Wor county in him lost her pride an' her prize, Au'd Heddon luik'd lang, wiv a tear in her eye, Each fiddler, an' drummer, an' piper. Reet dowly the scene, though a sun-shiny day- Till Time shall be gray, an' the sun shall be dim, Then join an' lament wi' the sons o' the Nine, The Robber's Oak. OT far from Debdon, in the county of Northumberland, is the famous Riever's Well,' where many a riever of the Forest, or of Hepple barony, has refreshed when driving stolen cattle from the neighbourhood of Warkworth or Shilbottle. One of the most noted of these daring thieves was Gawen Redhead, who was outlawed in the time of Queen Elizabeth. He betook himself for a residence, to a large oak situate on the Brinkburn estate. The trunk of the noble tree was much decayed, but by the aid of his labour and ingenuity, was made as comfortable as the nature and size of the place would permit. Here he repaired with the spoils, and from the labours of the day, to obtain "shelter from the night dew, and slumber to his eyelids." Here he lived in a state of uncertainty for his own safety and as one feared by those weaker than himself, suffering the various chances of good and ill-fortune, until death closed his checquered career. The field in which grew this memorable tree, is still called Gawen's field, and it was of such large dimensions, that the tenants wintered in it half a dozen calves, in the beginning of the last century. Tradition says that he was as notorious a moss-trooper, as an Armstrong or Elliott of Liddesdale, or the Riever of Westburnflat. Clouds come over the Brightest Day. BY JAMES HENRY DIXON, ESQ. HE following ballad, to an old English border tune, known as "When I was a batchelor fine and brave" was written for Chappell's old English Ballads and Songs, and has been handed to us as local. Under a veil of Gothic imagery, it appears to us to tell a tale of yesterday, and we think, that there are those amongst our readers, who will not be slow in discovering a key to it. AROLD the minstrel was blithe and young, His wealth was his harp o' the forest tree; On him young Ella the maiden smiled, From the old church tower the joy bells rung, Youth was gay, but the aged sighed "She had better have been the minstrel's bride" And Harold wept as he troll'd his lay "Clouds come over the brightest day." Years have fled, and the moonbeams fall Years have fled, and that soft light shines On that sweet cot thinks, and the warning rhyme Clouds come over the brightest day." Ovingham Fair. ITH a yearning affection for the place of his birth and the scene of many a youthful frolic, John Jackson, the celebrated xylographer, after his removal from natal haunts to the busy scenes of London, embodied in a letter to Hone, for insertion in his "Every Day Book" certain "reminiscences of customs," which, says he, "existed when first I drew halfpence from my breeches pockets, and which still remain in the north of England; I allude to a fair held at Ovingham, a small hamlet situated on the banks of the Tyne, about twelve miles west of Newcastle. Ovingham fair is on the 26th of April and 26th of October. Formerly, an agricultural society awarded prizes to the succesful candidates for the breed of horses, cows, sheep, &c. The April cattle show was entirely of the male kind, and in every respect calculated to afford pleasure and instruction to the naturalist, being replete with variety, form, colour, and as much beauty as could be found in that part of the animal creation; so much so, that in turning from the scene with reluctance, you might exclaim, Accuse not nature, she hath done her part; man do thou but thine.' Morland, Potter, Cooper, and Bewick, might all have found variety for the exercise of their several powers; and, indeed, the latter has given portraits of many of the specimens there exhibited, in his 'History of Quadrupeds'. The October show was of the female kind, and inferior to the former. At this meeting, two additional prizes were given; one 6 to the grower of the finest crop of turnips, which was decided by taking so many rows, of a given number of yards in length, and weighing them; the other was the sum of ten pounds, to the person who could prove that he had reared the largest family without assistance from the parish. The privilege of contest was confined to hinds. The fair is principally for the sale of cattle, and the show is not greater than that of Smithfield on market day, excepting pigs, which here and at Stagshaw-bank fairs supply the principal stock to the Cumberland and Westmorland pig feeders. In the morning, a procession moves from the principal alehouse for the purpose of riding the fair, as they call it, headed by the two Northumberland pipers, called the duke of Northumberland's pipers, in a light blue dress, a large cloak of the same colour with white cape, a silver half-moon on one arm as a cognizance, and white band and binding to the hat. Each is mounted on a Rosinante, borrowed without consent, by the busy hostler, from some whiskey smuggler or cadger, reconciled to the liberty by long custom. Those who have noticed the miller and his horse in Stothard's, picture of the Pilgrimage to Canterbury,' may form a tolerable notion of the manner in which 'Jemmy Allen' and his son are mounted. 