flame; Columbia's son for England, the threatened ten- sion breaks, Where Senators had blundered, brother to brother speaks ! " I see," he said, " the Nations with sullen scowl and sneer, With hostile front to England, draw nearer, and more near; All Europe linked together by bonds of envious hate, In half ashamed Alliance, against the Island state. * Speech by Senator Walcott (at Washington), February, 1896. 10 OF ENGLAND " I mark how England's people rise at their Country's call, Their hand upon the sword-hilt, united one and all, How shoulder unto shoulder her sons unflinching- stand, In steadfast silence waiting what Duty may de- mand. " I see her mighty war-ships, the proudest Fleet at sea, From Port to Port preparing for what the end may be ; Army and Navy joining to guard their Island throne, England against all Nations, undaunted and alone ! " And as I watch and marvel, there thrills with- in my breast A sympathetic fervour that will not be supprest ; The bond of blood is mighty, our race and theirs is one ; I thank my God, exulting, I too am England's son ! ir LAYS AND LYRICS " Nay ! till just cause divides them, let our great Nations stand, America and England, with hand fast clasped in hand ; One blood, one tongue, one kindred, for glory and for peace, And God forbid that ever, their harmony should cease ! " 12 OF ENGLAND BEFORE AND AFTER August-October, 1588 Before WHEN good Queen Bess was on the throne, And England well could hold her own, And guard her Island shore ; While her proud sons stood sword in hand, The bulwark of their native land, When Raleigh, Drake, and Grenville fought, And each their Country's honour sought In the brave days of yore : One August day, ere sun was set, All England's great sea-captains met To stroll on Plymouth Hoe ; To play at bowls in contest keen, Or pace along the level green, In converse weighing o'er again The threatened armaments of Spain ; Debate what England's force could yield Of ships or men, to take the field Against the Popish foe. 13 LAYS AND LYRICS That August night a message sped, Which tipped the hills with lurid red; Each hill its fellow hailed. It roused the land from shore to shore, From Milford Haven to the Nore ; From Dartmoor Tors to Cotswold hill, And by the coast to Portland Bill, While wives and maidens paled. And men their harness buckled on, And watched the midnight skies which shone With beacon fires aflame. Darkness and dawn found Plymouth street, Astir with sound of hurrying feet, Athrong with knights of fame ; And ships were manned, and anchors weighed, As the High Admiral's orders bade ; For grave the tidings of the night, — How off the Scilly Isles in sight, Beyond the ending of the land, Like some vast cloud that ocean spanned, The Great Armada came ! After Where is that great Armada now? Sealed to the Saints by prayer and vow, Blessed by the Pope's own hand ? Where are the arms and treasure stored, 14 OF ENGLAND Those lofty Galleons safe aboard? Where are the puissant Dons of Spain, Their tonsured friars, their armoured train, And where the countless hosts who went Proudly from Spanish shores intent To conquer Britain's land ? Go ask of Howard, Hawkins, Drake, And heroes sailing in their wake, Their country to defend. Go ask each gallant ship and crew, Who bravely England's ensign flew, Who mocked defeat, and fought, or fell, The Spaniard's arrogance to quell ; A3 T e ! let these English warriors tell The great Armada's end ! Where are those mighty Galleons, say, With all the wealth that in them lay, Proud Spain's rich argosies ? Go, sound the Goodwin's deadly shoal, And where the North Sea waters roll ; Go, search the crags of Flamborough Head, The swirl of Tarbat's billows dread, — And where Atlantic currents spread Round wind-blown Hebrides ! 15 LAYS AND LYRICS Ask of the lonely Orkneys, then, For Galleons lost and drowned men, For wreck and ruin, dark and deep, Where fierce white-crested breakers sweep Beneath relentless skies. * * # * * Nay ! ask the winds of God which brought Aid to the patriot band who fought, And crowned the victory they wrought ; Ask of the ocean and the air, The Heaven-sent storm and tempest, — where The great Armada lies! 16 OF ENGLAND AT HOUGOUMONT * May 27th, 1396 ROUND Hougoumont the sunshine falls From cloudless skies of May, Upon its circling orchard walls, And grassy slopes to-day. The same old walls, all seamed and scarred, Defaced by shot and shell, Which eighty summers back had barred The French advance so well. And where their fire was spent in vain Against an unseen foe, The broken loopholes still remain That stern defence to show. * It is recorded that, after Waterloo, the Duke said the fate of the battle had turned upon the closing of the North Gate at Hougoumont. 