THE FAIRY MINISTER

(The Rev. Mr. Kirk of Aberfoyle was carried away by the Fairies in 1692)

People of Peace! a peaceful man,

Well worthy of your love was he,

Who, while the roaring Garry ran

Red with the life-blood of Dundee,

While coats were turning, crowns were falling,

Wandered along his valley still,

And heard your mystic voices calling

From fairy knowe and haunted hill.

He heard, he saw, he knew too well

The secrets of your fairy clan;

You stole him from the haunted dell,

Who never more was seen of man.

Now far from heaven, and safe from hell,

Unknown of earth, he wanders free.

Would that he might return and tell

Of his mysterious Company!

For we have tired the Folk of Peace;

No more they tax our corn and oil;

Their dances on the moorland cease,

The Brownie stints his wonted toil.

No more shall any shepherd meet

The ladies of the fairy clan,

Nor are their deathly kisses sweet

On lips of any earthly man.

And half I envy him who now,

Clothed in her Court's enchanted green,

By moonlit loch or mountain's brow

Is Chaplain to the Fairy Queen.