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Miller
Cross
The Legal The Legal

The Legal Environment Today


Environment Environment

Building Skills You Will Need Tomorrow


Today Today
Building Skills You Will Need Tomorrow Building Skills You Will Need Tomorrow

Roger LeRoy Miller Roger LeRoy Miller


Frank B. Cross Frank B. Cross

9 th
Edition

9th
Edition
9 th
Edition

Roger LeRoy Miller, Frank B. Cross, The Legal Environment Today, 12th Edition   ISBN -9780357038192 ©2020 Designer: Ke Design
Text & Cover printer: X   Binding: CU   Trim: 8.5” x 10”   CMYK
Contents vii

Chapter 13 Chapter 7—Liquidation 361


■ Building Analytical Skills: Violations of the Automatic Stay 365
Creditor-Debtor Relations Case 13.2: In re Cummings (2015) 371
and Bankruptcy 350 Chapter 11—Reorganization 372
Laws Assisting Creditors 350 ■ Linking ­Business Law to Corporate Management: What Can
You Do to Prepare for a Chapter 11 Reorganization? 373
■ Business Blog: Online Competition Causes
Brick-and-Mortar Retailers to File for Bankruptcy 351 Bankruptcy Relief under Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 375
Case 13.1: HSBC Realty Credit Corp. (USA) v. O’Neill (2014) 355 Case 13.3: In re Chamberlain (2018) 378
Protection for Debtors 359 Unit Two: Task-Based Simulation 384

Unit 3 The Employment and Business Environment 385


Chapter 14 Immigration Law 427
Labor Laws 429
Agency Relationships 386 Case 15.3: Contemporary Cars, Inc. v. National Labor Relations
Agency Law 387 Board (2016) 432
■ Ethics Today: Is It Fair to Classify Uber and Lyft
Drivers as Independent Contractors? 388 Chapter 16
Formation of Agencies 390
Case 14.1: Reidel v. Akron General Health System (2018) 391 Employment Discrimination 440
Duties of Agents and Principals 393 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 441
Spotlight on Taser International: Case 14.2: Case 16.1: Bauer v. Lynch (2016) 445
Taser International, Inc. v. Ward (2010) 394
Case 16.2: Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (2015) 447
Case 14.3: NRT New England, LLC v. Jones (2016) 397 ■ Building Analytical Skills: Retaliation Claims 450
Agent’s Authority 398 Case 16.3: Franchina v. City of Providence (2018) 451
Liability in Agency Relationships 400 Discrimination Based on Age 452
■ Building Analytical Skills: Liability of Disclosed Principals 401
Discrimination Based on Disability 454
■ Beyond Our Borders: Islamic Law and Respondeat Superior 404
Discrimination Based on Military Status 457
Termination of Agency Relationships 405
Defenses to Employment Discrimination 458
Affirmative Action 459
Chapter 15
Employment, Immigration, Chapter 17
and Labor Law 413 Business Organizations 465
Employment at Will 413
Sole Proprietorships 466
Case 15.1: Caterpillar, Inc. v. Sudlow (2016) 415
Case 17.1: A. Gadley Enterprises, Inc. v. Pennsylvania
Wages, Hours, and Leave 416 Department of Labor and Industry, Office of
■ Ethics Today: Is It Fair to Dock Employees’ Unemployment Compensation Tax Services (2016) 467
Pay for Bathroom Breaks? 417 ■ Digital Update: A Sole Proprietorship, Facebook Poker,
Case 15.2: Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro (2018) 418 and Bankruptcy 468
Health, Safety, Income Security, and Privacy 421 Partnerships 469
■ Building Analytical Skills: Workers’ Compensation Claims 423 Limited Liability Partnerships 476

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viii Contents

Limited Partnerships 477 Shareholders 516


Limited Liability Companies 478 Major Business Forms Compared 522
■ Landmark in the Legal Environment: Limited
Liability Company (LLC) Statutes 479
Case 17.2: Schaefer v. Orth (2018) 482 Chapter 19
Franchises 484 Investor Protection and
Case 17.3: S&P Brake Supply, Inc. v. Daimler Trucks
North America, LLC (2018) 488 Corporate Governance 529
The Securities Act of 1933 530
Chapter 18 ■ Digital Update: Investment Crowdfunding—
Regulations and Restrictions 534
Corporations 494 ■ Landmark in the Legal Environment:
Changes to Regulation A: Regulation A+ 535
Nature and Classification 494
Case 19.1: Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District
■ Ethics Today: Programs That Predict Employee Misconduct 496 Council Construction Industry Pension
Case 18.1: Drake Manufacturing Co. v. Polyflow, Inc. (2015) 497 Fund (2015) 537
Case 18.2: Greenfield v. Mandalay Shores Community Association (2018) 501 The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 538
Corporate Formation and Powers 501 Classic Case 19.2: Securities and Exchange
■ Digital Update: Does Cloud Computing Have a Nationality? 507 Commission v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. (1968) 540
Piercing the Corporate Veil 507 Case 19.3: Singer v. Reali (2018) 544
■ Building Analytical Skills: Piercing the Corporate Veil 509 State Securities Laws 547
Directors and Officers 509 Corporate Governance 547
Classic Case 18.3: Guth v. Loft, Inc. (1939) 514 Unit Three: Task-Based Simulation 556

Unit 4 The Regulatory Environment 557


Chapter 20 Case 21.2: Haywood v. Massage Envy Franchising, LLC (2018) 583
Labeling and Packaging 586
Administrative Law 558 Protection of Health and Safety 587
Practical Significance 558 ■ Beyond Our Borders: Europe Bans Foods That
Americans Eat 588
Agency Creation and Powers 561
Credit Protection 590
Case 20.1: Simmons v. Smith (2018) 563
Case 21.3: Santangelo v. Comcast Corp. (2016) 592
The Administrative Process 564
Case 20.2: Craker v. Drug Enforcement Administration (2013) 569
Judicial Deference to Agency Decisions 570 Chapter 22
Case 20.3: Olivares v. Transportation Security Administration (2016) 571
Public Accountability 572 Environmental Law 599
Common Law Actions 600
Chapter 21 Government Regulations 601

Consumer Protection 578 ■ Beyond Our Borders: Can a River Be a


Legal Person? 602
Advertising, Marketing, and Sales 579 Case 22.1: Friends of Animals v. Clay (2016) 603
Case 21.1: POM Wonderful, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission (2015) 580 Air Pollution 605
■ Digital Update: Regulating “Native Ads” on the Internet 582 Case 22.2: United States v. O’Malley (2014) 607

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 8 9/11/18 3:19 PM


Contents ix

Water Pollution 608 The Sherman Antitrust Act 647


Case 22.3: Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (2012) 611 ■ Landmark in the Legal Environment:
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 648
Toxic Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes 612
Section 1 of the Sherman Act 649

Chapter 23 Section 2 of the Sherman Act 653


Case 24.1: McWane, Inc. v. Federal Trade
Real and Personal Property 620 Commission (2015) 655
The Clayton Act 657
The Nature of Real Property 620
Case 24.2: Candelore v. Tinder, Inc. (2018) 658
Ownership and Other Interests in Real Property 622
Enforcement and Exemptions 661
Transfer of Real Property Ownership 627
Case 24.3: TransWeb, LLC v. 3M Innovative
Spotlight on Sales of Haunted Houses: Case 23.1:
Properties Co. (2016) 662
Stambovsky v. Ackley (1991) 628
■ Building Analytical Skills: When Possession of the
U.S. Antitrust Laws in the Global Context 663
Property Is Not Adverse 631 ■ Digital Update: The European Union Issues Record
Fine against Google in Antitrust Case 665
Case 23.2: Montgomery County v. Bhatt (2016) 631
Unit Four: Task-Based Simulation 670
Limitations on Property Rights 633
■ Ethics Today: Should Eminent Domain Be Used to
Promote Private Development? 634
Personal Property 636 APPENDICES
■ Digital Update: The Exploding World of Digital Property 637 A The Constitution of the United States A–1
Case 23.3: State of Washington v. Preston (2018) 638 B The Uniform Commercial Code A–1
C Answers to the Issue Spotters A–2
Chapter 24 D Sample Answers for Business Case Problems
with Sample Answer A–7
Antitrust Law
and Promoting Competition 646 Glossary G–1
■ Business Blog: Facebook and Google in a World of Table of Cases TC–1
Antitrust Law 647 Index I–1

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 9 9/11/18 3:19 PM


Preface

T he study of the legal environment of business has universal applicability. A student


entering any field of business must have at least a passing understanding of business
law in order to function in the real world. The Legal Environment Today, Ninth Edition,
provides such information in an interesting and contemporary way.
Additionally, students preparing for a career in accounting, government and political
science, economics, and even medicine can use much of the information that they learn in a
legal environment of business course. In fact, every individual throughout his or her lifetime
can benefit from a knowledge of contracts, employment relationships, real property law, land-
use control, and other legal topics. Consequently, we have adopted a new theme throughout
this text—Building Skills You Will Need Tomorrow—and fashioned the Ninth Edition as a
useful “tool for living” for all of your students (including those taking the CPA exam).
We have spent a great deal of effort making the Ninth Edition more contemporary,
­exciting, and visually appealing than ever before. We have also added many new features
and special pedagogical devices that focus on building skills that your students will need,
along with addressing basic legal, ethical, global, and corporate issues.

