Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By Ballads. I. The Fairies of the Caldon LowMary Howitt (17991888)
“A
And where have you been from me?”
“I’ve been to the top of the Caldon Low,
The midsummer-night to see!”
All up on the Caldon Low?”
“I saw the glad sunshine come down,
And I saw the merry winds blow.”
All up on the Caldon Hill?”
“I heard the drops of the water made,
And the ears of the green corn fill.”
All, all that ever you know;
For you must have seen the fairies,
Last night, on the Caldon Low.”
And listen, mother of mine.
A hundred fairies danced last night,
And the harpers they were nine.
To their dancing feet so small;
But oh! the words of their talking
Were merrier far than all.”
That then you heard them say?”
“I’ll tell you all, my mother;
But let me have my way.
And rolled it down the hill;
‘And this,’ they said, ‘shall speedily turn
The poor old miller’s mill:
Ever since the first of May;
And a busy man will the miller be
At dawning of the day.
When he sees the mill-dam rise!
The jolly old miller, how he will laugh
Till the tears fill both his eyes!’
That sounded over the hill;
And each put a horn unto his mouth,
And blew both loud and shrill:
Away from every horn;
And they shall clear the mildew dank
From the blind, old widow’s corn.
Though she has been blind so long,
She’ll be blithe enough when the mildew’s gone,
And the corn stands tall and strong.’
And flung it down from the Low;
‘And this,’ they said, ‘by the sunrise,
In the weaver’s croft shall grow.
How will he laugh outright,
When he sees his dwindling flax-field
All full of flowers by night!’
With a long beard on his chin;
I have spun up all the tow,’ said he,
‘And I want some more to spin.
And I want to spin another;
A little sheet for Mary’s bed,
And an apron for her mother.’
And I laughed out loud and free;
And then on the top of the Caldon Low
There was no one left but me.
The mists were cold and grey,
And nothing I saw but the mossy stones
That round about me lay.
I heard afar below,
How busy the jolly miller was,
And how the wheel did go.
And, sure enough, were seen
The yellow ears of the mildewed corn,
All standing stout and green.
To see if the flax were sprung;
But I met the weaver at his gate,
With the good news on his tongue.
And all that I did see;
So, pr’ythee, make my bed, mother,
For I’m tired as I can be.”