much seeming wretchedness and privation, he resided during a summer and autumn winter, a season of great severity on an unsheltered coast, was expected either to destroy or drive him from his abode, but he braved every storm, and resisted all offers of food or raiment. The first winter of his abode was one of prodigious storm and infinite hardship. The snow lay long and deep on the ground, the ice was thick, on lake and pool, and the Solway presented one continual scene of commotion and distress. The shore was covered with the wrecks of ships, the eddies choaked with drowned men, and the sea itself so rough and boisterous that the fishermen suspended their customary labours, and sat with their families at the hearth-fire, listening to the sounding of the surge, and relating tales of maritime disaster and shipwreck. But on Miles Colvine the severe and continued storm seemed to have no influence. He ranged the shore, collecting for his fire the wrecks of ships he committed his nets and hooks to the sea with his usual skill; and having found a drifted boat, which belonged to some unfortunate vessel, he obtained command over the element most congenial to his heart, and wandered about on the bosom of the waters noon and night, more like a troubled spirit than a human being. When the severity of winter had passed away, and sea-birds laid their eggs in the sand, the mariner remitted his excursions at sea, and commenced a labour which surprised many. The sea shore, or that portion of the coast which lies between the margin of the sea and the cultivated land, a region of shells, and drift sand, and pebbles, has ever been regarded as a kind of common, and the right of suspending nets, hawling boats aground, and constructing huts for the summer residence of the fishermen, has never been disputed by the natural lord of those thriftless domains. It was on this debateable ground, between the barren sea and the cultivated field, that the mariner fixed his abode; but it soon appeared that he wished to extend his possessions, and augment his He con household accommodation. structed a larger and more substantial house, with equal attention to durability and neatness; he fenced off the sea by a barrier of large stones, and scattered around his dwelling a few of the common flowers which love to blossom near the sea breeze. The smoke of his chimney, and the unremitting clank of his hammer finishing the interior accommodations, were seen and heard from afar. When all this was concluded he launched his boat and took to the sea again, and became known from the Mull of Galloway to the foot of Annan-water. I remember the first time that ever I saw him was in the market-place of Dumfries: his beard seemed of more than a year's growth, his clothes, once rich and fine, were darned and patched, and over the whole he wore a kind of boat-cloak, which, fastened round his neck, descended nigh the ground; but all this penury could not conceal the step and air of other and better days. He seldom looked in the face of any one; man he seemed to regard with an eye of scorn, and even deadly hatred; but on women he looked with softness and regard, and when he happened to meet a mother and child he gazed on them with something of settled sorrow and affection. He once made a full stop, and gazed on a beautiful girl of four or five years old, who was gathering primroses on the margin of the Nith; the child, alarmed at his uncouth appearance, shrieked and fell in its fright into the deep stream; the mariner made but one spring from the bank into the river,-saved the child, replaced it in its mother's bosom, and resumed his journey, apparently unconscious that he had done aught remarkable. Ever after this the children of Dumfries pursued him with the hue and cry, "Eh! come and see the wild bearded man, who saved Mary Lawson." On another occasion, I was hunting on the Scottish mountain of Criffel, and having reached its summit I sat down to look around on the prospect of sea and land below me, and take some refreshment. At a little distance I saw somewhat like the fig ure of a human being, bedded in the heath, and lying looking on the Solway from a projecting rock, so still and motionless that he seemed dead. I went near; it was Miles Colvine: he seemed unconscious of my approach, and, looking stedfastly on the sea, remained fixed, and muttering, as long as I continued on the mountain. Indeed, wherever he went he talked more like a man holding communion with his own mind,than one sharing his thoughts with others, and the general purport of such imperfect sentences as could be heard was that he had vowed many men should perish for some irreparable wrong they had offered to a lady. Sometimes he spoke of the lady as his wife, or his love, and the men he had doomed to destruction as the lawless - crew of his