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De Gruyter Series in
Measurement Sciences
�
Edited by
Klaus-Dieter Sommer and Thomas Fröhlich

Metrological
Infrastructure
�
Edited by
Beat Jeckelmann and Robert Edelmaier

Editors
Dr. Beat Jeckelmann
Form. Federal Institute of Metrology METAS
Switzerland
beat.jeckelmann@bluewin.ch
Robert Edelmaier
Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen
Arltgasse 35
1160 Wien
Austria
robert.edelmaier@bev.gv.at
ISBN 978-3-11-071568-2
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-071583-5
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-071590-3
ISSN 2510-2974
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023933231
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Cover image: Wassily and the World of Metrology, Susanna Beyer, llmenau, Deutschland
Aus der Sammlung: Measurement lmpressions (Privatbesitz)
Typesetting: VTeX UAB, Lithuania
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com

Foreword
The De Gruyter Book Series on Measurement Science (DGSM) includes monographs rang-
ing from the mathematical foundations to the connection between metrology and infor-
mation theory to current developments such as quantum sensing and cognitive sensors
and measurement systems.
The present volume “Metrological Infrastructure,” which was produced under the
leadership of the internationally renowned metrologists Beat Jeckelmann (Switzerland)
and Robert Edelmaier (Austria), is the first monograph in the DGSM series. The other
planned volumes of the book series will be available within a period of 24 months after
the publication of this first volume.
The metrological infrastructure is one of the supporting pillars of the quality infras-
tructure. Although it is not in the first place in the public perception, its importance for
the economic success of a country and the safeguarding and promotion of the quality of
life should not be underestimated. The metrological infrastructure forms a solid basis
for trade and transport, a competitive innovative industry, a secure energy supply, the
protection of the environment and health and, last but not least, for areas of security
and defense.
The two editors of the volume have succeeded in winning proven experts with many
years of experience in metrology and its environment as authors for the individual chap-
ters of the book. This fact alone would guarantee the attractiveness of the book volume.
The consistently chosen structure of the book starting with the basics of metrology
with the International System of Units and the concept of measurement uncertainty, the
structure and international organization of metrology, the mutual recognition of mea-
surement and calibration results up to current developments in the digitalization of
metrology make the book an important companion and reference work for all metrol-
ogists worldwide. This book should be at least as important for university teaching in
metrology and information technology as for their industrial application.
We firmly believe that this book will become a standard work in metrology. We
congratulate the editors and authors on a successful and highly topical monograph and
wish it a wide readership.
Klaus-Dieter Sommer Frank Haertig
Technische Universitaet Ilmenau Vice President of the Physikalisch-Technische
(Germany) Bundesanstalt (Germany)
Editor of the DGSM Book Series President of the International Measurement
Federation (IMEKO)
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110715835-201

Preface
Whether it is a mundane everyday activity, looking at the body weight readout on the
scales in the morning, trying out a new cooking recipe, or adjusting the tyre pressure on
a vehicle: There is hardly an activity that does not involve a measurement. Our everyday
life without measurements is unthinkable.
Not only in everyday life, but also in the whole industrialized and increasingly glob-
alized world are we dependent on measurements. Many sectors rely on correct and com-
parable measurements: Be it in the expansion of knowledge, the accurate efficient and
reliable production of goods, the reliability of medical diagnoses, the monitoring of the
environment or the guarantee of data quality in the regulated sector. With a measure-
ment, we quantify the property of an object by comparing the selected property with an
agreed reference quantity, and thus assigning it a number that we can communicate to
others. For the receiver to make use of this information, a well-established and broadly
coordinated infrastructure is needed. This functions largely unnoticed by public per-
ception; we take it for granted. This book is about this infrastructure and the associated
science: metrology.
In order to be able to measure all the required quantities without contradiction,
we first need a system of units of measurement that is valid and accepted worldwide
and across all disciplines. After a great confusion in the Middle Ages, the decisive im-
pulse for the design of such a system came from France. At the time of the French Rev-
olution, the foundations for the decimal metric system were laid by tracing the unit of
length, the meter, back to part of the Earth’s meridian. Finally, with the signing of the
Metre Convention in 1875, the step was taken towards standardizing the units of mea-
surement beyond national borders. After that, the metric system was able to expand
and develop over the years according to the increasing needs of science and technol-
ogy. It then became the International System of Units (SI) with seven base units today.
The SI can be used in all scientific and practical measurement tasks and is rightly re-
garded as the technical language of science. It remains adaptable to the needs of all
areas of science and adjustments are made when necessary. In 2018, a fundamental
revision of the SI took place. For the first time, the SI became free of artefacts. The
realization of units is now conceptually detached from the definition. A unit defined
by the fixed value of natural constants can be realized in accordance with the laws of
physics. Improvements in realization are possible without having to redefine the unit.
Thus, measuring instruments based on quantum sensors become possible, which di-
rectly provide the end user with intrinsically stable, accurate measurement results that
are directly traceable to the SI. The cumbersome periodic recalibrations of the instru-
ment are thus eliminated. The contribution 1 of the book gives a brief outline of the his-
tory and background of the SI, explains the revision of the SI and outlines the resulting
possibilities.
The concept of measurement uncertainty is closely linked to the concept of mea-
surement. No measurement is exact. A measurement result depends on the properties
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110715835-202