New and Updated Features


The Ninth Edition of The Legal Environment Today is filled with exciting new and updated
features designed to spark student interest and help build skills for future careers.
1. Entirely new Business Blog features underscore the importance of the text material to ­real-world
businesses. Each of these features discusses a major U.S. company that is engaged
in a dispute involving a topic covered in the chapter. Some examples include:
• Samsung and Forced Arbitration (Chapter 2)
• The Battle of the Smartphone Makers (Chapter 8)
• Facebook and Google in a World of Antitrust Law (Chapter 24)
2. Entirely new Building Analytical Skills features appear in numerous chapters of the text. These
features are useful tools to help students build the legal analysis skills that they will need to answer
questions and case problems in the book, on exams, and in business situations. Subjects include:
• Licensing Is a Defense to Copyright Infringement (Chapter 8)
• Determining When a Breach Is Material (Chapter 11)
• Retaliation Claims (Chapter 16)
3. Entirely new hypotheticals in many chapter introductions provide a real-world link that generates
student interest and highlights specific legal concepts that will be discussed in the chapter. These
hypotheticals—often based on real cases or business situations—help to introduce and illustrate
legal issues facing managers, companies, and even industries.
4. Digital Update features examine cutting-edge cyberlaw topics, such as:
• Does Everyone Have a Constitutional Right to Use Social Media? (Chapter 4)
• Using Twitter to Cause Seizures—A Crime? (Chapter 6)
• Does Cloud Computing Have a Nationality? (Chapter 18)

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 10 9/11/18 3:19 PM


Preface xi

5. Ethics Today features focus on the ethical aspects of a topic being discussed in order to emphasize
that ­ethics is an integral part of the legal environment of business. Examples include:
• Is It Ethical (and Legal) to Brew “Imported” Beer Brands Domestically? (Chapter 7)
• Is It Fair to Classify Uber and Lyft Drivers as Independent Contractors? (Chapter 14)
• Programs That Predict Employee Misconduct (Chapter 18)
6. Beyond Our Borders features illustrate how other nations deal with specific legal issues to give
­students a sense of the global legal environment. Topics include:
• Aleve versus Flanax—Same Pain Killer, Different Countries (Chapter 8)
• Can a River Be a Legal Person? (Chapter 22)
7. Landmark in the Legal Environment features discuss a landmark case, statute, or development that
has significantly affected the legal environment of business. Examples include:
• Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. (Chapter 5)
• Limited Liability Company (LLC) Statutes (Chapter 17)
• Changes to Regulation A: Regulation A+ (Chapter 19)
8. Linking Business Law to [one of the six functional fields of business] features appear in
select chapters to underscore how the law relates to other fields of business. For instance,
Chapter 1 has a feature titled Linking Business Law to Corporate Management: Dealing with
Administrative Law.

New Emphasis on Making Ethical


Business Decisions—The IDDR Approach
The ability of businesspersons to reason through ethical issues is now more important than
ever. For the Ninth Edition of The Legal Environment Today, we have created a completely
new ­framework for helping students (and businesspersons) make ethical decisions—the
IDDR approach, which is introduced in Chapter 3, Ethics in Business. This systematic
approach provides students with a clear step-by-step process to analyze the legal and ethical
implications of decisions that arise in everyday business operations. The IDDR approach
uses four logical steps:
• Step 1: Inquiry
• Step 2: Discussion
• Step 3: Decision
• Step 4: Review
Students can easily remember the first letter of each step by using the phrase “I Desire
to Do Right.” A completely revised Chapter 3 details the goals of each IDDR step and then
provides a sample scenario to show students how to apply this new approach to ethical
decision making. In addition to introducing the IDDR approach, we have made Chapter 3
more current and more practical. We also present fewer theoretical ethical principles and
focus more on real-life application of ethical principles.
After Chapter 3, to reinforce the application of the IDDR approach, students are asked
to use its steps when answering each chapter’s A Question of Ethics problem. Each of these
problems has been updated and is based on a 2017 case. In addition, the Ninth Edition
includes Ethics Today features in most chapters, many of which have been refreshed with
timely topics involving the ever-evolving technologies and trends in business.

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 11 9/11/18 3:19 PM


xii Preface

New Emphasis on Skill Building


Today’s leaders need to be able to recognize and analyze legal (and ethical) issues, resolve
disputes, and deal with government regulations. For that reason, for the Ninth Edition we
have adopted a new subtitle and theme: Building Skills You Will Need Tomorrow.
We incorporate this theme throughout the text using many of the newly added features.
For instance, both the chapter-opening hypotheticals and the Business Blog features high-
light current legal issues and strengthen students’ ability to recognize such issues in the
real world. The Building Analytical Skills features guide students through the steps of legal
reasoning and analysis to a conclusion. The new IDDR approach to ethical reasoning also
provides a step-by-step approach so that students can recognize and resolve ethical issues. At
the conclusion of every chapter, we provide a Chapter Skill-Building Exercise that reinforces
students’ comprehension of the chapter topics, along with two Issue Spotter questions for
practice in identifying the issues.

New Cases and Case Problems


The Ninth Edition of The Legal Environment Today has new cases and case problems from
2018 and 2017 in every chapter. The new cases have been carefully selected to illustrate
important points of law and to be of high interest to students and instructors. We have made
it a point to find recent cases that enhance learning and are straightforward enough for legal
environment students to understand.
Certain cases and case problems have been carefully chosen as good teaching cases and are
designated as Spotlight Cases and Spotlight Case Problems. Some examples include Spotlight
on Apple, Spotlight on Beer Labels, Spotlight on Nike, and Spotlight on the Seattle Mariners.
Instructors will find these Spotlight decisions useful to illustrate the legal concepts under
discussion, and students will enjoy studying the cases because they involve interesting and
memorable facts. Other cases have been chosen as Classic Cases because they established a
legal precedent in a particular area of law.
Each case concludes with a section, called Critical Thinking, that includes at least one
question. Each question is labeled Ethical, Economic, Legal Environment, Political, Social, or
What If the Facts Were Different? In addition, Classic Cases include an Impact of This Case on
Today’s Legal Environment section that clarifies how the case has affected the legal environ-
ment. Suggested answers to all case-ending questions can be found in the Solutions Manual
for this text.

Many New Highlighted and Numbered Case Examples


Many instructors use cases and examples to illustrate how the law applies to business. This
edition of The Legal Environment Today offers hundreds of highlighted and consecutively
numbered Examples and Case Examples. Examples illustrate how the law applies in a specific
situation, and Case Examples present the facts and issues of an actual case and then describe
the court’s decision and rationale. New to this edition are Spotlight Case Examples, which deal
with especially high-interest cases, and Classic Case Examples, which discuss older, landmark
decisions. The numbered Examples and Case Examples features are integrated throughout the
text to help students better understand how courts apply legal principles in the real world.

Critical Thinking and Legal Reasoning Elements


For this edition of The Legal Environment Today, we have included a discussion of legal rea-
soning in Chapter 1. The new Building Analytical Skills features that can be found through-
out the text emphasize legal reasoning skills as well. Critical thinking questions conclude
most of the features and cases in this text. Also, at the end of each chapter, a Debate This
question requires students to think critically about the rationale underlying the law on a

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 12 9/11/18 3:19 PM


Preface xiii

particular topic. The chapter-ending materials also include a section entitled Time-Limited
Team Assignment that requires students to think critically about, analyze, and answer ques-
tions about some aspect of the legal environment discussed in the chapter.
Answers to all critical thinking questions, as well as to the Business Scenarios and Case
Problems at the end of every chapter, are presented in the Ninth Edition’s Solutions Manual.
In addition, the answer to every Business Case ­Problem with Sample Answer appears in
­Appendix D.

Other Pedagogical Devices within Each Chapter


• Learning Objectives (questions listed at the beginning of each chapter and repeated in the margins of
the text provide a framework of main chapter concepts for the student).
• Margin definitions of each boldfaced Key Term.
• Quotations and Know This (margin features).
• Exhibits (in most chapters).
• Photographs (with critical-thinking questions) and cartoons.

Chapter-Ending Pedagogy
• Chapter Skill-Building Exercise (in every chapter).
• Debate This (a statement or question at the end of each Chapter Skill-Building Exercise).
• Key Terms (with appropriate page references to their margin definitions).
• Chapter Summary (in table format).
• Issue Spotters (in every chapter with answers in Appendix C).
• Business Scenarios and Case Problems (including, in every chapter, a Business Case Problem with
Sample Answer that is answered in Appendix D; in selected chapters, a Spotlight Case Problem;
and in every chapter, A Question of Ethics problem—based on a 2017 case—that applies this Ninth
­Edition’s IDDR approach to business ethics).
• Time-Limited Team Assignment (in every chapter).

Unit-Ending Pedagogy
Each of the four units in the Ninth Edition of The Legal Environment Today concludes with
a Task-Based Simulation. This feature presents a hypothetical business situation and then
asks a series of questions about how the law applies to various actions taken by the firm.
To answer the questions, the student must apply the laws discussed throughout the unit.
(Answers are provided in the Solutions Manual.)

Supplements
The Legal Environment Today, Ninth Edition, provides a comprehensive supplements pack-
age designed to make the tasks of teaching and learning more enjoyable and efficient. The
following supplements are available for instructors.