own vessel. At other times he addressed his seamen as spirits whom he had sent to be tortured for wrongs done in the body, and his lady as an angel that still visited his daily dreams and his nightly visions. Thro' the whole the cry of revenge, and the sense of deep injury, were heard and understood by all. When Miles Colvine had fairly finished his new residence, and the flowers and fruits had returned to field and tree, he was observed to launch his boat this was a common occurrence, but a small lair of sheep-skins, a jar of water, and some dried fish, called kippered salmon by the Scotch, looked like preparation for a long journey. The journey was begun, for he was seen scudding away southward, by the light of the stars, and no more was seen or heard of him for some time. Day after day his door continued shut, his chimney ceased to smoke, and his nets hung unemployed. At length the revenue cutter from Saint Bees arrived at Allanbay, to land a cargo of fine Hollands which the officers had taken from an Irish smuggler, between Carrickfergus and the Isle of Man. They had been terribly alarmed, they said, on their way, by the appearance, about the third watch of the night, of a visionary boat navigated by a bearded fiend, which scudded with supernatural swiftness along the surface of the wa6 ATHENEUM VOL. 11. ter. This tale, with all the variations which a poetical peasantry readily supply, found its way from cottage to hamlet, and from hamlet to hall. Old men shook their heads, and talked of the exploits of the great fiend by sea and land, and wished that good might happen to Old England from the visit of such a circumnavigator. Others, who were willing to believe that the apparition was Miles Colvine on a coasting voyage, seemed no less ready to confound the maritime recluse with an evil being who had murdered a whole ship's crew, sunk their ship, and dwelt on the coast of" cannie Cumberland," for the express purpose of raising storms, shaking corn, and making unwedded mothers of half the fair damsels between Sarkfoot and Saint Bees. Several misfortunes of the latter kind, which happened about this time, confirmed this suspicion, and his departure from the coast was as welcome as rain to the farmer after a long drought. About a fortnight after this event, I happened to be on a moonlight excursion by water, as far as the ruined castle of Comlongan. I was accompanied by an idle friend or two, and, on our return we allowed the receding tide to carry us along the Cumberland coast, till we came nearly opposite the cottage of Miles Colvine. As we directed our boat to the shelter of a small bank, I observed a light glimmering in the mariner's house, and landing and approaching closer, I saw plainly the shadows of two persons, one tall and manly, the other slim and sylphlike, passing and repassing on the wall. I soon obtained a fairer view. I saw the mariner himself, his dress once rude and sordid was replaced by one of the coarsest materials, but remarkably clean, his beard was removed, and his hair, once matted and wild, now hung orderly about his neck and temples. The natural colour was black, but snow-white locks now predominated; his look was hale, but sorrowful, and he seemed about forty years of age. The figure of the creature that accompanied him was much too tender and beautiful to last long in a situation so rude and unprotected as the cottage of a fisherman. It was a female, richly dressed, and of a beauty so exquisite, and a look so full of sweetness and grace, that the rude scene around was not wanted to exalt her above all other maidens I had ever seen. She glided about the cottage, arranging the various articles of furniture, and passing two white hands, out-rivalling the fairest creations of the sculptor, over the rude chairs and tables, and every moment giving a glance at the mariner, like one who took delight in pleasing him, and seemed to work for his sake. And he was pleased. I saw him smile, and no one had ever seen him smile before; he passed his hand over the long clustering tresses of the maiden; caused her to sit down beside him, and looked on her face, which outgrowing the child had not yet grown into woman, with a look of affection, and reverence and joy. I was pondering on what I witnessed, and imagining an interview with the unhappy mariner and his beautiful child, for such his companion was, when I observed the latter take out a small musical instrument from a chest, and touching its well-ordered strings with a light and a ready hand, she played several of the simple and plaintive airs so common among the peasantry of the Scottish and English coasts. After a pause she resumed her instrument, and, to an air singularly wild and melancholy, sang the following ballad, which relates to the story of her father's and mother's misfortuues; but