,
The bonnie blind lassie that sits i' the sun.

An' blythe now an' cheerfu', frae mornin' to e'enin
She sits thro' the simmer, an' gladdens ilk[121-19] ear,
Baith[121-20] auld and young daut[121-21] her, sae gentle and winnin';
To a' the folks round the wee lassie is dear.
Braw[121-22] leddies[121-23] caress her, wi' bounties would press her;
The modest bit[121-24] darlin' their notice would shun;
For though she has naething, proud-hearted this wee thing,
The bonnie blind lassie that sits i' the sun.

FOOTNOTES:

[120-1] _Sae_ is the Scotch word for _so_.

[120-2] A lea is a grassy field or meadow.

[120-3] _Nae_ means _no_.

[120-4] _Pittance_ means _small earnings_.

[120-5] _Nae_ is _not_.

[120-6] _Mither_ is the Scotch form of _mother_.

[120-7] _Bonnie_ means _pretty_.

[120-8] _Since come autumn_; that is, it will be nine years next autumn.

[120-9] _Cam'_ is a contraction of _came_.

[120-10] _Sodger's_ is _soldier's_.

[120-11] _Puir_ is the Scotch spelling of _poor_.

[120-12] _Sair_ is _sore_, that is, _sadly_.

[120-13] _Gane_ means _gone_.

[121-14] _Her lane_ means _by herself_.

[121-15] _Wha_ is Scotch for _who_.

[121-16] _Frae_ means _from_.

[121-17] _Cauld_ is the Scotch form of _cold_.

[121-18] _Siller_ means _silver money_, or simply _money_.

[121-19] _Ilk_ means _every_.

[121-20] _Baith_ is Scotch for _both_.

[121-21] _Daut_ means _pet_.

[121-22] _Braw_ means _fine_, or _gay_.

[121-23] _Leddies_ is the Scotch form of _ladies_.

[121-24] _Bit_ means _little_.

BOYHOOD

_By_ WASHINGTON ALLSTON

Ah, then how sweetly closed those crowded days!
The minutes parting one by one like rays,
That fade upon a summer's eve.
But O, what charm or magic numbers
Can give me back the gentle slumbers
Those weary, happy days did leave?
When by my bed I saw my mother kneel,
And with her blessing took her nightly kiss;
Whatever Time destroys, he cannot this;--
E'en now that nameless kiss I feel.

SWEET AND LOW

NOTE.--In Tennyson's long poem _The Princess_ is a little lullaby
so wonderfully sweet that all who have read it wish to read it
again. It is one that we all love, no matter whether we are little
children and hear it sung to us or are older children and look back
to the evenings when we listened to mother's loving voice as sh