CONTENTS.

THE HERDSMAN.

THE MONKS OF OLD.

GRIFFONE: A TALE OF THE PENINSULA:

THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS.

A MARINE'S COURTSHIP.

HAROUN ALRASCHID.

WHAT TOM BINKS DID WHEN HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO

DO WITH HIMSELF.

MASCALBRUNI.

GREENWICH AND GREENWICH MEN,

THE ABBOT'S OAK.

WATTY FLAHERTY.

ENGLAND'S QUEEN.

THE INNKEEPER OF ANDERMATT.

NATIONAL SONG,

BLIC

TALES FROM “ BENTLEY.”

THE HERDSMAN.

66

BY P. M'TEAGUE, AUTHOR OF THE SPALPEEN."

WE

E can scarcely refer to a poet, ancient or modern, who has not touched his lyre in celebration of the shepherd's useful and honourable occupation. If

"The fold stands empty in the drowned field,

And crows are fatten'd with the murrain flock,"

the slothful shepherd is alone to blame (might perhaps have been added). If, on the contrary, the eye of the vigilant herdsman has foreseen the impending calamities of floods and tempests, and in the hour of peril provided a secure retreat for his cattle, he not only rises in his own estimation, but advances in the opinion of his employer. HE IS A MAN TO BE DEPENDED UPON,-the greatest encomium we can bestow upon a servant.

How beautifully has Virgil described the various cares which devolve to the lot of the shepherd! Nor does our own immortal Shakspeare fail to praise the faithful guardian of the flock :

"The shepherd's homely curds,

His cold thin drink, out of his leather bottle;
His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade;
All which, secure and sweetly, he enjoys."

Wherever we go-almost in every land—we still see before us the well-known characteristics of the tranquil shepherd, whose deadliest weapon is his crook, and fiercest associate his faithful dog. In times of cruel warfare his is the occupation of peace; and, amidst the changes and chances of states and empires, his state and his empire remain unaltered. In the sweet words of Sir Henry Wotton :

"Nor wars are seen,

Unless upon the green

Two harmless lambs are butting one another;
Which done, both bleating run each to his mother;
And wounds are never found,

Save what the ploughshare gives the ground."

There is only one young unhappy scapegrace that ever I heard of who says a word against this most honourable calling,-and that is Master Norval; who, after stripping a certain audacious freebooter of his arms (which was all very well in its way), thought proper to turn up his nose, and exclaim that he (forsooth),

"Disdain'd the shepherd's slothful life!"

That such words should have been ever written by a Scotchman! That such words should have been ever repeated by a child of the Grampians!