YON FAIRY DOG.

‘ Twas bold MacCodrum of the Seals,

Whose heart would never fail,

Would hear yon fairy ban-dog fierce

Come howling down the gale;

The patt'ring of the paws would sound

Like horse's hoofs on frozen ground,

While o'er its back and curling round

Uprose its fearsome tail.

‘ Twas bold MacCodrum of the Seals —

Yon man that hath no fears —

Beheld the dog with dark-green back

That bends not when it rears;

Its sides were blacker than the night,

But underneath the hair was white;

Its paws were yellow, its eyes were bright,

And blood-red were its ears.

‘ Twas bold MacCodrum of the Seals —

The man who naught will dread —

Would wait it, stooping with his spear,

As nigh to him it sped;

The big black head it turn'd and toss'd,

“I'll strike,” cried he, “ere I'll be lost,”

For every living thing that cross'd

Its path would tumble dead.

‘ Twas bold MacCodrum of the Seals —

The man who ne'er took fright —

Would watch it bounding from the hills

And o'er the moors in flight.

When it would leave the Uist shore,

Across the Minch he heard it roar —

Like yon black cloud it bounded o'er

The Coolin Hills that night.