diff options
Diffstat (limited to '10945-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 10945-0.txt | 5991 |
1 files changed, 5991 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/10945-0.txt b/10945-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c09c09a --- /dev/null +++ b/10945-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5991 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10945 *** + +[Illustration] + +LAYS OF THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS + +BY + +W.E. AYTOUN. + + + + +TO + +THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + +ARCHIBALD WILLIAM HAMILTON-MONTGOMERIE, + +Earl of Eglinton and Winton, + +THE PATRIOTIC AND NOBLE REPRESENTATIVE OF + +AN ANCIENT SCOTTISH RACE, + +THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED + +BY + +_THE AUTHOR._ + + +_This Volume is a verbatim reprint of the first edition_ (1849). + + +CONTENTS + + LAYS OF THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS + EDINBURGH AFTER FLODDEN + THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE + THE HEART OF THE BRUCE + THE BURIAL MARCH OF DUNDEE + THE WIDOW OF GLENCOE + THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS + CHARLES EDWARD AT VERSAILLES + THE OLD SCOTTISH CAVALIER + + + MISCELLANEOUS POEMS + BLIND OLD MILTON + HERMOTIMUS + OENONE + THE BURIED FLOWER + THE OLD CAMP + DANUBE AND THE EUXINE + THE SCHEIK OF SINAI + EPITAPH OF CONSTANTINE KANARIS + THE REFUSAL OF CHARON + + + + +LAYS OF THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS + + + + +EDINBURGH AFTER FLODDEN + + +The great battle of Flodden was fought upon the 9th of September, 1513. +The defeat of the Scottish army, mainly owing to the fantastic ideas of +chivalry entertained by James IV., and his refusal to avail himself of +the natural advantages of his position, was by far the most disastrous +of any recounted in the history of the northern wars. The whole strength +of the kingdom, both Lowland and Highland, was assembled, and the +contest was one of the sternest and most desperate upon record. + +For several hours the issue seemed doubtful. On the left the Scots +obtained a decided advantage; on the right wing they were broken and +overthrown; and at last the whole weight of the battle was brought into +the centre, where King James and the Earl of Surrey commanded in person. +The determined valour of James, imprudent as it was, had the effect of +rousing to a pitch of desperation the courage of the meanest soldiers; +and the ground becoming soft and slippery from blood, they pulled off +their boots and shoes, and secured a firmer footing by fighting in their +hose. + +"It is owned," says Abercromby, "that both parties did wonders, but none +on either side performed more than the King himself. He was again told +that by coming to handy blows he could do no more than another man, +whereas, by keeping the post due to his station, he might be worth many +thousands. Yet he would not only fight in person, but also on foot; for +he no sooner saw that body of the English give way which was defeated by +the Earl of Huntley, but he alighted from his horse, and commanded his +guard of noblemen and gentlemen to do the like and follow him. He had at +first abundance of success; but at length the Lord Thomas Howard and Sir +Edward Stanley, who had defeated their opposites, coming in with the +Lord Dacre's horse, and surrounding the King's battalion on all sides, +the Scots were so distressed that, for their last defence, they cast +themselves into a ring; and being resolved to die nobly with their +sovereign, who scorned to ask quarter, were altogether cut off. So say +the English writers, and I am apt to believe that they are in the +right." + +The battle was maintained with desperate fury until nightfall. At the +close, according to Mr. Tytler, "Surrey was uncertain of the result of +the battle: the remains of the enemy's centre still held the field; +Home, with his Borderers, still hovered on the left; and the commander +wisely allowed neither pursuit nor plunder, but drew off his men, and +kept a strict watch during the night. When the morning broke, the +Scottish artillery were seen standing deserted on the side of the hill; +their defenders had disappeared; and the Earl ordered thanks to be given +for a victory which was no longer doubtful. Yet, even after all this, a +body of the Scots appeared unbroken upon a hill, and were about to +charge the Lord-Admiral, when they were compelled to leave their +position by a discharge of the English ordnance. + +"The loss of the Scots in this fatal battle amounted to about ten +thousand men. Of these, a great proportion were of high rank; the +remainder being composed of the gentry, the farmers, and landed +yeomanry, who disdained to fly when their sovereign and his nobles lay +stretched in heaps around them." Besides King James, there fell at +Flodden the Archbishop of St. Andrew's, thirteen earls, two bishops, two +abbots, fifteen lords and chiefs of clans, and five peers' eldest sons, +besides La Motte the French ambassador, and the secretary of the King. +The same historian adds--"The names of the gentry who fell are too +numerous for recapitulation, since there were few families of note in +Scotland which did not lose one relative or another, whilst some houses +had to weep the death of all. It is from this cause that the sensations +of sorrow and national lamentation occasioned by the defeat were +peculiarly poignant and lasting--so that to this day few Scotsmen can +hear the name of Flodden without a shudder of gloomy regret." + +The loss to Edinburgh on this occasion was peculiarly great. All the +magistrates and able-bodied citizens had followed their King to Flodden, +whence very few of them returned. The office of Provost or chief +magistrate of the capital was at that time an object of ambition, and +was conferred only upon persons of high rank and station. There seems to +be some uncertainty whether the holder of this dignity at the time of +the battle of Flodden was Sir Alexander Lauder, ancestor of the +Fountainhall family, who was elected in 1511, or that great historical +personage, Archibald Earl of Angus, better known as Archibald +Bell-the-Cat, who was chosen in 1513, the year of the battle. Both of +them were at Flodden. The name of Sir Alexander Lauder appears upon the +list of the slain; Angus was one of the survivors, but his son, George, +Master of Angus, fell fighting gallantly by the side of King James. The +city records of Edinburgh, which commence about this period, are not +clear upon the point, and I am rather inclined to think that the Earl of +Angus was elected to supply the place of Lauder. But although the actual +magistrates were absent, they had formally nominated deputies in their +stead. I find, on referring to the city records, that "George of Tours" +had been appointed to officiate in the absence of the Provost, and that +four other persons were selected to discharge the office of bailies +until the magistrates should return. + +It is impossible to describe the consternation which pervaded the whole +of Scotland when the intelligence of the defeat became known. In +Edinburgh it was excessive. Mr. Arnot, in the history of that city, +says,-- + +"The news of their overthrow in the field of Flodden reached Edinburgh +on the day after the battle, and overwhelmed the inhabitants with grief +and confusion. The streets were crowded with women seeking intelligence +about their friends, clamouring and weeping. Those who officiated in +absence of the magistrates proved themselves worthy of the trust. They +issued a proclamation, ordering all the inhabitants to assemble in +military array for defence of the city, on the tolling of the bell; and +commanding, 'that all women, and especially strangers, do repair to +their work, and not be seen upon the street _clamorand and cryand_; and +that women of the better sort do repair to the church and offer up +prayers, at the stated hours, for our Sovereign Lord and his army, and +the townsmen who are with the army.'" + +Indeed the council records bear ample evidence of the emergency of that +occasion. Throughout the earlier pages, the word "Flowdoun" frequently +occurs on the margin, in reference to various hurried orders for arming +and defence; and there can be no doubt that, had the English forces +attempted to follow up their victory, and attack the Scottish capital, +the citizens would have resisted to the last. But it soon became +apparent that the loss sustained by the English was so severe, that +Surrey was in no condition to avail himself of the opportunity; and in +fact, shortly afterwards, he was compelled to disband his army. + +The references to the city banner, contained in the following poem, may +require a word of explanation. It is a standard still held in great +honour and reverence by the burghers of Edinburgh, having been presented +to them by James the Third, in return for their loyal service in 1482. +This banner, along with that of the Earl Marischal, still conspicuous in +the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, was honourably brought back +from Flodden, and certainly never could have been displayed in a more +memorable field. Maitland says, with reference to this very interesting +relic of antiquity,-- + +"As a perpetual remembrance of the loyalty and bravery of the +Edinburghers on the aforesaid occasion, the King granted them a banner +or standard, with a power to display the same in defence of their king, +country, and their own rights. This flag is kept by the Convener of the +Trades; at whose appearance therewith, it is said that not only the +artificers of Edinburgh are obliged to repair to it, but all the +artisans or craftsmen within Scotland are bound to follow it, and fight +under the Convener of Edinburgh as aforesaid." + +No event in Scottish history ever took a more lasting hold of the public +mind than the "woeful fight" of Flodden; and, even now, the songs and +traditions which are current on the Border recall the memory of a +contest unsullied by disgrace, though terminating in disaster and +defeat. + + + + +EDINBURGH AFTER FLODDEN + + I. + + News of battle!--news of battle! + Hark! 'tis ringing down the street: + And the archways and the pavement + Bear the clang of hurrying feet. + News of battle? Who hath brought it? + News of triumph? Who should bring + Tidings from our noble army, + Greetings from our gallant King? + All last night we watched the beacons + Blazing on the hills afar, + Each one bearing, as it kindled, + Message of the opened war. + All night long the northern streamers + Shot across the trembling sky: + Fearful lights, that never beckon + Save when kings or heroes die. + + + II. + + News of battle! Who hath brought it? + All are thronging to the gate; + "Warder--warder! open quickly! + Man--is this a time to wait?" + And the heavy gates are opened: + Then a murmur long and loud, + And a cry of fear and wonder + Bursts from out the bending crowd. + For they see in battered harness + Only one hard-stricken man, + And his weary steed is wounded, + And his cheek is pale and wan. + Spearless hangs a bloody banner + In his weak and drooping hand-- + God! can that be Randolph Murray, + Captain of the city band? + + + III. + + Round him crush the people, crying, + "Tell us all--oh, tell us true! + Where are they who went to battle, + Randolph Murray, sworn to you? + Where are they, our brothers--children? + Have they met the English foe? + Why art thou alone, unfollowed? + Is it weal, or is it woe?" + Like a corpse the grisly warrior + Looks from out his helm of steel; + But no word he speaks in answer, + Only with his armèd heel + Chides his weary steed, and onward + Up the city streets they ride; + Fathers, sisters, mothers, children, + Shrieking, praying by his side. + "By the God that made thee, Randolph! + Tell us what mischance hath come!" + Then he lifts his riven banner, + And the asker's voice is dumb. + + + IV. + + The elders of the city + Have met within their hall-- + The men whom good King James had charged + To watch the tower and wall. + "Your hands are weak with age," he said, + "Your hearts are stout and true; + So bide ye in the Maiden Town, + While others fight for you. + My trumpet from the Border-side + Shall send a blast so clear, + That all who wait within the gate + That stirring sound may hear. + Or, if it be the will of heaven + That back I never come, + And if, instead of Scottish shouts, + Ye hear the English drum,-- + Then let the warning bells ring out, + Then gird you to the fray, + Then man the walls like burghers stout, + And fight while fight you may. + 'T were better that in fiery flame + The roofs should thunder down, + Than that the foot of foreign foe + Should trample in the town!" + + + V. + + Then in came Randolph Murray,-- + His step was slow and weak, + And, as he doffed his dinted helm, + The tears ran down his cheek: + They fell upon his corslet, + And on his mailèd hand, + As he gazed around him wistfully, + Leaning sorely on his brand. + And none who then beheld him + But straight were smote with fear, + For a bolder and a sterner man + Had never couched a spear. + They knew so sad a messenger + Some ghastly news must bring: + And all of them were fathers, + And their sons were with the King. + + + VI. + + And up then rose the Provost-- + A brave old man was he, + Of ancient name and knightly fame, + And chivalrous degree. + He ruled our city like a Lord + Who brooked no equal here, + And ever for the townsmen's rights + Stood up 'gainst prince and peer. + And he had seen the Scottish host + March from the Borough-muir, + With music-storm and clamorous shout + And all the din that thunders out, + When youth's of victory sure. + But yet a dearer thought had he, + For, with a father's pride, + He saw his last remaining son + Go forth by Randolph's side, + With casque on head and spur on heel, + All keen to do and dare; + And proudly did that gallant boy + Dunedin's banner bear. + Oh, woeful now was the old man's look, + And he spake right heavily-- + "Now, Randolph, tell thy tidings, + However sharp they be! + Woe is written on thy visage, + Death is looking from thy face: + Speak, though it be of overthrow-- + It cannot be disgrace!" + + + VII. + + Right bitter was the agony + That wrung the soldier proud: + Thrice did he strive to answer, + And thrice he groaned aloud. + Then he gave the riven banner + To the old man's shaking hand, + Saying--"That is all I bring ye + From the bravest of the land! + Ay! ye may look upon it-- + It was guarded well and long, + By your brothers and your children, + By the valiant and the strong. + One by one they fell around it, + As the archers laid them low, + Grimly dying, still unconquered, + With their faces to the foe. + Ay! ye well may look upon it-- + There is more than honour there, + Else, be sure, I had not brought it + From the field of dark despair. + Never yet was royal banner + Steeped in such a costly dye; + It hath lain upon a bosom + Where no other shroud shall lie. + Sirs! I charge you keep it holy, + Keep it as a sacred thing, + For the stain you see upon it + Was the life-blood of your King!" + + + VIII. + + Woe, woe, and lamentation! + What a piteous cry was there! + Widows, maidens, mothers, children, + Shrieking, sobbing in despair! + Through the streets the death-word rushes, + Spreading terror, sweeping on-- + "Jesu Christ! our King has fallen-- + O great God, King James is gone! + Holy Mother Mary, shield us, + Thou who erst did lose thy Son! + O the blackest day for Scotland + That she ever knew before! + O our King--the good, the noble, + Shall we see him never more? + Woe to us and woe to Scotland, + O our sons, our sons and men! + Surely some have 'scaped the Southron, + Surely some will come again!" + Till the oak that fell last winter + Shall uprear its shattered stem-- + Wives and mothers of Dunedin-- + Ye may look in vain for them! + + + IX. + + But within the Council Chamber + All was silent as the grave, + Whilst the tempest of their sorrow + Shook the bosoms of the brave. + Well indeed might they be shaken + With the weight of such a blow: + He was gone--their prince, their idol, + Whom they loved and worshipped so! + Like a knell of death and judgment + Rung from heaven by angel hand, + Fell the words of desolation + On the elders of the land. + Hoary heads were bowed and trembling, + Withered hands were clasped and wrung: + God had left the old and feeble, + He had ta'en away the young. + + + X. + + Then the Provost he uprose, + And his lip was ashen white, + But a flush was on his brow, + And his eye was full of light. + "Thou hast spoken, Randolph Murray, + Like a soldier stout and true; + Thou hast done a deed of daring + Had been perilled but by few. + For thou hast not shamed to face us, + Nor to speak thy ghastly tale, + Standing--thou, a knight and captain-- + Here, alive within thy mail! + Now, as my God shall judge me, + I hold it braver done, + Than hadst thou tarried in thy place, + And died above my son! + Thou needst not tell it: he is dead. + God help us all this day! + But speak--how fought the citizens + Within the furious fray? + For, by the might of Mary, + 'T were something still to tell + That no Scottish foot went backward + When the Royal Lion fell!" + + + XI. + + "No one failed him! He is keeping + Royal state and semblance still; + Knight and noble lie around him, + Cold on Flodden's fatal hill. + Of the brave and gallant-hearted, + Whom ye sent with prayers away, + Not a single man departed + From his monarch yesterday. + Had you seen them, O my masters! + When the night began to fall, + And the English spearmen gathered + Round a grim and ghastly wall! + As the wolves in winter circle + Round the leaguer on the heath, + So the greedy foe glared upward, + Panting still for blood and death. + But a rampart rose before them, + Which the boldest dared not scale; + Every stone a Scottish body, + Every step a corpse in mail! + And behind it lay our monarch + Clenching still his shivered sword: + By his side Montrose and Athole, + At his feet a southern lord. + All so thick they lay together, + When the stars lit up the sky, + That I knew not who were stricken, + Or who yet remained to die, + Few there were when Surrey halted, + And his wearied host withdrew; + None but dying men around me, + When the English trumpet blew. + Then I stooped, and took the banner, + As ye see it, from his breast, + And I closed our hero's eyelids, + And I left him to his rest. + In the mountains growled the thunder, + As I leaped the woeful wall, + And the heavy clouds were settling + Over Flodden, like a pall." + + + XII. + + So he ended. And the others + Cared not any answer then; + Sitting silent, dumb with sorrow, + Sitting anguish-struck, like men + Who have seen the roaring torrent + Sweep their happy homes away, + And yet linger by the margin, + Staring idly on the spray. + But, without, the maddening tumult + Waxes ever more and more, + And the crowd of wailing women + Gather round the Council door. + Every dusky spire is ringing + With a dull and hollow knell, + And the Miserere's singing + To the tolling of the bell. + Through the streets the burghers hurry, + Spreading terror as they go; + And the rampart's thronged with watchers + For the coming of the foe. + From each mountain-top a pillar + Streams into the torpid air, + Bearing token from the Border + That the English host is there. + All without is flight and terror, + All within is woe and fear-- + God protect thee, Maiden City, + For thy latest hour is near! + + + XIII. + + No! not yet, thou high Dunedin! + Shalt thou totter to thy fall; + Though thy bravest and thy strongest + Are not there to man the wall. + No, not yet! the ancient spirit + Of our fathers hath not gone; + Take it to thee as a buckler + Better far than steel or stone. + Oh, remember those who perished + For thy birthright at the time + When to be a Scot was treason, + And to side with Wallace, crime! + Have they not a voice among us, + Whilst their hallowed dust is here? + Hear ye not a summons sounding + From each buried warrior's bier? + "Up!"--they say--"and keep the freedom + Which we won you long ago: + Up! and keep our graves unsullied + From the insults of the foe! + Up! and if ye cannot save them, + Come to us in blood and fire: + Midst the crash of falling turrets, + Let the last of Scots expire!" + + + XIV. + + Still the bells are tolling fiercely, + And the cry comes louder in; + Mothers wailing for their children, + Sisters for their slaughtered kin. + All is terror and disorder, + Till the Provost rises up, + Calm, as though he had not tasted + Of the fell and bitter cup. + All so stately from his sorrow, + Rose the old undaunted Chief, + That you had not deemed, to see him, + His was more than common grief. + "Rouse ye, Sirs!" he said; "we may not + Longer mourn for what is done: + If our King be taken from us, + We are left to guard his son. + We have sworn to keep the city + From the foe, whate'er they be, + And the oath that we have taken + Never shall be broke by me. + Death is nearer to us, brethren, + Than it seemed to those who died, + Fighting yesterday at Flodden, + By their lord and master's side. + Let us meet it then in patience, + Not in terror or in fear; + Though our hearts are bleeding yonder, + Let our souls be steadfast here. + Up, and rouse ye! Time is fleeting, + And we yet have much to do; + Up! and haste ye through the city, + Stir the burghers stout and true! + Gather all our scattered people, + Fling the banner out once more,-- + Randolph Murray! do thou bear it, + As it erst was borne before: + Never Scottish heart will leave it, + When they see their monarch's gore!" + + + XV. + + "Let them cease that dismal knelling! + It is time enough to ring, + When the fortress-strength of Scotland + Stoops to ruin like its King. + Let the bells be kept for warning, + Not for terror or alarm; + When they next are heard to thunder, + Let each man and stripling arm. + Bid the women leave their wailing,-- + Do they think that woeful strain, + From the bloody heaps of Flodden + Can redeem their dearest slain? + Bid them cease,--or rather hasten + To the churches, every one; + There to pray to Mary Mother, + And to her anointed Son, + That the thunderbolt above us + May not fall in ruin yet; + That in fire, and blood, and rapine, + Scotland's glory may not set. + Let them pray,--for never women + Stood in need of such a prayer! + England's yeomen shall not find them + Clinging to the altars there. + No! if we are doomed to perish, + Man and maiden, let us fall; + And a common gulf of ruin + Open wide to whelm us all! + Never shall the ruthless spoiler + Lay his hot insulting hand + On the sisters of our heroes, + Whilst we bear a torch or brand! + Up! and rouse ye, then, my brothers, + But when next ye hear the bell + Sounding forth the sullen summons + That may be our funeral knell, + Once more let us meet together, + Once more see each other's face; + Then, like men that need not tremble, + Go to our appointed place. + God, our Father, will not fail us + In that last tremendous hour,-- + If all other bulwarks crumble, + HE will be our strength and tower: + Though the ramparts rock beneath us, + And the walls go crashing down, + Though the roar of conflagration + Bellow o'er the sinking town; + There is yet one place of shelter, + Where the foeman cannot come, + Where the summons never sounded + Of the trumpet or the drum. + There again we'll meet our children, + Who, on Flodden's trampled sod, + For their king and for their country + Rendered up their souls to God. + There shall we find rest and refuge, + With our dear departed brave; + And the ashes of the city + Be our universal grave!" + + + + +THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE + + +The most poetical chronicler would find it impossible to render the +incidents of Montrose's brilliant career more picturesque than the +reality. Among the devoted champions who, during the wildest and most +stormy period of our history, maintained the cause of Church and King, +"the Great Marquis" undoubtedly is entitled to the foremost place. Even +party malevolence, by no means extinct at the present day, has been +unable to detract from the eulogy pronounced upon him by the famous +Cardinal de Retz, the friend of Condé and Turenne, when he thus summed +up his character:--"Montrose, a Scottish nobleman, head of the house of +Grahame--the only man in the world that has ever realised to me the +ideas of certain heroes, whom we now discover nowhere but in the lives +of Plutarch--has sustained in his own country the cause of the King his +master, with a greatness of soul that has not found its equal in our +age." + +But the success of the victorious leader and patriot is almost thrown +into the shade by the noble magnanimity and Christian heroism of the man +in the hour of defeat and death. Without wishing, in any degree, to +revive a controversy long maintained by writers of opposite political +and polemical opinions, it may fairly be stated that Scottish history +does not present us with a tragedy of parallel interest. That the +execution of Montrose was the natural, nay, the inevitable, consequence +of his capture, may be freely admitted even by the fiercest partisan of +the cause for which he staked his life. In those times, neither party +was disposed to lenity; and Montrose was far too conspicuous a +character, and too dangerous a man, to be forgiven. But the ignominious +and savage treatment which he received at the hands of those whose +station and descent should at least have taught them to respect +misfortune, has left an indelible stain upon the memory of the +Covenanting chiefs, and more especially upon that of Argyle. + +The perfect serenity of the man in the hour of trial and death, the +courage and magnanimity which he displayed to the last, have been dwelt +upon with admiration by writers of every class. He heard his sentence +delivered without any apparent emotion, and afterwards told the +magistrates who waited upon him in prison, "that he was much indebted to +the Parliament for the great honour they had decreed him"; adding, "that +he was prouder to have his head placed upon the top of the prison, than +if they had decreed a golden statue to be erected to him in the +market-place, or that his picture should be hung in the King's +bedchamber." He said, "he thanked them for their care to preserve the +remembrance of his loyalty, by transmitting such monuments to the +different parts of the kingdom; and only wished that he had flesh enough +to have sent a piece to every city in Christendom, as a token of his +unshaken love and fidelity to his king and country." On the night before +his execution, he inscribed the following lines with a diamond on the +window of his jail:-- + + "Let them bestow on every airth a limb, + Then, open all my veins, that I may swim + To thee, my Maker! in that crimson lake; + Then place my parboiled head upon a stake-- + Scatter my ashes--strew them in the air: + Lord! since thou know'st where all these atoms are, + I'm hopeful thou'lt recover once my dust, + And confident thou'lt raise me with the just." + +After the Restoration, the dust _was_ recovered, the scattered remnants +collected, and the bones of the hero conveyed to their final +resting-place by a numerous assemblage of gentlemen of his family and +name. + +There is no ingredient of fiction in the historical incidents recorded +in the following ballad. The indignities that were heaped upon Montrose +during his procession through Edinburgh, his appearance before the +Estates, and his last passage to the scaffold, as well as his undaunted +bearing, have all been spoken to by eyewitnesses of the scene. A graphic +and vivid sketch of the whole will be found in Mr. Mark Napier's +volume, _The Life and Times of Montrose_--a work as chivalrous in its +tone as the _Chronicles_ of Froissart, and abounding in original and +most interesting materials; but, in order to satisfy all scruple, the +authorities for each fact are given in the shape of notes. The ballad +may be considered as a narrative of the transactions, related by an aged +Highlander, who had followed Montrose throughout his campaigns, to his +grandson, shortly before the battle of Killiecrankie. + + + + +THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE + + + I. + + Come hither, Evan Cameron! + Come, stand beside my knee-- + I hear the river roaring down + Towards the wintry sea. + There's shouting on the mountain side, + There's war within the blast-- + Old faces look upon me, + Old forms go trooping past. + I hear the pibroch wailing + Amidst the din of fight, + And my dim spirit wakes again + Upon the verge of night! + + + II. + + 'Twas I that led the Highland host + Through wild Lochaber's snows, + What time the plaided clans came down + To battle with Montrose. + I've told thee how the Southrons fell + Beneath the broad claymore, + And how we smote the Campbell clan + By Inverlochy's shore. + I've told thee how we swept Dundee, + And tamed the Lindsay's pride; + But never have I told thee yet + How the Great Marquis died! + + + III. + + A traitor sold him to his foes; + O deed of deathless shame! + I charge thee, boy, if e'er thou meet + With one of Assynt's name-- + Be it upon the mountain's side, + Or yet within the glen, + Stand he in martial gear alone, + Or backed by armèd men-- + Face him, as thou wouldst face the man + Who wronged thy sire's renown; + Remember of what blood thou art, + And strike the caitiff down! + + + IV. + + They brought him to the Watergate, + Hard bound with hempen span, + As though they held a lion there, + And not a 'fenceless man. + They set him high upon a cart-- + The hangman rode below-- + They drew his hands behind his back, + And bared his noble brow. + Then, as a hound is slipped from leash, + They cheered the common throng, + And blew the note with yell and shout, + And bade him pass along. + + + V. + + It would have made a brave man's heart + Grow sad and sick that day, + To watch the keen malignant eyes + Bent down on that array. + There stood the Whig west-country lords + In balcony and bow, + There sat their gaunt and withered dames, + And their daughters all a-row; + And every open window + Was full as full might be, + With black-robed Covenanting carles, + That goodly sport to see! + + + VI. + + But when he came, though pale and wan, + He looked so great and high, + So noble was his manly front, + So calm his steadfast eye;-- + The rabble rout forebore to shout, + And each man held his breath, + For well they knew the hero's soul + Was face to face with death. + And then a mournful shudder + Through all the people crept, + And some that came to scoff at him, + Now turn'd aside and wept. + + + VII. + + But onwards--always onwards, + In silence and in gloom, + The dreary pageant laboured, + Till it reach'd the house of doom: + Then first a woman's voice was heard + In jeer and laughter loud, + And an angry cry and a hiss arose + From the heart of the tossing crowd: + Then, as the Græme looked upwards, + He met the ugly smile + Of him who sold his King for gold-- + The master-fiend Argyle! + + + VIII. + + The Marquis gazed a moment, + And nothing did he say, + But the cheek of Argyle grew ghastly pale, + And he turned his eyes away. + The painted harlot by his side, + She shook through every limb, + For a roar like thunder swept the street, + And hands were clenched at him, + And a Saxon soldier cried aloud, + "Back, coward, from thy place! + For seven long years thou hast not dared + To look him in the face." + + + IX. + + Had I been there with sword in hand, + And fifty Camerons by, + That day through high Dunedin's streets, + Had pealed the slogan cry. + Not all their troops of trampling horse, + Nor might of mailèd men-- + Not all the rebels of the south + Had borne us backwards then! + Once more his foot on Highland heath + Had trod as free as air, + Or I, and all who bore my name, + Been laid around him there! + + + X. + + It might not be. They placed him next + Within the solemn hall, + Where once the Scottish Kings were throned + Amidst their nobles all. + But there was dust of vulgar feet + On that polluted floor, + And perjured traitors filled the place + Where good men sate before. + With savage glee came Warristoun + To read the murderous doom, + And then uprose the great Montrose + In the middle of the room. + + + XI. + + "Now by my faith as belted knight, + And by the name I bear, + And by the bright Saint Andrew's cross + That waves above us there-- + Yea, by a greater, mightier oath-- + And oh, that such should be!-- + By that dark stream of royal blood + That lies 'twixt you and me-- + I have not sought in battle-field + A wreath of such renown, + Nor dared I hope, on my dying day, + To win the martyr's crown!" + + + XII. + + "There is a chamber far away + Where sleep the good and brave, + But a better place ye have named for me + Than by my father's grave. + For truth and right, 'gainst treason's might, + This hand hath always striven, + And ye raise it up for a witness still + In the eye of earth and heaven. + Then nail my head on yonder tower-- + Give every town a limb-- + And God who made shall gather them: + I go from you to Him!" + + + XIII. + + The morning dawned full darkly, + The rain came flashing down, + And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt + Lit up the gloomy town: + The heavens were thundering out their wrath, + The fatal hour was come; + Yet ever sounded sullenly + The trumpet and the drum. + There was madness on the earth below, + And anger in the sky, + And young and old, and rich and poor, + Came forth to see him die. + + + XIV. + + Ah, God! that ghastly gibbet! + How dismal 't is to see + The great tall spectral skeleton, + The ladder, and the tree! + Hark! hark! it is the clash of arms-- + The bells begin to toll-- + He is coming! he is coming! + God's mercy on his soul! + One last long peal of thunder-- + The clouds are cleared away, + And the glorious sun once more looks down + Amidst the dazzling day. + + + XV. + + He is coming! he is coming! + Like a bridegroom from his room, + Came the hero from his prison + To the scaffold and the doom. + There was glory on his forehead, + There was lustre in his eye, + And he never walked to battle + More proudly than to die: + There was colour in his visage, + Though the cheeks of all were wan, + And they marvelled as they saw him pass, + That great and goodly man! + + + XVI. + + He mounted up the scaffold, + And he turned him to the crowd; + But they dared not trust the people, + So he might not speak aloud. + But he looked upon the heavens, + And they were clear and blue, + And in the liquid ether + The eye of God shone through: + Yet a black and murky battlement + Lay resting on the hill, + As though the thunder slept within-- + All else was calm and still. + + + XVII. + + The grim Geneva ministers + With anxious scowl drew near, + As you have seen the ravens flock + Around the dying deer. + He would not deign them word nor sign, + But alone he bent the knee; + And veiled his face for Christ's dear grace + Beneath the gallows-tree. + Then radiant and serene he rose, + And cast his cloak away: + For he had ta'en his latest look + Of earth, and sun, and day. + + + XVIII. + + A beam of light fell o'er him, + Like a glory round the shriven, + And he climbed the lofty ladder + As it were the path to heaven. + Then came a flash from out the cloud, + And a stunning thunder roll, + And no man dared to look aloft, + For fear was on every soul. + There was another heavy sound, + A hush and then a groan; + And darkness swept across the sky-- + The work of death was done! + + + + +NOTES TO + + +"THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE" + +"_A traitor sold him to his foes_,"--p. 36. + +"The contemporary historian of the Earls of Sutherland records, that +(after the defeat of Invercarron) Montrose and Kinnoul 'wandered up the +river Kyle the whole ensuing night, and the next day, and the third day +also, without any food or sustenance, and at last came within the +country of Assynt. The Earl of Kinnoul, being faint for lack of meat, +and not able to travel any further, was left there among the mountains, +where it was supposed he perished. Montrose had almost famished, but +that he fortuned in his misery to light upon a small cottage in that +wilderness, where he was supplied with some milk and bread.' Not even +the iron frame of Montrose could endure a prolonged existence under such +circumstances. He gave himself up to Macleod of Assynt, a former +adherent, from whom he had reason to expect assistance in consideration +of that circumstance, and, indeed, from the dictates of honourable +feeling and common humanity. As the Argyle faction had sold the King, so +this Highlander rendered his own name infamous by selling the hero to +the Covenanters, for which 'duty to the public' he was rewarded with +four hundred bolls of meal."--NAPIER'S _Life of Montrose_. + +"_They brought him to the Watergate_,"--p. 36. + +"_Friday, 17th May_.--Act ordaining James Grahame to be brought from the +Watergate on a cart, bareheaded, the hangman in his livery, covered, +riding on the horse that draws the cart--the prisoner to be bound to the +cart with a rope--to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and from thence to be +brought to the Parliament House, and there, in the place of delinquents, +on his knees, to receive his sentence--viz., to be hanged on a gibbet at +the Cross of Edinburgh, with his book and declaration tied on a rope +about his neck, and there to hang for the space of three hours until he +be dead; and thereafter to be cut down by the hangman, his head, hands, +and legs to be cut off, and distributed as follows--viz., his head to be +affixed on an iron pin, and set on the pinnacle of the west gavel of the +new prison of Edinburgh; one hand to be set on the port of Perth, the +other on the port of Stirling; one leg and foot on the port of Aberdeen, +the other on the port of Glasgow. If at his death penitent, and relaxed +from excommunication, then the trunk of his body to be interred, by +pioneers, in the Greyfriars; otherwise, to be interred in the +Boroughmuir, by the hangman's men, under the gallows."--BALFOUR'S _Notes +of Parliament_. + +It is needless to remark that this inhuman sentence was executed to the +letter. In order that the exposure might be more complete, the cart was +constructed with a high chair in the centre, having holes behind, +through which the ropes that fastened him were drawn. The author of the +_Wigton Papers_, recently published by the Maitland Club, says, "The +reason of his being tied to the cart was in hope that the people would +have stoned him, and that he might not be able by his hands to save his +face." His hat was then pulled off by the hangman and the procession +commenced. + + "_But when he came, though pale and wan, + He looked so great and high_,"--p. 37. + +"In all the way, there appeared in him such majesty, courage, +modesty--and even somewhat more than natural--that those common women +who had lost their husbands and children in his wars, and who were hired +to stone him, were upon the sight of him so astonished and moved, that +their intended curses turned into tears and prayers; so that next day +_all the ministers preached against them for not stoning and reviling +him."--Wigton Papers._ + + "_Then first a woman's voice was heard + In jeer and laughter loud_,"--p. 38. + +"It is remarkable that, of the many thousand beholders, the Lady Jean +Gordon, Countess of Haddington, did (alone) publicly insult and laugh at +him; which being perceived by a gentleman in the street, he cried up to +her, that it became her better to sit upon the cart for her +adulteries."--_Wigton Papers_. This infamous woman was the third +daughter of Huntly, and the niece of Argyle. It will hardly be credited +that she was the sister of that gallant Lord Gordon, who fell fighting +by the side of Montrose, only five years before, at the battle of +Aldford! + + "_For seven long years thou hast not dared + To look him in the face_,"--p. 39. + +"The Lord Lorn and his new lady were also sitting on a balcony, joyful +spectators; and the cart being stopped when it came before the lodging +where the Chancellor, Argyle, and Warristoun sat--that they might have +time to insult--he, suspecting the business, turned his face towards +them, whereupon they presently crept in at the windows; which being +perceived by an Englishman, he cried up, it was no wonder they started +aside at his look, for they durst not look him in the face these seven +years bygone."--_Wigton Papers_. + + "_With savage glee came Warristoun, + To read the murderous doom_,"--p. 40. + +Archibald Johnston of Warristoun. This man, who was the inveterate enemy +of Montrose, and who carried the most selfish spirit into every intrigue +of his party, received the punishment of his treasons about eleven years +afterwards. It may be instructive to learn how he met his doom. The +following extract is from the MSS. of Sir George Mackenzie:--"The +Chancellor and others waited to examine him; he fell upon his face, +roaring, and with tears entreated they would pity a poor creature who +had forgot all that was in the Bible. This moved all the spectators with +a deep melancholy; and the Chancellor, reflecting upon the man's great +parts, former esteem, and the great share he had in all the late +revolutions, could not deny some tears to the frailty of silly mankind. +At his examination, he pretended he had lost so much blood by the +unskilfulness of his chirurgeons, that he lost his memory with his +blood; and I really believe that his courage had been drawn out with it. +Within a few days he was brought before the parliament, where he +discovered nothing but much weakness, running up and down upon his +knees, begging mercy; but the parliament ordained his former sentence to +be put to execution, and accordingly he was executed at the Cross of +Edinburgh." + + "_And God who made shall gather them: + I go from you to Him_!"--p. 41. + +"He said he was much beholden to the parliament for the honour they had +put on him; 'for,' says he, 'I think it a greater honour to have my head +standing on the port of this town, for this quarrel, than to have my +picture in the king's bedchamber. I am beholden to you that, lest my +loyalty should be forgotten, ye have appointed five of your most eminent +towns to bear witness of it to posterity.'"--_Wigton Papers_. + + "_He is coming! he is coming! + Like a bridegroom from his room_,"--p. 42. + +"In his downgoing from the Tolbooth to the place of execution, he was +very richly clad in fine scarlet, laid over with rich silver lace, his +hat in his hand, his bands and cuffs exceeding rich, his delicate white +gloves on his hands, his stockings of incarnate silk, and his shoes with +their ribbands on his feet; and sarks provided for him with pearling +about, above ten pund the elne. All these were provided for him by his +friends, and a pretty cassock put on upon him, upon the scaffold, +wherein he was hanged. To be short, nothing was here deficient to honour +his poor carcase, more beseeming a bridegroom than a criminal going to +the gallows."--NICHOLL'S _Diary_. + + "_The grim Geneva ministers + With anxious scowl drew near_,"--p. 43. + +The Presbyterian ministers beset Montrose both in prison and on the +scaffold. The following extracts are from the diary of the Rev. Robert +Traill, one of the persons who were appointed by the commission of the +kirk "to deal with him:"--"By a warrant from the kirk, we staid a while +with him about his soul's condition. But we found him continuing in his +old pride, and taking very ill what was spoken to him, saying, 'I pray +you, gentlemen, let me die in peace.' It was answered, that he might die +in true peace, being reconciled to the Lord and to His kirk."--"We +returned to the commission, and did show unto them what had passed +amongst us. They, seeing that for the present he was not desiring +relaxation from his censure of excommunication, did appoint Mr. Mungo +Law and me to attend on the morrow on the scaffold, at the time of his +execution, that, in case he should desire to be relaxed from his +excommunication, we should be allowed to give it unto him in the name of +the kirk, and to pray with him, and for him, _that what is loosed on +earth might be loosed in heaven_." But this pious intention, which may +appear somewhat strange to the modern Calvinist, when the prevailing +theories of the kirk regarding the efficacy of absolution are +considered, was not destined to be fulfilled. Mr. Traill goes on to say, +"But he did not at all desire to be relaxed from his excommunication in +the name of the kirk, _yea, did not look towards that place on the +scaffold where we stood_; only he drew apart some of the magistrates, +and spake a while with them, and then went up the ladder, in his red +scarlet cassock, in a very stately manner." + + "_And he climbed the lofty ladder + As it were the path to heaven_,"--p. 43. + +"He was very earnest that he might have the liberty to keep on his hat; +it was denied: he requested he might have the privilege to keep his +cloak about him--neither could that be granted. Then, with a most +undaunted courage, he went up to the top of that prodigious +gibbet."--"The whole people gave a general groan; and it was very +observable, that even those who, at his first appearance, had bitterly +inveighed against him, could not now abstain from tears."--_Montrose +Redivivus_. + + + + +THE HEART OF THE BRUCE + + +Hector Boece, in his very delightful, though somewhat apocryphal +Chronicles of Scotland, tells us, that "quhen Schir James Dowglas was +chosin as maist worthy of all Scotland to pass with King Robertis hart +to the Holy Land, he put it in ane cais of gold, with arromitike and +precious unyementis; and tuke with him Schir William Sinclare and Schir +Robert Logan, with mony othir nobilmen, to the haly graif; quhare he +buryit the said hart, with maist reverence and solempnitie that could be +devisit." + +But no contemporary historian bears out the statement of the old canon +of Aberdeen. Froissart, Fordun, and Barbour all agree that the +devotional pilgrimage of the Good Sir James was not destined to be +accomplished, and that the heart of Scotland's greatest king and hero +was brought back to the land of his nativity. Mr. Tytler, in few words, +has so graphically recounted the leading events of this expedition, that +I do not hesitate to adopt his narrative:-- + +"As soon as the season of the year permitted, Douglas, having the heart +of his beloved master under his charge, set sail from Scotland, +accompanied by a splendid retinue, and anchored off Sluys in Flanders, +at this time the great seaport of the Netherlands. His object was to +find out companions with whom he might travel to Jerusalem; but he +declined landing, and for twelve days received all visitors on board his +ship with a state almost kingly. + +"At Sluys he heard that Alonzo, the King of Leon and Castile, was +carrying on war with Osmyn, the Moorish governor of Grenada. The +religious mission which he had embraced, and the vows he had taken +before leaving Scotland, induced Douglas to consider Alonzo's cause as a +holy warfare; and, before proceeding to Jerusalem, he first determined +to visit Spain, and to signalise his prowess against the Saracens. But +his first field against the Infidels proved fatal to him who, in the +long English war, had seen seventy battles. The circumstances of his +death were striking and characteristic. In an action near Theba, on the +borders of Andalusia, the Moorish cavalry were defeated; and, after +their camp had been taken, Douglas, with his companions, engaged too +eagerly in the pursuit, and, being separated from the main body of the +Spanish army, a strong division of the Moors rallied and surrounded +them. The Scottish knight endeavoured to cut his way through the +Infidels, and in all probability would have succeeded, had he not again +turned to rescue Sir William Saint Clair of Roslin, whom he saw in +jeopardy. In attempting this, he was inextricably involved with the +enemy. Taking from his neck the casket which contained the heart of +Bruce, he cast it before him, and exclaimed with a loud voice, 'Now pass +onward as thou wert wont, and Douglas will follow thee or die!' The +action and the sentiment were heroic, and they were the last words and +deed of a heroic life, for Douglas fell, overpowered by his enemies; and +three of his knights, and many of his companions, were slain along with +their master. On the succeeding day, the body and the casket were both +found on the field, and by his surviving friends conveyed to Scotland. +The heart of Bruce was deposited at Melrose, and the body of the 'Good +Sir James'--the name by which he is affectionately remembered by his +countrymen--was consigned to the cemetery of his fathers in the parish +church of Douglas." + +A nobler death on the field of battle is not recorded in the annals of +chivalry. In memory of this expedition, the Douglases have ever since +carried the armorial bearings of the Bloody Heart surmounted by the +Crown; and a similar distinction is borne by another family. Sir Simon +of Lee, a distinguished companion of Douglas, was the person on whom, +after the fall of his leader, the custody of the heart devolved. Hence +the name of Lockhart, and their effigy, the Heart within a Fetterlock. + + + + +THE HEART OF THE BRUCE + + + It was upon an April morn, + While yet the frost lay hoar, + We heard Lord James's bugle-horn + Sound by the rocky shore. + + Then down we went, a hundred knights, + All in our dark array, + And flung our armour in the ships + That rode within the bay. + + We spoke not as the shore grew less, + But gazed in silence back, + Where the long billows swept away + The foam behind our track. + + And aye the purple hues decay'd + Upon the fading hill, + And but one heart in all that ship + Was tranquil, cold, and still. + + The good Lord Douglas walk'd the deck, + And oh, his brow was wan! + Unlike the flush it used to wear + When in the battle van.-- + + "Come hither, come hither, my trusty knight, + Sir Simon of the Lee; + There is a freit lies near my soul + I fain would tell to thee. + + "Thou know'st the words King Robert spoke + Upon his dying day, + How he bade me take his noble heart + And carry it far away; + + "And lay it in the holy soil + Where once the Saviour trod, + Since he might not bear the blessed Cross, + Nor strike one blow for God. + + "Last night as in my bed I lay, + I dream'd a dreary dream:-- + Methought I saw a Pilgrim stand + In the moonlight's quivering beam. + + "His robe was of the azure dye, + Snow-white his scatter'd hairs, + And even such a cross he bore + As good Saint Andrew bears. + + "'Why go you forth, Lord James,' he said, + 'With spear and belted brand? + Why do you take its dearest pledge + From this our Scottish land? + + "'The sultry breeze of Galilee + Creeps through its groves of palm, + The olives on the Holy Mount + Stand glittering in the calm. + + "'But 'tis not there that Scotland's heart + Shall rest by God's decree, + Till the great angel calls the dead + To rise from earth and sea! + + "'Lord James of Douglas, mark my rede! + That heart shall pass once more + In fiery fight against the foe, + As it was wont of yore. + + "'And it shall pass beneath the Cross, + And save King Robert's vow, + But other hands shall bear it back, + Not, James of Douglas, thou!' + + "Now, by thy knightly faith, I pray, + Sir Simon of the Lee-- + For truer friend had never man + Than thou hast been to me-- + + "If ne'er upon the Holy Land + 'Tis mine in life to tread, + Bear thou to Scotland's kindly earth + The relics of her dead." + + The tear was in Sir Simon's eye + As he wrung the warrior's hand-- + "Betide me weal, betide me woe, + I'll hold by thy command. + + "But if in battle front, Lord James, + 'Tis ours once more to ride, + No force of man, nor craft of fiend, + Shall cleave me from thy side!" + + And aye we sail'd, and aye we sail'd, + Across the weary sea, + Until one morn the coast of Spain + Rose grimly on our lee. + + And as we rounded to the port, + Beneath the watch-tower's wall, + We heard the clash of the atabals, + And the trumpet's wavering call. + + "Why sounds yon Eastern music here + So wantonly and long, + And whose the crowd of armèd men + That round yon standard throng?" + + "The Moors have come from Africa + To spoil and waste and slay, + And King Alonzo of Castile + Must fight with them to-day." + + "Now shame it were," cried good Lord James, + "Shall never be said of me, + That I and mine have turn'd aside, + From the Cross in jeopardie! + + "Have down, have down, my merry men all-- + Have down unto the plain; + We'll let the Scottish lion loose + Within the fields of Spain!" + + "Now welcome to me, noble lord, + Thou and thy stalwart power; + Dear is the sight of a Christian knight + Who comes in such an hour! + + "Is it for bond or faith ye come, + Or yet for golden fee? + Or bring ye France's lilies here, + Or the flower of Burgundie?" + + "God greet thee well, thou valiant King, + Thee and thy belted peers-- + Sir James of Douglas am I called, + And these are Scottish spears. + + "We do not fight for bond or plight, + Not yet for golden fee; + But for the sake of our blessed Lord, + Who died upon the tree. + + "We bring our great King Robert's heart + Across the weltering wave, + To lay it in the holy soil + Hard by the Saviour's grave. + + "True pilgrims we, by land or sea, + Where danger bars the way; + And therefore are we here, Lord King, + To ride with thee this day!" + + The King has bent his stately head, + And the tears were in his eyne-- + "God's blessing on thee, noble knight, + For this brave thought of thine! + + "I know thy name full well, Lord James, + And honour'd may I be, + That those who fought beside the Bruce + Should fight this day for me! + + "Take thou the leading of the van, + And charge the Moors amain; + There is not such a lance as thine + In all the host of Spain!" + + The Douglas turned towards us then, + O but his glance was high!