VIII � Preface
of the measurement system and the object being measured, on the environmental con-
ditions and on the skill of the operator. A measurement result without information on
its uncertainty is useless.
Measurement results are the basis for conformity decisions, be it in quality control
in the manufacturing of products, in trade or in health and safety protection. Since every
measurement result is associated with uncertainty, conformity decisions are always as-
sociated with risk. For example, if a driver is caught speeding during a road traffic speed
check, the question arises of whether or not a fine is justified based on the knowledge
of the measured value and its uncertainty. Only a careful characterization of the mea-
surement system and the resulting probability distribution of the possible measured
values makes it possible to quantitatively determine the risk of a false report. With the
help of suitable tolerance deductions on the measured speed value, the risk for a wrong
decision can be reduced to an acceptable level.
Only a broadly supported, standardized procedure for determining and stating
measurement uncertainties can ensure that measurement uncertainty data are inter-
preted uniformly and can be adopted and further used by external bodies. The “Guide
to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM),” prepared by a committee of
representatives from seven international organizations, provides such a procedure. The
GUM is now firmly established and is widely used in standardized measurement, testing
and conformity assessment procedures. The concept of measurement uncertainty, the
GUM and the concept of metrological traceability are covered in the second part.
The third part is dedicated to the structures and organizations at national, regional,
and international level that together make up the metrological infrastructure. Along
with accreditation, standardization and conformity assessment, this is one of the pillars
of the quality infrastructure, and thus an essential element for sustainable economic
development and environmental and social well-being.
Based on the spirit of the Metre Convention, all industrialized countries have grad-
ually built up a national metrology system that, supported by the International System
of Units, strengthens the competitiveness of their own economies, enables fair trade,
and provides basic support for maintaining and improving the quality of life. With in-
creasing globalization, the decentralized manufacturing of products and the associated
worldwide trade but also the exchange and harmonization of processes and procedures
came to the fore. To support and facilitate this development, the member states of the
World Trade Organization signed an agreement to reduce technical barriers to trade. In
the field of metrology, this led to the claim “once measured or tested, everywhere ac-
cepted.” This goal can only be achieved if countries recognize the equivalence of their
national measurement standards among themselves. Until the end of the 20th century,
this mutual recognition was regulated by a multitude of bilateral agreements. Unifica-
tion was achieved in 1999 with the signing of the agreement “Mutual recognition of na-
tional measurement standards and of calibration and measurement certificates issued
by national metrology institutes” within the framework of the Metre Convention. For
the first time, a worldwide uniform approach to mutual recognition was achieved. The

