CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1101, 4 January 1873, Page 16

CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF OTAGO.

At the usual weekly meeting of the above Society, held on Friday, the 27th ill 1 ., Mr Barr, tie Poet Ltu:eate of the Society, rend the following poetical address, which was received with cordial and unanimous approbation :—: — Dear to mv heart art thou, my native land ; Home of the bard, stern, beautiful, and grand. Thy lowfy valleys and thy heatli-clad hills, Thy noblo rivers, and thy murmuring rills ; Thy battlefields, with many a warrior's ciim, Thy martyrs' graves, half hid by moorland fern, "Who stern oppression nobly defied : Whose dearest blood th»y hills and valleys dyed. Thy woody glens, with many a waterfall. Thy wistU's old, with proud baronnl hall , Thy lovely lake«, embedded 'mon^st the hills, "With admiration still mv bosom fills, And on/their banks I still spend golden hours, As metn'rv wanders 'mong their brooks and b'-wers. 1 see the Doon. where sUnds the clay-built cot, Where Genius lingers, 'oth to leave the spot. Her fav'rite son disconsolate she mourns, Her warm, warm heart, still wript in Robert Burns. Sweet be his rest, ex ilted be his name, True bard of .Nature, born to endless fame. Though now an exile from my n-itive shore, My memory clings to happy days of yore. Til ting thy praise, although in humble strain ; It warms' my heart and soothes my weary brain. I'll honour thpe while I a pen can hold, I'll clicg to thee. until mv heart be cold. Like weary bird that fondly seeks its nest, I fain would lay roe on thy sacred breast. Thy re*tless so. is, tho' scattered o'er the earth, still turn to'thee, the Land that gave them birthSublime to strength, nurse of the bold and free, All. hII thy glories mentally they see. And oft return their weary eyes to close, And lf-y fiem -where their 'athers' hones reposo. 01.. may they still, with patriotic fUme, Maintain thy honours and thy well won fame M:>y still the name of Wallace, Bruce, and Burns Within their hearts find consecrated urns, And hold the rights for which their fathers bled, AWose ashc* min?le with the glorious dead. May they uphold, in this ar distant land, Their love of country, joined with heart and hand To England's rose, and Erin's shamrock green — Wf-art joSn'd to he-»rt. nnr stiife ere come between. j.l.iy dismal W^r ne'er reach our happy shore, But Plenty smile, and stand at evtry door. May Lnve%inil Hope, with Ch-mtr. preside O'er ev«»ry home, tnrouvhout Xew. Zealand wide. Way ri'-h rewards nt'erid on those who toil Vor golden ore, or cultivate the soil. Jlav krnirnerce ftoursh 'nrd*t the arts of peace, And may our people rapidly inrreise. May Education form the youthful mind, And true Religion all together bind. Till, towerioß up, a nation great and free, A. second Britain, girded by the set.