We now pass to the CREE river, which forms the boundary between Kirkcudbright and Wigtown, the two divisions of Galloway. It is endeared to the poets, who name it “the crystal Cree”; either the alliterative effect fascinated the tuneful ear, or they contrasted it with the Dee, that other Galloway river whose dark waters have already been described. Burns also, whose verse is linked with so much of the scenery of his native land, has not forgotten this stream. In pleasing numbers he sings its beauties:—
“Here is the glen, and here the bower,
All underneath the birchen shade;
The village-bell has told the hour,
O, what can stay the lovely maid?”
The song goes on to describe the emotions of the rustic youth, who mistakes the whisper of the evening wind and the “warbler’s dying fall” for the voice of the beloved. Well! the lady is a little late, but she keeps her appointment, after all:—
“And art thou come! and art thou true!
O welcome, dear, to love and me!
And let us all our vows renew,