A South African Border Ballad. A True Story.

A South African Border Ballad. A True Story.

We met in the midst of the Neutral Ground,
'Mong the hills where the buffalo's haunts are found;
And we joined in the chase of the noble game,
Nor asked each other of nation or name.

The buffalo-bull wheeled suddenly round,
When first from my rifle he felt a wound;
And, before I could gain the Umtoka's bank,
His horns were tearing my courser's flank,

That instant a ball whizzed past my ear,
Which smote the beast in his fierce career;
And the turf was drenched with his purple gore,
As he fell at my feet with a bellowing roar.

The stranger came galloping up to my side,
And greeted me with a bold Huntsman's pride:
Full blithely we feasted beneath a tree,
Then out spoke the forester, Arend Plessie.

"Stranger! we now are true comrades sworn,
Come, pledge me thy hand, while we quaff the horn;
Thou'rt an Englishman good, and thy heart is free,
And 'tis therefore I'll tell my story to thee.

"A Heemraad* of Camdeboo was my sire,
He had flocks and herds to his heart's desire:
And bondmen and maidens to run at his call,
And seven stout sons to be heirs of all.

"When we had grown up to man's estate,
Our father bade each of us choose a mate,
Of Fatherland blood, from the black taint free,
As became a Dutch burgher's proud degree.

"My brothers they rode to the Bouvenland,**
And each came with a fair bride back in his hand;
But I brought the handsomest bride of them all,
Brown Dinah, the bondmaid, who sat in our hall.

"My father's displeasure was stern and still,
My brothers' flamed forth like a fire on a hill;
And they swore that my spirit was mean and base,
To lower myself to the servile race.

"I bade them rejoice in their herds and flocks,
And their pale-faced spouses, with flaxen locks,
While I claimed for my share, as the youngest son,
Brown Dinah alone, with my horse and gun.

"My father looked black as a thunder-cloud,
My brothers reviled me, and railed around—
And their young wives laughed, with disdainful pride,
While Dinah in terror clung close to my side.

"Her eye-lashes were moistened with tears,
As she shrunk abashed from their venomous jeers;
But I bade her look up, like a burgher's wife,
Next day to be mine, if God granted life.

"At dawn, brother Roelof came galloping home
From the pastures, his courser all covered with foam;
''Tis the Bushmen!'*** he shouted; 'haste friends to the spot!
Bold Arend! come help with your long-barrelled roar!'****

"Far o'er Bruintjes-hoogte we followed in vain,
At length, surly Roelof cried, 'Slacken your rein!'
'We've quite lost the track!' Hans replied, with a smile,
Then my dark-boding spirit suspected their guile.

"I flew to our father's. Brown Dinah was sold!
And they laughed at my rage, as they counted the gold;
But I leaped on my horse, with my gun in my hand,
And sought my lost love in the far Bovenland.

I found her. I bore her from Gauritz fair glen,
Through lone Zitzikamma, by forest and fen,
To these mountains, at last, like wild pigeons we flew,
Far, far from the cold hearts of proud Camdeboo.

"I've reared our rude shieling by Gola's green wood,
Where the chase of the deer yields me pastime and food;
With my Dinah and children I dwell her alone,
Without other comrades—and wishing for none.

"I fear not the Bushmen from Winterberg's fell,
Nor dread I the Caffer from Kat-river's dell;
By justice and kindness I've conquered them both,
And the Sons of the Desert have pledged me their troth.

"I fear not the leopard that lurks in the wood,
The lion I dread not, though raging for blood:
My hand it is steady, my aim it is sure,
And the boldest must bend to my long-barrelled roaer.

"The elephant's buff-coat my bullet can pierce,
And the giant rhinoceros, headlong and fierce;
Gnu, eland, and buffalo furnish my board,
When I feast my allies, like an African lord.

"And thus from my kindred and color exiled,
I live, like old Ishael, Lord of the Wild—
I follow the chase, with my hounds and my gun,
Nor ever repent the bold course I have run.

"But sometimes there sinks on my spirit a dread
Of what may befal when the turf's on my head,
I fear for proud Dinah, for brown Rodomond,
And dimple-faced Karel, the sons of the bond.

"Then tell me, dear stranger! from England the free,
What good tidings bring'st thou for Arend Plessie?
Shall the edict of mercy be sent forth at last,
To break the harsh fetters of color and caste?"*****

-----
*Dutch word for Justice of the Peace.
**The Dutch Settlement at Cape Town.
***A wild tribe, at enmity with the Dutch settlers.
****A kind of gun used for elephants and other large game.

******Shortly after this question was asked, slavery was abolished in all the British Colonies—Cape Colony included. So the wife and children of Arend Plessie were safe from the danger his kind heart forboded

Thomas Pringle

1:28, p. 4

1.28.1860