Preface � IX
agreement is based on transparent, strict, and consistently applied technical criteria. All
data collected in the processes can be viewed in a publicly accessible database. Detailed
information on this is described in Part 4.
The metrological actors from the National Metrology Institutes to the calibration
laboratories and the associated organizational structures play an underpinning role.
The output consists of realized units of measurement, the measurement, and calibra-
tion possibilities based on them and, therefore, the traceability chains from each mea-
surement to the SI. The output also consists of metrological tools such as instruments,
software, reference materials, and measurement methods, of best practice guides and
standards, and finally of metrological know-how imparted. All these outputs are neces-
sary to ensure that measurement data are robust, comparable and resilient, and to help
make evidence-based and informed policy decisions, reduce barriers to trade and build
trust in trading partners, enable robust and sustainable health care, secure energy sup-
plies and reliably measure the state of the environment. Part of the impact chain is also
supporting industry’s ability to compete and innovate and, finally, the constant shifting
of our knowledge horizon in science. Part 5 of this book gives some selected examples
of the concrete impact of metrology, and thus attempts to make its rather hidden infras-
tructure role more visible.
We live in the age of digitalization. A key feature of this development is exponen-
tially growing volumes of data that are evaluated and made usable with algorithms,
increasingly using artificial intelligence methods. Trust in the data and algorithms is
a basic prerequisite for their sustainable and reliable application. This opens up new
tasks for metrology. Through the development of reference procedures and the provi-
sion of reference data, metrology can enable quantifiable statements on the reliability
and trustworthiness of simulations, algorithms, and AI methods in the future. In gen-
eral, the consistent application of metrological principles in dealing with data promotes
data security, and thus trust in these data. Consequently, this creates added value.
Modern communication technologies enable the use of large-scale multisensor, mul-
tiparameter, and multinode systems, and thus the availability of networked information.
In the “Internet of Things,” physical objects can be seamlessly integrated into the global
information network. The networks are characterized by the use of novel sensors based
on quantum-, bio-, and nanotechnologies, by the use of a large number of sensors of
different types and by the integration of data from different systems. The metrologi-
cal characterization of such networks requires a new interpretation of the concept of
traceability and the development of new procedures for calibration. This represents an
expansion of the scope for metrology triggered by digitalization. The last part of this
book deals with these new aspects and ventures an outlook into the near future.
This volume is intended to provide users of metrology and the general public with a
broad overview of the infrastructure aspects of metrology. It is aimed both at those who
are not familiar with the subject and are looking for an introduction, and at those who
are involved in metrology at various levels but would like to get more insights about the
subject or simply obtain specific information.

X � Preface
As editors of this volume, we would like to thank the authors of the individual parts
for their competent contributions.
Beat Jeckelmann
Robert Edelmaier

Contents
Foreword � V
Preface � VII
List of Contributing Authors � XIII
Beat Jeckelmann
International system of units: Concept and current design � 1
Walter Bich
Measurement uncertainty and metrological traceability � 23
Beat Jeckelmann and Ulrike Fuchs
The structure and organization of metrology � 57
Andy Henson
International recognition � 81
Robert Edelmaier
Impacts of metrology � 111
Sascha Eichstädt
Metrology for the digital age � 131
Index � 155
List of acronyms � 159

List of Contributing Authors
Walter Bich
Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica
10135 Torino
Italy
E-mail: w.bich@inrim.it
Robert Edelmaier
Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen (BEV)
Vienna
Austria
E-mail: Robert.Edelmaier@bev.gv.at
Sascha Eichstädt
Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Braunschweig
Germany
E-mail: Sascha.Eichstaedt@ptb.de
Ulrike Fuchs
Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Wirtschaft
Vienna
Austria
Andy Henson
Retired from Bureau international des poids
et mesures (BIPM)
Exeter
United Kingdom
E-mail: andyshenson@gmail.com
Beat Jeckelmann
Self-employed
3286 Muntelier
Switzerland
E-mail: beat.jeckelmann@bluewin.ch