-- + "There is not one of all my men + But is as bold as I. + + "There is not one of all my knights + But bears as true a spear-- + Then onwards! Scottish gentlemen, + And think--King Robert's here!" + + The trumpets blew, the cross-bolts flew, + The arrows flashed like flame, + As spur in side, and spear in rest, + Against the foe we came. + + And many a bearded Saracen + Went down, both horse and man; + For through their ranks we rode like corn, + So furiously we ran! + + But in behind our path they closed, + Though fain to let us through, + For they were forty thousand men, + And we were wondrous few. + + We might not see a lance's length, + So dense was their array, + But the long fell sweep of the Scottish blade + Still held them hard at bay. + + "Make in! make in!" Lord Douglas cried, + "Make in, my brethren dear! + Sir William of Saint Clair is down; + We may not leave him here!" + + But thicker, thicker, grew the swarm, + And sharper shot the rain, + And the horses reared amid the press, + But they would not charge again. + + "Now Jesu help thee," said Lord James, + "Thou kind and true St Clair! + An' if I may not bring thee off, + I'll die beside thee there!" + + Then in his stirrups up he stood, + So lionlike and bold, + And held the precious heart aloft + All in its case of gold. + + He flung it from him, far ahead, + And never spake he more, + But--"Pass thee first, thou dauntless heart, + As thou wert wont of yore!" + + The roar of fight rose fiercer yet, + And heavier still the stour, + Till the spears of Spain came shivering in, + And swept away the Moor. + + "Now praised be God, the day is won! + They fly o'er flood and fell-- + Why dost thou draw the rein so hard, + Good knight, that fought so well?" + + "Oh, ride ye on, Lord King!" he said, + "And leave the dead to me, + For I must keep the dreariest watch + That ever I shall dree! + + "There lies, beside his master's heart, + The Douglas, stark and grim; + And woe is me I should be here, + Not side by side with him! + + "The world grows cold, my arm is old, + And thin my lyart hair, + And all that I loved best on earth + Is stretch'd before me there. + + "O Bothwell banks! that bloom so bright, + Beneath the sun of May, + The heaviest cloud that ever blew + Is bound for you this day. + + "And, Scotland, thou may'st veil thy head + In sorrow and in pain; + The sorest stroke upon thy brow + Hath fallen this day in Spain! + + "We'll bear them back unto our ship, + We'll bear them o'er the sea, + And lay them in the hallowed earth, + Within our own countrie. + + "And be thou strong of heart, Lord King, + For this I tell thee sure, + The sod that drank the Douglas' blood + Shall never bear the Moor!" + + The King he lighted from his horse, + He flung his brand away, + And took the Douglas by the hand, + So stately as he lay. + + "God give thee rest, thou valiant soul, + That fought so well for Spain; + I'd rather half my land were gone, + So thou wert here again!" + + We bore the good Lord James away, + And the priceless heart he bore, + And heavily we steer'd our ship + Towards the Scottish shore. + + No welcome greeted our return, + Nor clang of martial tread, + But all were dumb and hushed as death + Before the mighty dead. + + We laid our chief in Douglas Kirk, + The heart in fair Melrose; + And woeful men were we that day-- + God grant their souls repose! + + + + +THE BURIAL MARCH OF DUNDEE + +It is very much to be regretted that no competent person has as yet +undertaken the task of compiling a full and authentic biography of Lord +Viscount Dundee. His memory has consequently been left at the mercy of +misrepresentation and malignity; and the pen of romance has been freely +employed to portray, as a bloody assassin, one of the most accomplished +men and gallant soldiers of his age. + +It was the misfortune of Claverhouse to have lived in so troublous an +age and country. The religious differences of Scotland were then at +their greatest height, and there is hardly any act of atrocity and +rebellion which had not been committed by the insurgents. The royal +authority was openly and publicly disowned in the western districts: the +Archbishop of St. Andrew's, after more than one hairbreadth escape, was +waylaid, and barbarously murdered by an armed gang of fanatics on Magus +Muir; and his daughter was wounded and maltreated while interceding for +the old man's life. The country was infested by banditti, who took every +possible opportunity of shooting down and massacring any of the +straggling soldiery: the clergy were attacked and driven from their +houses; so that, throughout a considerable portion of Scotland, there +was no security either for property or for life. It is now the fashion +to praise and magnify the Covenanters as the most innocent and +persecuted of men; but those who are so ready with their sympathy, +rarely take the pains to satisfy themselves, by reference to the annals +of the time, of the true character of those men whom they blindly +venerate as martyrs. They forget, in their zeal for religious freedom, +that even the purest and holiest of causes may be sullied and disgraced +by the deeds of its upholders, and that a wild and frantic profession of +faith is not always a test of genuine piety. It is not in the slightest +degree necessary to discuss whether the royal prerogative was at that +time arbitrarily used, or whether the religious freedom of the nation +was unduly curtailed. Both points may be, and indeed are, admitted,--for +it is impossible to vindicate the policy of the measures adopted by the +two last monarchs of the house of Stuart; but neither admission will +clear the Covenanters from the stain of deliberate cruelty. + +After the battle of Philiphaugh, the royalist prisoners were butchered +in cold blood, under the superintendence of a clerical emissary, who +stood by rubbing his hands, and exclaiming--"The wark gangs bonnily on!" +Were I to transcribe from the pamphlets before me the list of the +murders which were perpetrated by the country people on the soldiery, +officers, and gentlemen of loyal principles, during the reign of Charles +II., I believe that no candid person would be surprised at the severe +retaliation which was made. It must be remembered that the country was +then under military law, and that the strongest orders had been issued +by the Government to the officers in command of the troops, to use every +means in their power for the effectual repression of the disturbances. +The necessity of such orders will become apparent, when we reflect that, +besides the open actions at Aird's Moss and Drumclog, the city of +Glasgow was attacked, and the royal forces compelled for a time to fall +back upon Stirling. + +Under such circumstances it is no wonder if the soldiery were severe in +their reprisals. Innocent blood may no doubt have been shed, and in some +cases even wantonly; for when rebellion has grown into civil war, and +the ordinary course of the law is put in abeyance, it is always +impossible to restrain military license. But it is most unfair to lay +the whole odium of such acts upon those who were in command, and to +dishonour the fair name of gentlemen, by attributing to them personally +the commission of deeds of which they were absolutely ignorant. To this +day the peasantry of the western districts of Scotland entertain the +idea that Claverhouse was a sort of fiend in human shape, tall, +muscular, and hideous in aspect, secured by infernal spells from the +chance of perishing by any ordinary weapon, and mounted upon a huge +black horse, the especial gift of Beelzebub! On this charger it is +supposed that he could ride up precipices as easily as he could traverse +the level ground--that he was constantly accompanied by a body of +desperadoes, vulgarly known by such euphonious titles as "Hell's Tam," +and "the De'il's Jock," and that his whole time was occupied, day and +night, in hunting Covenanters upon the hills! Almost every rebel who was +taken in arms and shot, is supposed to have met his death from the +individual pistol of Claverhouse; and the tales which, from time to +time, have been written by such ingenious persons as the late Mr. Gait +and the Ettrick Shepherd have quietly been assumed as facts, and added +to the store of our traditionary knowledge. It is in vain to hint that +the chief commanders of the forces in Scotland could have found little +leisure, even had they possessed the taste, for pursuing single +insurgents. Such suggestions are an insult to martyrology; and many a +parish of the west would be indignant were it averred that the tenant of +its gray stone had suffered by a meaner hand. + +When we look at the portrait of Claverhouse, and survey the calm, +melancholy, and beautiful features of the devoted soldier, it appears +almost incredible that he should ever have suffered under such an +overwhelming load of misrepresentation. But when--discarding modern +historians, who in too many instances do not seem to entertain the +slightest scruple in dealing with the memory of the dead--we turn to the +writings of his contemporaries who knew the man, his character appears +in a very different light. They describe him as one who was stainless in +his honour, pure in his faith, wise in council, resolute in action, and +utterly free from that selfishness which disgraced the Scottish +statesmen of the time. No one dares question his loyalty, for he sealed +that confession with his blood; and it is universally admitted, that +with him fell the last hopes of the reinstatement of the house of +Stuart. + +I may perhaps be permitted here, in the absence of a better chronicler, +to mention a few particulars of his life, which, I believe, are +comparatively unknown. John Graham of Claverhouse was a cadet of the +family of Fintrie, connected by intermarriage with the blood-royal of +Scotland. After completing his studies at the University of St. +Andrew's, he entered, as was the national custom for gentlemen of good +birth and limited means, into foreign service, served some time in +France as a volunteer, and afterwards went to Holland. He very soon +received a commission, as a cornet in a regiment of horse-guards, from +the Prince of Orange, nephew of Charles II. and James VII., and who +afterwards married the Princess Mary. His manner at that time is thus +described:--"He was then ane esquire, under the title of John Graham of +Claverhouse; but the vivacity of his parts, and the delicacy and justice +of his understanding and judgment, joyned with a certain vigour of mind +and activity of body, distinguished him in such a manner from all others +of his rank, that though he lived in a superior character, yet he +acquired the love and esteem of all his equals, as well as of those who +had the advantage of him in dignity and estate." + +By one of those singular accidents which we occasionally meet with in +history, Graham, afterwards destined to become his most formidable +opponent, saved the life of the Prince of Orange at the battle of St. +Neff. The Prince's horse had been killed, and he himself was in the +grasp of the enemy, when the young cornet rode to his rescue, freed him +from his assailants, and mounted him on his own steed. For this service +he received a captain's commission, and the promise of the first +regiment that should fall vacant. + +But even in early life William of Orange was not famous for keeping his +promises. Some years afterwards, a vacancy in one of the Scottish +regiments in the Prince's service occurred, and Claverhouse, relying +upon the previous assurance, preferred his claim. It was disregarded, +and Mr. Collier, afterwards Earl of Portmore, was appointed over his +head. It would seem that Graham had suspected some foul play on the +part of this gentleman, for, shortly after, they accidentally met and +had an angry altercation. This circumstance having come to the ears of +the Prince, he sent for Captain Graham, and administered a sharp rebuke. +I give the remainder of this incident in the words of the old writer, +because it must be considered a very remarkable one, as illustrating the +fiery spirit and dauntless independence of Claverhouse. + +"The Captain answered, that he was indeed in the wrong, since it was +more his Highness's business to have resented that quarrel than his; +because Mr. Collier had less injured him in disappointing him of the +regiment, than he had done his Highness in making him break his word. +'Then,' replied the Prince in an angry tone, 'I make you full +reparation, for I bestow on you what is more valuable than a regiment +when I give you your right arm!' The Captain subjoined, that since his +Highness had the goodness to give him his liberty, he resolved to employ +himself elsewhere, for he would not longer serve a Prince that had +broken his word. + +"The Captain, having thus thrown up his commission, was preparing in +haste for his voyage, when a messenger arrived from the Prince, with two +hundred guineas for the horse on which he had saved his life. The +Captain sent the horse, but ordered the gold to be distributed among the +grooms of the Prince's stables. It is said, however, that his Highness +had the generosity to write to the King and the Duke, recommending him +as a fine gentleman and a brave officer, fit for any office, civil or +military." + +On his arrival in Britain he was well received by the court, and +immediately appointed to a high military command in Scotland. It would +be beyond the scope of the present paper to enter minutely into the +details of his service during the stormy period when Scotland was +certainly misgoverned, and when there was little unity, but much +disorder in the land. In whatever point of view we regard the history of +those times, the aspect is a mournful one indeed. Church and State never +was a popular cry in Scotland, and the peculiar religious tendencies +which had been exhibited by a large portion of the nation, at the time +of the Reformation, rendered the return of tranquillity hopeless until +the hierarchy was displaced, and a humbler form of church government, +more suited to the feelings of the people, substituted in its stead. + +Three years after the accession of James VII. Claverhouse was raised to +the peerage, by the title of Lord Viscount Dundee. He was major-general, +and second in command of the royal forces, when the Prince of Orange +landed, and earnestly entreated King James to be allowed to march +against him, offering to stake his head on the successful result of the +enterprize. There is little doubt, from the great popularity of Lord +Dundee with the army, that, had such consent been given, William would +have found more than a match in his old officer; but the King seemed +absolutely infatuated, and refused to allow a drop of blood to be shed +in his quarrel, though the great bulk of the population of England were +clearly and enthusiastically in his favour. One of the most gifted of +our modern poets, the Honourable George Sydney Smythe, has beautifully +illustrated this event. + + "Then out spake gallant Claverhouse, and his soul thrilled wild and high, + And he showed the King his subjects, and he prayed him not to fly. + O never yet was captain so dauntless as Dundee! + He has sworn to chase the Hollander back to his Zuyder-Zee." + +But though James quitted his kingdom, the stern loyalty of Dundee was +nothing moved. Alone, and without escort, he traversed England, and +presented himself at the Convention of Estates, then assembled at +Edinburgh for the purpose of receiving the message from the Prince of +Orange. The meeting was a very strange one. Many of the nobility and +former members of the Scottish Parliament absolutely declined attending +it, some on the ground that it was not a legal assembly, having been +summoned by the Prince of Orange, and others because, in such a total +disruption of order, they judged it safest to abstain from taking any +prominent part. This gave an immense ascendency to the Revolution party, +who further proceeded to strengthen their position by inviting to +Edinburgh large bodies of the armed population of the west. After +defending for several days the cause of his master with as much +eloquence as vigour, Dundee, finding that the majority of the Convention +were resolved to offer the crown of Scotland to the Prince, and having +moreover received sure information that some of the wild fanatic Whigs, +with Daniel Ker of Kersland at their head, had formed a plot for his +assassination, quitted Edinburgh with about fifty horsemen, and, after a +short interview--celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in one of his grandest +ballads--with the Duke of Gordon at the Castle Rock, directed his steps +towards the north. After a short stay at his house of Duddope, during +which he received, by order of the Council, who were thoroughly alarmed +at his absence, a summons through a Lyon herald to return to Edinburgh +under pain of high treason, he passed into the Gordon country, where he +was joined by the Earl of Dunfermline with a small party of about sixty +horse. His retreat was timeous, for General Mackay, who commanded for +the Prince of Orange, had despatched a strong force, with instructions +to make him prisoner. From this time, until the day of his death, he +allowed himself no repose. Imitating the example, and inheriting the +enthusiasm of his great predecessor Montrose, he invoked the loyalty of +the clans to assist him in the struggle for legitimacy--and he did not +appeal to them in vain. His name was a spell to rouse the ardent spirits +of the mountaineers; and not the Great Marquis himself, in the height of +his renown, was more sincerely welcomed and more fondly loved than "Ian +dhu nan Cath,"--Dark John of the Battles,--the name by which Lord Dundee +is still remembered in Highland song. In the mean time the Convention, +terrified at their danger, and dreading a Highland inroad, had +despatched Mackay, a military officer of great experience, with a +considerable body of troops, to quell the threatened insurrection. He +was encountered by Dundee, and compelled to evacuate the high country +and fall back upon the Lowlands, where he subsequently received +reinforcements, and again marched northward. The Highland host was +assembled at Blair, though not in great force, when the news of Mackay's +advance arrived; and a council of the chiefs and officers was summoned, +to determine whether it would be most advisable to fall back upon the +glens and wild fastnesses of the Highlands, or to meet the enemy at +once, though with a force far inferior to his. + +Most of the old officers, who had been trained in the foreign wars, were +of the former opinion--"alleging that it was neither prudent nor +cautious to risk an engagement against an army of disciplined men, that +exceeded theirs in numbers by more than a half." But both Glengarry and +Locheill, to the great satisfaction of the General, maintained the +contrary view, and argued that neither hunger nor fatigue were so likely +to depress the Highlanders, as a retreat when the enemy was in view. The +account of the discussion is so interesting, and so characteristic of +Dundee, that I shall take leave to quote its termination in the words of +Drummond of Balhaldy: + +"An advice so hardy and resolute could not miss to please the generous +Dundee. His looks seemed to heighten with an air of delight and +satisfaction all the while Locheill was speaking. He told his council +that they had heard his sentiments from the mouth of a person who had +formed his judgment upon infallible proofs drawn from a long experience, +and an intimate acquaintance with the persons and subject he spoke of. +Not one in the company offering to contradict their general, it was +unanimously agreed to fight. + +"When the news of this vigorous resolution spread through the army, +nothing was heard but acclamations of joy, which exceedingly pleased +their gallant general; but before the council broke up, Locheill begged +to be heard for a few words. 'My Lord' said he, 'I have just now +declared, in the presence of this honourable company, that I was +resolved to give an implicit obedience to all your Lordship's commands; +but I humbly beg leave, in name of these gentlemen, to give the word of +command for this one time. It is the voice of your council, and their +orders are, that you do not engage personally. Your Lordship's business +is to have an eye on all parts, and to issue out your commands as you +shall think proper; it is ours to execute them with promptitude and +courage. On your Lordship depends the fate, not only of this little +brave army, but also of our king and country. If your Lordship deny us +this reasonable demand, for my own part I declare, that neither I, nor +any I am concerned in, shall draw a sword on this important occasion, +whatever construction shall be put upon the matter.' + +"Locheill was seconded in this by the whole council; but Dundee begged +leave to be heard in his turn. 'Gentlemen,' said he, 'as I am absolutely +convinced, and have had repeated proofs, of your zeal for the king's +service, and of your affection to me as his general and your friend, so +I am fully sensible that my engaging personally this day may be of some +loss if I shall chance to be killed. But I beg leave of you, however, to +allow me to give one _shear-darg_ (that is, one harvest-day's work) to +the king, my master, that I may have an opportunity of convincing the +brave clans, that I can hazard my life in that service as freely as the +meanest of them. Ye know their temper, gentlemen; and if they do not +think I have personal courage enough, they will not esteem me hereafter, +nor obey my commands with cheerfulness. Allow me this single favour, and +I here promise, upon my honour, never again to risk my person while I +have that of commanding you.' + +"The council, finding him inflexible, broke up, and the army marched +directly towards the Pass of Killiecrankie." + +Those who have visited that romantic spot need not be reminded of its +peculiar features, for these, once seen, must dwell for ever in the +memory. The lower part of the Pass is a stupendous mountain-chasm, +scooped out by the waters of the Garry, which here descend in a +succession of roaring cataracts and pools. The old road, which ran +almost parallel to the river and close upon its edge, was extremely +narrow, and wound its way beneath a wall of enormous crags, surmounted +by a natural forest of birch, oak, and pine. An army cooped up in that +gloomy ravine would have as little chance of escape from the onset of an +enterprising partisan corps, as had the Bavarian troops when attacked by +the Tyrolese in the steep defiles of the Inn. General Mackay, however, +had made his arrangements with consummate tact and skill, and had +calculated his time so well, that he was enabled to clear the Pass +before the Highlanders could reach it from the other side. Advancing +upwards, the passage becomes gradually broader, until, just below the +House of Urrard, there is a considerable width of meadow-land. It was +here that Mackay took up his position, and arrayed his troops, on +observing that the heights above were occupied by the army of Dundee. + +The forces of the latter scarcely amounted to one-third of those of his +antagonist, which were drawn up in line without any reserve. He was +therefore compelled, in making his dispositions, to leave considerable +gaps in his own line, which gave Mackay a further advantage. The right +of Dundee's army was formed of the M'Lean, Glengarry, and Clanranald +regiments, along with some Irish levies. In the centre was Dundee +himself, at the head of a small and ill-equipped body of cavalry, +composed of Lowland gentlemen and their followers, and about forty of +his old troopers. The Camerons and Skyemen, under the command of +Locheill and Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat, were stationed on the left. +During the time occupied by these dispositions, a brisk cannonade was +opened by Mackay's artillery, which materially increased the impatience +of the Highlanders to come to close quarters. At last the word was given +to advance, and the whole line rushed forward with the terrific +impetuosity peculiar to a charge of the clans. They received the fire of +the regular troops without flinching, reserved their own until they were +close at hand, poured in a murderous volley, and then, throwing away +their firelocks, attacked the enemy with the broadsword. + +The victory was almost instantaneous, but it was bought at a terrible +price. Through some mistake or misunderstanding, a portion of the +cavalry, instead of following their general, who had charged directly +for the guns, executed a manoeuvre which threw them into disorder; and, +when last seen in the battle, Dundee, accompanied only by the Earl of +Dunfermline and about sixteen gentlemen, was entering into the cloud of +smoke, standing up in his stirrups, and waving to the others to come +on. It was in this attitude that he appears to have received his +death-wound. On returning from the pursuit, the Highlanders found him +dying on the field. + +It would he difficult to point out another instance in which the +maintenance of a great cause depended solely upon the life of a single +man. Whilst Dundee survived, Scotland at least was not lost to the +Stuarts, for, shortly before the battle, he had received assurance that +the greater part of the organised troops in the north were devoted to +his person, and ready to join him; and the victory of Killiecrankie +would have been followed by a general rising of the loyal gentlemen in +the Lowlands. But with his fall the enterprise was over. + +I hope I shall not be accused of exaggerating the importance of this +battle, which, according to the writer I have already quoted, was best +proved by the consternation into which the opposite party were thrown at +the first news of Mackay's defeat. "The Duke of Hamilton, commissioner +for the parliament which then sat at Edinburgh, and the rest of the +ministry, were struck with such a panic, that some of them were for +retiring into England, others into the western shires of Scotland, where +all the people, almost to a man, befriended them; nor knew they whether +to abandon the government, or to stay a few days until they saw what use +my Lord Dundee would make of his victory. They knew the rapidity of his +motions, and were convinced that he would allow them no time to +deliberate. On this account it was debated, whether such of the nobility +and gentry as were confined for adhering to their old master, should be +immediately set at liberty or more closely shut up; and though the last +was determined on, yet the greatest revolutionists among them made +private and frequent visits to these prisoners, excusing what was past, +from a fatal necessity of the times, which obliged them to give a +seeming compliance, but protesting that they always wished well to King +James, as they should soon have occasion to show when my Lord Dundee +advanced." + +"The next morning after the battle," says Drummond, "the Highland army +had more the air of the shattered remains of broken troops than of +conquerors; for here it was literally true that + + 'The vanquished triumphed, and the victors mourned.' + +The death of their brave general, and the loss of so many of their +friends, were inexhaustible fountains of grief and sorrow. They closed +the last scene of this mournful tragedy in obsequies of their lamented +general, and of the other gentlemen who fell with him, and interred them +in the church of Blair of Atholl with a real funeral solemnity, there +not being present one single person who did not participate in the +general affliction." + +I close this notice of a great soldier and devoted loyalist, by +transcribing the beautiful epitaph composed by Dr. Pitcairn:-- + + "Ultime Scotorum! potuit, quo sospite solo, + Libertas patriæ salva fuisse tuæ: + Te moriente, novos accepit Scotia cives, + Accepitque novos, te moriente, deos. + Illa nequit superesse tibi, tu non potes illi, + Ergo Caledoniæ nomen inane, vale. + Tuque vale, gentis priscæ fortissime ductor, + Ultime Scotorum, ac ultime Grame, vale!" + + + + +THE BURIAL MARCH OF DUNDEE + + + Sound the fife, and cry the slogan-- + Let the pibroch shake the air + With its wild triumphal music, + Worthy of the freight we bear. + Let the ancient hills of Scotland + Hear once more the battle-song + Swell within their glens and valleys + As the clansmen march along! + Never from the field of combat, + Never from the deadly fray, + Was a nobler trophy carried + Than we bring with us to-day; + Never, since the valiant Douglas + On his dauntless bosom bore + Good King Robert's heart--the priceless-- + To our dear Redeemer's shore! + Lo! we bring with us the hero-- + Lo! we bring the conquering Græme, + Crowned as best beseems a victor + From the altar of his fame; + Fresh and bleeding from the battle + Whence his spirit took its flight, + Midst the crashing charge of squadrons, + And the thunder of the fight! + Strike, I say, the notes of triumph, + As we march o'er moor and lea! + Is there any here will venture + To bewail our dead Dundee? + Let the widows of the traitors + Weep until their eyes are dim! + Wail ye may full well for Scotland-- + Let none dare to mourn for him! + See! above his glorious body + Lies the royal banner's fold-- + See! his valiant blood is mingled + With its crimson and its gold. + See! how calm he looks and stately, + Like a warrior on his shield, + Waiting till the flush of morning + Breaks along the battle-field! + See--Oh never more, my comrades! + Shall we see that falcon eye + Redden with its inward lightning, + As the hour of fight drew nigh; + Never shall we hear the voice that, + Clearer than the trumpet's call, + Bade us strike for King and Country, + Bade us win the field or fall! + On the heights of Killiecrankie + Yester-morn our army lay: + Slowly rose the mist in columns + From the river's broken way; + Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent, + And the pass was wrapped in gloom, + When the clansmen rose together + From their lair amidst the broom. + Then we belted on our tartans, + And our bonnets down we drew, + And we felt our broadswords' edges, + And we proved them to be true; + And we prayed the prayer of soldiers, + And we cried the gathering-cry, + And we clasped the hands of kinsmen, + And we swore to do or die! + Then our leader rode before us + On his war-horse black as night-- + Well the Cameronian rebels + Knew that charger in the fight!