Page:Types of Scenery and Their Influence on Literature.djvu/45

 bent sae brown' of the higher ground gives place to 'heathery hill and birken shaw,' with here and there a 'bush of broom' or 'buss o' ling' where the dun deer couches in the glade. We are led to where

The hills are high on ilka side An' the bought i' the lirk o' the hill.

We are made to see that the 'morning sun is on the dew,' to feel 'the cauler breeze frae off the fells,' and to note here and there 'the gryming of a new-fa'n snaw.' When the king led his army through Caddon ford, in pursuit of the outlaw Murray, and came in sight of Ettrick forest, the ballad tells how

They saw the darke Forest them before, They thought it awsome for to see.

But perhaps the natural feature most frequently alluded to in the tales of foray is the flooding of the rivers. In those days bridges were few throughout the Border, and thus a heavy downfall of rain might completely sever all communication between the two sides of a dale. To plunge into these swollen torrents was sometimes the only escape from pursuit, and required fully as much courage and nerve as to stay and face the approaching foe. In the famous ride to Carlisle for the rescue of Kinmont Willie, the party found when they came to the Eden that

The water was great and meikle of spate.

But they dashed into it, losing neither man nor horse, but encountering still worse weather on the English side—

The wind began fu' loud to blaw; But 'twas wind and weet and fire and sleet When they came beneath the castle wa'.