But ay the mair she struggles ha'd mair fast,
An' she'll resume a woman's shape at last,
As naked as auld Eve.-Then, without fail,
Dip her in milk, syne in a water pail.

Jamie. I thank you Symon for your kind receipt;

(smiling)

But unto Hallowe'en I canna wait :

Be silent about what I've tald, my friend,
This mystery at last must ha'e an end;
Already she has cost me mony a tear;

But what she is, this day I hope will clear.-
But, see! the sheep are wanderin' o'er the height.
Farewell dear Sym, I'll tell you mair ere night.

Symon. I want of Ann some short discourse to hae, An' therefore I'll gae wi' you o'er the brae.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

Gang up amang thae rocks, there is a lin,
That's like to deave a body wi' its din:
Smooth near the brink the placid river flows,
Smooth as a lake when all the winds repofe;
While in its breast the musing fhepherd fees
The hills fufpended, an' inverted trees.

Thus calm it glides, till, white at once like snow,
It raging pours to an abyss below :

"Still to the gap the strugglin' river toils,

And still below the horrid caldron boils:"
Tremendous! vaft! Ah go not firs too near!

Left you should chance to topple in through fear.-
Behind the fall o' water, is a place

Where fairies dwell-Gude gie us a' his grace!

Slip cannily, for now's the time I red,

O' morn, when they are wont to gang to bed;

Oh firs mak' little din! If not asleep,

Quick out they'll bowt, and plash us in the deep.

a

The inside of the rock discovers a large vaulted hall, and blazing fire in the middle of it. Round the walls are some beautiful little beds, where a number of Fairies are lying, some asleep, others drowsy. Jean is churning a little churn in the middle of the floor, Beside her is the Queen of the Fairies, sitting in a pensive manner.

A Fairy.

Several Fairies.

GIVE o'er your churning; silence keep,
An' let a body fa' asleep!

Silence keep!

An' let us try to fa' asleep!

Jean. I want to ken, Queen Mab, if I may gae
An' breathe the cauler air out o'er the brae,
The time that you're asleep; and in a crack,
As I was yesterday, I will be back.

Q. Mab. Do sae lass---but ye maun keep
Far frae shepherds tendin' sheep;
Frae houses, where the folk may see,

An' wonder Jeanie who you be.

But first attend to what I say;

This is a solemn, solemn day.

(Jean sits down; and Queen Mab, after musing a while, proceeds)

Know that of creatures there's a gradual scale,

Frae beings summit to its lowest vale;

Frae burnin' seraphs to the senseless stone,

Round which wi' ceaseles plaint the billows moan.

Now in the scale o' reasoning life, it's plain
That fairies must exist as well as man.
And hence, that every being may ha'e place,
Are worlds unnumber'd i' the fields o'
space :
You've seen the planets, which adorn the night,
Wi' twinklin' radiance and a glow-worm light.
All these are worlds; and many would appear
Far larger than the earth if you were near.
Lo! at the moon the earth itself displays,
Far in the blue expanse, a lunar face;
A mighty moon, she sheds a tremblin' light
From all her hills, and beautifies their night.

Our dwalling's i' the moon---a seat o' joy,
Where cares ne'er come, an' troubles ne'er annoy

There domes arise, and gardens o' delight,

And scenes o' bliss transport the wonderin' sight; Immortal bow'rs, unsubject to decay,

Unfald their bosoms to the rosy day;

While bawmy breezes fan the happy isles,
And waft frae every flow'r its fragrant spoils.

We're mortal too, but suffer not decay
Until a thousand years shall pass away.
My term is near---and, Jean, you maun supply
The place of Queen of Fairies when I die :
For as our moon's dependant upon earth,
Our queen must in this planet ha'e her birth:
Titania and I were earth-born too,

And stole by former queens, as I did you.

Jean. Wha are my parents?

Q. Mab.

Aft ye must hae seen

A lofty house, when we gaed out at e'en,

Whose windows, when the moon is shinin' bright,
Wi' dazzlin lustre back reflect the light.

Aft near that castle, in the woods around,
Our little fays are us'd their sangs to sound;
And aft below its cliffs, upo' the stream,
Are wont to sail, till mornin's sun doth beam.

Jean. Is that the castle near the dreadfu' fa',
Just tremblin' on its brink?

It's opposite upon the ither side,

Back frae the lin, an' trees its view doth hide.

There Sir John Bonniton resides; and he

My dearest Jean is father unto thee.
Frae him, it's sixteen years this very day,
A new-born infant you were stole away,

Jean. Lives yet my moth--

Q. Mab.

Nae mair she views the light.

She died soon after we wi' you took flight:

That portrait's hers which round your neck you wear, Sae like yoursel', but dry that pearly tear!

Here several of the Fairies, having awaked, draw the little silken hangings of their beds, and look over, as if intending to rise; upon which the Queen rises up, and turning swiftly round, pronounces the following words :

Sleep! Sleep!
Fairies fleep!

Be it long and be it deep.

Mifts that hang o'er Lethe's stream!

Exhal'd by ro enlivening beam;

Steams which dewy poppies fhed,

Hover! hover! round each bed.

(Here the Fairies yawn and lie down again.)

Q. Mab. I want them to sleep on till I have done.
I've said that sixteen years their course have run
Since you were stole away-Now by command
Of him who gave its laws to fairy-land,

When sixteen years are past we maun declare
Whence each was stole, and who their parents were.
But when this day is past, no sacred charms,
Nor mortal force can tear you from our arms.
Deep in our fairy forest there's a well,
A fountain consecrate wi' mony a spell;
There you'll be dipt at midnight, and set free
Frae sluggish flesh, and dull mortality :
To day litania has a splendid feast,

And I maun to the moon to be her guest;