The verses were inscribed,

TO AN OAK TREE

In the churchyard of—­, in the Highlands of Scotland, said to mark the grave of captain Wogan, killed in 1649.

     Emblem of England’s ancient faith,
     Full proudly may thy branches wave,
     Where loyalty lies low in death,
     And valour fills a timeless grave.

     And thou, brave tenant of the tomb! 
     Repine not if our clime deny,
     Above thine honoured sod to bloom,
     The flowerets of a milder sky.

     These owe their birth to genial May;
     Beneath a fiercer sun they pine,
     Before the winter storm decay—­
     And can their worth be type of thine?

     No! for ’mid storms of Fate opposing,
     Still higher swelled thy dauntless heart,
     And, while Despair the scene was closing,
     Commenced thy brief but brilliant part.

     Twas then thou sought’st on Albyn’s hill,
     (When England’s sons the strife resigned),
     A rugged race, resisting still,
     And unsubdued though unrefined.

     Thy death’s hour heard no kindred wail,
     No holy knell thy requiem rung;
     Thy mourners were the plaided Gael;
     Thy dirge the clamorous pibroch sung.

     Yet who, in Fortune’s summer-shine,
     To waste life’s longest term away,
     Would change that glorious dawn of thine,
     Though darkened ere its noontide day?

     Be thine the Tree whose dauntless boughs
     Brave summer’s drought and winter’s gloom! 
     Rome bound with oak her patriots’ brows,
     As Albyn shadows Wogan’s tomb.

Whatever might be the real merit of Flora Mac-Ivor’s poetry, the enthusiasm which it intimated was well calculated to make a corresponding impression upon her lover.  The lines were read—­read again—­then deposited in Waverley’s bosom—­then again drawn out, and read line by line, in a low and smothered voice, and with frequent pauses which, prolonged the mental treat, as an epicure protracts, by sipping slowly the enjoyment of a delicious beverage.  The entrance of Mrs. Cruickshanks, with the sublunary articles of dinner and wine, hardly interrupted this pantomime of affectionate enthusiasm.

At length the tall, ungainly figure and ungracious visage of Ebenezer presented themselves.  The upper part of his form, notwithstanding the season required no such defence, was shrouded in a large great-coat, belted over his under habiliments, and crested with a huge cowl of the same stuff, which, when drawn over the head and hat, completely over-shadowed both, and being buttoned beneath the chin, was called a trot-cozy.  His hand grasped a huge jockey-whip, garnished with brass mounting.  His thin legs tenanted a pair of gambadoes, fastened at the sides with rusty clasps.  Thus accoutred, he stalked into the midst of the apartment, and announced his errand in brief phrase:—­