-- + And a cry of exultation + From the bearded warriors rose; + For we loved the house of Claver'se, + And we thought of good Montrose. + But he raised his hand for silence-- + "Soldiers! I have sworn a vow: + Ere the evening-star shall glisten + On Schehallion's lofty brow, + Either we shall rest in triumph, + Or another of the Graemes + Shall have died in battle-harness + For his Country and King James! + Think upon the Royal Martyr-- + Think of what his race endure-- + Think on him whom butchers murder'd + On the field of Magus Muir:-- + By his sacred blood I charge ye, + By the ruin'd hearth and shrine-- + By the blighted hopes of Scotland, + By your injuries and mine-- + Strike this day as if the anvil + Lay beneath your blows the while, + Be they Covenanting traitors, + Or the brood of false Argyle! + Strike! and drive the trembling rebels + Backwards o'er the stormy Forth; + Let them tell their pale Convention + How they fared within the North. + Let them tell that Highland honour + Is not to be bought nor sold, + That we scorn their Prince's anger, + As we loathe his foreign gold. + Strike! and when the fight is over, + If ye look in vain for me, + Where the dead are lying thickest, + Search for him that was Dundee!" + + Loudly then the hills re-echoed + With our answer to his call, + But a deeper echo sounded + In the bosoms of us all. + For the lands of wide Breadalbane, + Not a man who heard him speak + Would that day have left the battle. + Burning eye and flushing cheek + Told the clansmen's fierce emotion, + And they harder drew their breath; + For their souls were strong within them, + Stronger than the grasp of death. + Soon we heard a challenge-trumpet + Sounding in the pass below, + And the distant tramp of horses, + And the voices of the foe: + Down we crouched amid the bracken, + Till the Lowland ranks drew near, + Panting like the hounds in summer, + When they scent the stately deer. + From the dark defile emerging, + Next we saw the squadrons come, + Leslie's foot and Leven's troopers + Marching to the tuck of drum; + Through the scattered wood of birches, + O'er the broken ground and heath, + Wound the long battalion slowly, + Till they gained the field beneath; + Then we bounded from our covert.-- + Judge how looked the Saxons then, + When they saw the rugged mountain + Start to life with armèd men! + Like a tempest down the ridges, + Swept the hurricane of steel, + Rose the slogan of Macdonald-- + Flashed the broadsword of Locheill! + Vainly sped the withering volley + 'Mongst the foremost of our band-- + On we poured until we met them, + Foot to foot, and hand to hand. + Horse and man went down like drift-wood + When the floods are black at Yule, + And their carcasses are whirling + In the Garry's deepest pool. + Horse and man went down before us-- + Living foe there tarried none + On the field of Killiecrankie, + When that stubborn fight was done! + + And the evening-star was shining + On Schehallion's distant head, + When we wiped our bloody broadswords, + And returned to count the dead. + There we found him, gashed and gory, + Stretch'd upon the cumbered plain, + As he told us where to seek him, + In the thickest of the slain. + And a smile was on his visage, + For within his dying ear + Pealed the joyful note of triumph, + And the clansmen's clamorous cheer: + So, amidst the battle's thunder, + Shot, and steel, and scorching flame, + In the glory of his manhood + Passed the spirit of the Græme! + Open wide the vaults of Athol, + Where the bones of heroes rest-- + Open wide the hallowed portals + To receive another guest! + Last of Scots, and last of freemen-- + Last of all that dauntless race + Who would rather die unsullied + Than outlive the land's disgrace! + O thou lion-hearted warrior! + Reck not of the after-time: + Honour may be deemed dishonour, + Loyalty be called a crime. + Sleep in peace with kindred ashes + Of the noble and the true, + Hands that never failed their country, + Hearts that never baseness knew. + Sleep!--and till the latest trumpet + Wakes the dead from earth and sea, + Scotland shall not boast a braver + Chieftain than our own Dundee! + + + + +THE WIDOW OF GLENCOE + + +The Massacre of Glencoe is an event which neither can nor ought to be +forgotten. It was a deed of the worst treason and cruelty--a barbarous +infraction of all laws, human and divine; and it exhibits in their +foulest perfidy the true characters of the authors and abettors of the +Revolution. + +After the battle of Killiecrankie the cause of the Scottish royalists +declined, rather from the want of a competent leader than from any +disinclination on the part of a large section of the nobility and gentry +to vindicate the right of King James. No person of adequate talents or +authority was found to supply the place of the great and gallant Lord +Dundee; for General Cannon, who succeeded in command, was not only +deficient in military skill, but did not possess the confidence, nor +understand the character of the Highland chiefs, who, with their +clansmen, constituted by far the most important section of the army. +Accordingly no enterprise of any importance was attempted; and the +disastrous issue of the battle of the Boyne led to a negotiation which +terminated in the entire disbanding of the royal forces. By this treaty, +which was expressly sanctioned by William of Orange, a full and +unreserved indemnity and pardon was granted to all of the Highlanders +who had taken arms, with a proviso that they should first subscribe the +oath of allegiance to William and Mary, before the 1st of January, 1692, +in presence of the Lords of the Scottish Council, "or of the Sheriffs or +their deputies of the respective shires wherein they lived." The letter +of William addressed to the Privy Council, and ordering proclamation to +be made to the above effect, contained also the following significant +passage:--"That ye communicate our pleasure to the Governor of +Inverlochy, and other commanders, that they be exact and diligent in +their several posts; but that they show no more zeal against the +Highlanders after their submission, _than they have ever done formerly +when these were in open rebellion_." + +This enigmatical sentence, which in reality was intended, as the sequel +will show, to be interpreted in the most cruel manner, appears to have +caused some perplexity in the Council, as that body deemed it necessary +to apply for more distinct and specific instructions, which, however, +were not then issued. It had been especially stipulated by the chiefs, +as an indispensable preliminary to their treaty, that they should have +leave to communicate with King James, then residing at St. Germains, for +the purpose of obtaining his permission and warrant previous to +submitting themselves to the existing government. That article had been +sanctioned by William before the proclamation was issued, and a special +messenger was despatched to France for that purpose. + +In the mean time, troops were gradually and cautiously advanced to the +confines of the Highlands, and, in some instances, actually quartered on +the inhabitants. The condition of the country was perfectly tranquil. No +disturbances whatever occurred in the north or west of Scotland; +Locheill and the other chiefs were awaiting the communication from St. +Germains, and held themselves bound in honour to remain inactive; whilst +the remainder of the royalist forces (for whom separate terms had been +made) were left unmolested at Dunkeld. + +But rumours, which are too clearly traceable to the emissaries of the +new government, asserting the preparation made for an immediate landing +of King James at the head of a large body of the French, were +industriously circulated, and by many were implicitly believed. The +infamous policy which dictated such a course is now apparent. The term +of the amnesty or truce granted by the proclamation expired with the +year 1691, and all who had not taken the oath of allegiance before that +term, were to be proceeded against with the utmost severity. The +proclamation was issued upon the 29th of August: consequently, only four +months were allowed for the complete submission of the Highlands. + +Not one of the chiefs subscribed until the mandate from King James +arrived. That document, which is dated from St. Germains on the 12th of +December 1691, reached Dunkeld eleven days afterwards, and, +consequently, but a very short time before the indemnity expired. The +bearer, Major Menzies, was so fatigued that he could proceed no farther +on his journey, but forwarded the mandate by an express to the commander +of the royal forces, who was then at Glengarry. It was therefore +impossible that the document could be circulated through the Highlands +within the prescribed period. Locheill, says Drummond of Balhaldy, did +not receive his copy till about thirty hours before the time was out, +and appeared before the sheriff at Inverara, where he took the oaths +upon the very day on which the indemnity expired. + +That a general massacre throughout the Highlands was contemplated by the +Whig government, is a fact established by overwhelming evidence. In the +course of the subsequent investigation before the Scots Parliament, +letters were produced from Sir John Dalrymple, then Master of Stair, one +of the secretaries of state in attendance upon the court, which too +clearly indicate the intentions of William. In one of these, dated 1st +December 1694,--_a month_, be it observed, before the amnesty +expired--and addressed to Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, there are the +following words:--"The winter is the only season in which we are sure +the Highlanders cannot escape us, _nor carry their wives, bairns_, and +cattle to the mountains." And in another letter, written only two days +afterwards, he says, "It is the only time that they cannot escape you, +for human constitution cannot endure to be long out of houses. _This is +the proper season to maule them, in the cold long nights_." And in +January thereafter, he informed Sir Thomas Livingston that the design +was "to destroy entirely the country of Lochaber, Locheill's lands, +Keppoch's, Glengarry's, Appin, and Glencoe. I assure you," he continues, +"your power shall be full enough, _and I hope the soldiers will not +trouble the Government with prisoners_." + +Locheill was more fortunate than others of his friends and neighbours. +According to Drummond,--"Major Menzies, who, upon his arrival, had +observed the whole forces of the kingdom ready to invade the Highlands, +as he wrote to General Buchan, foreseeing the unhappy consequences, not +only begged that general to send expresses to all parts with orders +immediately to submit, but also wrote to Sir Thomas Livingston, praying +him to supplicate the Council for a prorogation of the time, in regard +that he was so excessively fatigued, that he was obliged to stop some +days to repose a little; and that though he should send expresses, yet +it was impossible they could reach the distant parts in such time as to +allow the several persons concerned the benefit of the indemnity within +the space limited; besides, that some persons having put the Highlanders +in a bad temper, he was confident to persuade them to submit, if a +further time were allowed. Sir Thomas presented this letter to the +Council on the 5th of January, 1692, but they refused to give any +answer, and ordered him to transmit the same to Court." + +The reply of William of Orange was a letter, countersigned by Dalrymple, +in which, upon the recital that "several of the chieftains and many of +their clans had not taken the benefit of our gracious indemnity," he +gave orders for a general massacre. "To that end, we have given Sir +Thomas Livingston orders to employ our troops (which we have already +conveniently posted) to cut off these obstinate rebels _by all manner of +hostility_; and we do require you to give him your assistance and +concurrence in all other things that may conduce to that service; and +because these rebels, to avoid our forces, may draw themselves, _their +families_, goods, or cattle, to lurk or be concealed among their +neighbours: therefore, we require and authorise you to emit a +proclamation to be published at the market-crosses of these or the +adjacent shires where the rebels reside, discharging upon the highest +penalties the law allows, any reset, correspondence, or intercommuning +with these rebels." This monstrous mandate, which was in fact the +death-warrant of many thousand innocent people, no distinction being +made of age or sex, would, in all human probability, have been put into +execution, but for the remonstrance of one high-minded nobleman. Lord +Carmarthen, afterwards Duke of Leeds, accidentally became aware of the +proposed massacre, and personally remonstrated with the monarch against +a measure which he denounced as at once cruel and impolitic. After much +discussion, William, influenced rather by an apprehension that so +savage and sweeping an act might prove fatal to his new authority, than +by any compunction or impulse of humanity, agreed to recall the general +order, and to limit himself, in the first instance, to a single deed of +butchery, by way of testing the temper of the nation. Some difficulty +seems to have arisen in the selection of the fittest victim. Both +Keppoch and Glencoe were named, but the personal rancour of Secretary +Dalrymple decided the doom of the latter. The Secretary wrote +thus:--"Argyle tells me that Glencoe hath not taken the oath, at which I +rejoice. It is a great work of charity to be exact in rooting out that +damnable set." The final instructions regarding Glencoe, which were +issued on 16th January, 1692, are as follows:-- + + "William R.--As for M'Ian of Glencoe, and that tribe, + if they can be well distinguished from the rest of the + Highlanders, it will be proper for public justice to extirpate + that set of thieves." "W.R." + +This letter is remarkable as being signed and countersigned by William +alone, contrary to the usual practice. The Secretary was no doubt +desirous to screen himself from after responsibility, and was further +aware that the royal signature would insure a rigorous execution of the +sentence. + +Macdonald, or, as he was more commonly designed, M'Ian of Glencoe, was +the head of a considerable sept or branch of the great Clan-Coila, and +was lineally descended from the ancient Lords of the Isles, and from +the royal family of Scotland--the common ancestor of the Macdonalds +having espoused a daughter of Robert II. He was, according to a +contemporary testimony, "a person of great integrity, honour, good +nature, and courage; and his loyalty to his old master, King James, was +such, that he continued in arms from Dundee's first appearing in the +Highlands, till the fatal treaty that brought on his ruin." In common +with the other chiefs, he had omitted taking the benefit of the +indemnity until he received the sanction of King James: but the copy of +that document which was forwarded to him, unfortunately arrived too +late. The weather was so excessively stormy at the time that there was +no possibility of penetrating from Glencoe to Inverara, the place where +the sheriff resided, before the expiry of the stated period; and M'Ian +accordingly adopted the only practicable mode of signifying his +submission, by making his way with great difficulty to Fort-William, +then called Inverlochy, and tendering his signature to the military +Governor there. That officer was not authorised to receive it, but at +the earnest entreaty of the chief, he gave him a certificate of his +appearance and tender, and on New-Year's day, 1692, M'Ian reached +Inverara, where he produced that paper as evidence of his intentions, +and prevailed upon the sheriff, Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglass, to +administer the oaths required. After that ceremony, which was +immediately intimated to the Privy Council, had been performed, the +unfortunate gentleman returned home, in the full conviction that he had +thereby made peace with government for himself and for his clan. But his +doom was already sealed. + +A company of the Earl of Argyle's regiment had been previously quartered +in Glencoe. These men, though Campbells, and hereditarily obnoxious to +the Macdonalds, Camerons, and other of the loyal clans, were yet +countrymen, and were kindly and hospitably received. Their captain, +Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, was connected with the family of Glencoe +through the marriage of a niece, and was resident under the roof of the +chief. And yet this was the very troop selected for the horrid service. + +Special instructions were sent to the major of the regiment, one +Duncanson, then quartered at Ballachulish--a morose, brutal, and savage +man--who accordingly wrote to Campbell of Glenlyon in the following +terms:-- + + Ballacholis, 12 _February_, 1692. + + "SIR,--You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, + the M'Donalds of Glencoe, and putt all to the sword under + seventy. You are to have special care that the old fox and + his sons doe upon no account escape your hands. You are + to secure all the avenues, that no man escape. This you + are to put in execution att five o'clock in the morning + precisely, and by that time, or very shortly after it, I'll + strive to be att you with a stronger party. If I doe not + come to you at five, you are not to tarry for me, but to fall + on. This is by the king's speciall command, for the good + and safety of the country, that these miscreants be cutt off + root and branch. See that this be putt in execution without + feud or favour, else you may expect to be treated as not + true to the king's government, nor a man fitt to carry a + commission in the king's service. Expecting you will not + faill in the fulfilling hereof as you love yourself, I subscribe + these with my hand." ROBERT DUNCANSON. + + + "_For their Majestys' service. + To Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon_." + +This order was but too literally obeyed. At the appointed hour, when the +whole inhabitants of the glen were asleep, the work of murder began. +M'Ian was one of the first who fell. Drummond's narrative fills up the +remainder of the dreadful story. + +"They then served all within the family in the same manner, without +distinction of age or person. In a word--for the horror of that +execrable butchery must give pain to the reader--they left none alive +but a young child, who, being frightened with the noise of the guns, and +the dismal shrieks and cries of its dying parents, whom they were +a-murdering, got hold of Captain Campbell's knees, and wrapt itself +within his cloak; by which, chancing to move compassion, the captain +inclined to have saved it, but one Drummond, an officer, arriving about +the break of day with more troops, commanded it to be shot by a file of +musqueteers. Nothing could be more shocking and horrible than the +prospect of these houses bestrewed with mangled bodies of the dead, +covered with blood, and resounding with the groans of wretches in the +last agonies of life. + +"Two sons of Glencoe's were the only persons that escaped in that +quarter of the country; for, growing jealous of some ill designs from +the behaviour of the soldiers, they stole from their beds a few minutes +before the tragedy began, and, chancing to overhear two of them +discoursing plainly of the matter, they endeavoured to have advertised +their father, but, finding that impracticable, they ran to the other end +of the country and alarmed the inhabitants. There was another accident +that contributed much to their safety; for the night was so excessively +stormy and tempestuous, that four hundred soldiers, who were appointed +to murder these people, were stopped in their march from Inverlochy, and +could not get up till they had time to save themselves. To cover the +deformity of so dreadful a sight, the soldiers burned all the houses to +the ground, after having rifled them, carried away nine hundred cows, +two hundred horses, numberless herds of sheep and goats, and every thing +else that belonged to these miserable people. Lamentable was the case of +the women and children that escaped the butchery; the mountains were +covered with a deep snow, the rivers impassable, storm and tempest +filled the air and added to the horrors and darkness of the night, and +there were no houses to shelter them within many miles."[1] + +Such was the awful massacre of Glencoe, an event which has left an +indelible and execrable stain upon the memory of William of Orange. The +records of Indian warfare can hardly afford a parallel instance of +atrocity: and this deed, coupled with his deliberate treachery in the +Darien scheme, whereby Scotland was for a time absolutely ruined, is +sufficient to account for the little estimation in which the name of the +"great Whig deliverer" is still regarded in the valleys of the North. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: _Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheill_.] + + + + +THE WIDOW OF GLENCOE + + + Do not lift him from the bracken, + Leave him lying where he fell-- + Better bier ye cannot fashion: + None beseems him half so well + As the bare and broken heather, + And the hard and trampled sod, + Whence his angry soul ascended + To the judgment-seat of God! + Winding-sheet we cannot give him-- + Seek no mantle for the dead, + Save the cold and spotless covering + Showered from heaven upon his head. + Leave his broadsword, as we found it, + Bent and broken with the blow, + That, before he died, avenged him + On the foremost of the foe. + Leave the blood upon his bosom-- + Wash not off that sacred stain: + Let it stiffen on the tartan, + Let his wounds unclosed remain, + Till the day when he shall show them + At the throne of God on high, + When the murderer and the murdered + Meet before their Judge's eye! + + Nay--ye should not weep, my children! + Leave it to the faint and weak; + Sobs are but a woman's weapon-- + Tears befit a maiden's cheek. + Weep not, children of Macdonald! + Weep not thou, his orphan heir-- + Not in shame, but stainless honour, + Lies thy slaughtered father there. + Weep not--but when years are over, + And thine arm is strong and sure, + And thy foot is swift and steady + On the mountain and the muir-- + Let thy heart be hard as iron, + And thy wrath as fierce as fire, + Till the hour when vengeance cometh + For the race that slew thy sire; + Till in deep and dark Glenlyon + Rise a louder shriek of woe + Than at midnight, from their eyrie, + Scared the eagles of Glencoe; + Louder than the screams that mingled + With the howling of the blast, + When the murderer's steel was clashing, + And the fires were rising fast; + When thy noble father bounded + To the rescue of his men, + And the slogan of our kindred + Pealed throughout the startled glen; + When the herd of frantic women + Stumbled through the midnight snow, + With their fathers' houses blazing, + And their dearest dead below. + Oh, the horror of the tempest, + As the flashing drift was blown, + Crimsoned with the conflagration, + And the roofs went thundering down! + Oh, the prayers--the prayers and curses + That together winged their flight + From the maddened hearts of many + Through that long and woeful night! + Till the fires began to dwindle, + And the shots grew faint and few, + And we heard the foeman's challenge + Only in a far halloo; + Till the silence once more settled + O'er the gorges of the glen, + Broken only by the Cona + Plunging through its naked den. + Slowly from the mountain-summit + Was the drifting veil withdrawn, + And the ghastly valley glimmered + In the gray December dawn. + Better had the morning never + Dawned upon our dark despair! + Black amidst the common whiteness + Rose the spectral ruins there: + But the sight of these was nothing + More than wrings the wild dove's breast, + When she searches for her offspring + Round the relics of her nest. + For in many a spot the tartan + Peered above the wintry heap, + Marking where a dead Macdonald + Lay within his frozen sleep. + Tremblingly we scooped the covering + From each kindred victim's head, + And the living lips were burning + On the cold ones of the dead. + And I left them with their dearest-- + Dearest charge had everyone-- + Left the maiden with her lover, + Left the mother with her son. + I alone of all was mateless-- + Far more wretched I than they, + For the snow would not discover + Where my lord and husband lay. + But I wandered up the valley + Till I found him lying low, + With the gash upon his bosom, + And the frown upon his brow-- + Till I found him lying murdered + Where he wooed me long ago. + Woman's weakness shall not shame me; + Why should I have tears to shed? + Could I rain them down like water, + O my hero, on thy head, + Could the cry of lamentation + Wake thee from thy silent sleep, + Could it set thy heart a-throbbing, + It were mine to wail and weep. + But I will not waste my sorrow, + Lest the Campbell women say + That the daughters of Clanranald + Are as weak and frail as they. + I had wept thee hadst thou fallen, + Like our fathers, on thy shield, + When a host of English foemen + Camped upon a Scottish field; + I had mourned thee hadst thou perished + With the foremost of his name, + When the valiant and the noble + Died around the dauntless Græme. + But I will not wrong thee, husband! + With my unavailing cries, + Whilst thy cold and mangled body, + Stricken by the traitor, lies; + Whilst he counts the gold and glory + That this hideous night has won, + And his heart is big with triumph + At the murder he has done. + Other eyes than mine shall glisten, + Other hearts be rent in twain, + Ere the heathbells on thy hillock + Wither in the autumn rain. + Then I'll seek thee where thou sleepest, + And I'll veil my weary head, + Praying for a place beside thee, + Dearer than my bridal-bed: + And I'll give thee tears, my husband, + If the tears remain to me, + When the widows of the foemen + Cry the coronach for thee. + + + + +THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS + + +In consequence of a capitulation with Government, the regular troops who +had served under Lord Dundee were transhipped to France, and, +immediately upon their landing, the officers and others had their rank +confirmed according to the tenor of the commissions and characters which +they bore in Scotland. They were distributed throughout the different +garrisons in the north of France, and, though nominally in the service +of King James, derived their whole means of subsistence from the bounty +of the French monarch. So long as it appeared probable that another +descent was meditated, those gentlemen, who were almost without +exception men of considerable family, assented to this arrangement, but +the destruction of the French fleet under Admiral Tourville, off La +Hogue, led to a material change in their views. After that naval +engagement it became obvious that the cause of the fugitive King was in +the mean time desperate, and the Scottish officers, with no less +gallantry than honour, volunteered a sacrifice which, so far as I know, +has hardly been equalled. + +The old and interesting pamphlet written by one of the corps,[2] from +which I have extracted most of the following details, but which is +seldom perused except by the antiquary, states that, "The Scottish +officers, considering that, by the loss of the French Fleet, King +James's restoration would be retarded for some time, and that they were +burdensome to the King of France, being entertained in garrisons on +whole pay, without doing duty, when he had almost all Europe in +confederacy against him, therefore humbly entreated King James to have +them reduced into a company of private sentinels, and choose officers +amongst themselves to command them, assuring his majesty that they would +serve in the meanest circumstances, and undergo the greatest hardships +and fatigues that reason could imagine, or misfortunes inflict, until it +pleased God to restore him. King James commended their generosity and +loyalty, but disapproved of what they proposed, and told them it was +impossible