The old carbuncle lit the dome,

Where I was made a king;

The crown was wrought of pale sea-gold, So was my fairy ring.

And she who on my right hand sate

As the morning star was fair;

She was clothed in a robe of shadowy light, And veiled by her golden hair.

They made me king of the Fairy Isles,

That lie in the golden mist,

Where the coral rocks and the silvery sand

By singing waves are kissed.

Far off, in the ocean solitudes,
They lie, a glorious seven;

Like a beautiful group of sister stars,
In the untraced heights of heaven:

For the mariner sails them round about,
But he comes them not anigh;

They are hid far off, in a secret place
Of the sea's immensity.

Oh, beautiful isles! where comes no death, Where no winter enters in,

Where the fairy race, like the lily flowers,

Do neither toil nor spin!

Oh, beautiful isles! where the coral rocks
Like the ancient temple stand,

Like a temple of wondrous workmanship
For a lofty worship planned!

Then forth shot many a pearly boat,

Like stars, across the sea;

And songs were sung, and shells were blown
That set wild music free.

IV

THE KELPIE OF CORRIEVRECKAN

Charles Mackay

I

E mounted his steed of the water clear,

And sat on his saddle of sea-weed sere;

He held his bridle of strings of pearl,

Dug out of the depths where the sea-snakes curl.

II

He put on his vest of the whirlpool froth,

Soft and dainty as velvet cloth,

And donn'd his mantle of sand so white,
And grasp'd his sword of the coral bright.

III

And away he gallop'd, a horseman free,
Spurring his steed through the stormy sea,
Clearing the billows with bound and leap-
Away, away, o'er the foaming deep!

IV

By Scarba's rock, by Lunga's shore,

By Garveloch isles where the breakers roar, With his horse's hoofs he dash'd the spray, And on to Loch Buy, away, away!

V

On to Loch Buy all day he rode,
And reach'd the shore as sunset glow'd,
And stopp'd to hear the sounds of joy
That rose from the hills and glens of Moy.

VI

The morrow was May, and on the green
They'd lit the fire of Beltan E'en,

And danced around, and piled it high
With peat and heather and pine logs dry.

VII

A piper played a lightsome reel,

And timed the dance with toe and heel;
While wives look'd on, as lad and lass
Trod it merrily o'er the grass.

VIII.

And Jessie (fickle and fair was she)

Sat with Evan beneath a tree,

And smiled with mingled love and pride,

And half agreed to be his bride.

IX

The Kelpie gallop'd o'er the green-
He seemed a knight of noble mien,
And old and young stood up to see,
And wonder'd who the knight could be.

X

His flowing locks were auburn bright,
His cheeks were ruddy, his eyes flash'd light;
And as he sprang from his good gray steed,
He look'd a gallant youth indeed.

XI

And Jessie's fickle heart beat high,

As she caught the stranger's glancing eye:
And when he smiled, "Ah, well," thought she,
"I wish this knight came courting me!"

XII

He took two steps towards her seat-
"Wilt thou be mine, O maiden sweet?"
He took her lily-white hand, and sigh'd,
"Maiden, maiden, be my bride!"

XIII

And Jessie blush'd, and whisper'd soft-
"Meet me to-night when the moon's aloft;

I've dream'd, fair knight, long time of thee-

I thought thou camest courting me."

XIV

When the moon her yellow horn display'd,

Alone to the trysting went the maid;
When all the stars were shining bright,
Alone to the trysting went the knight.

XV

"I have loved thee long, I have loved thee well,
Maiden, oh more than words can tell!

Maiden, thine eyes like diamonds shine;
Maiden, maiden, be thou mine!"

XVI

"Fair sir, thy suit I'll ne'er denyThough poor my lot, my hopes are high;

I scorn a lover of low degree

None but a knight shall marry me."

XVII

He took her by the hand so white,

And gave her a ring of the gold so bright; "Maiden, whose eyes like diamonds shineMaiden, maiden, now thou'rt mine!"

XVIII

He lifted her on his steed of gray,
And they rode till morning, away, away—
Over the mountain and over the moor,
And over the rocks, to the dark seashore.

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