17 c LAYS AND LYRICS The old North gate stands wide to-day, A hard-fought barrier then, — Upon whose fateful closing lay Full many lives of men. And though no tombstone marks the spot Where sleep those nameless slain, Their gallant stand is ne'er forgot, The battered walls remain ! The sweet air stirs the dancing leaves Of apple boughs o'erhead, But never heart is left who grieves For those unnumbered dead. They lie in ranks around the wall, Or friend or foe the same, Beyond the sound of bugle call, Beyond the reach of fame. A broken wall, an ancient gate (So slight life's agents are) Become the instruments of Fate, The obstacles of War ! 18 OF ENGLAND THE WRECK OF THE BIRKENHEAD OUR British soldiers need no pen To tell their gallant deeds to men, Their valour in the fight. From age to age their praises roll From sea to sea, from pole to pole, Till Time itself fills up the scroll In everlasting light! 'Neath Spanish sun, in Russian snows, 'Mid India's hordes of dusky foes, They fought, the bravest brave, In storm and siege, through fire and flood, On many a battlefield of blood, Have Britain's sons as victors stood, Or found a glorious grave! But not alone they meet their doom Where sabres flash, and batteries boom, And gallant hearts beat high ; 19 LAYS AND LYRICS For ne'er 'mid all the noble dead Is a purer light of glory shed, Than on those who in the Birkenhead Have shown how heroes die. Dark fell the night on storm and wreck, The raging breakers swept the deck, The ship was sinking fast. The boats are launched — but what are the)', Those waiting hundreds to convey? The few must go — the many stay — Ah! who will be the last? It is the question — Die or live? And no reply the soldiers give ; They silently fall in. They know the doom'd ship must go down, They know that those who stay must drown, They dream not of the high renown Their sacrifice shall win ! Unmoved they stand 'mid flying foam, As in the barrack-yard at home, In martial line arrayed. Calmly the Colonel gave the word, And silently the soldiers heard, While from the ranks not one man stirred, They stood as on parade. 20 OF ENGLAND And while the angry waves rose high, Steadfast they waited there to die, And, in their ranks, went down. There side by side in fathoms deep, Until the last Great Day they sleep, — But English hearts shall ever keep For them a hero's crown ! 21 LAYS AND LYRICS T A FAREWELL TO THE COLOURS RAMP of troops in step advancing, Sharp the word rings out—" Right wheel ! " Clank of arms, the sunlight glancing On the steel. With their band to lead them, march they, All astir the cloistered street; By the old Cathedral archway Drums are beat. With the colours borne exalted, For the last time on before, Till within the Precincts halted At the door. Then, the white-robed clergy leading, Pass the escort — rank and file, With the colours still preceding, Up the aisle. March they on, nor pause, nor falter, With the colours of the Crown ; Till the Priest upon God's Altai- Lays them down. 22 OF ENGLAND Lays them down each war-worn colour, Crossways on the Altar there, With their battle-roll of valour Blazoned fair. There the flags first consecrated, Marred by war, and shot, and smirch, Now once more are dedicated By the Church. And to Heaven on high appealing, Voices rise, and prayers are said ; All alike, in reverence kneeling, Bend the head. Then the colours, carried slowly For the last time to their place, In the transept's shadow holy Find a space. Sounds the band in cadence solemn, Booming dirge-like, sad and slow, Echoed back by arch and column As they go. But with measured tread retreating, Many a gallant spirit fell, When the brave old colours greeting In farewell ! —0 LAYS AND LYRICS "AND THE TOAST WAS DRUNK IN SILENCE" THEY called for the health of "The Queen, God bless her ! " And loyally cheered it with three times three; Confusion they drank to each foreign aggressor Who dares call in question her sway of the sea. Came the word — "Now, gentlemen, fill your glasses, ' To the Old Battalion ' the toast shall run " ; And the cheers ring out, as the wine re-passes, What the "fighting Forties" have dared and done ! " A pause, till the Colonel once more has spoken : "There is one last toast I would give," he said, " To be drunk in silence by word unbroken — ' The immortal names of our honoured Dead.' ' 24 OF ENGLAND The comrades who served with the war-worn colours, Who fought and who bled in the old Brigade, And who now, set free from all earthly dolours, Are waiting the call to their last parade. Amid Afghan passes, or Russian trenches, In the din of battle, and storm of shot, With a British pluck that ne'er brags nor blenches, Till the roll-call sounded, and they were not ! "To our Dead, whose fame is to us undying," — Rose up every man in a hush profound, And in silence where there is no replying, In a solemn silence the Toast went round. 