that gentlemen who had served in so honourable posts as +formerly they had enjoyed, and lived in so great plenty and ease, could +ever undergo the fatigue and hardships of private sentinels' duty. +Again, that his own first command was a company of officers, whereof +several died, others, wearied with fatigue, drew their discharges, till +at last it dwindled into nothing, and he got no reputation by the +command: therefore he desired them to insist no more on that project. +The officers (notwithstanding his majesty's desire to the contrary) made +several interests at court, and harassed him so much, that at last he +condescended," and appointed those who were to command them. + +Shortly afterwards the new corps was reviewed for the first and last +time by the unfortunate James in the gardens of Saint Germains, and the +tears are said to have gushed from his eyes at the sight of so many +brave men, reduced, through their disinterested and persevering loyalty, +to so very humble a condition. "Gentlemen," said he, "my own misfortunes +are not so nigh my heart as yours. It grieves me beyond what I can +express to see so many brave and worthy gentlemen, who had once the +prospect of being the chief officers in my army, reduced to the stations +of private sentinels. Nothing but your loyalty, and that of a few of my +subjects in Britain, who are forced from their allegiance by the Prince +of Orange, and who, I know, will be ready on all occasions to serve me +and my distressed family, could make me willing to live. The sense of +what all of you have done and undergone for your loyalty hath made so +deep an impression upon my heart, that, if it ever please God to restore +me, it is impossible I can be forgetful of your services and sufferings. +Neither can there be any posts in the armies of my dominions but what +you have just pretensions to. As for my son, your Prince, he is of your +own blood, a child capable of any impression, and, as his education will +be from you, it is not supposable that he can forget your merits. At +your own desires you are now going a long march far distant from me. +Fear God and love one another. Write your wants particularly to me, and +depend upon it always to find me your parent and King." The scene bore a +strong resemblance to one which many years afterwards occurred at +Fontainebleau. The company listened to his words with deep emotion, +gathered round him, as if half repentant of their own desire to go, and +so parted, for ever on this earth, the dethroned monarch and his exiled +subjects. + +The number of this company of officers was about one hundred and twenty: +their destination was Perpignan in Rousillon, close upon the frontier of +Spain, where they were to join the army under the command of the +Mareschal de Noailles. Their power of endurance, though often most +severely tested in an unwholesome climate, seems to have been no less +remarkable than their gallantry, which upon many occasions called forth +the warm acknowledgment of the French commanders. "_Le gentilhomme_," +said one of the generals, in acknowledgment of their readiness at a +peculiarly critical moment, "_est toujours gentilhomme, et se montre +toujours tel dans besoin et dans le danger_"--a eulogy as applicable to +them as it was in later days to La Tour d'Auvergne, styled the first +grenadier of France. At Perpignan they were joined by two other +Scottish companies, and the three seem to have continued to serve +together for several campaigns. + +As a proof of the estimation in which they were held, I shall merely +extract a short account of the taking of Rosas in Catalonia, before +referring to the exploit which forms the subject of the following +ballad. "On the 27th of May, the company of officers and other Scottish +companies, were joined by two companies of Irish, to make up a battalion +in order to mount the trenches; and the major part of the officers +listed themselves in the company of grenadiers, under the command of the +brave Major Rutherford, who, on his way to the trenches, in sight of +Mareschal de Noailles and his court, marched with his company on the +side of the trench, which exposed him to the fire of a bastion, where +there were two culverins and several other guns planted; likewise to the +fire of two curtins lined with small shot. Colonel Brown, following with +the battalion, was obliged, in honour, to march the same way Major +Rutherford had done; the danger whereof the Mareschal immediately +perceiving, ordered one of his aides-de-camp to command Rutherford to +march under cover of the trench, which he did; and if he had but delayed +six minutes, the grenadiers and battalion had been cut to pieces. +Rutherford, with his grenadiers, marched to a trench near the town, and +the battalion to a trench on the rear and flank of the grenadiers, who +fired so incessantly on the besieged, that they thought (the trench +being practicable) they were going to make their attacks, immediately +beat a chamade, and were willing to give up the town upon reasonable +terms: but the Mareschal's demands were so exorbitant, that the Governor +could not agree to them. Then firing began on both sides to be very hot; +and they in the town, seeing how the grenadiers lay, killed eight of +them. When the Governor surrendered the town, he inquired of the +Mareschal what countrymen these grenadiers were; and assured him it was +on their account he delivered up the town, because they fired so hotly, +that he believed they were resolved to attack the breach. He answered, +smiling, _'Ces sont mes enfants_--They are my children.' Again; 'they +are the King of Great Britain's Scottish officers, who, to show their +willingness to share of his miseries, have reduced themselves to the +carrying of arms, and chosen to serve under my command.' The next day, +when the Mareschal rode along the front of the camp, he halted at the +company of the officers' piquet, and they all surrounded him. Then, with +his hat in his hand, he thanked them for their good services in the +trenches, and freely acknowledged it was their conduct and courage which +compelled the Governor to give up the town; and assured them he would +acquaint his master with the same, which he did. For when his son +arrived with the news at Versailles, the King, having read the letter, +immediately took coach to St. Germains; and when he had shown King James +the letter, he thanked him for the services his subjects had done in +taking Rosas in Catalonia; who, with concern, replied, they were the +stock of his British officers, and that he was sorry he could not make +better provision for them." + +And a miserable provision it was! They were gradually compelled to part +with every remnant of the property which they had secured from the ruins +of their fortunes; so that when they arrived, after various adventures, +at Scelestat, in Alsace, they were literally without the common means of +subsistence. Famine and the sword had, by this time, thinned their +ranks, but had not diminished their spirit, as the following narrative +of their last exploit will show:-- + +"In December 1697, General Stirk, who commanded for the Germans, +appeared with 16,000 men on the other side of the Rhine, which obliged +the Marquis de Sell to draw out all the garrisons in Alsace, who made up +about 4000 men; and he encamped on the other side of the Rhine, over +against General Stirk, to prevent his passing the Rhine and carrying a +bridge over into an island in the middle of it, which the French foresaw +would be of great prejudice to them. For the enemy's guns, placed on +that island, would extremely gall their camp, which they could not +hinder for the deepness of the water and their wanting of boats--for +which the Marquis quickly sent; but arriving too late, the Germans had +carried a bridge over into the island, where they had posted above five +hundred men, who, by order of their engineers, intrenched themselves: +which the company of officers perceiving, who always grasped after +honour, and scorned all thoughts of danger, resolved to wade the river, +and attack the Germans in the island; and for that effect, desired +Captain John Foster, who then commanded them, to beg of the Marquis that +they might have liberty to attack the Germans in the island; who told +Captain Foster, when the boats came up, they should be the first that +attacked. Foster courteously thanked the Marquis, and told him they +would wade into the island, who shrunk up his shoulders, prayed God to +bless them, and desired them to do what they pleased." Whereupon the +officers, with the other two Scottish companies, made themselves ready; +and having secured their arms round their necks, waded into the river +hand-in-hand, "according to the Highland fashion," with the water as +high as their breasts; and having crossed the heavy stream, fell upon +the Germans in their intrenchment. These were presently thrown into +confusion, and retreated, breaking down their own bridges, whilst many +of them were drowned. This movement, having been made in the dusk of the +evening, partook of the character of a surprise; but it appears to me a +very remarkable one, as having been effected under such circumstances, +in the dead of winter, and in the face of an enemy who possessed the +advantages both of position and of numerical superiority. The author of +the narrative adds:--"When the Marquis de Sell heard the firing, and +understood that the Germans were beat out of the island, he made the +sign of the cross on his face and breast, and declared publicly, that it +was the bravest action that ever he saw, and that his army had no honour +by it. As soon as the boats came, the Marquis sent into the island to +acquaint the officers that he would send them both troops and +provisions, who thanked his Excellency, and desired he should be +informed that they wanted no troops, and could not spare time to make +use of provisions, and only desired spades, shovels, and pickaxes, +wherewith they might intrench themselves--which were immediately sent to +them. The next morning, the Marquis came into the island, and kindly +embraced every officer, and thanked them for the good service they had +done his master, assuring them he would write a true account of their +honour and bravery to the Court of France, which, at the reading his +letters, immediately went to St. Germains, and thanked King James for +the services his subjects had done on the Rhine." + +The company kept possession of the island for nearly six weeks, +notwithstanding repeated attempts on the part of the Germans to surprise +and dislodge them; but all these having been defeated by the extreme +watchfulness of the Scots, General Stirk at length drew off his army and +retreated. "In consequence of this action," says the chronicler, "that +island is called at present Isle d'Ecosse, and will in likelihood bear +that name until the general conflagration." + +Two years afterwards, a treaty of peace was concluded; and this gallant +company of soldiers, worthy of a better fate, was broken up and +dispersed. At the time when the narrative, from which I have quoted so +freely, was compiled, not more than sixteen of Dundee's veterans were +alive. The author concludes thus,--"And thus was dissolved one of the +best companies that ever marched under command! Gentlemen, who, in the +midst of all their pressures and obscurity, never forgot they were +gentlemen; and whom the sweets of a brave, a just, and honourable +conscience, rendered perhaps more happy under those sufferings, than the +most prosperous and triumphant in iniquity, since our minds stamp our +happiness." + +Some years ago, while visiting the ancient Scottish convent at Ratisbon, +my attention was drawn to the monumental inscriptions on the walls of +the dormitory, many of which bear reference to gentlemen of family and +distinction, whose political principles had involved them in the +troubles of 1688, 1715, and 1745. Whether the cloister which now holds +their dust had afforded them a shelter in the later years of their +misfortunes, I know not; but for one that is so commemorated, hundreds +of the exiles must have passed away in obscurity, buried in the field on +which they fell, or carried from the damp vaults of the military +hospital to the trench, without any token of remembrance, or any other +wish beyond that which the minstrels have ascribed to one of the +greatest of our olden heroes-- + + "Oh bury me by the bracken bush, + Beneath the blooming brier: + Let never living mortal ken + That a kindly Scot lies here!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 2: _An account of Dundee's Officers after they went to +France_. By an Officer of the Army. London, 1714.] + + + + +THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS + + + I. + + The Rhine is running deep and red, + The island lies before-- + "Now is there one of all the host + Will dare to venture o'er? + For not alone the river's sweep + Might make a brave man quail: + The foe are on the further side, + Their shot comes fast as hail. + God help us, if the middle isle + We may not hope to win! + Now, is there any of the host + Will dare to venture in?" + + + II. + + "The ford is deep, the banks are steep, + The island-shore lies wide: + Nor man nor horse could stem its force, + Or reach the further side. + See there! amidst the willow boughs + The serried bayonets gleam; + They've flung their bridge--they've won the isle; + The foe have crossed the stream! + Their volley flashes sharp and strong-- + By all the Saints, I trow, + There never yet was soldier born + Could force that passage now!" + + + III + + So spoke the bold French Mareschal + With him who led the van, + Whilst rough and red before their view + The turbid river ran. + Nor bridge nor boat had they to cross + The wild and swollen Rhine, + And thundering on the other bank + Far stretched the German line. + Hard by there stood a swarthy man + Was leaning on his sword, + And a saddened smile lit up his face + As he heard the Captain's word. + "I've seen a wilder stream ere now + Than that which rushes there; + I've stemmed a heavier torrent yet + And never thought to dare. + If German steel be sharp and keen, + Is ours not strong and true? + There may be danger in the deed, + But there is honour too." + + + IV. + + The old lord in his saddle turned, + And hastily he said-- + "Hath bold Dugueselin's fiery heart + Awakened from the dead? + Thou art the leader of the Scots-- + Now well and sure I know, + That gentle blood in dangerous hour + Ne'er yet ran cold nor slow, + And I have seen ye in the fight + Do all that mortal may: + If honour is the boon ye seek + It may be won this day. + The prize is in the middle isle, + There lies the venturous way; + And armies twain are on the plain, + The daring deed to see-- + Now ask thy gallant company + If they will follow thee!" + + + V. + + Right gladsome looked the Captain then, + And nothing did he say, + But he turned him to his little band-- + Oh few, I ween, were they! + The relics of the bravest force + That ever fought in fray. + No one of all that company + But bore a gentle name, + Not one whose fathers had not stood + In Scotland's fields of fame. + All they had marched with great Dundee + To where he fought and fell, + And in the deadly battle-strife + Had venged their leader well; + And they had bent the knee to earth + When every eye was dim, + As o'er their hero's buried corpse + They sang the funeral hymn; + And they had trod the Pass once more, + And stooped on either side + To pluck the heather from the spot + Where he had dropped and died; + And they had bound it next their hearts, + And ta'en a last farewell + Of Scottish earth and Scottish sky, + Where Scotland's glory fell. + Then went they forth to foreign lands + Like bent and broken men, + Who leave their dearest hope behind, + And may not turn again! + + + VI. + + "The stream," he said, "is broad and deep, + And stubborn is the foe-- + Yon island-strength is guarded well-- + Say, brothers, will ye go? + From home and kin for many a year + Our steps have wandered wide, + And never may our bones be laid + Our fathers' graves beside. + No sisters have we to lament, + No wives to wail our fall; + The traitor's and the spoiler's hand + Have reft our hearths of all. + But we have hearts, and we have arms + As strong to will and dare + As when our ancient banners flew + Within the northern air. + Come, brothers; let me name a spell + Shall rouse your souls again, + And send the old blood bounding free + Through pulse, and heart, and vein! + Call back the days of bygone years-- + Be young and strong once more; + Think yonder stream, so stark and red, + Is one we've crossed before. + Rise, hill and glen! rise, crag and wood! + Rise up on either hand-- + Again upon the Garry's banks, + On Scottish soil we stand! + Again I see the tartans wave, + Again the trumpets ring; + Again I hear our leader's call-- + 'Upon them, for the King!' + Stayed we behind that glorious day + For roaring flood or linn? + The soul of Græme is with us still-- + Now, brothers! will ye in?" + + + VII. + + No stay--no pause. With one accord + They grasped each others' hand, + And plunged into the angry flood, + That bold and dauntless band. + High flew the spray above their heads, + Yet onward still they bore, + Midst cheer, and shout, and answering yell, + And shot and cannon roar. + "Now by the Holy Cross! I swear, + Since earth and sea began + Was never such a daring deed + Essayed by mortal man!" + + + VIII. + + Thick blew the smoke across the stream, + And faster flashed the flame: + The water plashed in hissing jets + As ball and bullet came. + Yet onwards pushed the Cavaliers + All stern and undismayed, + With thousand armèd foes before, + And none behind to aid. + Once, as they neared the middle stream, + So strong the torrent swept, + That scarce that long and living wall, + Their dangerous footing kept. + Then rose a warning cry behind, + A joyous shout before: + "The current's strong--the way is long-- + They'll never reach the shore! + See, see! They stagger in the midst, + They waver in their line! + Fire on the madmen! break their ranks, + And whelm them in the Rhine!" + + + IX. + + Have you seen the tall trees swaying + When the blast is piping shrill, + And the whirlwind reels in fury + Down the gorges of the hill? + How they toss their mighty branches, + Striving with the tempest's shock; + How they keep their place of vantage, + Cleaving firmly to the rock? + Even so the Scottish warriors + Held their own against the river; + Though the water flashed around them, + Not an eye was seen to quiver; + Though the shot flew sharp and deadly, + Not a man relaxed his hold: + For their hearts were big and thrilling + With the mighty thoughts of old. + One word was spoke among them, + And through the ranks it spread-- + "Remember our dead Claverhouse!" + Was all the Captain said. + Then, sternly bending forward, + They struggled on awhile, + Until they cleared the heavy stream, + Then rushed towards the isle. + + + X. + + The German heart is stout and true, + The German arm is strong; + The German foot goes seldom back + Where armèd foemen throng. + But never had they faced in field + So stern a charge before, + And never had they felt the sweep + Of Scotland's broad claymore. + Not fiercer pours the avalanche + Adown the steep incline, + That rises o'er the parent springs + Of rough and rapid Rhine-- + Scarce swifter shoots the bolt from heaven + Than came the Scottish band, + Right up against the guarded trench, + And o'er it, sword in hand. + In vain their leaders forward press-- + They meet the deadly brand! + O lonely island of the Rhine, + Where seed was never sown, + What harvest lay upon thy sands, + By those strong reapers thrown? + What saw the winter moon that night, + As, struggling through the rain, + She poured a wan and fitful light + On marsh, and stream, and plain? + A dreary spot with corpses strewn, + And bayonets glistening round; + A broken bridge, a stranded boat, + A bare and battered mound; + And one huge watch-fire's kindled pile, + That sent its quivering glare + To tell the leaders of the host + The conquering Scots were there! + + + XI. + + And did they twine the laurel-wreath + For those who fought so well? + And did they honour those who lived, + And weep for those who fell? + What meed of thanks was given to them + Let aged annals tell. + Why should they twine the laurel-wreath-- + Why crown the cup with wine? + It was not Frenchman's blood that flowed + So freely on the Rhine-- + A stranger band of beggared men + Had done the venturous deed: + The glory was to France alone, + The danger was their meed. + And what cared they for idle thanks + From foreign prince and peer? + What virtue had such honeyed words + The exiles' hearts to cheer? + What mattered it that men should vaunt, + And loud and fondly swear, + That higher feat of chivalry + Was never wrought elsewhere? + They bore within their breasts the grief + That fame can never heal-- + The deep, unutterable woe + Which none save exiles feel. + Their hearts were yearning for the land + They ne'er might see again-- + For Scotland's high and heathered hills, + For mountain, loch, and glen-- + For those who haply lay at rest + Beyond the distant sea, + Beneath the green and daisied turf + Where they would gladly be! + + + XII. + + Long years went by. The lonely isle + In Rhine's impetuous flood + Has ta'en another name from those + Who bought it with their blood: + And though the legend does not live, + For legends lightly die, + The peasant, as he sees the stream + In winter rolling by, + And foaming o'er its channel-bed + Between him and the spot + Won by the warriors of the sword, + Still calls that deep and dangerous ford + The Passage of the Scot. + + + + +CHARLES EDWARD AT VERSAILLES + + +Though the sceptre had departed from the House of Stuart, it was +reserved for one of its last descendants to prove to the world, by his +personal gallantry and noble spirit of enterprise, that he at least had +not degenerated from his royal line of ancestors. The daring effort of +Charles Edward to recover the crown of these kingdoms for his father, is +to us the most remarkable incident of the last century. It was +honourable alike to the Prince and to those who espoused his cause; and, +even in a political point of view, the outbreak ought not to be +deplored, since its failure put an end for ever to the dynastical +struggle which, for more than half a century, had agitated the whole of +Britain, established the rule of law and of social order throughout the +mountainous districts of Scotland, and blended Celt and Saxon into one +prosperous and united people. It was better that the antiquated system +of clanship should have expired in a blaze of glory, than gradually +dwindled into contempt; better that the patriarchal rule should at once +have been extinguished by the dire catastrophe of Culloden, than that it +should have lingered on, the shadow of an old tradition. There is +nothing now to prevent us from dwelling with pride and admiration on the +matchless devotion displayed by the Highlanders, in 1745, in behalf of +the heir of him whom they acknowledged as their lawful king. No feeling +can arise to repress the interest and the sympathy which is excited by +the perusal of the tale narrating the sufferings of the princely +wanderer. That un-bought loyalty and allegiance of the heart, which +would not depart from its constancy until the tomb of the Vatican had +closed upon the last of the Stuart line, has long since been transferred +to the constitutional sovereign of these realms; and the enthusiastic +welcome which has so often greeted the return of Queen Victoria to her +Highland home, owes its origin to a deeper feeling than that dull +respect which modern liberalism asserts to be the only tribute due to +the first magistrate of the land. + +The campaign of 1745 yields in romantic interest to none which is +written in history. A young and inexperienced prince, whose person was +utterly unknown to any of his adherents, landed on the west coast of +Scotland, not at the head of a foreign force, not munimented with +supplies and arms, but accompanied by a mere handful of followers, and +ignorant of the language of the people amongst whom he was hazarding his +person. His presence in Scotland had not been urged by the chiefs of the +clans, most of whom were deeply averse to embarking in an enterprise +which must involve them in a war with so powerful an antagonist as +England, and which, if unsuccessful, could only terminate in the utter +ruin of their fortunes. This was not a cause in which the whole of +Scotland was concerned. Although it was well known that many leading +families in the Lowlands entertained Jacobite opinions, and although a +large proportion of the common people had not yet become reconciled to, +or satisfied of, the advantages of the Union, by which they considered +themselves dishonoured and betrayed, it was hardly to be expected that, +without some fair guarantee for success, the bulk of the Scottish nation +would actively bestir themselves on the side of the exiled family. +Besides this, even amongst the Highlanders there was not unanimity of +opinion. The three northern clans of Sutherland, Mackay, and Monro, were +known to be staunch supporters of the Government. It was doubtful what +part might be taken in the struggle by those of Mackenzie and Ross. The +chiefs of Skye, who could have brought a large force of armed men into +the field, had declined participating in the attempt. The assistance of +Lord Lovat, upon whom the co-operation of the Frasers might depend, +could not be calculated on with certainty; and nothing but hostility +could be expected from the powerful sept of the Campbells. Under such +circumstances, it is little wonder if Cameron of Locheill, the most +sagacious of all the chieftains who favoured the Stuart cause, was +struck with consternation and alarm at the news of the Prince's +landing, or that he attempted to persuade him from undertaking an +adventure so seemingly hopeless. Mr. Robert Chambers, in his admirable +history of that period, does not in the least exaggerate the importance +of the interview, on the result of which the prosecution of the war +depended. "On arriving at Borrodale, Locheill had a private interview +with the Prince, in which the probabilities of the enterprise were +anxiously debated. Charles used every argument to excite the loyalty of +Locheill, and the chief exerted all his eloquence to persuade the Prince +to withdraw till a better opportunity. Charles represented the present +as the best possible opportunity, seeing that the French general kept +the British army completely engaged abroad, while at home there were no +troops but one or two newly-raised regiments. He expressed his +confidence that a small body of Highlanders would be sufficient to gain +a victory over all the force that could now be brought against him; and +he was equally sure that such an advantage was all that was required to +make his friends at home declare in his favour, and cause those abroad +to send him assistance. All he wanted was that the Highlanders should +begin the war. Locheill still resisted, entreating Charles to be more +temperate, and consent to remain concealed where he was, till his +friends should meet together and concert what was best to be done. +Charles, whose mind was wound up to the utmost pitch of impatience, paid +no regard to this proposal, but answered that he was determined to put +all to the hazard. 'In a few days,' said he, 'with the few friends I +have, I will raise the royal standard, and proclaim to the people of +Britain that Charles Stuart is come over to claim the crown of his +ancestors--to win it, or to perish in the attempt! Locheill--who, my +father has often told me, was our firmest friend--may stay at home, and +learn from the newspapers the fate of his Prince!' 