Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/378

 302 NOTES BY THE WAY.

tionate nature endeared him to all who had the privilege of his friendship. " I have done my best, such as it is," he recently wrote to me. " Already there seems to be arising a mist before me." I hear a voice you cannot hear, Which says I must not stay ; I see a hand you cannot see, Which beckons me away.

Ebsworth previous to his wife's death had expressed a wish to be buried either with his father at the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, at the feet of his beloved teacher David Scott, or under the old yews at Molash ; but w r hen his wife died, the cemetery at Ashford being more convenient, she was buried there, and on the llth of June his remains were placed in the same grave.

The following from Mr. John T. Page appeared in Notes and Queries on the 27th of June, 1908 :

Mr. Ebsworth forwarded to me in 1882 the following cha- racteristic " Impromptu " by way of epitaph, as he said, " not without some remembrance of ' Gabriel John ' " :

EPITAPHTCrM VIVI AUCTOBIS.

Underneath this sod or stone, Wave or sand (to him all 's one Now his little Life is done), Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth lies ; Whom, if you so choose, you '11 prize, Ere his time to wake and rise. Yes, he lies ! though he sought truth, Old in years, in heart a youth ; Loving Maggie, Maud, and Ruth : In his breast was room for more (Let us say, at least, a score), With big tomes of Ballad-lore. Others strove for power or wealth, He prized study, calm, and health : Slipt through life as though by stealth. Thus, good hap ! was known by few, Never once was seen by you, For he was not oft " on view." Bards and Critics nowadays Haunt too much the public ways ; While the crowds, with gossip, gaze. He made choice to lonely tread His shy paths, with flowerets spread : Half forgotten, 'live or dead. 25 March, 1882. J. W. EBSWORTH.

Ebsworth's Ebsworth's love for his father and mother remained with

fatherand him a11 tnrou g h his life - He never forgot their birthdays,

mother! anc ^ t ^ le anniversaries of their deaths were always held

sacred by him. In one letter he writes : " Yesterday, the

22nd of June, was the anniversary of my father's wedding,

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