TO LADY GIFFORD.

A statue, standing upon the Crosswell in Linton, erected by John Gifford in 1666 to perpetuate the memory of his wife, supposed by some to be on account of her good qualities, but generally believed to be for those of an opposite nature. In 1855 it was displaced; and in 1861 it was re-erected, after which the following was written.

Amid the loyal welcomes of the villagers each one,
Thou art our ancient lady, now restored unto thy throne;
As stately, as majestic, and as pleasing to the gaze,
As thou wert nine score years since, in the morning of thy days.
Let woe betake the graceless rake who once, at dead of night,
Did thrust thee from that station, thine by long-establish'd right;
A deed of wanton devilry, of cowardice, and shame, -
Sure if it were a townsman, we at once deny the name.
For though in vain the stranger asks thy history to know,
A matter clothed in mystery, though perhaps 'tis better so;
Yet this we'll prove, since first thy form exalted here was seen,
An inoffensive onlooker thou verily hast been.
An 'round thee now the schule-weans play, as in the days o' yore,
The generations many that have come an' gone before;
An' villager an' visitant the friendly look still cast
On thee, thou strange remembrancer an' relic of the past.

Robert Sanderson (1836-1902)

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