'No!' said Locheill, +stung by so poignant a reproach, and hurried away by the enthusiasm of +the moment; 'I will share the fate of my Prince, and so shall every man +over whom nature or fortune has given me any power.' Such was the +juncture upon which depended the civil war of 1745; for it is a point +agreed, says Mr. Home, who narrates this conversation, that if Locheill +had persisted in his refusal to take arms, no other chief would have +joined the standard, and the spark of rebellion must have been instantly +extinguished." Not more than twelve hundred men were assembled in +Glenfinnan on the day when the standard was unfurled by the Marquis of +Tullibardine, and, at the head of this mere handful of followers, +Charles Edward commenced the stupendous enterprise of reconquering the +dominions of his fathers. + +With a force which, at the battle of Preston, did not double the above +numbers, the Prince descended upon the Lowlands, having baffled the +attempts of General Cope to intercept his march--occupied the city of +Perth and the town of Dundee, and finally, after a faint show of +resistance on the part of the burghers, took possession of the ancient +capital of Scotland, and once more established a court in the halls of +Holyrood. His youth, his gallantry, and the grace and beauty of his +person, added to a most winning and affable address, acquired for him +the sympathy of many who, from political motives, abstained from +becoming his adherents. Possibly certain feelings of nationality, which +no deliberate views of civil or religious policy could altogether +extirpate, led such men to regard, with a sensation akin to pride, the +spectacle of a prince descended from the long line of Scottish kings, +again occupying his ancestral seat, and restoring to their country, +which had been utterly neglected by the new dynasty, a portion of its +former state. No doubt a sense of pity for the probable fate of one so +young and chivalrous was often present to their minds, for they had +thorough confidence in the intrepidity of the regular troops, and in the +capacity of their commander; and they never for a moment supposed that +these could be successfully encountered by a raw levy of undisciplined +Highlanders, ill-armed and worse equipped, and without the support of +any artillery. + +The issue of the battle of Prestonpans struck Edinburgh with amazement. +In point of numbers the two armies were nearly equal, but in every thing +else, save personal valour, the royal troops had the advantage. And yet, +_in four minutes_--for the battle is said not to have lasted +longer--the Highlanders having only made one terrific and impetuous +charge--the rout of the regulars was general. The infantry was broken +and cut to pieces; the dragoons, who behaved shamefully on the occasion, +turned bridle and fled, without having once crossed swords with the +enemy. Mr. Chambers thus terminates his account of the action: "The +general result of the battle of Preston may be stated as having been the +total overthrow and almost entire destruction of the royal army. Most of +the infantry, falling upon the park walls of Preston, were there huddled +together, without the power of resistance, into a confused drove, and +had either to surrender or to be cut to pieces. Many, in vainly +attempting to climb over the walls, fell an easy prey to the ruthless +claymore. Nearly 400, it is said, were thus slain, 700 taken, while only +about 170 in all succeeded in effecting their escape. + +"The dragoons, with worse conduct, were much more fortunate. In falling +back, they had the good luck to find outlets from their respective +positions by the roads which ran along the various extremities of the +park wall, and they thus got clear through the village with little +slaughter; after which, as the Highlanders had no horse to pursue them, +they were safe. Several officers, among whom were Fowkes and Lascelles, +escaped to Cockenzie and along Seton Sands, in a direction contrary to +the general flight. + +"The unfortunate Cope had attempted, at the first break of Gardiner's +dragoons, to stop and rally them, but was borne headlong, with the +confused bands, through the narrow road to the south of the enclosures, +notwithstanding all his efforts to the contrary. On getting beyond the +village, where he was joined by the retreating bands of the other +regiment, he made one anxious effort, with the Earls of Loudoun and +Home, to form and bring them back to charge the enemy, now disordered by +the pursuit; but in vain. They fled on, ducking their heads along their +horses' necks to escape the bullets which the pursuers occasionally sent +after them. By using great exertions, and holding pistols to the heads +of the troopers, Sir John and a few of his officers induced a small +number of them to halt in a field near St. Clement's Wells, about two +miles from the battle-ground. But, after a momentary delay, the +accidental firing of a pistol renewed the panic, and they rode off once +more in great disorder. Sir John Cope, with a portion of them, reached +Channelkirk at an early hour in the forenoon, and there halted to +breakfast, and to write a brief note to one of the state-officers, +relating the fate of the day. He then resumed his flight, and reached +Coldstream that night. Next morning he proceeded to Berwick, whose +fortifications seemed competent to give the security he required. He +everywhere brought the first tidings of his own defeat." + +This victory operated very much in favour of Prince Charles. It secured +him, for a season, the undisputed possession of Scotland, and enabled +numerous adherents from all parts of the country to raise such forces as +they could command, and to repair to his banner. His popularity in +Edinburgh daily increased, as the qualities of his person and mind +became known; and such testimony as the following, with respect to his +estimation by the fair sex, and the devotion they exhibited in his +cause, is not overcharged. "His affability and great personal grace +wrought him high favour with the ladies, who, as we learn from, the +letters of President Forbes, became generally so zealous in his cause, +as to have some serious effect in inducing their admirers to declare for +the Prince. There was, we know for certain, a Miss Lumsden, who plainly +told her lover, a young artist, named Robert Strange, that he might +think no more of her unless he should immediately join Prince Charles, +and thus actually prevailed upon him to take up arms. It may be added +that he survived the enterprise, escaped with great difficulty, and +married the lady. He was afterwards the best line-engraver of his time, +and received the honour of knighthood from George III. White ribbons and +breastknots became at this time conspicuous articles of female attire in +private assemblies. The ladies also showed considerable zeal in +contributing plate and other articles for the use of the Chevalier at +the palace, and in raising pecuniary subsidies for him. Many a +posset-dish and snuff-box, many a treasured necklace and repeater, many +a jewel which had adorned its successive generations of family +beauties, was at this time sold or laid in pledge, to raise a little +money for the service of Prince Charlie." + +As to the motives and intended policy of this remarkable and unfortunate +young man, it may be interesting to quote the terms of the proclamation +which he issued on the 10th October, 1745, before commencing his march +into England. Let his history be impartially read, his character, as +spoken to by those who knew him best, fairly noted, and I think there +cannot be a doubt that, had he succeeded in his daring attempt, he would +have been true to the letter of his word, and fulfilled a pledge which +Britain never more required than at the period when that document was +penned:-- + +"Do not the pulpits and congregations of the clergy, as well as your +weekly papers, ring with the dreadful threats of popery, slavery, +tyranny, and arbitrary power, which are now ready to be imposed upon you +by the formidable powers of France and Spain? Is not my royal father +represented as a bloodthirsty tyrant, breathing out nothing but +destruction to all who will not immediately embrace an odious religion? +Or have I myself been better used? But listen only to the naked truth. + +"I, with my own money, hired a small vessel. Ill-supplied with money, +arms, or friends, I arrived in Scotland, attended by seven persons. I +publish the King my father's declaration, and proclaim his title, with +pardon in one hand, and in the other liberty of conscience, and the most +solemn promises to grant whatever a free Parliament shall propose for +the happiness of a people. I have, I confess, the greatest reason to +adore the goodness of Almighty God, who has in so remarkable a manner +protected me and my small army through the many dangers to which we were +at first exposed, and who has led me in the way to victory, and to the +capital of this ancient kingdom, amidst the acclamations of the King my +father's subjects. Why, then, is so much pains taken to spirit up the +minds of the people against this my undertaking? + +"The reason is obvious; it is, lest the real sense of the nation's +present sufferings should blot out the remembrance of past misfortunes, +and of the outcries formerly raised against the royal family. Whatever +miscarriages might have given occasion to them, they have been more than +atoned for since; and the nation has now an opportunity of being secured +against the like in future. + +"That our family has suffered exile during these fifty-seven years +everybody knows. Has the nation, during that period of time, been the +more happy and flourishing for it? Have you found reason to love and +cherish your governors as the fathers of the people of Great Britain and +Ireland? Has a family, upon whom a faction unlawfully bestowed the +diadem of a rightful prince, retained a due sense of so great a trust +and favour? Have you found more humanity and condescension in those who +were not born to a crown, than in my royal forefathers? Have their ears +been open to the cries of the people? Have they, or do they consider +only the interests of these nations? Have you reaped any other benefit +from them than an immense load of debt? If I am answered in the +affirmative, why has their government been so often railed at in all +your public assemblies? Why has the nation been so long crying out in +vain for redress against the abuse of Parliaments, upon account of their +long duration, the multitude of placemen, which occasions their +venality, the introduction of penal laws, and, in general, against the +miserable situation of the kingdom at home and abroad? All these, and +many more inconveniences, must now be removed, unless the people of +Great Britain be already so far corrupted that they will not accept of +freedom when offered to them, seeing the King, on his restoration, will +refuse nothing that a free Parliament can ask for the security of the +religion, laws, and liberty of his people. + +"It is now time to conclude; and I shall do it with this reflection. +Civil wars are ever attended with rancour and ill-will, which party rage +never fails to produce in the minds of those whom different interests, +principles or views, set in opposition to one another. I, therefore, +earnestly require it of my friends to give as little loose as possible +to such passions: this will prove the most effectual means to prevent +the same in the enemies of my royal cause. And this my declaration will +vindicate to all posterity the nobleness of my undertaking, and the +generosity of my intentions." + +There was much truth in the open charges preferred in this declaration +against the existing government. The sovereigns of the house of Hanover +had always shown a marked predilection for their Continental +possessions, and had proportionally neglected the affairs of Britain. +Under Walpole's administration the imperial Parliament had degenerated +from an independent assembly to a junta of placemen, and the most +flagitious system of bribery was openly practised and avowed. It was not +without reason that Charles contrasted the state of the nation then, +with its position when under the rule of the legitimate family; and had +there not been a strong, though, I think, unreasonable suspicion in the +minds of many, that his success would be the prelude to a vigorous +attack upon the established religions of the country, and that he would +be inclined to follow out in this respect the fatal policy of his +grandfather, Charles would in all probability have received a more +active and general support than was accorded to him. The zeal with which +the Episcopalian party in Scotland espoused his cause, naturally gave +rise to the idea that the attempt of the Prince was of evil omen to +Presbytery; and the settlement of the Church upon its present footing +was yet so recent, that the sores of the old feud were still festering +and green. The established clergy, therefore, were, nearly to a man, +opposed to his pretensions; and one minister of Edinburgh, at the time +when the Highland host was in possession of the city, had the courage to +conclude his prayer nearly in the following terms--"Bless the king; Thou +knows what king I mean--may his crown long sit easy on his head. And as +to this young man who has come among us to seek an earthly crown, we +beseech Thee in mercy to take him to Thyself, and give him a crown of +glory!" At the same time, it is very curious to observe, that the most +violent sect of Presbyterians, who might be considered as the +representatives of the extreme Cameronian principle, and who had early +seceded from the Church, and bitterly opposed the union of the kingdoms, +were not indisposed, on certain terms, to coalesce with the Jacobites. +It is hardly possible to understand the motives which actuated these +men, who appear to have regarded each successive government as equally +obnoxious. Some writers go the length of averring that, in 1688, a +negociation was opened by one section of the Covenanters with Lord +Dundee, with the object of resistance to the usurpation of William of +Orange, and that the project was frustrated only by the death of that +heroic nobleman. Sir Walter Scott--a great authority--seems to have been +convinced that such was the case; but, in the absence of direct proof, +I can hardly credit it. It is perfectly well known that a conspiracy was +formed by a certain section of the Cameronian party to assassinate Lords +Dundee and Dunfermline whilst in attendance at the meeting of Estates; +and, although the recognition of William as king might not have been +palatable to others who held the same opinions, it would be a strange +thing if they had so suddenly resolved to assist Dundee in his efforts +for the exiled family. But the political changes in Scotland, more +especially the union, seem to have inspired some of these men with a +spirit of disaffection to the government; for, according to Mr. +Chambers, the most rigid sect of Presbyterians had, since the +revolution, expressed a strong desire to coalesce with the Jacobites, +with the hope, in case the house of Stuart were restored, to obtain what +they called a covenanted king. Of this sect one thousand had assembled +in Dumfriesshire at the first intelligence of the insurrection, bearing +arms and colours, and supposed to contemplate a junction with the +Chevalier. But these religionists were now almost as violently distinct +from the Established Church of Scotland as ever they had been from those +of England and Rome, and had long ceased to play a prominent part in the +national disputes. The Established clergy, and the greater part of their +congregations, were averse to Charles upon considerations perfectly +moderate, at the same time not easy to be shaken. + +On commencing his march into England, Charles found himself at the head +of an army of between five thousand and six thousand men, which force +was considered strong enough, with the augmentations it might receive on +the way, to effect the occupation of London. Had the English Jacobites +performed their part with the same zeal as the Scots, it is more than +probable that the attempt would have been crowned with success. As it +was, the Prince succeeded in reducing the strong fortified town of +Carlisle, and in marching, without opposition, through the heart of +England, as far as Derby, within one hundred miles of the metropolis. +But here his better genius deserted him. Discord had crept into his +councils; for some of the chiefs became seriously alarmed at finding +that the gentry of England were not prepared to join the expedition, but +preferred remaining at home inactive spectators of the contest. Except +at Manchester, they had received few or no recruits. No tidings had +reached them from Wales, a country supposed to be devoted to the cause +of King James, whilst it was well known that a large force was already +in arms to oppose the clans. Mr. Chambers gives us the following +details. "At a council of war held on the morning of the 5th December, +Lord George Murray and the other members gave it as their unanimous +opinion that the army ought to return to Scotland. Lord George pointed +out that they were about to be environed by three armies, amounting +collectively to about thirty thousand men, while their own forces were +not above five thousand, if so many. Supposing an unsuccessful +engagement with any of these armies, it could not be expected that one +man would escape, for the militia would beset every road. The Prince, if +not slain in the battle, must fall into the enemy's hands: the whole +world would blame them as fools for running into such a risk. Charles +answered, that he regarded not his own danger. He pressed, with all the +force of argument, to go forward. He did not doubt, he said, that the +justice of his cause would prevail. He was hopeful that there might be a +defection in the enemy's army, and that many would declare for him. He +was so very bent on putting all to the risk, that the Duke of Perth was +for it, since his Royal Highness was. At last he proposed going to Wales +instead of returning to Carlisle; but every other officer declared his +opinion for a retreat. These are nearly the words of Lord George Murray. +We are elsewhere told that the Prince condescended to use entreaties to +induce his adherents to alter their resolution. 'Rather than go back,' +he said, 'I would wish to be twenty feet under ground!' His chagrin, +when he found his councillors obdurate, was beyond all bounds. The +council broke up, on the understanding that the retreat was to commence +next morning, Lord George volunteering to take the place of honour in +the rear, provided only that he should not be troubled with the +baggage." + +This resolution was received by the army with marks of unequivocal +vexation. Retreat, in their estimation, was little less than overthrow; +and it was most galling to find that, after all their labours, hazards, +and toils, they were doomed to disappointment at the very moment when +the prize seemed ready for their grasp. That the movement was an +injudicious one is, I think, obvious. We are told, upon good authority, +"that the very boldness of the Prince's onward movement, especially +taken into connexion with the expected descent from France, had at +length disposed the English Jacobites to come out; and many were just on +the point of declaring themselves, and marching to join his army, when +the retreat from Derby was determined on. A Mr. Barry arrived in Derby +two days after the Prince left it, with a message from Sir Watkin +William Wynne and Lord Barrymore, to assure him, in the names of many +friends of the cause, that they were ready to join him in what manner he +pleased, either in the capital, or every one to rise in his own county. +I have likewise been assured that many of the Welsh gentry had actually +left their homes, and were on the way to join Charles, when intelligence +of his retreat at once sent them all back peaceably, convinced that it +was now too late to contribute their assistance. These men, from the +power they had over their tenantry, could have added materially to his +military force. In fact, from all that appears, we must conclude that +the insurgents had a very considerable chance of success from an onward +movement--also, no doubt, a chance of destruction, and yet not worse +than what ultimately befell many of them--while a retreat broke in a +moment the spell which their gallantry had conjured up, and gave the +enemy a great advantage over them." + +One victory more was accorded to Prince Charles, before his final +overthrow. After successfully conducting his retreat to Scotland, +occupying Glasgow, and strengthening his army by the accession of new +recruits, he gave battle to the royal forces under General Hawley at +Falkirk, and, as at Preston, drove them from the field. The parties were +on this occasion fairly matched, there being about eight thousand men +engaged on either side. The action was short; and, though not so +decisive as the former one, gave great confidence to the insurgents. It +has been thus picturesquely portrayed by the historian of the +enterprise: "Some individuals, who beheld the battle from the steeple of +Falkirk, used to describe these, its main events, as occupying a +surprisingly brief space of time. They first saw the English army enter +the misty and storm-covered muir at the top of the hill; then saw the +dull atmosphere thickened by a fast-rolling smoke, and heard the pealing +sounds of the discharge; immediately after, they beheld the discomfited +troops burst wildly from the cloud in which they had been involved, and +rush, in far-spread disorder, over the face of the hill. From the +commencement of what they styled 'the break of the battle,' there did +not intervene more than ten minutes--so soon may an efficient body of +men become, by one transient emotion of cowardice, a feeble and +contemptible rabble. + +"The rout would have been total, but for the three out-flanking +regiments. These not having been opposed by any of the clans, having a +ravine in front, and deriving some support from a small body of +dragoons, stood their ground under the command of General Huske and +Brigadier Cholmondley. When the Highlanders went past in pursuit, they +received a volley from this part of the English army, which brought them +to a pause, and caused them to draw back to their former ground, their +impression being that some ambuscade was intended. This saved the +English army from destruction. A pause took place, during which the bulk +of the English infantry got back to Falkirk. It was not until Lord +George Murray brought up the second line of his wing and the pickets, +with some others on the other wing, that General Huske drew off his +party, which he did in good order." + +The seat of war was now removed to the North. The month of April, 1746, +found Prince Charles in possession of Inverness, with an army sorely +dwindled in numbers, and in great want of necessaries and provisions. +Many of the Highlanders had retired for the winter to their native +glens, and had not yet rejoined the standard. The Duke of Cumberland, +who now commanded the English army, with a reputation not diminished by +the unfortunate issue of Fontenoy, was at the head of a large body of +tried and disciplined troops, in the best condition, and supported by +the powerful arm of artillery. He effected the passage of the Spey, a +large and rapid river which intersects the Highlands, without +encountering any opposition, and on the 15th of the month had arrived at +Nairn, about nine miles distant from the position occupied by his +kinsman and opponent. His superiority in point of strength was so great +that the boldest of the insurgent chiefs hesitated as to the policy of +giving immediate battle, and nothing but the desire of covering +Inverness prevented the council from recommencing a further retreat into +the mountains, where they could not have been easily followed, and where +they were certain to have met with reinforcements. As to the Prince, his +confidence in the prowess of the Highlanders was so unbounded, that, +even with such odds against him, he would not listen to a proposal for +delay. + +There yet remained, says Mr. Chambers, before playing the great stake of +a pitched battle, one chance of success by the irregular mode of warfare +to which the army was accustomed, and Charles resolved to put it to +trial. This was a night-attack upon the camp of the Duke of Cumberland. +He rightly argued that if his men could approach without being +discovered, and make a simultaneous attack in more than one place, the +royal forces, then probably either engaged in drinking their commander's +health (the 15th happened to be the anniversary of the Duke's birthday, +and was celebrated as such by his army), or sleeping off the effects of +the debauch, must be completely surprised and cut to pieces, or at least +effectually routed. The time appointed for setting out upon the march +was eight in the evening, when daylight should have completely +disappeared, and, in the mean time, great pains were taken to conceal +the secret from the army. + +This resolution was entered into at three in the afternoon, and orders +were given to collect the men who had gone off in search of provisions. +The officers dispersed themselves to Inverness and other places, and +besought the stragglers to repair to the muir. But, under the influence +of hunger, they told their commanders to shoot them, if they pleased, +rather than compel them to starve any longer. Charles had previously +declared, with his characteristic fervour, that though only a thousand +of his men should accompany him, he would lead them on to the attack, +and he was not now intimidated when he saw twice that number ready to +assist in the enterprise, though some of his officers would willingly +have made this deficiency of troops an excuse for abandoning what they +esteemed at best a hazardous expedition. Having given out for watchword +the name of his father, he embraced Lord George Murray, who was to +command the foremost column, and, putting himself at the head of that +which followed, gave the order to march. + +The attempt proved peculiarly unfortunate, and, from the fatigue which +it occasioned to the Highlanders, contributed in a great degree towards +the disaster of the following day. The night chanced to be uncommonly +dark, and as it was well known that Cumberland had stationed spies on +the principal roads, it became necessary to select a devious route, in +order to effect a surprise. The columns, proceeding over broken and +irregular ground, soon became scattered and dislocated: no exertions of +the officers could keep the men together, so that Lord George Murray at +two o'clock found that he was still distant three miles from the hostile +camp, and that there were no hopes of commencing the attack before the +break of day, when they would be open to the observation of the enemy. +Under these circumstances a retreat was commenced; and the scheme, which +at one time seemed to hold out every probability of success, was +abandoned. + +"The Highlanders returned, fatigued and disconsolate, to their former +position, about seven in the morning, when they immediately addressed +themselves to sleep, or went away in search of provisions. So scarce was +food at this critical juncture, that the Prince himself, on retiring to +Culloden House, could obtain no better refreshment than a little bread +and whisky. He felt the utmost anxiety regarding his men, among whom +the pangs of hunger, upon bodies exhausted by fatigue, must have been +working effects most unpromising to his success; and he gave orders, +before seeking any repose, that the whole country should now be +mercilessly ransacked for the means of refreshment. His orders were not +without effect. Considerable supplies were procured, and subjected to +the cook's art at Inverness; but the poor famished clansmen were +destined never to taste these provisions, the hour of battle arriving +before they were prepared." + +About eleven in the forenoon, the troops of Cumberland were observed +upon the eastern extremity of the wide muir of Culloden, and +preparations were instantly made for the coming battle. The army had +been strengthened that morning by the arrival of the Keppoch Macdonalds +and a party of the Frasers; but even with these reinforcements the whole +available force which