Beat Jeckelmann
International system of units: Concept and
current design
Abstract: Measurement processes determine our everyday life. A system of measure-
ment units that is valid and accepted worldwide and across all disciplines, is the prereq-
uisite for measurement results to be comparable and interpreted correctly everywhere.
After great confusion in the Middle Ages, the decisive impulse for the design of such a
system came from France. At the time of the French Revolution, the foundations for the
decimal metric system were laid by tracing the unit of length, the meter, back to part of
the Earth’s meridian. Finally, with the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875, the step
was taken toward standardizing the units of measurement beyond national borders.
After that, the metric system was able to expand and develop over the years according
to the increasing needs of science and technology. It became the International System
of Units (SI) with seven base units today. It can be used in all scientific and practical
measurement tasks and is rightly regarded as the technical language of science. The SI
remains adaptable to the needs of all areas of science and adjustments are made when
necessary. In 2018, a fundamental revision of the SI took place. For the first time, the
SI became free of artefacts. The realization of units is now conceptually detached from
the definition. A unit defined by the fixed value of natural constants can be realized in
accordance with the laws of physics. Improvements in realization are possible without
having to redefine the unit.
In this chapter, a brief outline of the history and background of the SI is given, the
2018 revision of the SI is explained, and the resulting possibilities are outlined.
1 Introduction
Measurement determines our everyday life. There is hardly any activity that does not
involve a measurement task in some way, be it in the private sphere, in the practice of
a craft, in industry or in research. William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, expressed the
importance of measuring at the end of the eighteenth century as follows:
“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers you
know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers,
your knowledge of it is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge,
but you have scarcely, in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may
be.” [28]
Beat Jeckelmann, Self-employed, 3286, Muntelier, Switzerland, e-mail: beat.jeckelmann@bluewin.ch
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110715835-001

2 � B. Jeckelmann
Measurement processes seem so self-evident to us that the underlying concepts remain
hidden and are often not questioned. Yet there are still different views and controver-
sial debates in measurement theory today, precisely because measurement is applied
very broadly in almost all disciplines. A recent review of the state and developments in
measurement theory can be found, for example, in a book by D. J. Hand [13].
Metrology is the science of measurement and its applications. It deals, among other
things, with the definition of units of measurement and the conceptual aspects of mea-
surement. A key component is the International System of Units SI, which claims for
itself (SI brochure, 9th edition [5]):
“….The International System of Units, the SI, has been used around the world as the preferred system
of units, the basic language for science, technology, industry, and trade since it was established in
1960….”
“The SI is a consistent system of units for use in all aspects of life, including international trade,
manufacturing, security, health and safety, protection of the environment, and in the basic science
that underpins all of these…”
The term measurement used in the context of the SI is described in the latest version of
the International Vocabulary of Metrology|see VIM [4]:
measurement
process of experimentally obtaining one or more quantity values that can reasonably be attributed
to a quantity.
Note 1: Measurement does not apply to nominal properties.
Note 2: Measurement implies comparison of quantities or counting of entities.
Note 3: Measurement presupposes a description of the quantity commensurate with the intended
use of a measurement result, a measurement procedure, and a calibrated measuring system
operating according to the specified measurement procedure, including the measurement con-
ditions.
The history of the SI is shaped by the physical sciences. This may explain that the con-
cept of measurement used in the VIM is limited to quantities that can be represented
by numerical values arranged in an ordinal sequence. Nominal properties are explicitly
excluded (Note 1). This also excludes notions of measurement as used in sciences other
than the physical sciences. Prominent examples of measurements with nominal charac-
ter are the identification of chemical species or agents, the identification of DNA bases,
stellar spectral types, and many others [31].
An extension of the concept of measurement will be necessary in future develop-
ments if the SI is to truly live up to its claim to be the universal language for all sciences.
This chapter provides an overview of the roots, development, and current status of
the SI; it is limited to the measurement concept used in the VIM.