'And what have those troopers to do here to-day? The duke of Northumberland's pipers are they.' The pipers, followed by the duke's agent, bailiff, constable, and a numerous body of farmers, principally the duke's tenantry, proceed first through the fair, where the proclamation is read that the fair shall last nine days; and then, the duke being lord of the manor, they walk the boundary of all that is or has been common or waste land. This task completed, they return to the alehouse with the pipers playing before them, where they partake freely of store of punch at the duke's expence. The farmers are so proud of being able to express their attachment to his grace in public,' as they term it, that they mount their sons on cuddies, rather than they should not join the procession, to drink with them the health o' his grace, and lang may he leeve to protect and study the interests o' his tenantry.' Then there follows 'Here's te ye Tom,' 'Thanks te ye Jack,' and so they seprate for the fair, there to 'ettle how muckle per heed they can git for their nowte an swine.' Ovingham fair, like others, is attended by many a showman with different kinds of amusement for children, such as the E and O, black-cock and grey; and, above all, for the amusement of the pig drivers and 'gadsmen,' Punch and Toby, (so called by them,) and a number of those gentlemen who vomit fire, as if they had swallowed the wicks of all the candles they had snuffed for Richardson. Many of those worthies I recollect having attended ever since I was able to see above the level of their stalls. At my last visit, I was much amused with one who seemed to have just arrived from the sister kingdom; he was surrounded by ploughboys and their doxeys, their cheeks as red as their topknots. He had a large pan suspended from his neck, and, as the girls observed, a skimmering' white apron and bib, and he bellowed as loud as he could, Hear's a' yer rale dandy candy, made ap wi' sugar and brandy, an tha rale hoile o' mint; it's good far young ar hold, cough or cold, a shortness o' breath, ar a pain at tha stamach; it's cood for hany complaint whatsomever; A fate! an ye'll try it :-noo leddies, hif ye try it, an yer sure ta buy it.' And sure enough this was the case, for whatever might be its qualities, it pleased the 'leddies,' who purchased in such abundance, that they besmeared their faces so as to destroy that rosy red, love's proper hue, which dwells upon the cheeks of our northern rustic beauties. I must not forget to mention that the October fair is more numerously attended by those who go for pleasure. Unlike the southern holyday folks, they prefer autumn for this reason, that ‘har'st' is just ended, and they have then most money, which, with the leddies,' is generally expended in dress suitable to this and similar occasions. After baking a sufficient number of barley cakes for the following day, and the milk set up, they throw off their 'linsey-wolsey petticoats,' and 'yem made bed-goons' for a gown, a good specimen of their taste, in the two warmest colours, a red flower or stripe upon a yellow ground, and as much of a third colour round the waste, as would make them vie with Iris. In this butterfly state they hasten to the scene of mirth, and most of them dance till they have reason to suppose it is time to 'gan hame, and get a' ready by crowdie time." The style of dancing is similar to the Scotch country dances, reels, jigs, and hornpipes; the last mentioned are much admired. No merrymaking is allowed to pass over without some rural 'admirable Crichton' having shown his agility in this step. The hornpipe is introduced between each country dance, while love-blinks, strokes of wit, and social mirth, drive care away. The following day is called by the inhabitants 'gwonny Jokesane's' day, why so is not known; all they know is, that it is and has been so called since the recollection of the eldest living; and that is sufficient to induce them to continue a custom, which is peculiar to it: When a sufficient number have assembled, they elect what they are pleased to call a mayor, who mounts a platform, borne along by four men, headed by the musician who attended on the preceding evening, and fol |