MindTap Business Law for The Legal Environment Today,


Ninth Edition
MindTap™ is a fully online, highly personalized learning experience built on authoritative
Cengage Learning content. By combining readings, multimedia, activities, and assessments
into a singular Learning Path, MindTap Business Law guides students through their course

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 13 9/11/18 3:19 PM


xiv Preface

with ease and engagement. Instructors personalize the Learning Path by customizing
­Cengage Learning resources and adding their own content via apps that integrate into the
MindTap framework seamlessly with Learning Management Systems.
The MindTap Business Law product provides a four-step Learning Path, Case Repository,
Adaptive Test Prep, and an Interactive eBook designed to meet instructors’ needs while
also allowing instructors to measure skills and outcomes with ease. Each and every item is
assignable and gradable. This gives instructors knowledge of class standings and students’
mastery of concepts that may be difficult. Additionally, students gain knowledge about where
they stand—both individually and compared to the highest performers in class.
New for this edition, the MindTap will include both excerpted and summarized cases.
Having both types of cases, along with our Case Collection feature, will allow instructors
to provide a personalized learning experience that’s the best fit for students, helping them
reach higher levels of critical thinking.

Cengage Testing Powered by Cognero


Cengage Testing Powered by Cognero is a flexible online system that allows instructors to do
the following:
• Author, edit, and manage Test Bank content from multiple Cengage Learning solutions.
• Create multiple test versions in an instant.
• Deliver tests from their Learning Management System (LMS), classroom, or wherever they want.

Start Right Away! Cengage Testing Powered by Cognero works on any operating system
or browser.
• Use your standard browser; no special installs or downloads are needed.
• Create tests from school, home, the coffee shop—anywhere with Internet access.

What Instructors Will Find


• Simplicity at every step. A desktop-inspired interface features drop-down menus and familiar, intui-
tive tools that take instructors through content creation and management with ease.
• Full-featured test generator. Create ideal assessments with a choice of fifteen question types—including
true/false, multiple choice, opinion scale/Likert, and essay. Multi-language support, an equation
­editor, and unlimited metadata help ensure that instructor tests are complete and compliant.
• Cross-compatible capability. Import and export content into other systems.

Instructor’s Companion Website


The Instructor’s Companion Website contains the following supplements:
• Instructor’s Manual. Includes sections entitled “Additional Cases Addressing This Issue” at the end of
selected case synopses.
• Solutions Manual. Provides answers to all questions presented in the text, including the Learning
Objectives, the questions in each case and feature, the Issue Spotters, the Business Scenarios and
Case Problems, Time-Limited Team Assignments, and the unit-ending Task-Based ­Simulation features.
• Test Bank. A comprehensive test bank contains multiple choice, true/false, and short essay questions.
• Case-Problem Cases.
• Case Printouts.
• PowerPoint Slides.
• Lecture Outlines.
• MindTap Integrated Syllabus.
• MindTap Answer Key.

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 14 9/11/18 3:19 PM


Preface xv

Acknowledgments

S ince we began this project many years ago, a sizable number of legal environment of
business professors and others have helped us in various phases of the undertaking.
The following reviewers offered numerous constructive criticisms, comments, and sug-
gestions during the preparation of the previous editions.

Muhammad Abdullah Karrin Klotz


Pfeiffer University University of Washington
Jane Bennett Y. S. Lee
Orange Coast College Oakland University
Robert C. Bird Diane May
University of Connecticut Winona State University
Dean Bredeson William J. McDevitt
University of Texas at Austin Saint Joseph’s University
Martin D. Carrigan Tom Moore
The University of Findlay
Georgia College and State University
Thomas D. Cavenagh
North Central College Naperville, Illinois Michael J. O’Hara
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Wade M. Chumney
Georgia Tech Mark Phelps
University of Oregon
Corey Ciocchetti
University of Denver Lemoine D. Pierce
Georgia State University
Brent D. Clark
Davenport University G. Keith Roberts
University of Redlands
Richard L. Coffinberger
George Mason University Jeanette Rogers
Teri Elkins Jefferson State Community College
University of Houston Gary Sambol
Joan Gabel Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Camden Campus
Florida State University Linda Samuels
Teresa Gillespie George Mason University
Seattle Pacific University
Martha Wright Sartoris
Jeanne M. Gohl-Noice North Hennepin Community College
Parkland College
Gwen Seaquist
Gary Greene Ithaca College
Manatee Community College
Craig Stilwell
Ruth Ann Hall Michigan State University
University of Alabama
Joyce Stoneking
Eloise Hassell Orange Coast College
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Dawn R. Swink
Penelope L. Herickhoff University of St. Thomas
Mankato State University
Arlene M. Hibschweiler Daphyne Thomas
James Madison University
University at Buffalo
Whitney Johnson Carrie Vaia
Saint Cloud State University North Hennepin Community College

James F. Kelley Wayne Wells


Santa Clara University St. Cloud State University

Susan Key Eric D. Yordy


University of Alabama at Birmingham Northern Arizona University

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 15 9/11/18 3:19 PM


xvi Preface

As in all past editions, we owe a debt of extreme gratitude to the numerous individuals
who worked directly with us or at Cengage Learning. In particular, we wish to thank Vicky
True-Baker, senior product manager; Bryan Gambrel, product director; Martha Conway,
senior content manager; Sarah Huber, learning designer; Jennifer Chinn, digital delivery lead;
Lisa Elliott, subject matter expert; and Christian Wood, product assistant. We also thank
Andy Miller in marketing; Jillian Shafer, permissions project manager; and Jennifer Bowes,
permissions analyst. Additionally, we would like to thank project managers Ann Borman
and Phil Scott at SPi Global, our compositor, for accurately generating pages for the text and
making it possible for us to meet our ambitious schedule for the print and digital products.
We give our special thanks to Katherine Marie Silsbee for managing the project and
providing exceptional research and editorial skills. We also wish to thank William Eric
­Hollowell, co-author of the Solutions Manual and Test Bank, for his excellent research efforts.
We are grateful for the copyediting services of Beverly Peavler and proofreading services of
Jeanne Yost. We also thank Vickie Reierson, Roxanna Lee, and Suzanne Jasin for their many
efforts on this project and for helping to ensure an error-free text.
Through the years, we have enjoyed an ongoing correspondence with many of you who
have found points on which you wish to comment. We continue to welcome all comments
and promise to respond promptly. By incorporating your ideas, we can continue to write a
legal environment text that is best for you and best for your students.
R.L.M.
F.B.C.

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 16 9/11/18 3:19 PM


Dedication

To Sabine,

Thanks for sharing


your fabulous illustrations.
Keep going forever.

R.L.M.

To my parents and sisters.

F.B.C.

30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 17 9/11/18 3:19 PM


30318_fm_hr_i-xviii.indd 18 9/11/18 3:19 PM
Unit 1
The Foundations

1 Law and Legal Reasoning


2 Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution
3 Ethics in Business
4 Business and the Constitution
5 Torts and Product Liability
Michal Kalasek/Shutterstock.com

6 Criminal Law and Cyber Crime


7 International and Space Law

30318_ch01_hr_001-032.indd 1 9/12/18 7:30 AM


Feverpitched/iStock/Getty Images
Learning Objectives
1 Law and Legal Reasoning
“Laws should be like In the chapter-opening quotation, Clarence Darrow asserts
The five Learning Objectives below clothes. They should that law should be created to serve the public. As you are
are designed to help improve your part of that public, the law is important to you. Those
­understanding. After reading this be made to fit the entering the world of business will find themselves sub-
­chapter, you should be able to answer people they are ject to numerous laws and government regulations. A basic
the ­following questions: knowledge of these laws and regulations is beneficial—if
meant to serve.”
1. What are four primary not essential—to anyone contemplating a successful career
Clarence Darrow in today’s business environment.
sources of law in the United
1857–1938
States? (American lawyer) Although the law has various definitions, they all are
based on the general observation that law consists of enforce-
2. What is the common law?
able rules governing relationships among individuals and
3. What is the difference between individuals and their society. In some societies, these enforceable rules consist of
between remedies at law and unwritten principles of behavior, while in other societies they are set forth in ancient or
remedies in equity? contemporary law codes. In the United States, our rules consist of written laws and court
4. When might a court depart decisions created by modern legislative and judicial bodies. Regardless of how such rules
from precedent? are created, they all have one feature in common: they establish rights, duties, and privileges
that are consistent with the values and beliefs of a society or its ruling group.
5. What are some important In this introductory chapter, we look at how business law and the legal environment
differences between civil law affect business decisions. For instance, suppose that Hellix Telecommunications, Inc.,
and criminal law? wants to buy a competing cellular company. Once it has acquired this competitor, it wants
to offer unlimited data plans. Management fears that if it does not expand, one of its bigger
rivals will put it out of business. But Hellix cannot simply buy its rival in whatever manner
Law Enforceable rules governing it chooses. Nor is it free to offer just any low-cost cell phone plan to its customers. It has
relationships among individuals and to follow the laws and regulations pertaining to its proposed actions. Some of these rules
between individuals and their society. depend on interpretations made by various federal regulatory agencies. The rules that

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CHAPTER 1: Law and Legal Reasoning 3

control Hellix’s actions reflect past and current thinking about how large telecommunications
companies should and should not act.
Our goal in this text is not only to teach you specific laws but also to teach you how to
think about the legal environment and to develop your critical thinking and legal reasoning
skills. The laws may change, but the ability to analyze and evaluate the legal (and ethical)
ramifications of situations as they arise is an invaluable and lasting skill.