the minstrel has observed a mystery in his narrative which excites suspicion rather than gratifies curiosity. O MARINER, O MARINER. O mariner, O mariner, When will our gallant men And maidens waved them from the shore, Will they come bounding homeward, 2. O maid, the moon shines lovely down, The stars all brightly burn, And they may shine till doomsday comes, One of thy tresses dark Is worth all the souls who perish'd O mariner, O mariner, It's whispered in the ball, Among our maidens all, That the waves which fill the measure Or wash thy hands from blood; On the the wide and watery way. 4. And up then spoke he, Miles Colvine, By all that's bright aboon, And by my sharp and stalwart blade I could not spare them; for there came 5. "O mariner, O mariner, There was a lovely dame, And left her father's hame”— Did rain and lighten fast, All grimly grew and ghast: I loved her, and those evil men The ballad had proceeded thus far, when a band of smugglers from the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, uniting the reckless desperation of the former with the craft and tact of the latter, attracted by the secure and naked coast, and perhaps by the lonely house, which presented hope of plunder with little appearance of resistance, landed to the number of seven, and leaping over the exterior wall, seized the door and shook it violently, calling loudly for admittance. I lay down with my two companions behind a small hedge of furze, to see the issue of this visit, for at that time I imagined the mariner maintained some mysterious correspondence with these fierce and lawless men. "Open the door," said one, in a strong Irish accent, "or by the powers I'll blow your cabin to peelings of potatoes about your ears, my darlings."—" Hout, Patrick, or what's your name," said one of his comrades in Lowland Scotch, "ye mauna gang that rough way to wark, we maun speak kindly and cannilie, man, till we get in our hand, and then we can take it a' our ain way, like Willie Wilson's sow, when she ran off with the knife in her neck." The mariner, on hearing this dialogue, prepared himself for resistance, like one perfectly well acquainted with such rencounters. With a sword in one hand, a cocked pistol in the other, and a brace in his belt, he posted himself behind the door, and in a low voice admonished his daughter to retire to a little chamber constructed for her accommodation. With a voice which, though quivering with emotion, lost nothing of its native sweetness, the young maiden answered, "Oh let me be near you?let me but be near you?"—Her low and gentle voice was drowned in the wild exclamations of one of the smugglers. "Och, my dears, let us break the door, and clap a red turf to the roof, and all to give me light to see to kiss this maiden with the sweet voice. I have not been within seven acres broad of a woman since we sailed with Miles Colvine's lady.-And by the bagpiper she was a bouncer, and a pretty din she made about it after all, and took it into her head to shriek till the shores rang, and pray till the saints grew deaf; ah, my hearties, it would'nt do. What the devil holds this door? stand by till I show you how handsomely I'll pitch it against the wall;" and setting his shoulders to the door, he thrust with all his might, and though seconded by his comrades, who seemed all alike eager for violence, the door resisted his utmost efforts. "Stand back, my darlings," said the miscreant, "I'll show you a trick worth two of this; I'll teach you how we bring out a bonnie lass from a bolted chamber in little Ireland ;" so saying, he proceeded to prime a pistol, having previously hammered the flint with a little steel cross, curiously chased and ornamented, which he took from his bosom. "Now, come on, my early boys-my souls of boys; the boy that wont do as I do deserves to be whipped through Purgatory." In a moment the door opened, Miles Colvine stood on the threshold, a cocked pistol in his right hand, his sword gleaming in his left, his eyes shooting from them a fierce dark light, but his manner perfectly calm and col lected. Behind him came the beautiful form of his daughter, with a bent pistol in her hand, and shuddering, from head to foot at the immediate peril which seemed to beset her father. These maritime desperadoes started back at this sudden apparition of an armed man, and even their miscreant leader, forward as he was, recoiled a pace or two. The mariner eyed him for a moment, and said, "Did my sword then do its work slovenly, and did the deep sea not devour thee, thou immeasurable villain? but God has given thee back to earth, to become a warning how sure and how certain just vengeance is." And leaping on him as he spoke, I saw the pistol flash, and the gleam of the descending sword, in almost the same instant. I instantly started up with my