William Cameron, minister of Kirknewton, in the county of Edinburgh, was educated in Marischal College, Aberdeen, where he was a pupil of Dr Beattie, “who ever after entertained for him much esteem.”  A letter, addressed to him by this eminent professor, in 1774, has been published by Sir William Forbes;[3] and his name is introduced at the beginning of Dr Beattie’s “Letter to the Rev. Hugh Blair, D.D., on the Improvement of Psalmody in Scotland. 1778, 8vo:”—­“The message you lately sent me, by my friend Mr Cameron, has determined me to give you my thoughts at some length upon the subject of it.”

He died in his manse, on the 17th of November 1811, in the 60th year of his age, and the 26th year of his ministry.  He was a considerable writer of verses, and his compositions are generally of a respectable order.  He was the author of a “Collection of Poems,” printed at Edinburgh in 1790, in a duodecimo volume; and in 1781, along with the celebrated John Logan and Dr Morrison, minister of Canisbay, he contributed towards the formation of a collection of Paraphrases from Scripture, which, being approved of by the General Assembly, are still used in public worship in the Church of Scotland.  A posthumous volume of verses by Mr Cameron, entitled “Poems on Several Occasions,” was published by subscription in 1813—­8vo, pp. 132.  The following song, which was composed by Mr Cameron, on the restoration of the forfeited estates by Act of Parliament, in 1784, is copied from Johnson’s “Musical Museum.”  It affords a very favourable specimen of the author’s poetical talents.

[3] Forbes’s “Life of Beattie,” vol. i. p. 375.

AS O’ER THE HIGHLAND HILLS I HIED.

TUNE—­"As I came in by Auchindoun."

I.

As o’er the Highland hills I hied,
The Camerons in array I spied;
Lochiel’s proud standard waving wide,
In all its ancient glory. 
The martial pipe loud pierced the sky,
The bard arose, resounding high
Their valour, faith, and loyalty,
That shine in Scottish story.

    No more the trumpet calls to arms,
    Awaking battle’s fierce alarms,
    But every hero’s bosom warms
      With songs of exultation. 
    While brave Lochiel at length regains,
    Through toils of war, his native plains,
    And, won by glorious wounds, attains
      His high paternal station.

    Let now the voice of joy prevail,
    And echo wide from hill to vale;
    Ye warlike clans, arise and hail
      Your laurell’d chiefs returning. 
    O’er every mountain, every isle,
    Let peace in all her lustre smile,
    And discord ne’er her day defile
      With sullen shades of mourning.

    M’Leod, M’Donald, join the strain,
    M’Pherson, Fraser, and M’Lean;
    Through all your bounds let gladness reign,
      Both prince and patriot praising;
    Whose generous bounty richly pours
    The streams of plenty round your shores;
    To Scotia’s hills their pride restores,
      Her faded honours raising.