The west shore., July 01, 1887, Page 533, Image 32

THE SCOTTISH BORDER
They were the color o' dandelion, or
yellow-yoldrins (yellow-hammer). I was
feared to wash my face, lest the water
grew ochre. That the jaundice was in
the house, waa plain, but whether it was
me, only, that had it, or a the rest like
wise, was mair than I could tell. That
the yellow I saw was na' in them, but in
me, was hard to believe, whn I luckit
on them, yet I thocht on green specks,
and the stained wundows in Winder
mere station, and reasoned wi' mysel1
that the discoloration must bo in my
lens, or pupil, or optic nerve, or apple,
or ba' o' the ee, and that I, James Hogg,
the Ettrick Shepherd, was the jaundice.
The sun, the michty sun himsel', wha'
lends the rainbow its hues, and is nercr
the poorer, looked at me wi' a disconso
late aspeck, as much as to say, 'James,
James, is it thou or I that has the jaun
dice?'" Hogg died near St Mary's Loch, in
1835, and the sight of Prof. Wilson, his
life-long friend and companion, at the
funeral, standing at the head of his
grave, with the tears streaming down
his checks, was said to have been a most
moving one. It is related of the Ettrick
Shepherd, that when his physician pro
nounced his diseaso to bo " water upon
the chest,'' be declared it to be impoHsi
ble, as ho had "never drunk a glass of
water in his life."
It required some resolution to start
out alone on a day's excursion from Ber
wick, to visit parti unknown, but which
excursion was, nevertheless, well and
happily accomplished, between the hours
of eleven and four. My purpose was to
ee Twizel castle and the old bridge
over the Till, by which the English
troops were led, by Surrey, to the battlo
of Flodden; also 61 Helen's well, where,
according to tradition, St Cutbbert, the
holy saint of Lindisfame, is said to have
granted the wishes of those who drank
its waters with duo devotion, and of
which tlio English army drank on their
way.
Twi-wl ! Thy n k Utj echo ran ,
Tint morn, to many a trumii clan,
An l many a chief of Hrth ami rank,
Fw wt Helen, at thy fountain thank.
Thy hnntlionio ulaU, lil h now c
In rintih' bluom huUhly,
1 1 A1 then from many an axo It doom,
To (fivp the marehinjj column room.
I plunged into this " hawthorno glade,"
following the courso of the " sullen Till,"
for a short distance, but did not find it,
nor St Cuthbert's chajel, to which tho
bones of that saint were ilontad down
tho Tweed, in a stone coflin, from Mel
rose abbey, in his miraculous journey
before his very unsettled condition was
finally set at rest by a permanent lodg
ment in Durham cathedral.
In hiit utonn coffin, forth he ri le,
A onleMu lark for river til',
Vet litfht a K'aiiier it gli'le,
DoMtiMarl toTillmouth irll.
In tho train, I waa so fortunate as to
tnako tho acquaintance of a Scotchman,
a Mr. Elliott, tho architect of the elegant
new mansion of Tilmouth, which is to
bo built of tho stono from tho modern
portion of old Twizel castle, leading thii
original ruins to stand on the height fac
ing tho new residence Mr. Elliott was
going out to superintend his workmen,
and learning my quest with a rewly
courtesy and kindness, conduct! mo
over moot of tho localities I was in search
of, covering an area of two mih s or more,
and finally left me at tho very top of
Tilmouth castle, first pointing out a glo
rious view of tho Cheviot bill, tho
Dunse, tho Kildoo, and Mow them, in
tho near view, tho old mill, tho Till and
the bridg. I had always wishI in
roam at will over a fine English or HaU
tish cattle; and hr was my chnc,
with no occupants to hinder, and only a
few servants on the place, who offered
me, at Mr. Elliott's recommendation, all