25 LAYS AND LYRICS "THE WOODEN WALLS OF ENGLAND" June, 1897 " r T^HE wooden walls of England!" the bul- A wark of her shore, Which made her Empire mighty in valiant da}-s of yore, Those memories undying that Time can ne'er efface, Retake a living semblance this Jubilee of grace In heyday of the season, with golden June aglow, And life at highest tension, all movement, life, and show, Along the great Queen's highway, through shin- ing streets astir, New wooden walls of England rise up to wel- come her! Before the royal palace, beside the shady park, From street to street extending, as far as eye can mark ; 26 OF ENGLAND And all along St. James's, and on towards the Strand, The way is all stockaded with scaffolding and stand ! From Westminster to Southwark, Whitehall to Temple Bar, From Fleet Street to the Borough, rise paling, plank, and spar, Till where in solemn grandeur the vast cathedral shows Its majesty half shrouded, where wooden walls enclose. The wooden walls of England! In song so well renowned, Held loyal hearts and valiant, to sail the seas around, To bear the sons of England to distant lands un- seen, And now their children's children come back to greet the Queen ! For still through England's Empire beat loyal hearts and free, Who fain their Queen would honour, her year of Jubilee ; 27 LAYS AND LYRICS In countless throngs they muster, and thus it well befalls That England's mighty City stands fenced in wooden walls ! 28 OF ENGLAND THE ENSIGN OF ENGLAND national Song For Children's Voices. Air — "Bonnie Dundee" WE are children of England! the land of the free, With her Empire far reaching from sea unto sea, From Canadian Dominion, Australia, Ceylon, O'er all the vast countries the sun sets upon ; From the African deserts, to plains of Bengal, There the Ensign of England floats over them all ! "We are children of England! We all have a claim In the glorious heroes who built up her fame ! Though we cannot fight battles, or govern our land, Yet the youngest among us, himself may com- mand, Be true and GoD-fearing, obedient and brave, While the Ensign of England doth over us wave. 29 LAYS AND LYRICS We are children of England ! Then let it be seen, That we honour our Country, our Church, and our Queen ! That the proud name of England, we glory to speak, The friend of the friendless, the shield of the weak ! Dear land of our fathers ! Long, long may it be That the Ensign of England floats fearless and free ! 30 OF ENGLAND THE CHURCH SCHOOLS OF ENGLAND IN the old time England's glory in her National Schools was nurst, Where her children learnt, undoubting, that the fear of God comes first ; Learnt to honour God's commandments — do the right, nor count the loss, By Baptismal grace anointed, as the soldiers of the Cross! So beneath the Church's guidance, year by year they onward grew, Men and women strong and steadfast, keeping England's honour true. Now, the stress and strain of living, pride of learning, greed of gain, Mars the simpler, truer teaching, deems it obsolete and vain ; And there are in Christian England, schools, not one, but more to-day, Where, alas! God's little children are not even taught to pray ! 