CHAPTER XV.

PROUD OF HIS HOME.

Up under the wood where tree tips sway
All green, though by skyshine tinted gray;
Above the soft mead where waters glide
Here narrow and swift, there slow and wide;
Up there is my house, with rose trimmed walls,
By land that upslopes, and land that falls
On over the mill, and up on the ridge
Up on the ledge above the bridge.

The wind as it comes along the copse,
Is loud with the rustling trees' high tops,
The wind from beyond the brook is cool,
And sounds of the ever-whirling pool,

Up there at my house, with well-trimmed thatch,
And lowly-wall'd lawn and arched hatch
Beside the tall trees where blackbirds sing,
Over the rock and water spring.

And when from the north the wind blows cold,
The trees are my screen a hundred fold,
And wind that may blow from southern skies
Through quivering lime trees softly sighs,
And out in the west a tow'r stands gray,
And hills on the eastward fade away
From under the wood, above the mill,
Over the stream, below the hill.

As people along the road go by,
They suddenly turn their heads awry,
They slacken their canter to a trot
With, "Oh! what a pretty little spot."
They take for their trot a walking pace
With "Heigh! what a charming little place."
They lift up their hands with wond'ring look,
With, "Lo! what a lovely little nook.”

They see my laburnums' chains of gold,
And pallid blue lilac flow'rs unfold;
They look at my fuchsias' hanging bells,
And calceolarias' yellow shells,

And cups of my lilies, white as snow,
And pinks as they hang their blossoms low;
And then at my roses, fine and fair
As ever have sweeten'd summer air.

The foot-weary man that there may tread
The road, with no place to lay his head,
Will say, as he heaves his sighing breast,
"How blest is the man in that sweet nest."

255

THE ANTIQUARY.

1869 TO 1877.

"Dec. 3rd, 1868.-I sent my copy of Early England and the Saxon English, to J. R. Smith," writes W. Barnes in his diary. It was accepted on similar terms to the book on Britain and the Britons, and, with the same lack of pecuniary benefit to the author, was published in 1869.

As a history of the Anglo Saxons in England it is perhaps the most fundamental one known. Tracing both Angles and Saxons from their earlier sources, the author particularises their conquests in England, and traces the landmarks of their first settlements, which are now left in the form of dykes. The names o counties are traced to their Saxon roots, and a chronological chapter gives an account of Saxon-English feuds. The religion, laws, and social life, dress and customs are described very graphically. The latter part of the book is given especially to the Frisians, the "father-stock" of the English people. This part of the book-chiefly a reprint from a paper read before the Philological Society-brought the author into an

1 See Letter VI. Appendix I.

interesting correspondence with a Dutch gentleman named Halbertsma, whose late father had been working on the same lines. He writes in June, 1873, thus :

MY DEAR SIR,

:

Having heard from your friend, Mr. Charles Warne, the great interest you take in the works of my lamented father concerning the Frisian language, I fulfil herewith a promise made to your friend, of sending you a copy of his opus postumum, which no doubt will claim your attention still more than his anterior publications, as he had himself proposed to show the great affinity that exists between the genuine English dialects and the Frisian, from which fact he would most probably have deduced another fact-viz., that it was especially the Frisians who, at the time of the so-called Anglo-Saxon invasion peopled a part of England and Scotland.

I hope you will accept of the book I offer you, and remain,

Truly yours,

T. J. HALBERTSMA.

No better proof of the correctness of W. Barnes's inferences could be given than that a scholar in a different land had arrived independently at the same conclusion, especially as it is not easy to trace the many Teutonic tribes in their changes and emigrations.

A second proof of the kinship of the English and Frisians was given when the gift of Herr Halbertsma was acknowledged by a present of the Dorset Poems. In thanking him for them the recipient says, "I imme

diately perused your poems with great pleasure, and became convinced that the Dorset dialect is a true daughter of the Saxon, by the fact that only now and then I had to take recourse to your useful glossary, as most of the words were almost familiar to me, by their resembling so much Friesic, Dutch, and Saxon words."

The publication of Early England and the Saxon English led also to an invitation from Mr. Arthur Kinglake, who was bringing out an important work entitled Somersetshire Worthies,-to furnish him with some sketches of King Alfred. This William Barnes did con amore, Alfred being one of the characters he had studied most deeply. In thanking the author for his "interesting Alfred sketches," Mr. Kinglake writes: "Your own thoughts of Alfred as a poet must be very interesting to you as a poet. I have his character now pretty well in hand from you. I must get some intelligent barrister to record it as a great lawgiver and jurist. Where can I get the little book Dialogues of Elfric about Agriculture? This seems to be very interesting."

A very different course of studies induced William Barnes to make a new translation of the Psalms from a comparison of the Hebrew and the Septuagint. His object was to render them as literal and intelligible as possible, and at the same time to preserve the rhythm and "thought-matching" of the Hebrew poetry. His translation was very melodious, and one or two of his friends were so pleased that they thought this version ought to form part of the new translation of the Bible, then being made. Mr. Craig, rector of Dilamger-bendi Insula, sent one of the Psalms, with the author's notes, to Bishop Wilberforce in February, 1870, proposing

S