International system of units: Concept and current design � 3
2 Quantities and units
Measurement means assigning numbers to aspects of an object that we want to describe.
Aspects such as the length of a table can be made quantifiable by dividing it into quanta
that can be counted. So, if we want to determine the length of a table, we take a short rod
as a reference measure and count how many of these rods are necessary to encompass
the whole length of the table. So, to assign a number to an aspect of our object, the phys-
ical quantity, we need a reference (the short rod), which we call a unit. For example,
comparing the table with the rod used as a measuring rod gives the number 3.5. We can
share this result with a colleague. If this person has an exact copy of our reference rod
or has a recipe with which such a rod can be made, he or she can make length measure-
ments themselves that are comparable with ours. By converting the observations of our
environment (the length of a table) into numerical form, we map part of the real world
into an abstract model to which we can apply mathematical tools. The characteristic of
the object to be described is called the “dimension”: the length, the mass, the time, and
so on. So, an object is described by a set of numbers; some of them are dimensional,
others are pure numbers. Each dimensional physical quantity Q can be represented as
Q = {Q} [Q]. (1)
Here, {Q} is a pure number and [Q] denotes the unit used. This representation can be
traced back to J. C. Maxwell [14]. The formal method for describing the mathematical
relations between abstract physical quantities is called “quantity calculus.” The most
important elements in the history of quantity calculus are presented in an article by
J. de Boer in 1995 [6].
Physics maps the real world into abstract models. The physical quantities play the
essential role. They are linked by mathematical equations that express the mutual rela-
tionships and the physical laws. In mathematical equations, the objects that are related
must have the same dimension. This means that quantities with different dimensions
can be multiplied but not added. To ensure the balance of dimensions in an equation,
dimensional proportional factors (constants) are introduced. It would be impractical to
include such constants in every equation. Therefore, in a system of units, only a few
selected quantities have an independent dimension. Here, the system of units means
the set of units and the rules that are needed to make all quantities measurable. Let us
take the volume of a body as an example. It can be expressed as the product of three
lengths l, measured in the unit meter (m). The volume is in general form V = kl3
. We
can now choose k = 1. This makes the unit of volume m3
and the dimension L3
. We
do not need a new independent unit to characterize the volume. This brings us to the
important features of a system of units. It is characterized by a set of conventionally
defined dimensions and the base units associated with them. The sizes of the base units
are arbitrarily and independently fixed. In addition, there is an arbitrary number of
derived units whose size and dimension depend on the conventionally-fixed base units.

4 � B. Jeckelmann
This dependence is determined by a mathematical equation. This equation also contains
a constant to which one can assign any value and any dimensions. A system of units is
called coherent if the derived units for a given system of magnitudes and a chosen set of
base units are products of powers of base units, with the proportionality factors taking
the value 1.
3 Historical background to the International System
of Units
3.1 From ancient measures to metric units
Fair trade in goods has always required units of measurement for length, weight, and
volume set by the state or local authorities. Measures from ancient times in the form
of artefacts have been preserved until today. The oldest known yardstick dates back to
the 3rd millennium BC, was found in Nippur, Mesopotamia, and is called the Nippur cu-
bit [8]. It is an impressive object, made of copper and with a weight of 45.5 kg. The mark-
ings on the scale represent the units cubit, foot, and finger. The cubit is equal to 51.8 cm.
All premetric units of length can be derived from the Nippur cubit. In Egypt, around
the same time, the royal cubit was introduced, a primary scale made of granite. Wooden
copies of it served as working standards; they were periodically compared with the royal
cubit. Even then, the principle of traceability applied, which is still the basic prerequi-
site for comparable measurements today. In the Middle Ages, too, measurements were
used that could be derived from body masses. In the eighteenth century, however, there
was still a great deal of chaos with regard to units of measurement. Every region had its
own units. A measurement was inseparably linked to the measured object; it referred to
a certain locally existing standard. To make matters worse, the technique of measuring
also depended on local customs. This made trade more difficult and encouraged abuse
and fraud. In his book, “The Measure of the World” [1], Ken Alder vividly describes the
variety of designations in use and the incredible number of weight and measurement
units in France during the Ancien Régime.
The impetus for improving this situation came from France. At the time of the
French Revolution, the idea matured to trace the unit of length back to a quantity given
by nature. Two proposals were discussed in the Académie des Sciences. One idea was
to derive the unit of length from the length of the seconds pendulum. In this pendu-
lum, the half oscillation T1/2 lasts one second. According to the model equation for the
mathematical pendulum, the length is linked to the oscillation period by
L = g (
T1/2
π
)
2
. (2)
Unfortunately, the length also depends on g, the locally acting acceleration due to grav-
ity. This varies depending on the position of the observer. With an average value of

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DARK tresses made rich with all treasures,
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Who is centre and soul of the scene:
Grey eyes that glance keen as the eagle
When he swoops to his prey from on high;
Bold arms by the red gold made regal—
White breast never vexed with a sigh:
And haughty her mien as of any
Her sires whom the foemen knew well,
As they rode through the grey mist at Cannæ,
Ere consul with consular fell.
Unabashed in her beauty of figure—
Heavy limbs, and thick tresses uncurled
To our gaze, give the grace and the rigor
Of the race that has conquered the world.
And fierce with the blood of the heroes—
In their sins and their virtues sublime—
Sits the Queen of the world that is Nero's,
And as keen for a kiss as a crime!
But the game that amuses her leisure
Loses zest as the weaker gives way;
And the victor looks up for her pleasure—
Shall he spare with sword-point or slay?