3i LAYS AND LYRICS And the Church which fain would train them in the godly ways of old, Sees the Faith the fathers cherished, in their sons grow faint and cold. Shall it be that English children, in this so-called age of light, With the powers of Evil rampant, are unguarded in the light ? Careless of the God who made them, ignorant of Creed, or prayer, — Shall our ancient Church forsake them, these young souls beneath her care? Nay ! Let loyal hearts, uniting, hold the Faith the saints adored, Training England's sons and daughters in the service of the Lord! 32 IN RURAL ENGLAND 33 d IN A GARDEN A FAIR old Garden, still and silent lying In the calm sunlight of October days, With just a breath of Autumn chillness sighing Amid those mellow rays. A dim blue haze broods o'er the distant meadows, While sunshine on the ancient city falls, Shining o'er spire and roof, or gabled shadows Of ivy-covered walls. On sloping lawns, the late dews, gleaming brightly, Leave in the shade white webs of gossamer, Where yellow leaves float down to earth so lightly As scarce those threads to stir. Tall hollyhocks bend languid in the border, Where marigolds and stocks still linger on; But bronze for green, and tangled stems for order, Tell Summer days are gone. 35 LAYS AND LYRICS Ilex, arbutus, hollies tall, are framing In sombre green the fires October lights ; In red and gold, the chestnut fans out-flaming Against the mist-crowned heights. And, ranged along the terrace-walk, great aloes Year after year their destiny await ; That crowned mystery of flower that hallows The irony of Fate. For since that Garden first in order blended, More than a hundred years have come and gone; And still majestic, 'mid green lawns extended, The old house stands alone. And there our dearest, holiest memories meet us, From cloudless childhood unto later years; And all the happy past comes back to greet us, Half sunlight and half tears. Ah, dear old Garden ! Tender thoughts surround thee, And murmur low among the murmuring trees — Life-shadows that the years have twined around thee Of other days than these. —The Fort, October, 1882. 36 OF ENGLAND INDIAN SUMMER A Recollection of Clevedon, i83i THE aftermath of Summer, ere she flies Swift-footed to the South, where snows are not, A dream revived of glowing August skies Which well-nigh are forgot. What though September's torch in blazing light Has kindled into flame the woodland ways? The sunny scene, in Summer's colours dight, Her counterfeit displays. Still is the noontide air with sun aglow, Nor felt as yet the twilight's subtle chill ; The only sound, ripe leaves descending slow, Or Robin's tuneful trill. Thy dreams of days departed, that enlace With this bright Indian Summer's tranquil spell, Fit well the aspect of this ancient place, Where bygone memories dwell. 37 LAYS AND LYRICS The old Court standing gabled, ivy-clad, Irregular, in stately length appears, So old that ere the Tudor came it had A history of years. Above, in tiers along the steep hillside, That ilex, and arbutus branches shade, With warm brick walls that bowery creepers hide, Green terraces are laid. And in their sunny shelter myrtles grow, Late, lingering roses faintly fragrant yet; While marigolds with tints of Autumn glow, And tall green mignonette. And o'er the wall, in wreaths of naming red, Their scarlet sway Virginia creepers hold ; And down the hill, the beech and chestnut spread Their boughs of green and gold. While far away lie tracts of mead and lea, And dim blue hills, that stretch in broken line To where the sunlight on the Severn sea Spreads wide in silver shine. Fair Indian Summer! days that fleet too fast, The year's calm aftermath ere hushed in sleep, How many holy memories of the past Thy tranquil pictures keep ! 38 OF ENGLAND A SOMERSETSHIRE GARDEN Abbots Leigh THE Garden blooms to greet again Fair Spring in robes of grace, With lilac bowers, and golden chain, Which childhood's days retrace ; When first we knew dear hearts and true, That guard this happy place. The May is white on briar and bush, The lawns are daisy spread, The mowing grass grows long and lush, Where sorrel spikes show red. And far on high, the Cuckoo's cry, Comes clearly overhead. Before the Garden porch there glows A Garden fair to see, Where green and fresh the prospect shows Of flower, and shrub, and tree — A well-known spot, where, ne'er forgot, Live memories dear to me. 39 LAYS AND LYRICS The smooth-cut lawns slope down to where The terrace walk is made, The old Larch tree spreads wide and fair, Its feathery green arcade, Where many a gay, sweet Summer's day We sat beneath its shade. Beside the terrace walk in line, Is set a border bright, Sweet Nancies, Wallflowers, Columbine, And Lupins blue and white ; And down below, the Chestnuts show Their branches flower bedight. Grass fields beyond the Garden are, With hedgerow Elms beside, Rich miles of country reaching far Towards the Severn tide, Whose waters shine, where in dim line The blue Welsh hills stretch wide. The sun upon that Garden seems As if it ever shone, And loved ones walk there in our dreams, Who now from earth have gone, But as of old, in love's fast hold Their memory lives on. 40 OF ENGLAND And still, thank God, dear friends remain Who keep that garden green, And give sweet welcome full and fain, As it hath ever been. So Spring's bright reign paints o'er again That well remembered scene. 