1–1 Business Activities and the Legal Environment


Laws and government regulations affect all business activities—from hiring and firing
­decisions to workplace safety, the manufacturing and marketing of products, business
­financing, and more. To make good business decisions, businesspersons need to understand
the laws and regulations governing these activities. And simply being aware of what conduct
can lead to legal liability is not enough. Businesspersons must develop critical thinking and Liability The state of being legally
legal reasoning skills so that they can evaluate how various laws might apply to a given sit- responsible (liable) for something,
uation and determine the potential result of their course of action. Businesspersons must such as a debt or obligation.
also think critically about whether their decisions are ethical. In addition, they must consider
the consequences of their decisions for stockholders and employees.

1–1a Many Different Laws May Affect a Single Business Transaction


As you will note, each chapter in this text covers a specific area of the law and shows how
the legal rules in that area affect business activities. Although compartmentalizing the law
in this fashion facilitates learning, it does not indicate the extent to which many different
laws may apply to just one transaction. This is where the critical thinking skills that you will
learn throughout this book become important. Exhibit 1–1 illustrates various areas of law
that may influence business decision making.

Exhibit 1–1 Areas of the Law That May Affect Business Decision Making

Contracts

Environmental Intellectual
Law Property

Internet Law, Business


Social Media, Decision Torts
and Privacy Making

Sales Product Liability

Agency

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4 UNIT ONE: The Foundations

Example 1.1 When Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard student, first launched Facebook, others
claimed that Zuckerberg had stolen their ideas for a social networking site. They filed a
lawsuit against him alleging theft of intellectual property, fraudulent misrepresentation, and
violations of partnership law and securities law. Facebook ultimately paid $65 million to
settle those claims out of court.
Since then, Facebook has been sued repeatedly for violating users’ privacy (and federal
laws) by tracking their website usage and by scanning private messages for purposes of data
mining and user profiling. Facebook’s business decisions have also come under scrutiny
by federal regulators, such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and by international
authorities, such as the European Union. The company settled a complaint filed by the
FTC alleging that Facebook had failed to keep “friends” lists and other user information
private. ■

1–1b Linking Business Law to the Six Functional Fields of Business


In all likelihood, you are taking a business law or legal environment course because you
intend to enter the business world, though some of you may plan to become full-time
practicing attorneys. Many of you are taking other business school
courses and may therefore be familiar with the following functional
fields of business:
1. Corporate management.
2. Production and transportation.
3. Marketing.
Minerva Studio/iStock/Getty Images

4. Research and development.


5. Accounting and finance.
6. Human resource management.
One of our goals in this text is to show how legal concepts can be
useful for managers and businesspersons, whether their activities focus
Why is basic knowledge of business law and the legal on management, marketing, accounting, or some other field. To that
environment so important today? end, certain chapters include a special feature called “Linking Business
Law to [one of the six functional fields of business].”

Primary Source of Law A document 1–2 Sources of American Law


that establishes the law on a particular
issue, such as a constitution, a statute, American law has numerous sources. Primary sources of law, or sources that establish the law,
an administrative rule, or a court include the following:
decision.
• The U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the various states.
• Statutes, or laws, passed by Congress and by state legislatures.
Learning Objective 1
• Regulations created by administrative agencies, such as the federal Food and Drug Administration.
What are four primary
• Case law (court decisions).
sources of law in the United
States? We describe each of these important primary sources of law in the following pages and
­discuss how to find statutes, regulations, and case law in the appendix at the end of this
chapter.
Secondary Source of Law A
Secondary sources of law are books and articles that summarize and clarify the primary
publication that summarizes or
interprets the law, such as a legal sources of law. Legal encyclopedias, compilations (such as Restatements of the Law,
encyclopedia, a legal treatise, or an which summarize court decisions on particular topics), official comments to statutes,
article in a law review. treatises, articles in law reviews published by law schools, and articles in other legal

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CHAPTER 1: Law and Legal Reasoning 5

journals are examples of secondary sources of law. Courts often refer to secondary
sources of law for guidance in interpreting and applying the primary sources of law
discussed here.

1–2a Constitutional Law


The federal government and the states have separate written constitutions that set forth the
general organization, powers, and limits of their respective governments. Constitutional law is Constitutional Law The body of
the law as expressed in these constitutions. law derived from the U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land. As such, it is the basis of all law in and the constitutions of the various
states.
the United States. A law in violation of the U.S. Constitution, if challenged, will be declared
unconstitutional and will not be enforced, no matter what its source.
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reserves to the states all powers not
granted to the federal government. Each state in the union has its own constitution. Unless
it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or a federal law, a state constitution is supreme within
that state’s borders.

1–2b Statutory Law


Laws enacted by legislative bodies at any level of government, such as the statutes passed by
Congress or by state legislatures, make up the body of law generally referred to as ­statutory law. Statutory Law The body of law
When a legislature passes a statute, that statute ultimately is included in the federal code of enacted by legislative bodies (as
laws or the relevant state code of laws. Whenever a particular statute is mentioned in this opposed to constitutional law,
administrative law, or case law).
text, we usually provide a footnote showing its citation (a reference to a publication in which
a legal authority—such as a statute or a court decision—or other source can be found). In Citation A reference to a
the appendix following this chapter, we explain how you can use these citations to find publication in which a legal
statutory law. authority—such as a statute or a
Statutory law also includes local ordinances—statutes (laws, rules, or orders) passed court decision—or other source can
by municipal or county governing units to administer matters not covered by federal or be found.
state law. Ordinances commonly have to do with city or county land use (zoning Ordinance A regulation enacted
­ordinances), building and safety codes, and other matters affecting only the local govern- by a city or county legislative body
ing unit. that becomes part of that state’s
A federal statute, of course, applies to all states. A state statutory law.
statute, in contrast, applies only within the state’s bor-
ders. State laws thus vary from state to state. No federal
statute may violate the U.S. Constitution, and no state
statute or local ordinance may violate the U.S. Constitu-
tion or the relevant state constitution.
Example 1.2 The tension between federal, state, and
local laws is evident in the national debate over so-called
“sanctuary cities”—cities that limit their cooperation
with federal immigration authorities. Normally, local law
enforcement officials are supposed to alert federal immi-
gration authorities when they come into contact with
undocumented immigrants. Then federal immigration
Michael Dwyer / Alamy

officials request that the local authorities detain the indi-


viduals for possible deportation.
A number of U.S. cities, however, have adopted either
local ordinances or explicit policies that do not follow this
procedure. Police in sanctuary cities often do not ask or How have local “sanctuary cities” frustrated federal immigration
report the immigration status of individuals with whom procedures?
they come into contact. ■

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6 UNIT ONE: The Foundations

Uniform Laws During the 1800s, the differences among state laws frequently created
difficulties for businesspersons conducting trade and commerce among the states. To
counter these problems, a group of legal scholars and lawyers formed the National Confer-
ence of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL, online at www.uniformlaws.org)
Uniform Law A model law in 1892 to draft uniform laws (“model statutes”) for the states to consider adopting. The
developed by the National NCCUSL still exists today and continues to issue uniform laws: it has issued more than two
Conference of Commissioners on hundred uniform acts since its inception.
Uniform State Laws for the states
to consider enacting into statute.
Each state has the option of adopting or rejecting a uniform law. Only if a state legislature
adopts a uniform law does that law become part of the statutory law of that state. Furthermore,
a state legislature may choose to adopt only part of a uniform law or to rewrite the sections
that are adopted. Hence, even when many states have adopted a uniform law, those laws may
not be entirely “uniform.”

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) One of the most important uniform acts is the
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which was created through the joint efforts of
the NCCUSL and the American Law Institute.1 The UCC was first issued in 1952 and has
been adopted in all fifty states,2 the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. The UCC
facilitates commerce among the states by providing a uniform, yet flexible, set of rules
governing commercial transactions. Because of its importance in the area of commercial
law, we cite the UCC frequently in this text.

1–2c Administrative Law


Administrative Law The body Another important source of American law is administrative law, which consists of the rules,
of law created by administrative orders, and decisions of administrative agencies. An administrative agency is a federal, state,
agencies in order to carry out their or local government agency established to perform a specific function. Regulations govern
duties and responsibilities.
a business’s capital structure and financing, its hiring and firing procedures, its relations with
Administrative Agency A federal employees and unions, and the way it manufactures and markets its products. Regulations
or state government agency created enacted to protect the environment also often play a significant role in business
by the legislature to perform a operations.
specific function, such as to make
and enforce rules pertaining to the Federal Agencies At the national level, the cabinet departments of the executive branch
environment.
include numerous executive agencies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for instance,
Executive Agency An is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Executive agencies
administrative agency within the are subject to the authority of the president, who has the power to appoint and remove their
executive branch of government. officers.
At the federal level, executive The president’s power is less pronounced in regard to independent regulatory agencies,
agencies are those within the cabinet whose officers serve for fixed terms and cannot be removed without just cause. Major
departments.
independent regulatory agencies at the federal level include the Federal Trade Commis-
Independent Regulatory sion, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Communications
Agency An administrative agency Commission.
that is not considered part of the
executive branch and is not subject State and Local Agencies There are administrative agencies at the state and local levels
to the authority of the president. as well. Commonly, a state agency (such as a state pollution-control agency) is created as a
Independent agency officials cannot
be removed without cause.
parallel to a federal agency (such as the Environmental Protection Agency). Just as federal
statutes take precedence over conflicting state statutes, federal agency regulations take
precedence over conflicting state regulations. (See the Linking Business Law to Corporate
Management feature for a discussion of the levels of regulation.)