Shall he spare with sword-point or slay?
Half-grieving she gathers her tresses,
Now the hour for the games has gone by,
And those soft arms, so sweet for caresses,
Point prone, as she signs, "Let him die!"

GEORGE MURRAY
THE THISTLE
A Legendary Ballad

'TWAS midnight! Darkness, like the gloom of some funereal pall,
Hung o'er the battlements of Slaines,—a fortress grim and tall.
The moon and stars were veiled in clouds, and from the Castle's
height
No gleam of torch or taper pierced the shadows of the night;
Only the rippling of the Dee blent faintly with the sound
Of weary sentry-feet that paced their slow, unvarying round.
The Earl was sleeping like a child that hath no cause for fear;
The Warder hummed a careless song his lonely watch to cheer;
Knight, squire, and page, on rush-strewn floors, were stretched in
sound repose,
While spear and falchions, dim with dust, hung round in idle rows;
And none of all those vassals bold, who calmly dreaming lay,
Dreamed that a foe was lurking near, impatient for the fray.
But in that hour,—when Nature's self serenely seemed to sleep,—
In the dim valley of the Dee, a bow-shot from the keep,
A ghost-like multitude defiled in silence from the wood
That with its stately pines concealed the Fort for many a rood,—
The banner of that spectral host is soiled with murderous stains—
They are the "Tigers of the Sea," the cruel-hearted Danes!
Far o'er the billows they have swept to Caledonia's strand;
They carve the record of their deeds with battle-axe and brand;
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strewn,
For Pity is an angel-guest their hearts have never known.
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They reck not of the fiery blood that leaps in Scottish veins!
Onward they creep with noiseless tread—their treacherous feet are
bare,
h h h l f h l h l b h ld

Lest the harsh clang of iron heels their slumbering prey should
scare.
"Yon moat," they vow, "shall soon be crossed, yon rampart soon be
scaled,
And all who hunger for the spoil with spoil shall be regaled.
Press on, press on, and high in air the Raven Standard wave;
Those drowsy Scots this night shall end their sleep within the grave!"
Silent as shadows, on they glide; the gloomy fosse is nigh—
"Glory to Odin, Victory's Lord! its shelving depths are dry.
Speed, warriors, speed!"—but, hark! a shriek of agonizing pain
Bursts from a hundred Danish throats—again it rings, again!
Rank weeds had overgrown the moat, now drained by summer's
heat,
And bristling crops of thistles pierced the raiders' naked feet!
That cry, like wail of pibroch, stirred the sentry's kindling soul,
And, shouting "Arms! to arms!" he sped the Castle bell to toll.
But ere its echoes died away upon the ear of night,
Each clansman started from his couch and armed him for the fight;
The drawbridge falls,—and, side by side, the banded heroes fly
To grapple with the pirate-horde and conquer them or die!
As eagles, on avenging wings, from proud Ben Lomond's crest
Swoop fiercely down and dash to earth the spoilers of their nest;
As lions bound upon their prey, or as the burning tide
Sweeps onward with resistless might from some volcano's side—
So rushed that gallant band of Scots, the garrison of Slaines,
Upon the Tigers of the Sea, the carnage-loving Danes.
The lurid glare of torches served to light them to their foes:
They hewed those felons, hip and thigh, with stern, relentless blows;
Claymore and battle-axe and spear were steeped in slaughter's
flood,

While every thistle in the moat was splashed with crimson blood;
And when the light of morning broke, the legions of the Danes
Lay stiff and stark, in ghastly heaps, around the Fort of Slaines!
Nine hundred years have been engulfed within the grave of Time
Since those grim Vikings of the North by death atoned their crime.
In memory of that awful night, the thistle's hardy grace
Was chosen as the emblem meet of Albin's dauntless race;
And never since, in battle's storm, on land or on the sea,
Hath Scotland's honor tarnished been—God grant it ne'er may be!

