SONG.
I long to forget thee! but every sweet scene
Reminds me too strongly of days that have been;
Where can I look round me, but something recalls
Our friendship, our love,—and my spirit enthralls?
Each nook of the mountain—each cot of the gill—
The rush of the river—the flow of the rill—
The trees of the forest—the gems of the lea—
All whisper of childhood, of virtue, and thee.
When in spring-time the violets and primroses bloom,
When in summer the wild thyme is wafting perfume;
When autumn is mellowly tinging the trees,
And in winter’s cold blast when the mountain streams freeze;
When bright glows the sun-ray—when soft moon-light shines
On the aged church tower, and dark waving pines—
Each season shall tell of some ever-fled bliss,
Of the press of thine hand, or the balm of thy kiss.
Thou wert long the sole theme of my earliest lays,
And my wild harp’s first breathings were all in thy praise;
When in fancy that wild harp I hung on the yew,
I thought not the fancy would e’er prove untrue.
I deem’d not the form that beside me reclin’d
In the haunt of the green-wood would e’er prove unkind—
Unkind to a heart that but liv’d for thy love,
And has pray’d for thy weal to the spirit above.
’Tis evening! the hues of the sun-set are fled—
A deep sombre mist o’er the valley is spread—
The tall cliffs are wrapp’d in the shades of the night,
And Dernebrook no longer is lapsing in light:
The burst of the morning the gloom shall dispel,
And a halo of glory gild valley and fell—
Yet a shade o’er my destiny ever will be,
And, Emma! that shade is—remembrance of thee!
T. Q. M.
TRASHING.
A Bridal Custom in Yorkshire.
To the Editor.
Morley, near Leeds, July 21, 1827.
Sir,—There is a custom prevalent in various parts of Yorkshire, which I do not remember to have seen noticed in the works of Strutt, Brand, Fosbroke, or any other learned writer upon such subjects. It is called “trashing,” which signifies pelting people with old shoes on their return from church on the wedding-day. There were certain offences which subjected the parties formerly to this disagreeable liability; such as refusing to contribute to scholars’ “potations,” or other convivialities; but in process of time the reason of the thing became forgotten, and “trashing” was indiscriminately practised among the lower orders. Turf-sods or mud being substituted for lack of old shoes, and generally thrown in jest and good-humour rather than in anger or ill-will.
Although it is true that an old shoe is to this day called “a trash,” yet it did not, certainly, give the name to the nuisance. To “trash” originally signified, to clog, incumber, or impede the progress of any one; (see Todd’s Johnson;) and agreeably to this explanation we find the rope tied by sportsmen round the necks of fleet pointers to tire them well, and check their speed, is hereabouts universally called the “trashcord,” or dog trash. But why old shoes in particular were selected as the missiles most proper for impeding the progress of new married persons, it is now perhaps impossible to discover.
Yours respectfully,
N. S.