1. This institute was formed in the 1920s and consists of practicing attorneys, legal scholars, and judges.
2. Louisiana has adopted only Articles 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9.

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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
and over the brig o’ his nose; giving him a wauff, outlandish, and
rather blackguard sort of appearance, so that I was a thocht uneasy
at what neebours might surmeese concerning our intimacy; but the
honest man accounted for the thing in a very feasible manner, from
the falling down on that side of his head of one of the brass
candlesticks, while he was lying on his braidside, before ane of the
furms in the stramash.
His purpose of calling was to tell me that he couldna leave the
town without looking in upon me to bid me fareweel; mair betoken,
as he intended sending in his son Mungo wi’ the carrier for a trial, to
see how the line of life pleased him, and how I thocht he wad answer
—a thing which I was glad came from his side of the house, being
likely to be in the upshot the best for both parties. Yet I thocht he
wad find our way of doing so canny and comfortable, that it wasna
very likely he could ever start objections; and I must confess, that I
lookit forrit with nae sma’ degree of pride, seeing the probability of
my sune having the son of a Lammermuir farmer sitting cross-leggit,
cheek for jowl wi’ me, on the board, and bound to serve me at all
lawful times, by night and day, by a regular indenture of five years.
Maister Glen insisted on the laddie having a three months’ trial; and
then, after a wee show of standing out, just to make him aware that I
could be elsewhere fitted if I had a mind, I agreed that the request
was reasonable, and that I had nae yearthly objections to conforming
wi’t. So, after giein’ him his meridian, and a bit of shortbread, we
shook hands, and parted in the understanding, that his son would
arrive on the tap of limping Jamie the carrier’s cart, in the course,
say, of a fortnight.
Through the hale course of the forepart of the day, I remained
geyan queerish, as if something was working about my inwards, and
a droll pain atween my een. The wife saw the case I was in, and
advised me, for the sake of the fresh air, to take a step into the bit
garden, and try a hand at the spade, the smell of the fresh earth being
likely to operate as a cordial; but na—it wadna do; and whan I came
in at ane o’clock to my dinner, the steam of the fresh broth, instead
of making me feel as usual as hungry as a hawk, was like to turn my
stamach, while the sight of the sheep’s-head, ane o’ the primest anes
I had seen the hale season, made me as sick as a dog; so I could dae
naething but take a turn out again, and swig awa’ at the sma’ beer
that never seemed able to slocken my drouth. At lang and last, I
mindit having heard Andrew Redbeak, the excise-offisher, say, that
naething ever pat him right after a debosh, except something they ca’
a bottle of soda-water; so my wife dispatched Benjie to the place
where he kent it could be found, and he returned in a jiffie with a
thing like a blacking-bottle below his daidly, as he was bidden. There
being a wire ower the cork, for some purpose or ither, or maybe just
to look neat, we had some fight to get it torn away, but at last we
succeeded. I had turned about for a jug, and the wife was rummaging
for a screw, while Benjie was fiddling away wi’ his fingers at the cork
—sauf us! a’ at ance it gaed a thud like thunder, driving the cork ower
puir Benjie’s head, while it spouted up in his een like a fire-engine,
and I had only just time to throw down the jug, and up with the
bottle to my mouth. Luckily, for the sixpence it cost, there was a drap
o’t left, which tasted by all the world just like brisk dish-washings;
but, for a’ that, it had a wonderful power of setting me to rights; and
my noddle in a while began to clear up, like a March-day after a
heavy shower.
I mind very weel too, on the afternoon of the dividual day, that my
doorneebour, Thomas Burlings, pappit in; and, in our twa-handit
crack ower the counter, after asking me in a dry, curious way, if I had
come by nae skaith in the business of the play, he said, the thing had
now spread far and wide, and was making a great noise in the world.
I thocht the body a thocht sharp in his observes; so I pretended to
take it quite lightly, proceeding in my shaping-out a pair of buckskin-
breeches, which I was making for ane of the duke’s huntsmen; so,
seeing he was aff the scent, he said in a mair jocose way—“Weel,
speaking about buckskins, I’ll tell ye a gude story about that.”
“Let us hear’t,” said I; for I was in that sort of queerish way, that I
didna care muckle about being very busy.
“Ye’se get it as I heard it,” quo’ Thomas; “and it’s no less worth
telling, that it bears a gude moral application in its tail, after the
same fashion that a blister does gude by sucking away the vicious
humours of the body, thereby making the very pain it gies precious.”
And here—though maybe it was just my thocht—the body strokit his
chin, and gied me a kind of half glee, as muckle as saying, “take that
to ye, neebour.” But I deserved it all, and couldna take it ill aff his
hand, being, like mysel, ane of the elders of our kirk, and an honest
enough, preceese-speaking man.
“Ye see, ye ken,” said Thomas, “that the Breadalbane Fencibles, a
wheen Highland birkies, were put into camp on Fisherraw links,
maybe for the benefit of their douking, on account of the fiddle[14]—or
maybe in case the French should land at the water-mouth—or maybe
to gie the regiment the benefit of the sea air—or maybe to make their
bare houghs hardier, for it was the winter time, frost and snaw being
as plenty as ye like, and no sae scarce as pantaloons among the core,
or for some ither reason, gude, bad, or indifferent, which disna
muckle matter. But, ye see, the lang and the short o’ the story is, that
there they were encamped, man and mother’s son of them, going
through their dreels by day, and sleeping by night—the privates in
their tents, and the offishers in their markees; living in the course of
nature on their usual rations of beef and tammies, and sae on. So, ye
understand me, there was nae such smart orderings of things in the
army in thae days, the men not having the beef served out to them by
a butcher, supplying each company or companies by a written
contract, drawn up between him and the paymaster before sponsible
witnesses; but ilka ane bringing what pleased him, either tripe,
trotters, steaks, cow’s-cheek, pluck, hough, spar-rib, jiggot, or so
forth.”
14. See Dr Jamieson’s “Scottish Dictionary.”
“’Od!” said I, “Thomas, ye crack like a minister. Where did ye
happen to pick up all that knowledge?”
“Where should I have got it? but from an auld half-pay sergeant-
major, that lived in our spare room, and had been out in the
American war, having seen a power of service, and been twice
wounded,—ance in the aff cuit, and the ither time in the cuff of the
neck.”
“I thocht as muckle,” said I; “but say on, man; it’s unco
entertaining.”
“Weel,” continued he, “let me see where I was at when ye stoppit
me; for maybe I’ll hae to begin at the beginning again. For gif ye
yenterrupt me, or edge in a word, or put me out by asking questions,
I lose the thread of my discourse, and canna proceed.”
“Ou, let me see,” said I, “ye was about the contract concerning the
beef.”
“Preceesely,” quo’ Thomas, stretching out his forefinger; “ye’ve
said it to a hair. At that time, as I was observing, the butcher didna
supply a company or companies, according to the terms of a
contract, drawn up before sponsible witnesses, between him and the
paymaster; but the soldiers got beef-money along with their pay;
with which said money, given them, ye observe, for said purpose,
they were bound and obligated, in terms of the statute, to buy,
purchase, and provide the said beef, twice a week or oftener, as it
might happen; an orderly offisher making inspection of the camp-
kettles regularly every forenoon at ane o’clock or thereabouts.
“So, as ye’ll pay attention to observe, there was a private in Captain
M‘Tavish’s company, the second to the left of the centre, of the name
of Duncan MacAlpine, a wee, hardy, blackavised, in-knee’d creature,
remarkable for naething that ever I heard tell of, except being
reported to have shotten a gauger in Badenoch, or thereabouts; and
for having a desperate red nose, the effects, ye observe, I daursay,—
the effects of drinking malt speerits.
“Weel, week after week passed ower, and better passed ower, and
Duncan played aff his tricks, like anither Herman Boaz, the slight-o’-
hand juggler—him that’s suspecket to be in league and paction with
the deil. But ye’ll hear.”
“’Od, it’s diverting, Thomas,” said I to him; “gang on, man.”
“Weel, ye see, as I was observing. Let me see, where was I at? Ou
ay, having a paction wi’ the deil. So, when all were watching beside
the camp-kettles, some stirring them wi’ spurtles, or parritch-sticks,
or forks, or whatever was necessary, the orderly offisher made a
point and practice of regularly coming by, about the chap of ane past
meridian, as I observed to ye before, to make inspection of what ilka
ane had wared his pay on; and what he had got simmering in the het
water for his dinner.
“So, on the day concerning which I am about to speak, it fell out, as
usual, that he happened to be making his rounds, halting a moment
—or twa, maybe—before ilka pat; the man that had the charge
thereof, by the way of stirring like, clapping down his lang fork, and
bringing up the piece of meat, or whatever he happened to be making
kail of, to let the inspector see whether it was lamb, pork, beef,
mutton, or veal. For, ye observe,” continued Thomas, gieing me, as I
took it to mysel, anither queer side look, “the purpose of the offisher
making the inspection, was to see that they laid out their pay-money
conform to military regulation; and no to filling their stamicks, and
ruining baith soul and body, by throwing it away on whisky, as but
ower mony, that aiblins should hae kent better, have dune but ower
aften.”
“’Tis but too true,” said I till him; “but the best will fa’ intil a faut
sometimes. We have a’ our failings, Thomas.”
“Just so,” answered Thomas; “but where was I at? Ou, about the
whisky. Weel, speaking about the whisky: ye see, the offisher,
Lovetenant Todrick, I b’lief they called him, had made an observe
about Duncan’s kettle; so, when he cam to him, Duncan was sitting
in the lown side of a dyke, with his red nose, and a pipe in his cheek,
on a big stane, glowering frae him anither way; and, as I was saying,
when he cam to him he said, ‘Weel, Duncan MacAlpine, what have ye
in your kettle the day, man?’
“And Duncan, rinning down his lang fork, answered in his ain
Highland brogue way—‘Please your honour, just my auld fav’rite,
tripe.’
“’Deed, Duncan,” said Lovetenant Todrick, or whatever they ca’d
him, “it is an auld fav’rite, surely, for I have never seen ye have
onything else for your denner, man.”
“Every man to his taste, please your honour,” answered Duncan
MacAlpine; “let ilka ane please her nainsel,”—hauling up a screed
half a yard lang; “ilka man to his taste, please your honour,
Lovetenant Todrick.”
“’Od, man,” said I to him; “’od, man, ye’re a deacon at telling a
story. Ye’re a queer hand. Weel, what cam next?”
“What think ye should come next?” quo’ Thomas, drily.
“I’m sure I dinna ken,” answered I.
“Weel,” said he, “I’ll tell; but where was I at?”
“Ou, at the observe of Lovetenant Todrick, or what they ca’ed him,
about the tripe; and the answer of Duncan MacAlpine on that head,
that ‘ilka man had his ain taste.’”
“‘Vera true,’ said Lovetenant Todrick; ‘but lift it out a’thegither on
that dish, till I get my specs on; for never since I was born, did I ever
see before boiled tripe with buttons and button-holes intil’t.’”
At this I set up a loud laughing, which I couldna help, though it
was like to split my sides; but Thomas Burlings bade me whisht till I
heard him out.
“‘Buttons and button-holes!’ quo’ Duncan MacAlpine. ‘Look again,
wi’ yer specs; for ye’re surely wrang, Lovetenant Todrick.’”
“Buttons and button-holes! and ’deed I am surely right, Duncan,’
answered Lovetenant Todrick, taking his specs deliberately aff the
brig o’ his nose, and faulding them thegither, as he put them, first
into his morocco case, and syne into his pocket. ‘Howsomever,
Duncan MacAlpine, I’ll pass ye ower for this time, gif ye take my
warning, and for the future ware yer paymoney on wholesome
butcher’s meat, like a Christian, and no be trying to delude your ain
stamick, and your offisher’s een, by haddin’ up, on a fork, such a
heathenish make-up for a dish, as the leg of a pair o’ buckskin
breeches!’”
“Buckskin breeches!” said I; “and did he really and actually boil
siccan trash to his dinner?”
“Nae sae far south as that yet, friend,” answered Thomas. “Duncan
wasna sae bowed in the intellect as ye imagine, and had some spice
of cleverality about his queer manœuvres.—Eat siccan trash to his
dinner! Nae mair, Mansie, than ye intend to eat that iron guse ye’re
rinning alang that piece claith; but he wantit to make his offishers
believe that his pay gaed the right way—like the Pharisees of old that
keepit praying, in ell-lang faces, about the corners of the streets, and
gaed hame wi’ hearts full of wickedness and a’ manner of cheatrie.”
“And what way did his pay gang then?” askit I; “and hoo did he
live?”
“I telled ye before, frien,” answered Thomas, “that he was a
deboshed creature; and, like ower mony in the warld, likit weel what
didna do him ony good. It’s a wearyfu’ thing that whisky. I wish it
could be banished to Botany Bay.”
“It is that,” said I. “Muckle and nae little sin does it breed and
produce in this world.”
“I’m glad,” quo’ Thomas, stroking down his chin in a slee way. “I’m
glad the guilty should see the folly o’ their ain ways: it’s the first step,
ye ken, till amendment;—and indeed I tell’t Maister Wiggie, when he
sent me here, that I could almost become gude for yer being mair
wary o’ yer conduct for the future time to come.”
This was like a thunder-clap to me, and I didna ken, for a jiffy,
what to feel, think, or do, mair than perceiving that it was a piece of
devilish cruelty on their pairts, taking things on this strict. As for
myself, I could freely take sacred oath on the Book, that I hadna had
a dram in my head for four months before; the knowledge of which
made my corruption rise like lightning, as a man is aye brave when
he is innocent; so, giein’ my pow a bit scart, I said briskly, “So ye’re
after some session business in this veesit, are ye?”
“Ye’ve just guessed it,” answered Thomas Burlings, sleeking down
his front hair with his fingers, in a sober way; “we had a meeting this
forenoon; and it was resolved ye should stand a public rebuke in the
meeting-house, on Sunday next.”
“Hang me, if I do!” answered I, thumping my nieve down with all
my might on the counter, and throwing back my cowl behind me,
into a corner.
“No, man!” added I, snapping with great pith my finger and thumb
in Thomas’s een; “no for all the ministers and elders that ever were
cleckit. They may do their best; and ye may tell them sae if ye like. I
was born a free man; I live in a free country; I am the subject of a free
king and constitution; and I’ll be shot before I submit to such rank
diabolical papistry.”
“Hooly and fairly,” quo’ Thomas, staring a wee astonished like, and
not a little surprised to see my birse up in this manner; for, when he
thought upon shearing a lamb, he fund he had catched a tartar; so,
calming down as fast as ye like, he said—“Hooly and fairly, Mansie”
(or Maister Wauch, I believe, he did me the honour to ca’ me),
“they’ll maybe no be sae hard as they threaten. But ye ken, my friend,
I’m speaking to ye as a brither; it was an unco-like business for an
elder, not only to gang till a play, which is ane of the deevil’s
rendezvouses, but to gang there in a state of liquor; making yoursel a
warld’s wonder—and you an elder of our kirk!—I put the question to
yourself soberly?”
His threatening I could despise, and could have fought, cuffed, and
kickit, wi’ a’ the ministers and elders of the General Assembly, to say
naething of the Relief Synod, and the Burgher Union, before I wad
demeaned mysel to yield to what my inward speerit plainly telled me
to be rank cruelty and injustice; but ah! his calm, britherly, flattering
way I couldna thole wi’, and the tears came rapping into my een
faster than it cared my manhood to let be seen; so I said till him,
“Weel, weel, Thomas, I ken I have dune wrang; and I am sorry for’t—
they’ll never find me in siccan a scrape again.”
Thomas Burlings then cam forrit in a friendly way, and shook
hands wi’ me; telling that he wad go back and plead afore them in my
behalf. He said this ower again, as we pairted, at my shop door; and,
to do him justice, surely he hadna been waur than his word, for I
have aye attended the kirk as usual, standing, whan it came to my
rotation, at the plate, and naebody, gentle nor semple, ever spoke to
me on the subject of the playhouse, or minted the matter of the
rebuke from that day to this.
ELPHIN IRVING, THE FAIRIES’
CUPBEARER.

