Page 3 Advertisements Column 1

Southland Times, Issue 905, 24 February 1868, Page 3

Our grannie, i' the neuk wi 1 tta waans about her knee, Wad croon some ancient ballad that filled our hearts w' glee, 'Bout the bauld folk o' lang syne, or the stalwart patriot band Wha had bravely fought an' bled for the love of Father-land : — Losh ! how our hearts did loup when o* Wallace and o' Bruce She sang the doughty deeds at the auld farm house. IV. The auld farm house — sin' I lingered by the spot Lang years hae passed awa', but it ne'er has been forgot? My memory oft brings back again the. blithesome sunny days When we paidlei in the burnie or rowed about the braes — When we clamb the heathy hills, and pu'ed the bell sac blue, Meet emblems o' our young hearts sac guileless and sac true ; O, I think I hear the daffia' yet, when younkers brisk and crouse, Cam' wooin' our braw lassies at the auld farm house. V. But the auld farm house, like a dream awa' is gane, An' the nettle an' the thistle wave aboon its cauld hearthstane ; Its wa's sac bare an' roofleness now, awa' are crumblin' fast, An' thro' its lauesome hallan rairs the gurly winter blast ; But it's no the roofless biggin' makes me aye sac dull an' wae, If s the thoughts o' a' the happy band, that lang has passed away ; The auld leal hearts are cauld noo, the young anes staid an' douce, That ance were blithe an' gleeaome in the auld farm house. STRAY LEAVES FROM MY DIARY. By an Emigrant from the Clyde to the Bluff, in 1864. Leap Fiest. — The Embarkation. " The battle mound, the border tower, Which Scotia's annals tell, The martyr's grave, the lovers bower, . To each, to all, farewell. Home of our hearts, our fathers' home ; Land of the brave and free, The sail is flapping on the foam, That bears me far from thee." On the morning of this, the day of embarkation (May 19) — and by a curious coincidence, the anniversary of that of my first debut on the stage of this world about half a century ago, — there was too little time, and too much bustle, especially among the juvenille members of the family, to do the sentimental. Ten o'clock, the hour appointed, came at last, and found us all, with a portion of our moveables, stowed away in the narrow precincts o£ a cab, and rolling along to the harbor at Springfield, on the southern side of the great metropolis of the west. If the hurrying to and fro, and the tramp of busy feet, and the babel of no lees busy tongues, were almost indescribable on the 17th, they were far beyond description now. A dense and almost impenetrable crowd had assembled on the shore ; some attracted by the natural desire of breathing a last " God bless you "to the loved and r loving ones from whom they were about to be severed for ever ; and others by the morbid love of sight-seeing, or for the gratification of an idle curosity. The departure of an emigrant ship with its freight of living beings has been often described, and perhaps there is no subject more worthy the pen of the poet, or the pencil of the painter. The lines of Campbell, like everything else he touched, are so fraught with feeling, and so true to nature, that I cannot resist a brief quotation : — " On Scotland's shore I saw a pensive band. With sails unfurled for earth's remotest strand, Like children parting from a mother — shed Tsars for the home that could not yield them bread. Grief marked. each face receding from the view; 'Twas grief to nature honorably true ; And long poor wanderers on the ecliptic deep, The song that names bat home, shall make you weep : Oft shall ye fold your flocks by stars above In that far world — and miss the stars ye love ; Oft when its tuneless birds scream round forlorn, Regret the lark that gladdens Scotland's morn, And giving Scotland's names to distant scenes, Lament that earth's extension intervenes." I have no intention of describing a scene which is always beyond the powers of imagination, and which has so graphically and faithfully been pourtrayed by others. There is the sudden parting with beloved friends, the hurried exchange of the sad and last farewell, commingled with the shouts, the chaunts, and all the stirring commotion of getting under weigh. The gallant ship is at last loosed from her moorings, and like some noble captive restored to liberty, moves magesticaliy down the river with her white sails unfurled to the favoring breeze. Leaf Second. — A Steerage Scene. The day (May 19th) was wet and drizzly, and had no inducement to any one to remain on deck, was so much attracted by the novelty of my position, and of all that was passing around me, that I had no inclination to leave the 'tween decks, where an uproarious war of the most discordant elements had now fairly commenced. To an uninterested party apeep from the hatchway into the recesses of the' steerage ■ compartment of an emigrant ship a few hour* after weighing anchor will show him something he never " dreamed of in his philosophy." The sights which meet his eye, and the sounds which faU on his ear, are so strange and bewildering, that he may well start back in horror and amazement. To the right and left, as far as the eye can penetrate, he will behold an inextricable maze of human beings in continual motion and activity— here, there, and everywhere — vociferating like so many savages performing the intricate evolution of their war-dance, or like demons enjoying a holiday in Pandemonium; while, to render the confusion worse confounded, piles of beds and bedding, and boxes of every size and shape and hue, are lying about in all directions, and look as if they were playing at hide and seek with their respective owners. To one who has just left a peaceful home and all its rural comforts and kind endearments, the rough aspect and the rude bearing of many of his " comates and brothers in exile" are by no means calculated to soothe his troubled spirit, or to inspire him with bright anticipations of the pleasures of the voyage. His romantic visions vanish like a mist-cloud before the tempest — realities which rise around him, and the fair flowers which Fancy had reared on the perusal of one-sided diaries and the glowing description of guide books, ''lie withered and strewn." Such was my woeful experience as the ship glided gently down the river, and such was the scene .of uproar which, with a few brief and transitory lulls, prevailed beneath the main -hatch until she reached .Gpurpck Bay, where she lay at anchor till the day of inspection should arrive—a day big with impending fate — when all our comforts would be attended to and all our grievances redressed. We learn that Mr and Mrs Robert Heir, who have gainedfor themselves wide fame as caterers for public amusement, are to visit Invercargill shortly Their performances are of that class, now so popular, known as Drawing-room Entertainments and have been received with very great favor by the people of Victoria. The talented couple may b« ♦xpf.cted by the next steamer from Melbcmrnat