By James Scadlock.
(Set to Music by Mr. R. A. Smith).
No more along the upland brow,
Where wild-fowl crop the heather bud,
The City's distant spires I'll view,
Half hid in evening's murky cloud
Since thou art gone my joys are fled,
Thy love-strung harp in silence lies,
The bleak winds murmur o'er thy head,
On fancy's ear it plaintive sighs.
The birds no more give joy to me,
That warble in the green-wood bower,
No more I mark the wand'ring bee,
Unwearied fly from flower to flower,
Since thou art gone, etc.
How oft with thee on summer's eve,
Ere dew had wet the footpath way,
The busy town with joy I'd leave,
To hail the sun's last parting ray,
Since thou art gone, etc.
Now lonely down Gleniffer glen,
Where brackens shade the streamlet clear,
I'll shun the busy haunts of men,
And silent shed the friendly tear,
Since thou art gone, etc.
Ill-fated youth long, long I'll mourn
In solitude thy untimely end,
And oft beside thy lonely urn
In deepest sorrow will I bend,
Since thou art gone, etc.
James Scadlock, engraver, Fereneze, another companion of Tannahill's, to whom Epistles Nos. 19 and 21 were addressed.—Ed.
A more detailed sketch of James Scadlock is given by Robert Brown in "Paisley Poets" Volume 1 published in Paisley by J. & J Cook, 1889. He writes:—
JAMES SCADLOCK, whose father was a weaver, was born in Paisley on the 7th of October, 1775. When Scadlock had finished his limited education, he was apprenticed to his father to learn to be a weaver ; but before the end of the first year he left the weaving business, and was apprenticed to a person who carried on the trade of a bookbinder and stationer. This firm becoming unsuccessful in business, he was thrown out of employment. At this time he became an enthusiastic admirer of the poetic muse, and presented his youthful friends with poetry founded on the authors of the books he had been reading and admiring. In 1793 he became so enamoured with the principles enunciated by the friends of the French Revolution, that he composed a Republican song, which pleased the supporters of that movement.
Drawing had always been a favourite amusement of Scadlock's, and his father, being anxious to allow him an opportunity to gratify his taste, got him apprenticed for seven years to be a copperplate engraver with the firm of Findlay, Ure, Bryce, & Co., printers, Fereneze. This was a long period to endure in comparative poverty ; but, besides his daily labours, he kept himself busy with his favourite muse. On the 11th June, 1801, he completed his long apprenticeship, but he continued with the firm as a journeyman, at an increased salary.
About this time he became acquainted with Tannahill, and their friendship continued uninterrupted till the death of the great poet. To his favourite studies of poetry and painting he at this time added French and Latin. But misfortunes overtook him in an unexpected way. A general depression of trade commenced at this period, and he was warned by his employers that his services were no longer required. He applied unsuccessfully to almost every printer in the country for employment, and was about to give up hopes of obtaining employment in despair, when he received an offer of a situation from a firm in Perth. He remained there about a year, and afterwards returned to his former employers. In April, 1808, he married Mary Ewing, the daughter of a respectable workman at the same “field” with himself. He now became more domesticated and settled in life, and was always engaged in acts of kindness, such as teaching the children of his poorer neighbours to read or some favourite friend to draw.
In the society of Tannahill he formed a close intimacy with R. A. Smith and William Stewart. Scadlock attended sedulously to the education of his own children, and as a member of the Church of Scotland instilled into their minds the moral and religious duties of life.
His employers having given up business, he obtained a permanent situation in Glasgow, and was about to enter it when he was seized with typhus fever, and died on 4th July, 1818, in the 43rd year of his age, leaving a wife and four children to lament their loss. James Scadlock was greatly respected by his neighbours and all who knew him, and he lived and died without an enemy in the world.
In April, 1803, when Scadlock was residing in Perth, he received a poetical epistle from Tannahill (see D. Semple's edition, p. 84). In June, 1804, Scadlock received a second poetical epistle from Tannahill (see D. Semple's edition, p. 99). Two of the best verses of this epistle are as follows:—
Yet while life's bellows bear to blaw,
Till life's last lang-fetched breath I draw,
I'll aften fondly think on you,
And mind your kindness a'.
Now fare-ye-weel ! still may ye find
A friend congenial to your mind,
To share your joys, and halve your woes—
Warm, sympathising, kind.
Scadlock at two different periods addressed a poetical epistle to Tannahill, and these appear in Scadlock's posthumous works, at pages 9 and 45.
After the death of Tannahill, James Scadlock composed a dirge to his memory (see p. 82 of Scadlock's works), and it was set to music by R. A. Smith. His poetical pieces were collected and published by Mr. M‘Laren in 1818, under the title of “The Posthumous Works of James Scadlock : Poems, Songs, Odes, and other Poetical Pieces, with a Sketch of the Author's Life.”
TO HOPE.
At twilight grey as forth I roam,
Along Tay's limpid stream,
Tho' far from friends and native home,
Hope holds a distant gleam.
Enchanting nymph ! whene'er I stray,
By bank or broomy braes,
Still lead me through each devious way,
And cheer me with thy rays.
When fell disease invades my breast,
And death stands at my door,
Still let my heart with thee be blessed,
In that distracting hour.
When dissolution slow appears,
And reason yields her seat,—
When friends around, in silent tears,
Bemoan my early fate,—
Still may thy influence o'er my mind
Present a brighter day,
And warm my heart to human kind,
Till light and life decay.
—Grian Press.