By Allan Cunningham.

Chapter I.
The romantic vale of Corriewater, in Annandale, is regarded by the
inhabitants, a pastoral and unmingled people, as the last border
refuge of those beautiful and capricious beings, the fairies. Many old
people, yet living, imagine they have had intercourse of good words
and good deeds with the “gude folk;” and continue to tell that in the
ancient days the fairies danced on the hill, and revelled in the glen,
and showed themselves, like the mysterious children of the Deity of
old, among the sons and daughters of men. Their visits to the earth
were periods of joy and mirth to mankind, rather than of sorrow and
apprehension. They played on musical instruments of wonderful
sweetness and variety of note, spread unexpected feasts, the
supernatural flavour of which overpowered on many occasions the
religious scruples of the Presbyterian shepherds, performed
wonderful deeds of horsemanship, and marched in midnight
processions, when the sound of their elfin minstrelsy charmed
youths and maidens into love for their persons and pursuits; and
more than one family of Corriewater have the fame of augmenting
the numbers of the elfin chivalry. Faces of friends and relatives, long
since doomed to the battle trench, or the deep sea, have been
recognised by those who dared to gaze on the fairy march. The maid
has seen her lost lover, and the mother her stolen child; and the
courage to plan and achieve their deliverance has been possessed by,
at least, one border maiden. In the legends of the people of
Corrievale, there is a singular mixture of elfin and human adventure,
and the traditional story of the Cupbearer to the Queen of the Fairies
appeals alike to our domestic feelings and imagination.
In one of the little green loops or bends, on the banks of
Corriewater, mouldered walls, and a few stunted wild plum-trees and
vagrant roses, still point out the site of a cottage and garden. A well
of pure spring-water leaps out from an old tree-root before the door;
and here the shepherds, shading themselves in summer from the
influence of the sun, tell to their children the wild tale of Elphin
Irving and his sister Phemie; and, singular as the story seems, it has
gained full credence among the people where the scene is laid.
“I ken the tale and the place weel,” interrupted an old woman,
who, from the predominance of scarlet in her apparel, seemed to
have been a follower of the camp; “I ken them weel, and the tale’s as
true as a bullet to its aim, and a spark to powder. Oh, bonnie
Corriewater! a thousand times have I pu’ed gowans on its banks wi’
ane that lies stiff and stark on a foreign shore in a bloody grave:” and
sobbing audibly, she drew the remains of a military cloak over her
face, and allowed the story to proceed.
When Elphin Irving and his sister Phemie were in their sixteenth
year (for tradition says they were twins), their father was drowned in
Corriewater, attempting to save his sheep from a sudden swell, to
which all mountain streams are liable; and their mother, on the day
of her husband’s burial, laid down her head on the pillow, from
which, on the seventh day, it was lifted to be dressed for the same
grave. The inheritance left to the orphans may be briefly described:
seventeen acres of plough and pasture land, seven milk cows, and
seven pet sheep (many old people take delight in odd numbers); and
to this may be added seven bonnet pieces of Scottish gold, and a
broadsword and spear, which their ancestor had wielded with such
strength and courage in the battle of Dryfe-sands, that the minstrel
who sang of that deed of arms ranked him only second to the Scotts
and the Johnstones.
The youth and his sister grew in stature and in beauty. The brent
bright brow, the clear blue eye, and frank and blithe deportment of
the former, gave him some influence among the young women of the
valley; while the latter was no less the admiration of the young men,
and at fair and dance, and at bridal, happy was he who touched but
her hand, or received the benediction of her eye. Like all other
Scottish beauties, she was the theme of many a song; and while
tradition is yet busy with the singular history of her brother, song has
taken all the care that rustic minstrelsy can of the gentleness of her
spirit, and the charms of her person.
“Now I vow,” exclaimed a wandering piper, “by mine own
honoured instrument, and by all other instruments that ever yielded
music for the joy and delight of mankind, that there are more bonnie
songs made about fair Phemie Irving than about all the other
maidens of Annandale, and many of them are both high and bonnie.
A proud lass maun she be, if her spirit hears; and men say the dust
lies not insensible of beautiful verse; for her charms are breathed
through a thousand sweet lips, and no farther gone than yestermorn,
I heard a lass singing on a green hillside what I shall not readily
forget. If ye like to listen, ye shall judge; and it will not stay the story
long nor mar it much, for it is short, and about Phemie Irving.” And
accordingly he chanted the following rude verses, not
unaccompanied by his honoured instrument, as he called his pipe,
which chimed in with great effect, and gave richness to a voice which
felt better than it could express:—
FAIR PHEMIE IRVING.
I.