M. H. NICKERSON
A RECOLLECTION

O'ER the white waste of drifted sands unstable
We climbed the sedgy dune,
Where, like a sleeping giant, old Cape Sable
Basked at the feet of June.
Beneath the summer noon the shore birds twittered
Around in glancing flocks,
And, like a fair display of jewels, glittered
The foam-bells on the rocks.
Deep peace was in the air and on the billows,
That in smooth slumber lay,
Or gently tossed upon their sandy pillows
As infants wake to play.
The breeze moved landward, scarcely felt in blowing,
But such the fisher hails
With joy when, after weary hours of rowing,
It swells his spritted sails.
The brave flotilla then, like snowy sprinkles,
Far outward we could trace;
The sight was fair and seemed to have smoothed the wrinkles
From out old Ocean's face.
No envious shadow on the flood descended;
Unflecked, the sky's broad sweep
In silent grandeur with the horizon blended,
Deep calling unto deep.
And every shadow, from my life retreating,
Left free the placid mind;
The finite with the infinite was meeting
Undimmed and unconfined

Undimmed and unconfined.
How many times my eager gaze had rested
Upon that sea and shore;
But never, never had they been invested
With such a charm before.
They wear it still in calm ideal perfection,
Though years since then have flown;
That summer day's unclouded recollection
Shall ever be my own.

CORNELIUS O'BRIEN
ST CECILIA
ASHELL lies silent on a lonely shore;
High rocks and barren stand with frowning brow;
Hither no freighted ships e'er turn their prow
Their treasures on the fated sand to pour;
Afar the white-robed sea-gull loves to soar;
But, pure as victim for a nation's vow,
A lovely maiden strikes the shell, and now
Its music charms, and sadness reigns no more.
Thus, Christian poesy, thus on pagan coasts
For ages mute had lain thy sacred lyre,
Untouched since from the prophet's hand it fell,
Till fair Cecilia, taught by angel hosts,
Attuned its music to the heavenly choir,
And gave a Christian voice to Clio's shell.

IKNOW not what my heart has lost,
I cannot strike the chords of old;
The breath that charmed my morning life
Hath chilled each leaf within the wold.
The swallows twitter in the sky,
But bare the nest beneath the eaves;
The fledglings of my care are gone,
And left me but the rustling leaves.
And yet, I know my life hath strength,
And firmer hope and sweeter prayer,
For leaves that murmur on the ground
Have now for me a double care.
I see in them the hope of spring,
That erst did plan the autumn day;
I see in them each gift of man
Grow strong in years, then turn to clay.
Not all is lost—the fruit remains
That ripened through the summer's ray;
The nurslings of the nest are gone,
Yet hear we still their warbling lay.
The glory of the summer sky
May change to tints of autumn hue;
But faith that sheds its amber light
Will lend our heaven a tender blue.
O altar of eternal youth!
O faith that beckons from afar!
Give to our lives a blossomed fruit—
Give to our morns an evening star!

Give to our morns an evening star!

THE SONG MY MOTHER SINGS
OSWEET unto my heart is the song my mother sings
As eventide is brooding on its dark and noiseless wings!
Every note is charged with memory—every memory bright with rays
Of the golden hours of promise in the lap of childhood's days.
The orchard blooms anew, and each blossom scents the way,
And I feel again the breath of eve among the new-mown hay;
While through the halls of memory in happy notes there rings
All the life-joy of the past in the song my mother sings.
I have listened to the dreamy notes of Chopin and of Liszt,
As they dripped and drooped about my heart and filled my eyes with
mist;
I have wept strong tears of pathos 'neath the spell of Verdi's power,
As I heard the tenor voice of grief from out the donjon tower;
And Gounod's oratorios are full of notes sublime
That stir the heart with rapture thro' the sacred pulse of time;
But all the music of the past, and the wealth that memory brings,
Seem as nothing when I listen to the song my mother sings.
It's a song of love and triumph, it's a song of toil and care,
It is filled with chords of pathos, and it's set in notes of prayer;
It is bright with dreams and visions of the days that are to be,
And as strong in faith's devotion as the heart-beat of the sea;
It is linked in mystic measure to sweet voices from above,
And is starred with ripest blessing thro' a mother's sacred love.
O sweet and strong and tender are the memories that it brings,
As I list in joy and rapture to the song my mother sings!

