[A composite volume : containing The ballads and songs of Ayrshire ...

;
!
—
—
The thrush, a spendthrift of his powers,
Enrapturing heaven and earth.
The swan, in majesty and grace,
Contemplative and still
But roused—no falcon in the chase
Could, like his satire, kill :
s
>
The linnet in simplicity ; ]
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In tenderness the dove ;
But, more than all beside, was he
]
'
The nightingale, in love.
\
Oh ! had he never stoop'd to shame,
Nor lent a charm to vice,
How had devotion loved to name
That bird of Paradise
Peace to the dead !—^In Scotia's choir
Of minstrels, great and small,
He sprang from his spontaneous fire.
The Phoenix of them all
These much admired verses, " On the Anniversary of the Birth of
Burns," are the production of the well known " Christian Poet,"
James Montgomery, a Scotsman by descent as well as birth. He
was born in Irvine, where his parents resided for some time.
Several
years ago, the venerable author visited Scotland, after an absence of
more than half a century. He was publicly entertained at Glasgow
and the principal towns—^including his native burgh—by large assemblies.
At one of these meetings, he gave an account of his birth :
He was born in the town of Irvine, where his parents had for some
years resided in connection with the Church of the United Brethren.
When he was about four years and a half old, his
parents left Irvine
and went to reside in the north of Ireland. His parents had been
born in Ireland, but every drop of their blood was Scotch.
They had
not corrupted the blood, and surely he might be allowed to say that he
was not aware that any thing tending to corrupt it had been done by
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