On the banks of Allan Water, When the sweet spring time did fall, Was the miller's lovely daughter, Fairest of them all. For his bride a soldier sought her, And a winning tongue had he, On the banks of Allan Water, None so gay as she. On the banks of Allan Water, When brown autumn spread his store, There I saw the miller's daughter, But she smiled no more. For the summer grief had brought her, And the soldier false was he, On the banks of Allan Water, None so sad as she. On the banks of Allan Water, When the winter snow fell fast, Still was seen the miller's daughter, Chilling blew the blast. But the miller's lovely daughter, Both from cold and care was free, On the banks of Allan Water, There a corse lay she. DEAR IS MY LITTLE NATIVE VALE SAMUEL ROGERS Dear is my little native vale, The ring-dove builds and murmurs there; Close by my cot she tells her tale To every passing villager; The squirrel leaps from tree to tree, And shells his nuts at liberty. In orange-groves and myrtle-bowers, That breathe a gale of fragrance round, I charm the fairy-footed hours With my loved lute's romantic sound; Or crowns of living laurel weave For those that win the race at eve. The shepherd's horn at break of day, The ballet danced in twilight glade, The canzonet and roundelay Sung in the silent greenwood shade: These simple joys, that never fail, Shall bind me to my native vale. A WISH Mine be a cot beside the hill; A bee-hive's hum shall soothe my ear; A willowy brook, that turns a mill, With many a fall, shall linger near. The swallow oft, beneath my thatch, Shall twitter near her clay-built nest; Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch, And share my meal, a welcome guest. Around my ivied porch shall spring Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew; And Lucy, at her wheel, shall sing, In russet gown and apron blue. The village church beneath the trees, Where first our marriage-vows were given, With merry peals shall swell the breeze, And point with taper spire to heaven. THE FAKENHAM GHOST Robert Bloomfield The lawns were dry in Euston park; (Here Truth inspires my tale) The lonely footpath, still and dark, Led over hill and dale. Benighted was an ancient dame, And fearful haste she made To gain the vale of Fakenham And hail its willow shade. Her footsteps knew no idle stops, But followed faster still, And echoed to the darksome copse That whispered on the hill; Where clamorous rooks, yet scarcely hushed, Bespoke a peopled shade, And many a wing the foliage brushed, And hovering circuits made. The dappled herd of grazing deer, That sought the shades by day, Now started from her path with fear, And gave the stranger way.