GILBERT PARKER
I LOVED MY ART
ILOVED my Art. I loved it when the tide
Was sweeping back my hopes upon the sand;
When I had missed the hollow of God's hand
Held over me, and there was none to guide.
I set my face towards it, raising high
My arm in token that I would be true
To all great motives, though I sorely knew
That there was one star wanting in my sky.
Touching the chords of many harmonies,
I needed one to make them all complete.
I heard it sound like thunder-gathered seas,
What time my soul knelt at my lady's feet.
And there transfigured in her light I grew
In stature to the work that poets do.

IT IS ENOUGH
IT is enough that in this burdened time
The soul sees all its purposes aright.
The rest—what does it matter? Soon the night
Will come to whelm us, then the morning chime.
What does it matter, if but in the way
One hand clasps ours, one heart believes us true;
One understands the work we try to do,
And strives through Love to teach us what to say?
Between me and the chilly outer air
Which blows in from the world, there standeth one
Who draws Love's curtains closely everywhere,
As God folds down the banners of the sun.
Warm is my place about me, and above,
Where was the raven, I behold the dove.

THEIR WAVING HANDS
SINCE I rose out of child-oblivion
I have walked in a world of many dreams,
And noble souls beside the shining streams
Of fancy have with beckonings led me on.
Their faces oft, mayhap, I could not see,
Only their waving hands and noble forms.
Sometimes there sprang between quick-gathered storms,
But always they came back again to me.
Women with smiling eyes and star-spun hair
Spake gentle things, bade me look back to view
The deeds of the great souls who climbed the stair
Immortal, and for whom God's manna grew:
Dante, Anacreon, Euripides,
And all who set rich wine upon the lees.

AMY PARKINSON
THE MESSENGER HOURS

I
I THOUGHT as I watched in the dawning dim
The hours of the coming day,
That each shadow form was surely robed
In the selfsame hue of gray;
And that sad was each half-averted face,
Unlit by a cheering ray.
But as one by one they drew near to me,
And I saw them true and clear,
I found that the hours were all messengers,
Sent forth by a Friend most dear,
To bring me whatever I needed most—
Of chastening or of cheer.
And though some of them, truly, were grave and sad,
And moved with reluctant feet,
There were others came gladly, with smiling eyes,
And footsteps by joy made fleet;
But whatever with gladness or sorrow fraught,
The message each bore was sweet.
For even the saddest, and weighted most
With trial and pain for me,
Yet breathed in my ear, ere it passed from sight,
"This cross I have brought to thee
Comes straight from the Friend Who, of all thy friends,
Doth love thee most tenderly;
"He would rather have sent thee a joyous hour,
And fraught with some happy thing,
But He saw that naught else could so meet thy need
A thi t d ift I b i

As this strange, sad gift I bring;
And He loved thee too well to withhold the gift,
Though it causes thee suffering."
II
So, now, as I watch in the dawning dim
The hours of each coming day,
I remember that golden threads of love
Run all through their garments gray;
And I know that each face as it turns to me
Will be lit with a friendly ray.
And whether they most be sombre or glad,
No hour of all the band
But will bring me a greeting from Him I love,
And reach out a helping hand
To hasten my steps, as I traverse the road
That leads to the better land.
For the Lord of that land is the Friend I love,
And I know He keeps for me
A home of delight in His kingdom fair,
That I greatly long to see;
And the hours that shall speed me on my way
I must welcome gratefully.
III
And soon I shall trace through the dawning dim,
'Mid the hours of some coming day,
A figure unlike to its sister forms,
With garments more gold than gray;
And the face of that one, when it meets my gaze,
Will send forth a wondrous ray.

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