4* LAYS AND LYRICS BRISTOL BELLS Sunday Evening in Spring SOFT breath of Spring, fair gleams of May upon the garden green, Where lilac boughs are mingled with laburnum's golden sheen ; And gay with flowers along the lawn, backed by the tall elm trees, A sweet old-fashioned border runs, the haunt of murmuring bees. And from the ancient town hard by, in rhythmic cadence slow, The chime of bells for Evensong, comes softly to and fro. And down the slopes the birches hang their feathery catkin wreaths, And yellow gorse upon the bank, a subtile frag- rance breathes : While in the border columbines, and polyanthus show 42 OF ENGLAND With tulips gay, and asphodel, and wallflowers all ablow. And still from many a smoke-stained tower, borne on the light spring air, The Bristol bells are chiming out their call to praise and prayer. A Sunday calm seems brooding o'er the garden's shady place, The town's dull stir of busy life is hushed a little space ; The shadows lengthen o'er the grass, the sunlight falling low Lights up the old house on the slope, where many windows glow ; While mingled with the evening bells, in drowsy monotone, The echo of returning rooks upon the breeze is blown. The city and the distant hills, are bathed in even- ing light, For Bristol lifts her misty veil of smoke on Sunday night, Her spires and towers, and clustered masts of ships along the quay 43 LAYS AND LYRICS Shine out beyond the fresh Spring trees, a picture fair to see. Ah ! many a tale of years gone by, that old town garden tells, But through them all a cadence runs, — the chime of Bristol bells ! 44 OF ENGLAND IN THE WEST COUNTRY FAIR are the blue May morning skies When Earth is innocent and sweet, Ere Summer's fervid suns arise To stir Spring's pulses into heat. Fair are the dim Welsh hills that bar The view beyond the Severn's sheen, And fair the broad marsh meadows are, With hedgerow elms in tender green. Those rich marsh meads where clover blows, With bowery hedges stretching wide, Where her snow wreath the white May throws Along the green West Country side! In yellow buttercups knee-deep The soft-eyed cattle ruminate, Where cuckoo flowers, and cowslips steep The air with fragrance delicate. 45 LAYS AND LYRICS Grey gabled homesteads landmarks make, Adown the backward path of Time, Where rosy apple orchards break The vivid green of larch and pine. Down in the West the live-long day, The thrush's song sounds shrill and clear, The joyous Sun, the scent of May, Combine to greet the glad young year. Oh, fair the season ! fair the scene ! When Spring hangs out her braveries, For none can tell when woods are green, How sweet the fair West Country is ! 46 OF ENGLAND THE LOST CHURCHYARD BLUE the sky, and blue the sea-line — blue, unfathomable, vast — Dazzling in its pure effulgence, sea and sky to- gether cast ; Not a breath in air or ocean, wafts the cloudlets feather-white, Or the sunlit ripples glancing, glinting into sparks of light. Far away the white coast shimmers, mist-like off St. Alban's head, And near by the cliffs of Portland, with their rocky boulders spread ; While the tower of Bow and Arrow, frowns above the little bay, Where the lap of sleepy wavelets hardly stirs the fair June day. Soft and deep the castle's shadow, falls across the mossy turf, While the white-winged seagulls soaring, bring a memory of the surf, 47 LAYS AND LYRICS Memory of the surf and storm-drifts, in far other days than these, When the salt breeze blowing landwards bore the spray of angry seas. — Now where beech woods nestle sea-blown, in that rocky gorge and bare, Where no foot of man disturbing, breaks the summer stillness fair, — There, below the rocky headland, and beside the quiet waves Is a Churchyard all forsaken, with its long-for- gotten graves! And amid grey rocks and boulders, marred and weather-stained as they, There the old Church lies in ruins, ev'n its out- lines swept away. Silent now the bell for Vespers, chiming o'er the summer seas, And where solemn Mass was chanted, only sound the murmuring trees ; Where the sailors brought their offerings to the Island Church of yore, Nought remains but crumbling fragments, and the green graves by the shore ; Where the nameless dead are resting, laid there in the long ago, Who or what, those quiet sleepers, no man ever now shall know. 48 OF ENGLAND Ev'n their memory lost, forgotten, in the silent Past gone by, Yet — oh, wondrous thought and solemn !