XXI “And some had sworn an oath that she
          Should be to public justice brought;
          And for the little infant’s bones
          With spades they would have sought. 225
          But instantly the hill of moss [26]
          Before their eyes began to stir! 
          And, for full fifty yards around,
          The grass—­it shook upon the ground! 
          Yet [27] all do still aver 230
          The little Babe lies [28] buried there,
          Beneath that hill of moss so fair.

XXII “I cannot tell how this may be
          But plain it is the Thorn is bound
          With heavy tufts of moss that strive 235
          To drag it to the ground;
          And this I know, full many a time,
          When she was on the mountain high,
          By day, and in the silent night,
          When all the stars shone clear and bright, 240
          That I have heard her cry,
          ’Oh misery! oh misery! 
          Oh woe is me! oh misery!’”

* * * * *

Compare ‘The Heart of Midlothian’ (vol. iii. chap. v. edition of 1818): 

  “Are ye sure ye ken the way ye are taking us?” said Jeanie, who began
  to imagine that she was getting deeper into the woods, and more remote
  from the highroad.

“Do I ken the road?  Wasna I mony a day living here, and what for shouldna I ken the road?  I might hae forgotten, too, for it was afore my accident; but there are some things ane can never forget, let them try it as muckle as they like.”

By this time they had gained the deepest part of a patch of woodland.  The trees were a little separated from each other, and at the foot of one of them, a beautiful poplar, was a hillock of moss, such as the poet of Grasmere has described in the motto to our chapter.  So soon as she arrived at this spot, Madge Wildfire, joining her hands above her head, with a loud scream that resembled laughter, flung herself all at once upon the spot, and remained there lying motionless.

Jeanie’s first idea was to take the opportunity of flight; but her desire to escape yielded for a moment to apprehension for the poor insane being, who, she thought, might perish for want of relief.  With an effort, which, in her circumstances, might be termed heroic, she stooped down, spoke in a soothing tone, and tried to raise up the forlorn creature.  She effected this with difficulty, and as she placed her against the tree in a sitting posture, she observed with surprise, that her complexion, usually florid, was now deadly pale, and that her face was bathed in tears.  Notwithstanding her own extreme danger, Jeanie was affected by the situation of her companion; and the rather that, through the whole train of her wavering and inconsistent state of mind and line of conduct,