s
Blink on a distant shore;
And I have stood where honour call'd,
In the embattled line,
And there left many gallant lads,
The cronies o' langsyne.

I 've gather'd walth o' weel-won gear,
Yet still I fortune blame;
I lang wi' strangers pass'd my days,
And now I 'm ane at hame.
I have nae friend but what my gowd
Can draw to mammon's shrine;
But how unlike the guileless hearts
That wish'd me weel langsyne!

PETER ROGER.

Peter Roger, blacksmith, formerly at Glenormiston, and latterly at
Peebles, though more the enthusiastic lover of, than a contributor to,
the national minstrelsy, is entitled to remembrance. His numerous
communications addressed to the editor of this work, have supplied much
information, which has been found useful in the preparation of these
volumes. Roger was born at Clovenford, in the parish of Stow, in 1792.
For thirty-seven years he wrought as blacksmith at Glenormiston, on the
banks of the Tweed, near Innerleithen. In 1852, he removed to Peebles,
where he had purchased a small cottage and garden. He died suddenly, at
Peebles, on the 3d April 1856, in his 64th year. The following sketch of
his character has been supplied, at our request, by his intimate
acquaintance, the Rev. James Murray, minister of Old Cumnock:--

"Roger was in many respects a very remarkable man....
He possessed, in an eminent degree, an exquisite
natural sympathy with all things beautiful and good. He
was an excellent botanist, well-skilled in music, and
passionately fond of poetry. His conversation was very
interesting; and his slight tendency to dogmatise in
the presence of a stranger, entirely disappeared in the
society of his friends. He might almost be said to
revere any one possessed of intellectual gifts and
accomplishments, whether natural or acquired; and as he
lived many years in a cottage situated on the way-side
between Peebles and Innerleithen, he was frequently
visited by those who passed by. Occasionally the
Ettrick Shepherd would stop his gig to have a few
minutes' _crack_ with his 'friend Peter,' as he called
him. At another time it would be his minister, the Rev.
Mr Leckie, or some other worthy pastor, or some surgeon
of the district upon his widely-extended rounds--Dr
Craig, for example; or Mr Thomas Smibert; or Mr Adam
Dickso