ELLIOT, Jean


Fear not for Ismael

There is no need to fear for Ishmael,

Though driven from his father's tents was he,

And forced, with Hagar, through the night to flee

Across the sands he came to love so well.

There is no truth in stories that he fell,

For he arose, and, roaming wild and free,

There in the desert, where his strength will be,

His voice is heard like clarion bell.

He is the falcon of those eastern lands,

Since driven forth so long ago by them

Who hated him, across those desert sands.

This falcon stoops to seize the diadem

Of David's kingdom in his hardy hands,

And darkly broods above Jerusalem.


The Flowers of the Forest



I've heard the lilting, at the yowe-milking,

Lasses a-lilting before dawn o' day;

But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning;

"The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away".

As buchts, in the morning, nae blythe lads are scorning;

The lasses are lonely and dowie and wae.

Nae daffin', nae gabbin', but sighing and sobbing,

Ilk ane lifts her leglen, and hies her away.

In hairst, at the shearing, nae youths now are jeering,

The Bandsters are lyart, and runkled and grey.

At fair or at preaching, nae wooing, nae fleeching,

The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away.

At e'en, in the gloaming, nae swankies are roaming,

'Bout stacks wi' the lasses at bogle to play.

But ilk ane sits drearie, lamenting her dearie,

The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away.

Dule and wae for the order sent our lads to the Border;

The English, for ance, by guile wan the day:

The Flowers of the Forest, that foucht aye the foremost,

The prime o' our land are cauld in the clay.

We'll hae nae mair lilting, at the yowe-milking,

Women and bairns are dowie and wae.

Sighing and moaning, on ilka green loaning,

The Flowers of the forest are all wede away.

Meaning of unusual words:

yowe=ewe

ilka=every

wede=withered

buchts=cattle pens

dowie-sad; wae=woeful;

daffin'=dallying, gabbin'=talking

leglen=stool

hairst=harvest

bandsters=binders, lyart=grizzled

runkled=crumpled; fleeching=coaxing


gloaming=twilight; swankies=young lads

bogle=peek-a-boo



dule=mourning clothes