An' aye the burnie wimples on, Dear haunts o' youth-the braes o' hame, The merry laugh, the manly shout, They rise still yet upon my ear, Iken them a' by name; Oh! would that I could meet them on I KISSED THEM A' FOR YOU, MOTHER. (Suggested by reading the telegrams sent by Robert Kennedy, son of the celebrated Scotch vocalist of that name, to his mother, regarding the sad death of his brother and two sisters, who lost their lives by the burning of the Opera House at Nice-in one of which he says-"It must be told-they are all dead;' " and in another-" I kissed them all for you, mother, and now they lie in the vault.") I kissed them a' for you, mother, While tears stream'd down my cheek, I gazed upon them a', mother, I kissed them a' for you, mother, An' when a' met, time flew mother, I kissed them a' for you, mother, For weel I kent 'twad be, mother, A sair, sair stoon to you, I kissed them a' for you, mother I grat richt sair, indeed, mother. I thocht a smile, tho' deid, mother, I kissed them a' for you, mother,- Faint not, but bear ye up, mother, YE WISE OLD OWL. An old owl sat on an old, old towerTu-whit-tu-whoo, And watch'd the fading twilight hourTu-whit-tu-whoo. With thoughtful look and glancing eye, He view'd the stream go meand'ring by, And joined its murmur with his cryEcho returning prompt reply, Tu-whit-tu-whoo-tu-whoo. Softly wail'd the balmy breeze Woe-ho-woe-woe, Through the stately beechen trees Woe-ho-woe--woe. The warbling tenants of the wood Nor seem'd disturb'd by him so shrewd, Tu-whit-tu-whoo-tu-whoo. He fought our good old flag to save, Adown the dell, sad, and alone- A maiden sighed for him long gone- Silent she stood, with drooping head, And now within yon old church-yard- She sleeps, whose heart was worn and tired- And oft yet by that same old tower, A CHARLES NEILL, UTHOR of several deservedly-admired Scottish songs, is schoolmaster of Dornoch, Sutherlandshire. He is a native of Edinburgh, and, in some respects, his life has been eventful. At the age of twelve, partly to gratify a strong desire for reading, he decided upon being a compositor, and was apprenticed as such in the University Printing Office, Edinburgh. While there he had ample means of supplementing an education which could not have been otherwise than imperfect, seeing that he had only been four years at school. He began to write rhymes when he was about fourteen. Some of these having come under the notice of Alexander Smart, the well-known author of "Songs of Labour" and "Rambling Rhymes," and one of the principal contributors to "Whistle Binkie," who was then a pressman in the same office, and even at that time a recognised poet, gained for the young lad many a kind word and wise advice from this pure-minded, tender-hearted, but unfortunate son of song. Mr Neill completed his apprenticeship in the office of the Edinburgh Evening Post, from which issued not only that, but sundry other newspapers, involving night and day work twice, and often thrice, a-week, of about twenty-four hours at a stretch. There he first experienced the hardships of life, under which many promising youths succumbed. As a journeyman he was afterwards employed in the office of Messrs Paton & Ritchie, Edinburgh, where, being relieved of night work, he soon regained strength. Before completing twelve months as journeyman, he met with a gun accident, by which he lost his right hand, and had a narrow escape with life. No longer fitted for manual labour, he had to begin life anew. He resolved on being a teacher, but the difficulty of learning to write under the circumstances seemed insurmountable. However, six months afterwards we find him entered as a student at the Normal School, Castle Terrace, Edinburgh. He was not long there when he was selected by the headmaster, who had been appointed parochial teacher of Corstorphine, to act for him as substitute until released from his engagement at the Normal School. Mr Neill's first appointment as a teacher was to the Newton School, in the parish of Pencaitland. He afterwards taught in the school of Kincardine O'Neil for about three years, was appointed one of the staff at Milne's Institution, Fochabers, and subsequently headmaster of the North Parish School, Aberdeen, where he laboured successfully for five years. Desirous of a change to country life, he determined to obtain a parochial school, and accordingly, in 1862, he was elected by the Commissioners of Supply for the county of Sutherland to the Parochial School of Dornoch, for which he was afterwards examined and found qualified by the Examining Board of the University of Aberdeen. In 1856 Mr Neill published a volume entitled "Ellen of Ayr, or the Soldier's Wife," which was favourably reviewed by the press, and in a very short time was "out of print." He has for many years kept up connection with the newspaper press by contributions in prose and verse. Many, instead of rising, would have sunk under difficulties and misfortunes such as Mr Neill has encountered. still sings cheerily, and several of his harmonious productions display fine quiet humour, which occasionally breaks out into broad fun, while others are touched with a natural sweetness and pathos which commend them irresistibly to the heart and the affections. SONG OF SPRING. Sweet in the birken the mavis is singing, "Fare ye weel, winter," the cushats are crying, Skip ower the gowan lee lammies are playing, Saft through the dark dell the burnie is wimpling,— Kissing the bonnie braes, whirling and dimpling, He The roe deer are bounding ower whin, broom and bracken; Spring smiles on nature, a wooer to wauken The beauties that fled Winter's cauld dowie e'e, |