We bade each tree record our vows,
And each surrounding mountain,
With every star on high that glows
From light's o'erflowing fountain.
But gloaming gray bedims the vale,
On day's bright beam encroaching;
With rapture once again I hail
The trysting hour approaching.
RICHARD GALL.
Richard Gall was born in December 1776, at Linkhouse, near Dunbar. His
father was a notary; but, being in poor circumstances, he apprenticed
his son, in his eleventh year, to a relative, who followed the conjoined
business of a builder and house-carpenter. The drudgery of heavy manual
labour proved very uncongenial; and the apprentice suddenly took his
departure, walking a long distance to Edinburgh, whither his parents had
removed their residence. He now selected the profession of a printer,
and entered on an indenture to Mr David Ramsay of the _Edinburgh Evening
Courant_. At the close of his apprenticeship, he became Mr Ramsay's
travelling clerk.
In the ordinary branches of education, young Gall had been instructed in
a school at Haddington; he took lessons in the more advanced departments
from a private tutor during his apprenticeship. He wrote verses from his
youth, and several of his songs became popular, and were set to music.
His poetical talents attracted the attention of Robert Burns and Hector
Macneill, both of whom cherished his friendship,--the former becoming
his correspondent.
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