Gay is thy glen, Corrie,


With all thy groves flowering:
Green is thy glen, Corrie,
When July is showering;
And sweet is yon wood, where
The small birds are bowering,
And there dwells the sweet one
Whom I am adoring.

II.

Her round neck is whiter


Than winter when snowing;
Her meek voice is milder
Than Ae in its flowing;
The glad ground yields music
Where she goes by the river;
One kind glance would charm me
For ever and ever.

III.

The proud and the wealthy


To Phemie are bowing;
No looks of love win they
With sighing or suing;
Far away maun I stand
With my rude wooing,
She’s a flow’ret too lovely
To bloom for my pu’ing—

IV.

O were I yon violet


On which she is walking;
O were I yon small bird
To which she is talking;
Or yon rose in her hand,
With its ripe ruddy blossom;
Or some pure gentle thought,
To be blest with her bosom!

This minstrel interruption, while it established Phemie Irving’s


claim to grace and to beauty, gave me additional confidence to
pursue the story.
But minstrel skill and true love tale seemed to want their usual
influence, when they sought to win her attention; she was only
observed to pay most respect to those youths who were most beloved
by her brother; and the same hour that brought these twins to the
world, seemed to have breathed through them a sweetness and an
affection of heart and mind, which nothing could divide. If, like the
virgin queen of the immortal poet, she walked “in maiden meditation
fancy free,” her brother Elphin seemed alike untouched with the
charms of the fairest virgins in Corrie. He ploughed his field, he
reaped his grain, he leaped, he ran and wrestled, and danced and
sang, with more skill and life and grace than all other youths of the
district; but he had no twilight and stolen interviews. When all other
young men had their loves by their side, he was single, though not
unsought; and his joy seemed never perfect save when his sister was
near him. If he loved to share his time with her, she loved to share
her time with him alone, or with the beasts of the field, or the birds
of the air. She watched her little flock late, and she tended it early;
not for the sordid love of the fleece, unless it was to make mantles for
her brother, but with the look of one who had joy in its company. The
very wild creatures, the deer and the hares, seldom sought to shun
her approach, and the bird forsook not its nest, nor stinted its song,
when she drew nigh; such is the confidence which maiden innocence
and beauty inspire.
It happened one summer, about three years after they became
orphans, that rain had been for a while withheld from the earth; the
hillsides began to parch, the grass in the vales to wither, and the
stream of Corrie was diminished between its banks to the size of an
ordinary rill. The shepherds drove their flocks to moorlands, and
marsh and tarn had their reeds invaded by the scythe, to supply the
cattle with food. The sheep of his sister were Elphin’s constant care;
he drove them to the moistest pastures during the day, and he often
watched them at midnight, when flocks, tempted by the sweet dewy
grass, are known to browse eagerly, that he might guard them from
the fox, and lead them to the choicest herbage. In these nocturnal
watchings he sometimes drove his little flock over the water of
Corrie, for the fords were hardly ankle-deep; or permitted his sheep
to cool themselves in the stream, and taste the grass which grew
along the brink. All this time not a drop of rain fell, nor did a cloud
appear in the sky.
One evening during her brother’s absence with the flock, Phemie
sat at her cottage door, listening to the bleatings of the distant folds,
and the lessened murmur of the water of Corrie, now scarcely
audible beyond its banks. Her eyes, weary with watching along the
accustomed line of road for the return of Elphin, were turned on the
pool beside her, in which the stars were glimmering fitful and faint.
As she looked, she imagined the water grew brighter and brighter; a
wild illumination presently shone upon the pool, and leaped from
bank to bank, and, suddenly changing into a human form, ascended
the margin, and passing her, glided swiftly into the cottage. The
visionary form was so like her brother in shape and air, that, starting
up, she flew into the house, with the hope of finding him in his
customary seat. She found him not; and impressed with the terror
which a wraith or apparition seldom fails to inspire, she uttered a
shriek so loud and so piercing as to be heard at Johnstonebank, on
the other side of the vale of Corrie.
An old woman now rose suddenly from her seat in the window-sill,
the living dread of shepherds, for she travelled the country with a
brilliant reputation for witchcraft, and thus she broke in upon the
narrative: “I vow, young man, ye tell us the truth upset and
downthrust; I heard my douce grandmother say that on the night
when Elphin Irving, disappeared—disappeared, I shall call it, for the
bairn can but be gone for a season, to return to us in his own
appointed time,—she was seated at the fireside at Johnstonebank;
the laird had laid aside his bonnet to take the Book, when a shriek
mair loud, believe me, than a mere woman’s shriek,—and they can
shriek loud enough, else they’re sair wranged,—came over the water
of Corrie, so sharp and shrilling, that the pewter plates dinnelled on
the wall; such a shriek, my douce grandmother said, as rang in her
ear till the hour of her death, and she lived till she was aughty and
aught, forty full ripe years after the event. But there is another
matter, which, doubtless, I cannot compel ye to believe; it was the
common rumour that Elphin Irving came not into the world like the
other sinful creatures of the earth, but was one of the Kane-bairns of
the fairies, whilk they had to pay to the enemy of man’s salvation
every seventh year. The poor lady-fairy,—a mother’s aye a mother, be
she elf’s flesh or Eve’s flesh,—hid her elf son beside the christened
flesh in Marion Irving’s cradle, and the auld enemy lost his prey for a
time. Now hasten on with your story, which is not a bodle the waur
for me. The maiden saw the shape of her brother, fell into a faint or a
trance, and the neighbours came flocking in. Gang on wi’ your tale,
young man, and dinna be affronted because an auld woman helped
ye wi’ it.”
It is hardly known, I resumed, how long Phemie Irving continued
in a state of insensibility. The morning was far advanced, when a
neighbouring maiden found her seated in an old chair, as white as
monumental marble; her hair, about which she had always been
solicitous, loosened from its curls, and hanging disordered over her
neck and bosom, her hands and forehead. The maiden touched the
one and kissed the other; they were as cold as snow; and her eyes,
wide open, were fixed on her brother’s empty chair, with the
intensity of gaze of one who had witnessed the appearance of a spirit.
She seemed insensible of any one’s presence, and sat fixed, and still,
and motionless. The maiden, alarmed at her looks, thus addressed
her: “Phemie, lass, Phemie Irving! Dear me, but this is awful! I have
come to tell ye that seven o’ yer pet sheep have escaped drowning in
the water; for Corrie, sae quiet and sae gentle yestreen, is rolling and
dashing frae bank to bank this morning. Dear me, woman, dinna let
the loss o’ the world’s gear bereave ye of your senses. I would rather
make ye a present of a dozen mug-ewes of the Tinwald brood mysel;
and now I think on’t, if ye’ll send ower Elphin, I will help him hame
with them in the gloaming mysel. So Phemie, woman, be comforted.”
At the mention of her brother’s name, she cried out, “Where is he?
oh, where is he?”—gazed wildly round, and, shuddering from head to
foot, fell senseless on the floor. Other inhabitants of the valley,
alarmed by the sudden swell of the river, which had augmented to a
torrent deep and impassable, now came in to inquire if any loss had
been sustained, for numbers of sheep and teds of hay had been
observed floating down about the dawn of the morning. They
assisted in reclaiming the unhappy maiden from her swoon; but
insensibility was joy compared to the sorrow to which she awakened.
“They have ta’en him away, they have ta’en him away;” she
chanted in a tone of delirious pathos; “him that was whiter and fairer
than the lily on Lyddal-lee. They have long sought, and they have
long sued, and they had the power to prevail against my prayers at
last. They have ta’en him away; the flower is plucked from among the
weeds, and the dove is slain amid a flock of ravens. They came with
shout, and they came with song, and they spread the charm, and they
placed the spell, and the baptised brow has been bowed down to the
unbaptised hand. They have ta’en him away, they have ta’en him
away; he was too lovely, and too good, and too noble, to bless us with
his continuance on earth; for what are the sons of men compared to
him?—the light of the moonbeam to the morning sun; the glow-
worm to the eastern star. They have ta’en him away, the invisible
dwellers of the earth. I saw them come on him, with shouting and
with singing, and they charmed him where he sat, and away they
bore him; and the horse he rode was never shod with iron, nor
owned before the mastery of human hand. They have ta’en him away,
over the water, and over the wood, and over the hill. I got but ae look
o’ his bonnie blue ee, but ae look. But as I have endured what never
maiden endured, so will I undertake what never maiden undertook,
—I will win him from them all. I know the invisible ones of the earth;
I have heard their wild and wondrous music in the wild woods, and
there shall a christened maiden seek him and achieve his
deliverance.”
She paused, and glancing round a circle of condoling faces, down
which the tears were dropping like rain, said, in a calm, but still
delirious tone,—
“Why do you weep, Mary Halliday? and why do you weep, John
Graeme? Ye think that Elphin Irving,—oh, it’s a bonnie, bonnie
name, and dear to many a maiden’s heart as well as mine,—ye think
that he is drowned in Corrie, and ye will seek in the deep, deep pools
for the bonnie, bonnie corse, that ye may weep over it, as it lies in its
last linen, and lay it, amid weeping and wailing, in the dowie
kirkyard. Ye may seek, but ye shall never find; so leave me to trim up
my hair, and prepare my dwelling, and make myself ready to watch
for the hour of his return to upper earth.”
And she resumed her household labours with an alacrity which
lessened not the sorrow of her friends.
Chapter II.