— every name is known on high, And it may be in the gloaming, or when falls the still midnight, That their spirits sometimes wander by those graves below the height, Where white clover clusters shyly, and the bents grow tall and green, 'Mid the grey rocks in the sunshine, with the bramble-wreaths between. And beyond, — blue sky and sea-line, melting mist- like far away, By the shores of Portland Island radiant in the fair June day ! 4>) E LAYS AND LYRICS THE HILL OF THE SEVEN BARROWS THE salt breeze sweeps across the downs, the rolling downs of close-cropped turf, That lie along the Ridgeway road, within the echo of the surf, Steep slopes of green against the sky, and far away the sea's long reach, The silver sheen of Deadman's Bay, beyond the distant Chesil Beach. All still and lone lies Bincombe Down, beneath blue Summer skies aglow, Backed by the sea-blown woods of Came, with Bincombe Village far below. So still, save for the sheep bells' sound, the larks that carol out of sight, And hum of wandering bees that seek the breath of thyme and clover white. 50 OF ENGLAND So still, and yet that peaceful height, above the fields, above the sea, Is haunted by a presence dread, that veils the hills in mystery. For there, set clear against the sky, by seven's mystic number known, In grass-grown mounds along the ridge are seven ancient barrows shown. The ancient graves where chiefs of fame were laid to rest in mail and might, To rest upon the green chalk downs, far from the fury of the fight. The spoils of Avar lie buried there, with shield and spear on either hand, And drinking horn, and treasure stored, to speed them to the unknown Land. We may not know the fight they fought, nor count the number of the slain, We may not know the hearts that broke for those who ne'er came back again ; We muse of who and what they were, but Time is dumb, and answers not, The salt breeze brings no spell to break the silence of that lonely spot. 51 LAYS AND LYRICS Perchance when midnight gales arouse to tempest all the dark West Bay, Or when the Summer moonlight bathes the hills in lustre as of day, Perchance those ancient warriors stand in ghostly phalanx face to face, And clash of arms, and battle cries, sound dimly o'er the haunted place. Perchance ! But with the dawn they pass, the morning mist-wreaths fade and break, The east grows rosy o'er the sea, the larks rise up, the daisies wake: The seven mounds on Bincombe Down catch the first rays of morning light ; Those relics of the ancient Past — the seven barrows on the height. 52 OF ENGLAND o MY HOUSE OF DREAMS k N the slope of the hills with the view be- fore it, Of the plain where the silver Severn gleams, With the clustered roses and ivy o'er it, It stands in the sunlight — " My house of dreams ! " There are Spanish chestnuts, great elms and beeches, Their branches far spreading in chequered shade ; O'er the smooth-cut lawns with their long green reaches Which slope to the edge of the woodland glade ; Of the wood that covers the hill's steep shoulder, Where woodpigeons croodle, and thrushes sing, Where the streamlet sparkles by mossy boulder, And primroses carpet the path of Spring ! 53 LAYS AND LYRICS "My house of dreams!' with its carven gables, Each lattice alight in the sun's last rays; With its old walled gardens, and range of stables, And the dark yew hedge where the sunflowers blaze ! Beyond the gate, is the road descending, Through the village street to the lower ground, By the ancient Church with its grey tower blend- ing In the soft green shade of the trees around. And at evensong come the sweet bells chiming, And the sound of the rooks as they linger late ; As the village people come slowly climbing The wide Church steps to the old lych gate. So fresh and so fragrant the glamour o'er me, In the spell of the green West Country seems The picture so vivid that shines before me; And yet, — it is only a "House of Dreams!' 