the Prince could muster was about five thousand +men, to oppose at fearful odds an enemy twice as numerous, and heavily +supported by artillery. Fortune on this day seemed to have deserted the +Prince altogether. In drawing out the line of battle, a most unlucky +arrangement was made by O'Sullivan, who acted as adjutant, whereby the +Macdonald regiments were removed from the right wing--the place which +the great clan Colla has been privileged to hold in Scottish array ever +since the auspicious battle of Bannockburn. To those who are not +acquainted with the peculiar temper and spirit of the Highlanders, and +their punctilio upon points of honour and precedence, the question of +arrangement will naturally appear a matter of little importance. But it +was not so felt by the Macdonalds, who considered their change of +position as a positive degradation, and who further looked upon it as an +evil omen to the success of the battle. The results of this mistake will +be explained immediately. + +Just before the commencement of the action, the weather, which had +hitherto been fair and sunny, became overcast, and a heavy blast of rain +and sleet beat directly in the faces of the Highlanders. The English +artillery then began to play upon them, and, being admirably served, +every discharge told with fearful effect upon the ranks. The chief +object of either party at the battle of Culloden seems to have been to +force its opponent to leave his position, and to commence the attack. +Cumberland, finding that his artillery was doing such execution, had no +occasion to move; and Charles appears to have committed a great error in +abandoning a mode of warfare which was peculiarly suited for his troops, +and which, on two previous occasions, had proved eminently successful. +Had he at once ordered a general charge, and attempted to silence the +guns, the issue of the day might have been otherwise: but his +unfortunate star prevailed. + +"It was not," says Mr. Chambers, "till the cannonade had continued +nearly half an hour, and the Highlanders had seen many of their kindred +stretched upon the heath, that Charles at last gave way to the necessity +of ordering a charge. The aide-de-camp intrusted to carry his message to +the Lieutenant-general--a youth of the name of Maclachlan--was killed by +a cannon-ball before he reached the first line, but the general +sentiment of the army, as reported to Lord George Murray, supplied the +want, and that general took it upon him to order an attack without +Charles's permission having been communicated. + +"Lord George had scarcely determined upon ordering a general movement, +when the Macintoshes, a brave and devoted clan, though not before +engaged in action, unable any longer to brook the unavenged slaughter +made by the cannon, broke from the centre of the line, and rushed +forward through smoke and snow to mingle with the enemy. The Athole men, +Camerons, Stuarts, Frasers, and Macleans also went on, Lord George +Murray heading them with that rash bravery befitting the commander of +such forces. Thus, in the course of one or two minutes, the charge was +general along the whole line, except at the left extremity, where the +Macdonalds, dissatisfied with their position, hesitated to engage. + +"The action and event of the onset were, throughout, quite as dreadful +as the mental emotion which urged it. Notwithstanding that the three +files of the front line of English poured forth their incessant fire of +musketry--notwithstanding that the cannon, now loaded with grapeshot, +swept the field as with a hailstorm--notwithstanding the flank fire of +Wolfe's regiment--onward, onward went the headlong Highlanders, flinging +themselves into, rather than rushing upon, the lines of the enemy, +which, indeed, they did not see for smoke, till involved among the +weapons. All that courage, all that despair could do, was done. It was a +moment of dreadful and agonising suspense, but only a moment--for the +whirlwind does not reap the forest with greater rapidity than the +Highlanders cleared the line. Nevertheless, almost every man in their +front rank, chief and gentleman, fell before the deadly weapons which +they had braved; and, although the enemy gave way, it was not till every +bayonet was bent and bloody with the strife. + +"When the first line had thus been swept aside, the assailants continued +their impetuous advance till they came near the second, when, being +almost annihilated by a profuse and well-directed fire, the shattered +remains of what had been before a numerous and confident force began to +give way. Still a few rushed on, resolved rather to die than forfeit +their well-acquired and dearly-estimated honour. They rushed on; but not +a man ever came in contact with the enemy. The last survivor perished as +he reached the points of the bayonets." + +Some idea of the determination displayed by the Highlanders in this +terrific charge may be gathered from the fact that, in one part of the +field, their bodies were afterwards found in layers of three and four +deep. The slaughter was fearful, for, out of the five regiments which +charged the English, almost all the leaders and men in the front rank +were killed. So shaken was the English line, that, had the Macdonald +regiments, well-known to yield in valour to none of the clans, come up, +the fortune of the day might have been altered. But they never made an +onset. Smarting and sullen at the affront which they conceived to have +been put upon their name, they bore the fire of the English regiments +without flinching, and gave way to their rage by hewing at the heather +with their swords. In vain their chiefs exhorted them to go forward: +even at that terrible moment the pride of clanship prevailed. "My God!" +cried Macdonald of Keppoch, "has it come to this, that the children of +my tribe have forsaken me!" and he rushed forward alone, sword in hand, +with the devotion of an ancient hero, and fell pierced with bullets. + +The Lowland and foreign troops which formed the second line were +powerless to retrieve the disaster. All was over. The rout became +general, and the Prince was forced from the field, which he would not +quit, until dragged from it by his immediate bodyguard. + +Such was the last battle, the result of civil war, which has been fought +on British soil. Those who were defeated have acquired as much glory +from it as the conquerors--and even more, for never was a conquest +sullied by such deeds of deliberate cruelty as were perpetrated upon the +survivors of the battle of Culloden. It is not, however, the object of +the present paper to recount these, or even the romantic history or +hairbreadth escapes of the Prince, whilst wandering on the mainland and +through the Hebrides. Although a reward of thirty thousand pounds--an +immense sum for the period--was set upon his head--although his secret +was known to hundreds of persons in every walk of life, and even to the +beggar and the outlaw--not one attempted to betray him. Not one of all +his followers, in the midst of the misery which overtook them, regretted +having drawn the sword in his cause, or would not again have gladly +imperilled their lives for the sake of their beloved Chevalier. "He +went," says Lord Mahon, "but not with him departed his remembrance from +the Highlanders. For years and years did his name continue enshrined in +their hearts and familiar to their tongues, their plaintive ditties +resounding with his exploits and inviting his return. Again, in these +strains, do they declare themselves ready to risk life and fortune for +his cause; and even maternal fondness--the strongest, perhaps, of all +human feelings--yields to the passionate devotion to Prince Charlie." + +The subsequent life of the Prince is a story of melancholy interest. We +find him at first received in France with all the honours due to one +who, though unfortunate, had exhibited a heroism rarely equalled and +never surpassed: gradually he was neglected and slighted, as one of a +doomed and unhappy race, whom no human exertion could avail to elevate +to their former seat of power; and finally, when his presence in France +became an obstacle to the conclusion of peace, he was violently arrested +and conveyed out of the kingdom. There can be little doubt that +continued misfortune and disappointment had begun very early to impair +his noble mind. For long periods he was a wanderer, lost sight of by his +friends and even by his father and brother. There are fragments of his +writing extant which show how poignantly he felt the cruelty of his +fortune. "De vivre et pas vivre est beaucoup plus que de mourir!" And +again, writing to his father's secretary, eight years after Culloden, he +says--"I am grieved that our master should think that my silence was +either neglect or want of duty; but, in reality, my situation is such +that I have nothing to say but imprecations against the fatality of +being born in such a detestable age." An unhappy and uncongenial +marriage tended still more to embitter his existence; and if at last he +yielded to frailties, which inevitably insure degradation, it must be +remembered that his lot had been one to which few men have ever been +exposed, and the magnitude of his sufferings may fairly be admitted as +some palliation for his weakness. + +To the last, his heart was with Scotland. The following anecdote was +related by his brother, Cardinal York, to Bishop Walker, the late +Primus of the Episcopal Church of Scotland:--"Mr. Greathead, a personal +friend of Mr. Fox, succeeded, when at Rome in 1782 or 1783, in obtaining +an interview with Charles Edward; and, being alone with him for some +time, studiously led the conversation to his enterprise in Scotland, and +to the occurrences which succeeded the failure of that attempt. The +Prince manifested some reluctance to enter upon these topics, appearing +at the same time to undergo so much mental suffering, that his guest +regretted the freedom he had used in calling up the remembrance of his +misfortunes. At length, however, the Prince seemed to shake off the load +which oppressed him; his eye brightened, his face assumed unwonted +animation, and he entered upon the narrative of his Scottish campaigns +with a distinct but somewhat vehement energy of manner--recounted his +marches, his battles, his victories, his retreats, and his +defeats--detailed his hairbreadth escapes in the Western Isles, the +inviolable and devoted attachment of his Highland friends, and at length +proceeded to allude to the terrible penalties with which the chiefs +among them had been visited. But here the tide of emotion rose too high +to allow him to go on--his voice faltered, his eyes became fixed, and he +fell convulsed on the floor. The noise brought into his room his +daughter, the Duchess of Albany, who happened to be in an adjoining +apartment. 'Sir,' she exclaimed, 'what is this? You have been speaking +to my father about Scotland and the Highlanders! No one dares to +mention those subjects in his presence.'" + +He died on the 30th of January, 1788, in the arms of the Master of +Nairn. The monument erected to him, his father, and brother, in St. +Peter's, by desire of George IV., was perhaps the most graceful tribute +ever paid by royalty to misfortune--REGIO CINERI PIETAS REGIA. + + + + +CHARLES EDWARD AT VERSAILLES + + +ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF CULLODEN + + + Take away that star and garter-- + Hide them from my aching sight: + Neither king nor prince shall tempt me + From my lonely room this night; + Fitting for the throneless exile + Is the atmosphere of pall, + And the gusty winds that shiver + 'Neath the tapestry on the wall. + When the taper faintly dwindles + Like the pulse within the vein, + That to gay and merry measure + Ne'er may hope to bound again, + Let the shadows gather round me + While I sit in silence here, + Broken-hearted, as an orphan + Watching by his father's bier. + Let me hold my still communion + Far from every earthly sound-- + Day of penance--day of passion-- + Ever, as the year comes round; + Fatal day, whereon the latest + Die was cast for me and mine-- + Cruel day, that quelled the fortunes + Of the hapless Stuart line! + Phantom-like, as in a mirror, + Rise the griesly scenes of death-- + There before me, in its wildness, + Stretches bare Culloden's heath: + There the broken clans are scattered, + Gaunt as wolves, and famine-eyed, + Hunger gnawing at their vitals, + Hope abandoned, all but pride-- + Pride, and that supreme devotion + Which the Southron never knew, + And the hatred, deeply rankling, + 'Gainst the Hanoverian crew. + Oh, my God! are these the remnants, + These the wrecks of the array + That around the royal standard + Gathered on the glorious day, + When, in deep Glenfinnan's valley; + Thousands, on their bended knees, + Saw once more that stately ensign + Waving in the northern breeze, + When the noble Tullibardine + Stood beneath its weltering fold, + With the Ruddy Lion ramping + In the field of tressured gold, + When the mighty heart of Scotland, + All too big to slumber more, + Burst in wrath and exultation, + Like a huge volcano's roar? + There they stand, the battered columns, + Underneath the murky sky, + In the hush of desperation, + Not to conquer, but to die. + Hark! the bagpipe's fitful wailing: + Not the pibroch loud and shrill, + That, with hope of bloody banquet, + Lured the ravens from the hill, + But a dirge both low and solemn, + Fit for ears of dying men, + Marshalled for their latest battle, + Never more to fight again. + Madness--madness! Why this shrinking? + Were we less inured to war + When our reapers swept the harvest + From the field of red Dunbar? + Bring my horse, and blow the trumpet! + Call the riders of Fitz-James: + Let Lord Lewis head the column! + Valiant chiefs of mighty names-- + Trusty Keppoch, stout Glengarry, + Gallant Gordon, wise Locheill-- + Bid the clansmen hold together, + Fast, and fell, and firm as steel. + Elcho, never look so gloomy-- + What avails a saddened brow? + Heart, man, heart! we need it sorely, + Never half so much, as now. + Had we but a thousand troopers, + Had we but a thousand more! + Noble Perth, I hear them coming!-- + Hark! the English cannons' roar. + God! how awful sounds that volley, + Bellowing through the mist and rain! + Was not that the Highland slogan? + Let me hear that shout again! + Oh, for prophet eyes to witness + How the desperate battle goes! + Cumberland! I would not fear thee, + Could my Camerons see their foes. + Sound, I say, the charge at venture-- + 'Tis not naked steel we fear; + Better perish in the mêlée + Than be shot like driven deer; + Hold! the mist begins to scatter! + There in front 'tis rent asunder, + And the cloudy bastion crumbles + Underneath the deafening thunder; + There I see the scarlet gleaming! + Now, Macdonald--now or never!-- + Woe is me, the clans are broken! + Father, thou art lost for ever! + Chief and vassal, lord and yeoman, + There they lie in heaps together, + Smitten by the deadly volley, + Rolled in blood upon the heather; + And the Hanoverian horsemen, + Fiercely riding to and fro, + Deal their murderous strokes at random.-- + Ah, my God! where am I now? + Will that baleful vision never + Vanish from my aching sight? + Must those scenes and sounds of terror + Haunt me still by day and night? + Yea, the earth hath no oblivion + For the noblest chance it gave, + None, save in its latest refuge-- + Seek it only in the grave! + Love may die, and hatred slumber, + And their memory will decay, + As the watered garden recks not + Of the drought of yesterday; + But the dream of power once broken, + What shall give repose again? + What shall charm the serpent-furies + Coiled around the maddening brain? + What kind draught can nature offer + Strong enough to lull their sting? + Better to be born a peasant + Than to live an exiled king! + Oh, these years of bitter anguish!-- + What is life to such as me, + With my very heart as palsied + As a wasted cripple's knee! + Suppliant-like for alms depending + On a false and foreign court, + Jostled by the flouting nobles, + Half their pity, half their sport. + Forced to hold a place in pageant, + Like a royal prize of war, + Walking with dejected features + Close behind his victor's car, + Styled an equal--deemed a servant-- + Fed with hopes of future gain-- + Worse by far is fancied freedom + Than the captive's clanking chain! + Could I change this gilded bondage + Even for the dusky tower, + Whence King James beheld his lady + Sitting in the castle bower; + Birds around her sweetly singing, + Fluttering on the kindling spray, + And the comely garden glowing + In the light of rosy May. + Love descended to the window-- + Love removed the bolt and bar-- + Love was warder to the lovers + From the dawn to even-star. + Wherefore, Love, didst thou betray me? + Where is now the tender glance? + Where the meaning looks once lavished + By the dark-eyed Maid of France? + Where the words of hope she whispered, + When around my neck she threw + That same scarf of broidered tissue, + Bade me wear it and be true-- + Bade me send it as a token + When my banner waved once more + On the castled Keep of London, + Where my fathers' waved before? + And I went and did not conquer-- + But I brought it back again-- + Brought it back from storm and battle-- + Brought it back without a stain; + And once more I knelt before her, + And I laid it at her feet, + Saying, "Wilt thou own it, Princess? + There at least is no defeat!" + Scornfully she looked upon me + With a measured eye and cold-- + Scornfully she viewed the token, + Though her fingers wrought the gold; + And she answered, faintly flushing, + "Hast thou kept it, then, so long? + Worthy matter for a minstrel + To be told in knightly song! + Worthy of a bold Provençal, + Pacing through the peaceful plain, + Singing of his lady's favour, + Boasting of her silken chain, + Yet scarce worthy of a warrior + Sent to wrestle for a crown. + Is this all that thou hast brought me + From thy fields of high renown? + Is this all the trophy carried + From the lands where thou hast been? + It was broidered by a Princess, + Canst thou give it to a Queen?" + Woman's love is writ in water! + Woman's faith is traced in sand! + Backwards--backwards let me wander + To the noble northern land: + Let me feel the breezes blowing + Fresh along the mountain-side; + Let me see the purple heather, + Let me hear the thundering tide, + Be it hoarse as Corrievreckan + Spouting when the storm is high-- + Give me but one hour of Scotland-- + Let me see it ere I die! + Oh, my heart is sick and heavy-- + Southern gales are not for me; + Though the glens are white with winter, + Place me there, and set me free; + Give me back my trusty comrades-- + Give me back my Highland maid-- + Nowhere beats the heart so kindly + As beneath the tartan plaid! + Flora! when thou wert beside me, + In the wilds of far Kintail-- + When the cavern gave us shelter + From the blinding sleet and hail-- + When we lurked within the thicket, + And, beneath the waning moon, + Saw the sentry's bayonet glimmer, + Heard him chant his listless tune-- + When the howling storm o'ertook us, + Drifting down the island's lee, + And our crazy bark was whirling + Like a nutshell on the sea-- + When the nights were dark and dreary, + And amidst the fern we lay, + Faint and foodless, sore with travel, + Waiting for the streaks of day; + When thou wert an angel to me, + Watching my exhausted sleep-- + Never didst thou hear me murmur-- + Couldst thou see how now I weep! + Bitter tears and sobs of anguish, + Unavailing though they be: + Oh, the brave--the brave and noble-- + That have died in vain for me! + + + + +NOTES TO + + +"CHARLES EDWARD AT VERSAILLES" + + + _Could I change this gilded bondage + Even for the dusky tower + Whence King James beheld his lady + Sitting in the castle bower_.--p. 168. + +James I. of Scotland, one of the most accomplished kings that ever sate +upon a throne, is the person here indicated. His history is a very +strange and romantic one. He was son of Robert III., and immediate +younger brother of that unhappy Duke of Rothesay who was murdered at +Falkland. His father, apprehensive of the designs and treachery of +Albany, had determined to remove him, when a mere boy, for a season from +Scotland; and as France was then considered the best school for the +education of one so important from his high position, it was resolved to +send him thither, under the care of the Earl of Orkney, and Fleming of +Cumbernauld. He accordingly embarked at North Berwick, with little +escort--as there was a truce for the time between England and Scotland; +and they were under no apprehension of meeting with any vessels, save +those of the former nation. Notwithstanding this, the ship which carried +the Prince was captured by an armed merchantman, and carried to London, +where Henry IV., the usurping Bolingbroke, utterly regardless of +treaties, committed him and his attendants to the Tower. + +"In vain," says Mr. Tytler, "did the guardians of the young Prince +remonstrate against this cruelty, or present to Henry a letter from the +King his father, which, with much simplicity, recommended him to the +kindness of the English monarch, should he find it necessary to land in +his dominions. In vain did they represent that the mission to France was +perfectly pacific, and its only object the education of the prince at +the French court. Henry merely answered by a poor witticism, declaring +that he himself knew the French language indifferently well, and that +his father could not have sent him to a better master. So flagrant a +breach of the law of nations, as the seizure and imprisonment of the +heir-apparent, during the time of truce, would have called for the most +violent remonstrances from any government, except that of Albany. But to +this usurper of the supreme power, the capture of the Prince was the +most grateful event which could have happened; and to detain him in +captivity became, from this moment, one of the principal objects of his +future life; we are not to wonder, then, that the conduct of Henry not +only drew forth no indignation from the governor, but was not even +followed by any request that the prince should be set at liberty. + +"The aged King, already worn out by infirmity, and now broken by +disappointment and sorrow, did not long survive the captivity of his +son. It is said the melancholy news were brought him as he was sitting +down to supper in his palace of Rothesay in Bute, and that the effect +was such upon his affectionate but feeble spirit, that he drooped from +that day forward, refused all sustenance, and died soon after of a +broken heart." + +James was finally incarcerated in Windsor Castle, where he endured an +imprisonment of nineteen years. Henry, though he had not hesitated to +commit a heinous breach of faith, was not so cruel as to neglect the +education of his captive. The young King was supplied with the best +masters; and gradually became an adept in all the accomplishments of the +age. He is a singular exception from the rule which maintains that +monarchs are indifferent authors. As a poet, he is entitled to a very +high rank indeed, being, I think, in point of sweetness and melody of +verse, not much inferior to Chaucer. From the window of his chamber in +the Tower, he had often seen a young lady, of great beauty and grace, +walking in the garden; and the admiration which at once possessed him +soon ripened into love. This was Lady Jane Beaufort, daughter of the +Earl of Somerset and niece of Henry IV., and who afterwards became his +queen. How he loved and how he wooed her is told in his own beautiful +poem of "The King's Quhair," of which the following are a few stanzas:-- + + "Now there was made, fast by the towris wall, + A garden fair; and in the corners set + An arbour green, with wandis long and small + Railed about, and so with trees set + Was all the place, and hawthorn hedges knet, + That lyf was none walking there forbye, + That might within scarce any wight espy. + + "So thick the boughis and the leavis greene + Beshaded all the alleys that there were, + And mids of every arbour might be seen + The sharpe, greene, sweete juniper, + Growing so fair, with branches here and there, + That, as it seemed to a lyf without, + The boughis spread the arbour all about. + + "And on the smalle greene twistis sat + The little sweet nightingale, and sung + So loud and clear the hymnis consecrat + Of lovis use, now soft, now loud among, + That all the gardens and the wallis rung + Right of their song. + + "And therewith cast I down mine eyes again, + Where as I saw, walking under the tower, + Full secretly, now comen here to plain, + The fairest or the freshest younge flower + That e'er I saw, methought, before that hour: + For which sudden abate, anon astart + The blood of all my body to my heart. + + "And though I stood abasit for a lite, + No wonder was; for why? my wittis all + Were so o'ercome with pleasance and delight-- + Only through letting of my eyen fall-- + That suddenly my heart became her thrall + For ever of free will, for of menace + There was no token in her sweete face." + + _Wherefore, Love, didst thou betray me? + Where is now the tender glance? + Where the meaning looks once lavished + By the dark-eyed Maid of France?_--p. 168. + +There appears to be no doubt that Prince Charles was deeply attached to +one of the princesses of the royal family of France. In the interesting +collection called "Jacobite Memoirs," compiled by Mr. Chambers from the +voluminous MSS. of Bishop Forbes, we find the following passage from the +narrative of Donald Macleod, who acted as a guide to the wanderer whilst +traversing the Hebrides:--"When Donald was asked, if ever the Prince +used to give any particular toast, when they were taking a cup of cold +water, or the like; he said that the Prince very often drank to the +Black Eye--by which, said Donald, he meant the second daughter of +France, and I never heard him name any particular health but that alone. +When he spoke of that lady--which he did frequently--he appeared to be +more than ordinarily well pleased." + + + + +THE OLD SCOTTISH CAVALIER + + +The "gentle Locheill" may he considered as the pattern of a Highland +Chief. Others who headed the insurrection may have been actuated by +motives of personal ambition, and by a desire for aggrandisement; but no +such charge can be made against the generous and devoted Cameron. He +was, as we have already seen, the first who attempted to dissuade the +Prince from embarking in an enterprise which he conscientiously believed +to be desperate; but, having failed in doing so, he nobly stood firm to +the cause which his conscience vindicated as just, and cheerfully +imperilled his life, and sacrificed his fortune, at the bidding of his +master. There was no one, even among those who espoused the other side, +in Scotland, who did not commiserate the misfortunes of this truly +excellent man, whose humanity was not less conspicuous than his valour +throughout the civil war, and who died in exile of a broken heart. + +Perhaps the best type of the Lowland Cavalier of that period, may be +found in the person of Alexander Forbes, Lord Pitsligo, a nobleman whose +conscientious views impelled him to take a different side from that +adopted by the greater part of his house and name. Lord Forbes, the head +of this very ancient and honourable family, was one of the first +Scottish noblemen who declared for King William. Lord Pitsligo, on the +contrary, having been educated abroad, and early introduced to the +circle at Saint Germains, conceived a deep personal attachment to the +members of the exiled line. He was anything but an enthusiast, as his +philosophical and religious writings, well worthy of a perusal, will +show. He was the intimate friend of Fénélon, and throughout his whole +life was remarkable rather for his piety and virtue, than for keenness +in political dispute. + +After his return from France, Lord Pitsligo took his seat in the +Scottish Parliament, and his parliamentary career has thus been +characterised by a former writer.