e for ever and for aye.

He cam' na wi' horses,
He cam' na wi' men,
Like the bauld English knights langsyne;
But he thought that he could fleech
Wi' his bonny Southron speech
And wile awa' this lassie o' mine.

"Gae hame, gae hame
To your ain countrie,
Nor come o'er the March for me."
But sairly did she rue
When he thought that she spak' true
And the tear-drop it blinded her e'e.

His heart it was sair
And he lo'ed her mair and mair,
For her spirit was noble and free;
"Oh lassie dear, relent,
Nor let a heart be rent
That lives but for its country and thee."

And did she say him nay?
Oh no, he won the day,
Could an Elliot a Russell disdain?
And he's ta'en awa' his bride
Frae the bonnie Teviot-side,
And has left me sae eerie alane.

Oh where's now the smile
Used to cheer me ilk morn,
Like a blink o' the sun's ain light;
And where the voice sae sweet
That aye gar'd my bosom beat
When sae saftly she bade me gude-night.

Now lang, lang are the nights
And dowie are the days
That sae cheerie were ance for me.
And oh the thought is sair
That she'll mine be never mair,
I'm alane in the North Countrie.

MARY MINTO, _July_, 1841

But before following the future, it will be well to look back. Lord John
himself must play so large a part in a biography of his wife that a sketch
of his life up to this point, and some reminders of the kind of man he was,
may interest the reader; not a review of his political achievements, but an
outline of the events which had left him at his second marriage a leader
among his countrymen.

Lord John Russell, born in 1792, was the third son of John, sixth Duke of
Bedford. He was only nine years old when he lost his mother, whom he
remembered to the end of his life with tender affection. He always spoke
gratefully of the invariable kindness and affection of his father, who
married again in 1803, and of his stepmother, but he felt that the shyness
and reserve which often caused him to be misunderstood and thought cold
were largely due to the loss of his mother in his childhood. He was
educated at Westminster, but he was not robust enough to stand a rough
life, and it was decidedly rough. His education was continued at Woburn
under a tutor. He was a book-loving boy, and the earliest exercise of his
powers was in verses, prologues, and plays. Going to the play was one of
the chief enjoyments of his childho