54 OF ENGLAND CLOVELLY THERE is a haven far to find, Beside a sapphire sea ; And, borne upon the Summer wind, The scene comes back to me ! So fresh the trees, so green the sward, The sea and sky so fair; As if no Winter ever marred, And June was always there ! In wooded gorge that cleaves the cliff The clustered houses rise ; Their gables quaintly piled, as if Thrown there in sportive guise. They guard in odd, uneven line, The stairway of the street, Where rugged stones in steep incline Echo the passing feet. 55 LAYS AND LYRICS In sunny nooks, green garlands stray With climbing roses bright; Tall myrtles grow along the way, By casements flower bedight. Above the village in the shade, Great oaks and beeches tower; Green stretch of park and mossy glade Befringed with fern and flower. While down below, — anear, afar, One plain of boundless blue, — On to the distant harbour bar, Beyond the cliffs in view. The summer tide laps idly by, Each ripple shining clear, Where fishing-boats at anchor lie Beside the little pier. Such is the haven, calm and fair, Mirrored in Ocean's breast,— 'Mid Summer sun, and balmy air Down in the bowery West ! f>6 D OF ENGLAND A WELCOME IN SPRING WELCOME as the flowers in May ! " Goes the old-world greeting; As the white thorn's scented spray, As the wind-flowers of a day, Freckled cowslips, "Keys of Spring," Purple orchis blossoming, Sweets for her, my Sweeting! Welcome ! as the May-buds are, So my winsome maid is ! As the faint, sweet primrose star, "Five o'clocks"* that float afar, Hedgerow violets softly blue, When "Rogation flowers"! are f ew i Spear-like lords and ladies ! * Dandelions gone to seed. t Milkwort. 57 LAYS AND LYRICS Welcome ! welcome ! gorse aglow, Bids us kiss unchidden; Blooms the heartsease for her now, " Love in idleness," * I trow. Cuckoo flowers, and -woodruff sweet, And the wild thyme 'neath her feet, Welcome her unbidden! Welcome ! Fairest flower is she, Fresh as "water crazies! "f Straight as sorrel on the lea, Sweet as clover blossoms be. So let May her welcome bring, While "St. George's bells " J do ring All my true love's praises ! * Pansies. t Marsh Marigold. t Wild Hyacinth. 58 OF ENGLAND IN SUMMER TIME IN Summer time— the long blue day is sweet, With hum of bees in honey-laden lime ; While gay birds echo from their green retreat A joyous chant of roundelay and rhyme. And fragrant breath of roses fills the air, When June is June, and all the earth is fair In Summer time. In Summer time — the white moon-daisies star Lush meadow grass which waits the glad year's prime, Where sorrel spikes, and crimson clover are. In bowery hedges, honeysuckles climb, And yellow flags and meadow-sweet grow high Beside the pool where lilies watch the sky, In Summer time. In Summer time— through perfumed garden gloom, On warm, still nights, the silver moon sublime Shines o'er pale stars of jessamine abloom ; And lovers linger till the midnight chime In dream of bliss, all earthly care above, For all the happy air breathes life and love, In Summer time. 59 LAYS AND LYRICS A SUMMER NIGHT A SUMMER night!" Hushed is the day's unrest, The toil and travail, and the fret of fight: Calm is the great Earth mother's throbbing breast, For healing sleep with her dim veil has dressed The Summer night. That veil mysterious, which since the light Died in a sea of glory in the West, Has wrapped in blessed dark the Summer night. " A Summer night ! ' Pale as some ghostly guest, The clustering roses glimmer wan and white; In odorous air syringa stands confessed, And evening primrose lifts her transient crest. Through all the night Their gayer sisters sleep, for day bedight, — And bird and breeze are hushed in slumb'rous rest, — So still, so sweet, the spell of Summer night ! 60 OF ENGLAND "TALLY HO!" TIS the sport of all sports! with a clear, wintry sky, And the hoar frost enough just the furrows to dry ; With the wind from the South and the scent running high As we jog to the- meet near or far. Why, the whole country side is afoot and astir ! On wheels or on horseback, in fustian or fur, On thoroughbred hunters, or screws from the town ; Young and old mixed together, some up and some down, At the meet they are all on a par ! There's the master, whose mount cost him hun- dreds of pounds, With the farmer who's breaking a young one to hounds ; 6 j LAYS AND LYRICS And the old sporting' parson who halts on his rounds, And will wait — "just to see if they find!" There's the boy fresh from school, and the girls from the Hall, In an eager assemblage, they wait one and all ; While the huntsman and whips with the hounds lead the way To a spinney near by, where the knowing ones say, There were foxes for time out of mind ! Now the horn tootles faintly — a whimper — a cry, Down the side of the covert a whip gallops by, And the field wait in silence, suspense waxing high, Till we hear ringing out —