Meanwhile, the rumour flew over the vale that Elphin Irving was
drowned in Corriewater. Matron and maid, old man and young,
collected suddenly along the banks of the river, which now began to
subside to its natural summer limits, and commenced their search;
interrupted every now and then by calling from side to side, and
from pool to pool, and by exclamations of sorrow for this misfortune.
The search was fruitless: five sheep, pertaining to the flock which he
conducted to pasture, were found drowned in one of the deep eddies;
but the river was still too brown, from the soil of its moorland
sources, to enable them to see what its deep shelves, its pools, and its
overhanging and hazelly banks concealed. They remitted further
search till the stream should become pure; and old man taking old
man aside, began to whisper about the mystery of the youth’s
disappearance: old women laid their lips to the ears of their coevals,
and talked of Elphin Irving’s fairy parentage, and his having been
dropped by an unearthly hand into a Christian cradle. The young
men and maids conversed on other themes; they grieved for the loss
of the friend and the lover, and while the former thought that a heart
so kind and true was not left in the vale, the latter thought, as
maidens will, on his handsome person, gentle manners, and merry
blue eye, and speculated with a sigh on the time when they might
have hoped a return for their love. They were soon joined by others
who had heard the wild and delirious language of his sister: the old
belief was added to the new assurance, and both again commented
upon by minds full of superstitious feeling, and hearts full of
supernatural fears, till the youths and maidens of Corrievale held no
more love trysts for seven days and nights, lest, like Elphin Irving,
they should be carried away to augment the ranks of the
unchristened chivalry.
It was curious to listen to the speculations of the peasantry. “For
my part,” said a youth, “if I were sure that poor Elphin escaped from
that perilous water, I would not give the fairies a pound of hiplock
wool for their chance of him. There has not been a fairy seen in the
land since Donald Cargill, the Cameronian, conjured them into the
Solway for playing on their pipes during one of his nocturnal
preachings on the hip of the Burnswark hill.”
“Preserve me, bairn,” said an old woman, justly exasperated at the
incredulity of her nephew, “if ye winna believe what I both heard and
saw at the moonlight end of Craigyburnwood on a summer night,
rank after rank of the fairy folk, ye’ll at least believe a douce man and
a ghostly professor, even the late minister of Tinwaldkirk; his only
son (I mind the lad weel, with his long yellow locks and his bonnie
blue eyes, when I was but a gilpie of a lassie), he was stolen away
from off the horse at his father’s elbow, as they crossed that false and
fearsome water, even Locherbriggflow, on the night of the
Midsummer Fair of Dumfries. Ay, ay, who can doubt the truth of
that? Have not the godly inhabitants of Almsfieldtown and
Timwaldkirk seen the sweet youth riding at midnight, in the midst of
the unhallowed troop, to the sound of flute and of dulcimer; and
though meikle they prayed, naebody tried to achieve his
deliverance?”
“I have heard it said, by douce folk and sponsible,” interrupted
another, “that every seven years the elves and fairies pay kane, or
make an offering of one of their children to the grand enemy of
salvation, and that they are permitted to purloin one of the children
of men to present to the fiend; a more acceptable offering, I’ll
warrant, than one of their own infernal brood, that are Satan’s sib
allies, and drink a drop of the deil’s blood every May morning. And
touching this lost lad, ye all ken his mother was a hawk of an
uncannie nest, a second cousin of Kate Kimmer, of Barfloshan, as
rank a witch as ever rode on ragwort. Ay, sirs, what’s bred in the
bone is ill to come out o’ the flesh.”
On these and similar topics, which a peasantry full of ancient
tradition and enthusiasm and superstition, readily associate with the
commonest occurrences of life, the people of Corrievale continued to
converse till the fall of evening; when each seeking their home,
renewed again the wondrous subject, and illustrated it with all that
popular belief and poetic imagination could so abundantly supply.
The night which followed this melancholy day was wild with wind
and rain; the river came down broader and deeper than before, and
the lightning, flashing by fits over the green woods of Corrie, showed
the ungovernable and perilous flood sweeping above its banks. It
happened that a farmer, returning from one of the border fairs,
encountered the full swing of the storm; but, mounted on an
excellent horse, and mantled from chin to heel in a good gray plaid,
beneath which he had the farther security of a thick great-coat, he sat
dry in his saddle, and proceeded in the anticipated joy of a subsided
tempest, and a glowing morning sun. As he entered the long grove,
or rather remains of the old Galwegian forest, which lines for some
space the banks of the Corriewater, the storm began to abate, the
wind sighed milder and milder among the trees; and here and there a
star, twinkling momentarily through the sudden rack of the clouds,
showed the river raging from bank to brae. As he shook the moisture
from his clothes, he was not without a wish that the day would dawn,
and that he might be preserved on a road which his imagination
beset with greater perils than the raging river; for his superstitious
feeling let loose upon his path elf and goblin, and the current
traditions of the district supplied very largely to his apprehension the
ready materials of fear.
Just as he emerged from the wood, where a fine sloping bank,
covered with short green sward, skirts the limit of the forest, his
horse made a full pause, snorted, trembled, and started from side to
side, stooped his head, erected his ears, and seemed to scrutinize
every tree and bush. The rider, too, it may be imagined, gazed round
and round, and peered warily into every suspicious-looking place.
His dread of a supernatural visitation was not much allayed, when he
observed a female shape seated on the ground at the root of a huge
old oak tree, which stood in the centre of one of those patches of
verdant sward, known by the name of “fairy rings,” and avoided by
all peasants who wish to prosper. A long thin gleam of eastern
daylight enabled him to examine accurately the being who, in this
wild place and unusual hour, gave additional terror to this haunted
spot. She was dressed in white from the neck to the knees; her arms,
long, and round, and white, were perfectly bare; her head,
uncovered, allowed her long hair to descend in ringlet succeeding
ringlet, till the half of her person was nearly concealed in the fleece.
Amidst the whole, her hands were constantly busy in shedding aside
the tresses which interposed between her steady and uninterrupted
gaze, down a line of old road which winded among the hills to an
ancient burial-ground.
As the traveller continued to gaze, the figure suddenly rose, and
wringing the rain from her long locks, paced round and round the
tree, chanting in a wild and melancholy manner an equally wild and
delirious song:—
THE FAIRY OAK OF CORRIEWATER.
I.
The small bird’s head is under its wing,
The deer sleeps on the grass;
The moon comes out, and the stars shine down,
The dew gleams like the glass:
There is no sound in the world so wide,
Save the sound of the smitten brass,
With the merry cittern and the pipe
Of the fairies as they pass.—
But oh! the fire maun burn and burn,
And the hour is gone, and will never return.

II.

The green hill cleaves, and forth, with a bound,


Come elf and elfin steed;
The moon dives down in a golden cloud,
The stars grow dim with dread;
But a light is running along the earth,
So of heaven’s they have no need:
O’er moor and moss with a shout they pass,
And the word is, spur and speed.—
But the fire maun burn, and I maun quake,
And the hour is gone that will never come back.

III.

And when they come to Craigyburn wood,


The Queen of the Fairies spoke:—
“Come, bind your steeds to the rushes so green,
And dance by the haunted oak:
I found the acorn on Heshbon-hill,
In the nook of a palmer’s poke,
A thousand years since; here it grows!”
And they danced till the greenwood shook.—
But oh! the fire, the burning fire,
The longer it burns, it but blazes the higher.

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