"And where have you been, my Mary, And where have you been from me? ""I"ve been to the top of the Caldon Low The midsummer night to see. ""And what did you see, my Mary, All up on the Caldon Low? ""I saw the glad sunshine come down, And I saw the merry winds blow. ""And what did you hear, my Mary, All up on the Caldon Hill? ""I heard the drops the water made, And the ears of the green corn fill. ""Oh, tell me all, my Mary- All, all that ever you know;For you must have seen the fairies, Last night on the Caldon Low. ""Then take me on your knee, mother; And listen, mother of mine:
A hundred fairies danced last night, And the harpers they were nine;"And their harp-strings rang so merrily To their dancing feet so small;But oh ! the words of their talking Were merrier far than all. "" And what were the words, my Mary, That then you heard them say? "" I"ll tell you all, my mother; But let me have my way.
" Some of them played with the water, And rolled it down the hill;"And this," they said, "shall speedily turn The poor old miller"s mill;""For there has been no water Ever since the first of May;And a busy man will the miller be At dawning of the day.
""Oh, the miller, how he will laugh When he sees the mill-dam rise!
The jolly old miller, how he will laugh Till the tears fill both his eyes!"
"And some they seized the little winds
That sounded over the hill;
And each put a horn unto his mouth, And blew both loud and shrill;" "And there," they said, "the merry winds go Away from every horn;And they shall clear the mildew dank From the blind old widow"s corn.
""Oh! the poor, blind widow,
Though she has been blind so long,
She"ll be blithe enough when the mildew"s gone, And the corn stands tall and strong."
"And some they brought the brown linseed, And flung it down from the Low;"And this," they said, "by the sunrise, In the weaver"s croft shall grow.
""Oh! the poor, lame weaver, How he will laugh outrightWhen he sees his dwindling flax-field All full of flowers by night!"
"And then outspoke a brownie, With a long beard on his chin;"I have spun up all the tow," said he, "And I want some more to spin.
""I"ve spun a piece of hempen cloth, And I want to spin another;A little sheet for Mary"s bed, And an apron for her mother."
"With that I could not help but laugh, And I laughed out loud and free;And then, on the top of the Caldon Low, There was no one left but me.
"And, all on top of the Caldon Low, The mists were cold and grey,And nothing I saw but the mossy stones That round about me lay.
"But, coming down from the hill-top, I heard, afar below,How busy the jolly miller was, And how the wheel did go.
"And I peeped into the widow"s field, And sure enough were seenThe yellow ears of the mildewed corn, All standing stout and green.
"And down by the weaver"s croft I stole, To see if the flax were sprung;And I met the weaver at his gate, With the good news on his tongue.
" Now, this is all I heard, mother, And all that I did see;So, prithee, make my bed, mother, For I"m tired as I can be. "- Mary Howitt
Author.-Mary Howitt (1799-1888). Before she married William Howitt, another poet, she was a young English Quakeress, Mary Botham. Her husband, with their two sons, came out to Australia and worked for a time at gold-digging in Victoria. William Howitt and the elder son went back to England. The younger one, Alfred, became a good bushman, as well as a writer who studied and wrote about the blacks. It was he who found all that was left of the Burke and Wills party in 1861. Mary Howitt wrote mostly for children. She was a kind and lovable woman.
General Notes.-A low is a round, grassy hill. Midsummer Night inEngland falls on the 22nd of June. When does it fall in Australia? What did Mary see when she was on the hill-top? What did she hear? Tell all the things the fairies did. Did Mary only think they did these things? What is there to show that Mary had a kind heart? Tell all the names you know for fairies-brownies, elves, and what else?