companions, and the smugglers, perceiving this sudden reinforcement, carried off their companion, groaning, and cursing, and praying; and pushing their boat from the shore, vanished along the misty bosom of the summer sea. I found Miles Colvine standing on the threshold of his house, and his daughter on her knees beside him. He knew me, for we had often passed each other on the beach and on the sea, and he was aware that I was a friend, for I had endeavoured in vain to oblige him in his forlorn state with little acts of kindness. "Come hither, sir," said the mariner, "I have to thank you for aid this night." He paused for a mo ment, and then said, in a lower tone, "I know your faith is not my faith, and that your life is not embittered with what has embittered mine. But tell me, sir, tell me, do you believe that the events of our life are ordained, for what hath happened to night seems of a wise Being's ordering." "Surely, sir," I said, "God knoweth all things, present and to come, but whether he permits evil deeds to be wrought or or dains good ones to be done"--"Enough, enough," said the mariner, " May Colvine, my love, trim thy father's shealing, and set the supper-table in array, for it is ordained that our deliverers shall rest with us, and break bread at our board; so come in, Francis Forster." And into the mariner's cottage we walked, not unawed by the presence of a being of whose temper and courage we had seen such a proof. apartment. Nor was the place devoted to brute comfort alone: some books, among which I observed Robinson Crusoe, and Homer's Odyssey inGreek, with a curious collection of northern legendary ballads, were scattered about, and a shepherd's pipe and a fiddle were there to bring music to assist in the dissipation of melancholy thought. May Colvine now came forth from her little chamber, with an increase of loveliness, such as a rose appears when refreshed in dew. She had laid aside the snood of silk and pearl which enclosed her hair, and the curling luxuriance of her ringlets descended over her shoulders, while her white temples, and whiter neck, were seen through the waving fleece which fell so profusely over them. Her father gazed on her like one who recals the lovely past in the beautiful present, and his thoughts had flitted to other days and remoter climes, for after a brief reverie he said, " Come, my love, the vessel is ready, the mariners aboard, the sails spread to the wind, and we must pass the haunted headland before the moon goes down." The maiden meanwhile had filled the supper board with such coarse fare as the cabin afforded, and addressing her father said, "Sir, the table is prepared, your guests are waiting, and will expect you to bless the fare which is set before them." The mariner laid his hat aside, and sitting in his place, after the manner of the Presbyterians, said “ Thou who spreadest thy table on the deep waters, and rainest down abundance in the desert places, make this coarse food seem savoury and delicate unto these three men and this tender virgin, If the exterior of the cottage was rude and unskilfully built, the interior was wonderfully commodious and neat. The floor was laid of drifted ship timber, and the walls were hung with nets as with tapestry, and fish-spears and gaff-hooks of steel, sharp and bright, were grouped like weapons for battle .in a chieftain's hall of old. The fruits of the fisherman's skill were every where visible; the chimney-mantle, a beam of wood which extended from side to side of the cottage, was covered with kippered salmon, large, and red, and savoury, and various kegs were filled with salted fish of the many excellent kinds which the Solway affords. A small bed stood near the chimney, swelled with the feathers of sea-fowl, and hillocked high with quilts and mantles, from beneath which some lin--but my hands, on which the blood of en looked out, only rivalled in whiteness by the snow. A very small chamber was constructed at the farther end, into which May Colvine disappeared for a moment to re-adjust her dress, and, perhaps, add some other of those artificial attractions which women always bring in to the aid of their natural charms. The mariner seated himself, motioned me to a seat, over which a sheepskin was thrown, while a lamp, fed plentifully with oil, and suspended from the roof, diffused light over the man yet reeks unatoned for, may not presume to touch blessed food." And spreading the fold of his mantle over his face, and stooping down, he appeared to busy himself in mental devotion, while, tasting the supper set before us, and obeying the mute invitation of the maiden to a glass of water, we complied with all the forms which this extraordinary audience seemed to impose upon us. After this was past, the young woman took up one of the instruments, and singing as she played, |