[3] "Here it is no discredit either to +his head or heart to say, that, obliged to become a member of one of the +contending factions of the time, he adopted that which had for its +object the independence of Scotland, and restoration of the ancient race +of monarchs. The advantages which were in future to arise from the great +measure of a national union were so hidden by the mist of prejudice, +that it cannot be wondered at if Lord Pitsligo, like many a +high-spirited man, saw nothing but disgrace in a measure forced on by +such corrupt means, and calling in its commencement for such mortifying +national sacrifices. The English nation, indeed, with a narrow, yet not +unnatural, view of their own interest, took such pains to encumber and +restrict the Scottish commercial privileges that it was not till the +best part of a century after the event that the inestimable fruits of +the treaty began to be felt and known. This distant period Lord Pitsligo +could not foresee. He beheld his countrymen, like the Israelites of +yore, led into the desert; but his merely human eye could not foresee +that, after the extinction of a whole race--after a longer pilgrimage +than that of the followers of Moses--the Scottish people should at +length arrive at that promised land, of which the favourers of the Union +held forth so gay a prospect. + +"Looking upon the Act of Settlement of the Crown, and the Act of +Abjuration, as unlawful, Lord Pitsligo retired to his house in the +country, and threw up attendance on Parliament. Upon the death of Queen +Anne he joined himself in arms with a general insurrection of the +Highlanders and Jacobites, headed by his friend and relative the Earl of +Mar. + +"Mar, a versatile statesman and an able intriguer, had consulted his +ambition rather than his talents when he assumed the command of such an +enterprise. He sunk beneath the far superior genius of the Duke of +Argyle; and after the undecisive battle of Sheriffmuir, the confederacy +which he had formed, but was unable to direct, dissolved like a +snow-ball, and the nobles concerned in it were fain to fly abroad. This +exile was Lord Pitsligo's fate for five or six years. Part of the time +he spent at the Court, if it can be called so, of the old Chevalier de +Saint George, where existed all the petty feuds, chicanery, and crooked +intrigues which subsist in a real scene of the same character, although +the objects of the ambition which prompts such arts had no existence. +Men seemed to play at being courtiers in that illusory court, as +children play at being soldiers." + +It would appear that Lord Pitsligo was not attainted for his share in +Mar's rebellion. He returned to Scotland in 1720, and resided at his +castle in Aberdeenshire, not mingling in public affairs, but gaining, +through his charity, kindness, and benevolence, the respect and +affection of all around him. He was sixty-seven years of age when +Charles Edward landed in Scotland. The district in which the estates of +Lord Pitsligo lay was essentially Jacobite, and the young cavaliers only +waited for a fitting leader to take up arms in the cause. According to +Mr. Home, his example was decisive of the movement of his neighbours: +"So when he who was so wise and prudent declared his purpose of joining +Charles, most of the gentlemen in that part of the country who favoured +the Pretender's cause, put themselves under his command, thinking they +could not follow a better or safer guide than Lord Pitsligo." His +Lordship's own account of the motives which urged him on is +peculiar:--"I was grown a little old, and the fear of ridicule stuck to +me pretty much. I have mentioned the weightier considerations of a +family, which would make the censure still the greater, and set the more +tongues agoing. But we are pushed on, I know not how,--I thought--I +weighed--and I weighed again. If there was any enthusiasm in it, it was +of the coldest kind; and there was as little remorse when the affair +miscarried, as there was eagerness at the beginning." + +The writer whom I have already quoted goes on to say--"To those friends +who recalled his misfortunes of 1715, he replied gaily, 'Did you ever +know me absent at the second day of a wedding?' meaning, I suppose, that +having once contracted an engagement, he did not feel entitled to quit +it while the contest subsisted. Being invited by the gentlemen of the +district to put himself at their head, and having surmounted his own +desires, he had made a farewell visit at a neighbour's house, where a +little boy, a child of the family, brought out a stool to assist the old +nobleman in remounting his horse. 'My little fellow.' said Lord +Pitsligo, 'this is the severest rebuke I have yet received, for +presuming to go on such an expedition.' + +"The die was however cast, and Lord Pitsligo went to meet his friends +at the rendezvous they had appointed in Aberdeen. They formed a body of +well-armed cavalry, gentlemen and their servants, to the number of a +hundred men. When they were drawn up in readiness to commence the +expedition, the venerable nobleman, their leader, moved to their front, +lifted his hat, and, looking up to heaven, pronounced, with a solemn +voice, the awful appeal,--'O Lord, thou knowest that our cause is just!' +then added the signal for departure--'March, gentlemen!' + +"Lord Pitsligo, with his followers, found Charles at Edinburgh, on 8th +October 1745, a few days after the Highlanders' victory at Preston. +Their arrival was hailed with enthusiasm, not only on account of the +timely reinforcement, but more especially from the high character of +their leader. Hamilton of Bangour, in an animated and eloquent eulogium +upon Pitsligo, states that nothing could have fallen out more +fortunately for the Prince than his joining them did--for it seemed as +if religion, virtue, and justice were entering his camp, under the +appearance of this venerable old man; and what would have given sanction +to a cause of the most dubious right, could not fail to render sacred +the very best." + +Although so far advanced in years, he remained in arms during the whole +campaign, and was treated with almost filial tenderness by the Prince. +After Culloden, he became, like many more, a fugitive and an outlaw, +but succeeded, like the Baron of Bradwardine, in finding a shelter upon +the skirts of his own estate. Disguised as a mendicant, his secret was +faithfully kept by the tenantry; and although it was more than surmised +by the soldiers that he was lurking somewhere in the neighbourhood, they +never were able to detect him. On one occasion he actually guided a +party to a cave on the sea-shore, amidst the rough rocks of Buchan, +where it was rumoured that he was lying in concealment; and on another, +when overtaken by his asthma, and utterly unable to escape from an +approaching patrol of soldiers, he sat down by the wayside, and acted +his assumed character so well, that a good-natured fellow not only gave +him alms, but condoled with him on the violence of his complaint. + +For ten years he remained concealed, but in the mean time both title and +estate were forfeited by attainder. His last escape was so very +remarkable, that I may be pardoned for giving it in the language of the +author of his memoirs. + +"In March 1756, and of course long after all apprehension of a search +had ceased, information having been given to the commanding officer at +Fraserburgh, that Lord Pitsligo was at that moment at the house of +Auchiries, it was acted upon with so much promptness and secrecy that +the search must have proved successful but for a very singular +occurrence. Mrs. Sophia Donaldson, a lady who lived much with the +family, repeatedly dreamt, on that particular night, that the house was +surrounded by soldiers. Her mind became so haunted with the idea, that +she got out of bed, and was walking through the room, in hopes of giving +a different current to her thoughts before she lay down again; when, day +beginning to dawn, she accidentally looked out at the window as she +passed it in traversing the room, and was astonished at actually +observing the figures of soldiers among some trees near the house. So +completely had all idea of a search been by that time laid asleep, that +she supposed they had come to steal poultry--Jacobite poultry-yards +affording a safe object of pillage for the English soldiers in those +days. Mrs. Sophia was proceeding to rouse the servants, when her sister, +having awaked, and inquiring what was the matter, and being told of +soldiers near the house, exclaimed in great alarm, that she feared they +wanted something more than hens. She begged Mrs. Sophia to look out at a +window on the other side of the house, when not only were soldiers seen +in that direction, but also an officer giving instructions by signal, +and frequently putting his fingers to his lips, as if enjoining silence. + +There was now no time to be lost in rousing the family, and all the +haste that could be made was scarcely sufficient to hurry the venerable +man from his bed into a small recess, behind the wainscot of an +adjoining room, which was concealed by a bed, in which a lady, Miss +Gordon of Towie, who was there on a visit, lay, before the soldiers +obtained admission. A most minute search took place. The room in which +Lord Pitsligo was concealed did not escape. Miss Gordon's bed was +carefully examined, and she was obliged to suffer the rude scrutiny of +one of the party, by feeling her chin, to ascertain that it was not a +man in a lady's night-dress. Before the soldiers had finished their +examination in this room, the confinement and anxiety increased Lord +Pitsligo's asthma so much, and his breathing became so loud, that it +cost Miss Gordon, lying in bed, much and violent coughing, which she +counterfeited, in order to prevent the high breathings behind the +wainscot from being heard. + +It may be easily conceived what agony she would suffer, lest, by +overdoing her part, she should increase suspicion, and in fact lead to a +discovery. The ruse was fortunately successful. On the search through +the house being given over, Lord Pitsligo was hastily taken from his +confined situation, and again replaced in bed; and, as soon as he was +able to speak, his accustomed kindness of heart made him say to his +servant--'James, go and see that these poor fellows get some breakfast +and a drink of warm ale, for this is a cold morning; they are only doing +their duty, and cannot bear me any ill-will.' When the family were +felicitating each other on his escape, he pleasantly observed--'A poor +prize, had they obtained it--an old dying man!'" + +This was the last attempt made on the part of government to seize on the +persons of any of the surviving insurgents. Three years before, Dr. +Archibald Cameron, a brother of Locheill, having clandestinely revisited +Scotland, was arrested, tried, and executed for high treason at Tyburn. +The government was generally blamed for this act of severity, which was +considered rather to have been dictated by revenge than required for the +public safety. It is, however, probable that they might have had secret +information of certain negotiations which were still conducted in the +Highlands by the agents of the Stuart family, and that they considered +it necessary, by one terrible example, to overawe the insurrectionary +spirit. This I believe to have been the real motive of an execution +which otherwise could not have been palliated: and, in the case of Lord +Pitsligo, it is quite possible that the zeal of a partisan may have led +him to take a step which would not have been approved of by the +ministry. After the lapse of so many years, and after so many scenes of +judicial bloodshed, the nation would have turned in disgust from the +spectacle of an old man, whose private life was not only blameless, but +exemplary, dragged to the scaffold, and forced to lay down his head in +expiation of a doubtful crime: and this view derives corroboration from +the fact that, shortly afterwards, Lord Pitsligo was tacitly permitted +to return to the society of his friends, without further notice or +persecution. + +Dr. King, the Principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, has borne the +following testimony to the character of Lord Pitsligo. "Whoever is so +happy, either from his natural disposition, or his good judgment, +constantly to observe St. Paul's precept, 'to speak evil of no one' will +certainly acquire the love and esteem of the whole community of which he +is a member. But such a man is the _rara avis in terris_; and, among all +my acquaintance, I have known only one person to whom I can with truth +assign this character. The person I mean is the present Lord Pitsligo of +Scotland. I not only never heard this gentleman speak an ill word of any +man living, but I always observed him ready to defend any other person +who was ill spoken of in his company. If the person accused were of his +acquaintance, my Lord Pitsligo would always find something good to say +of him as a counterpoise. If he were a stranger, and quite unknown to +him, my lord would urge in his defence the general corruption of +manners, and the frailties and infirmities of human nature. + +"It is no wonder that such an excellent man, who, besides, is a polite +scholar, and has many other great and good qualities, should be +universally admired and beloved--insomuch, that I persuade myself he has +not one enemy in the world. At least, to this general esteem and +affection for his person, his preservation must be owing; for since his +attainder he has never removed far from his own house, protected by men +of different principles, and unsought for and unmolested by government." +To which eulogy it might be added, by those who have the good fortune to +know his representatives, that the virtues here acknowledged seem +hereditary in the family of Pitsligo. + +The venerable old nobleman was permitted to remain without molestation +at the residence of his son, during the latter years of an existence +protracted to the extreme verge of human life. And so, says the author +of his memoirs, "In this happy frame of mind,--calm and full of +hope,--the saintly man continued to the last, with his reason unclouded, +able to study his favourite volume, enjoying the comforts of friendship, +and delighting in the consolations of religion, till he gently 'fell +asleep in Jesus.' He died on the 21st of December, 1762, in the +eighty-fifth year of his age; and to his surviving friends the +recollection of the misfortunes which had accompanied him through his +long life was painfully awakened even in the closing scene of his mortal +career--as his son had the mortification to be indebted to a stranger, +now the proprietor of his ancient inheritance by purchase from the +crown, for permission to lay his father's honoured remains in the vault +which contained the ashes of his family for many generations." + +Such a character as this is well worthy of remembrance; and Lord +Pitsligo has just title to be called the last of the old Scottish +Cavaliers. I trust that, in adapting the words of the following little +ballad to a well-known English air, I have committed no unpardonable +larceny. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 3: See _Blackwood's Magazine_ for May 1829.--Article "Lord +Pitsligo."] + + + + +THE OLD SCOTTISH CAVALIER + + + I. + + Come listen to another song, + Should make your heart beat high, + Bring crimson to your forehead, + And the lustre to your eye;-- + It is a song of olden time, + Of days long since gone by, + And of a Baron stout and bold + As e'er wore sword on thigh! + Like a brave old Scottish cavalier, + All of the olden time! + + + II. + + He kept his castle in the north, + Hard by the thundering Spey; + And a thousand vassals dwelt around + All of his kindred they. + And not a man of all that clan + Had ever ceased to pray + For the Royal race they loved so well, + Though exiled far away + From the steadfast Scottish cavaliers, + All of the olden time! + + + III. + + His father drew the righteous sword + For Scotland and her claims, + Among the loyal gentlemen + And chiefs of ancient names + Who swore to fight or fall beneath + The standard of King James, + And died at Killiecrankie pass + With the glory of the Graemes; + Like a true old Scottish cavalier, + All of the olden time! + + + IV. + + He never owned the foreign rule, + No master he obeyed, + But kept his clan in peace at home, + From foray and from raid; + And when they asked him for his oath, + He touched his glittering blade, + And pointed to his bonnet blue, + That bore the white cockade: + Like a leal old Scottish cavalier, + All of the olden time! + + + V. + + At length the news ran through the land-- + THE PRINCE had come again! + That night the fiery cross was sped + O'er mountain and through glen; + And our old Baron rose in might, + Like a lion from his den, + And rode away across the hills + To Charlie and his men, + With the valiant Scottish cavaliers, + All of the olden time! + + + VI. + + He was the first that bent the knee + When the STANDARD waved abroad, + He was the first that charged the foe + On Preston's bloody sod; + And ever, in the van of fight, + The foremost still he trod, + Until, on bleak Culloden's heath, + He gave his soul to God, + Like a good old Scottish cavalier, + All of the olden time! + + + VII. + + Oh! never shall we know again + A heart so stout and true-- + The olden times have passed away, + And weary are the new: + The fair White Rose has faded + From the garden where it grew, + And no fond tears save those of heaven + The glorious bed bedew + Of the last old Scottish cavalier, + All of the olden time! + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS POEMS + + + + +BLIND OLD MILTON + + + Place me once more, my daughter, where the sun + May shine upon my old and time-worn head, + For the last time, perchance. My race is run; + And soon amidst the ever-silent dead + I must repose, it may be, half forgot. + Yes! I have broke the hard and bitter bread + For many a year, with those who trembled not + To buckle on their armour for the fight, + And set themselves against the tyrant's lot; + And I have never bowed me to his might, + Nor knelt before him--for I bear within + My heart the sternest consciousness of right, + And that perpetual hate of gilded sin + Which made me what I am; and though the stain + Of poverty be on me, yet I win + More honour by it, than the blinded train + Who hug their willing servitude, and bow + Unto the weakest and the most profane. + Therefore, with unencumbered soul I go + Before the footstool of my Maker, where + I hope to stand as undebased as now! + Child! is the sun abroad? I feel my hair + Borne up and wafted by the gentle wind, + I feel the odours that perfume the air, + And hear the rustling of the leaves behind. + Within my heart I picture them, and then + I almost can forget that I am blind, + And old, and hated by my fellow-men. + Yet would I fain once more behold the grace + Of nature ere I die, and gaze again + Upon her living and rejoicing face-- + Fain would I see thy countenance, my child, + My comforter! I feel thy dear embrace-- + I hear thy voice, so musical, and mild, + The patient, sole interpreter, by whom + So many years of sadness are beguiled; + For it hath made my small and scanty room + Peopled with glowing visions of the past. + But I will calmly bend me to my doom, + And wait the hour which is approaching fast, + When triple light shall stream upon mine eyes, + And heaven itself be opened up at last + To him who dared foretell its mysteries. + I have had visions in this drear eclipse + Of outward consciousness, and clomb the skies, + Striving to utter with my earthly lips + What the diviner soul had half divined, + Even as the Saint in his Apocalypse + Who saw the inmost glory, where enshrined + Sat He who fashioned glory. This hath driven + All outward strife and tumult from my mind, + And humbled me, until I have forgiven + My bitter enemies, and only seek + To find the straight and narrow path to heaven. + + Yet I am weak--oh! how entirely weak, + For one who may not love nor suffer more! + Sometimes unbidden tears will wet my cheek, + And my heart bound as keenly as of yore, + Responsive to a voice, now hushed to rest, + Which made the beautiful Italian shore, + In all its pomp of summer vineyards drest, + An Eden and a Paradise to me. + Do the sweet breezes from the balmy west + Still murmur through thy groves, Parthenope, + In search of odours from the orange bowers? + Still on thy slopes of verdure does the bee + Cull her rare honey from the virgin flowers? + And Philomel her plaintive chaunt prolong + 'Neath skies more calm and more serene than ours, + Making the summer one perpetual song? + Art thou the same as when in manhood's pride + I walked in joy thy grassy meads among, + With that fair youthful vision by my side, + In whose bright eyes I looked--and not in vain? + O my adored angel! O my bride! + Despite of years, and woe, and want, and pain, + My soul yearns back towards thee, and I seem + To wander with thee, hand in hand, again, + By the bright margin of that flowing stream. + I hear again thy voice, more silver-sweet + Than fancied music floating in a dream, + Possess my being; from afar I greet + The waving of thy garments in the glade, + And the light rustling of thy fairy feet-- + What time as one half eager, half afraid, + Love's burning secret faltered on my tongue, + And tremulous looks and broken words betrayed + The secret of the heart from whence they sprung. + Ah me! the earth that rendered thee to heaven + Gave up an angel beautiful and young, + Spotless and pure as snow when freshly driven: + A bright Aurora for the starry sphere + Where all is love, and even life forgiven. + Bride of immortal beauty--ever dear! + Dost thou await me in thy blest abode? + While I, Tithonus-like, must linger here, + And count each step along the rugged road; + A phantom, tottering to a long-made grave, + And eager to lay down my weary load! + + I, who was fancy's lord, am fancy's slave. + Like the low murmurs of the Indian shell + Ta'en from its coral bed beneath the wave, + Which, unforgetful of the ocean's swell, + Retains within its mystic urn the hum + Heard in the sea-grots where the Nereids dwell-- + Old thoughts still haunt me--unawares they come + Between me and my rest, nor can I make + Those aged visitors of sorrow dumb. + Oh, yet awhile, my feeble soul, awake! + Nor wander back with sullen steps again; + For neither pleasant pastime canst thou take + In such a journey, nor endure the pain. + The phantoms of the past are dead for thee; + So let them ever uninvoked remain, + And be thou calm, till death shall set thee free. + Thy flowers of hope expanded long ago, + Long since their blossoms withered on the tree: + No second spring can come to make them blow, + But in the silent winter of the grave + They lie with blighted love and buried woe. + + I did not waste the gifts which nature gave, + Nor slothful lay in the Circéan bower; + Nor did I yield myself the willing slave + Of lust for pride, for riches, or for power. + No! in my heart a nobler spirit dwelt; + For constant was my faith in manhood's dower; + Man--made in God's own image--and I felt + How of our own accord we courted shame, + Until to idols like ourselves we knelt, + And so renounced the great and glorious claim + Of freedom, our immortal heritage. + I saw how bigotry, with spiteful aim, + Smote at the searching eyesight of the sage, + How error stole behind the steps of truth, + And cast delusion on the sacred page. + So, as a champion, even in early youth + I waged my battle with a purpose keen; + Nor feared the hand of terror, nor the tooth + Of serpent jealousy. And I have been + With starry Galileo in his cell, + That wise magician with the brow serene, + Who fathomed space; and I have seen him tell + The wonders of the planetary sphere, + And trace the ramparts of heaven's citadel + On the cold flag-stones of his dungeon drear. + And I have walked with Hampden and with Vane-- + Names once so gracious to an English ear-- + In days that never may return again. + My voice, though not the loudest, hath been heard + Whenever freedom raised her cry of pain, + And the faint effort of the humble bard + Hath roused up thousands from their lethargy, + To speak in words of thunder. What reward + Was mine, or theirs? It matters not; for I + Am but a leaf cast on the whirling tide, + Without a hope or wish, except to die. + But truth, asserted once, must still abide, + Unquenchable, as are those fiery springs + Which day and night gush from the mountain-side, + Perpetual meteors girt with lambent wings, + Which the wild tempest tosses to and fro, + But cannot conquer with the force it brings. + Yet I, who ever felt another's woe + More keenly than my own untold distress; + I, who have battled with the common foe, + And broke for years the bread of bitterness; + Who never yet abandoned or betrayed + The trust vouchsafed me, nor have ceased to bless, + Am left alone to wither in the shade, + A weak old man, deserted by his kind-- + Whom none will comfort in his age, nor aid! + + Oh! let me not repine! A quiet mind, + Conscious and upright, needs no other stay; + Nor can I grieve for what I leave behind, + In the rich promise of eternal day. + Henceforth to me the world is dead and gone, + Its thorns unfelt, its roses cast away: + And the old pilgrim, weary and alone, + Bowed down with travel, at his Master's gate + Now sits, his task of life-long labour done, + Thankful for rest, although it comes so late, + After sore journey through this world of sin, + In hope, and prayer, and wistfulness to wait, + Until the door shall ope, and let him in. + + + + +HERMOTIMUS + + +Hermotimus, the hero of this ballad, was a philosopher, or rather a +prophet, of Clazomenæ, who possessed the faculty, now claimed by the +animal-magnetists, of effecting a voluntary separation between his soul +and body; for the former could wander to any part of the universe, and +even hold intercourse with supernatural beings, whilst the senseless +frame remained at home. Hermotimus, however, was not insensible to the +risk attendant upon this disunion; since, before attempting any of these +aerial flights, he took the precaution to warn his wife, lest, ere the +return of his soul, the body should be rendered an unfit or useless +receptacle. This accident, which he so much dreaded, at length occurred; +for the lady, wearied out by a succession of trances, each of longer +duration than the preceding, one day committed his body to the flames, +and thus effectually put a stop to such unconnubial conduct. He received +divine honours at Clazomenæ, but must nevertheless remain as a terrible +example and warning to all husbands who carry their scientific or +spiritual pursuits so far as to neglect their duty to their wives. + +It is somewhat curious that Hermotimus is not the only person (putting +the disciples of Mesmer and Dupotet altogether out of the question) who +has possessed this miraculous power. Another and much later instance is +recorded by Dr. George Cheyne, in his work entitled, _The English +Malady, or a Treatise of Nervous Diseases_, as having come under his own +observation; and, as this case is exactly similar to that of the +Prophet, it may amuse the reader to see how far an ancient fable may be +illustrated, and in part explained, by the records of modern science. +Dr. Cheyne's patient was probably cataleptic; but the worthy physician +must be allowed to tell his own story. + +"Colonel Townshend, a gentleman of honour and integrity, had for many +years been afflicted with a nephritic complaint. His illness increasing, +and his strength decaying, he came from Bristol to Bath in a litter, in +autumn, and lay at the Bell Inn. Dr. Baynard and I were called to him, +and attended him twice a-day; but his vomitings continuing still +incessant and obstinate against all remedies, we despaired of his +recovery. While he was in this condition, he sent for us one morning; we +waited on him with Mr. Skrine, his apothecary. We found his senses +clear, and his mind calm: his nurse and several servants were about him. +He told us he had sent for us to give him an account of an odd sensation +he had for some time observed and felt in himself; which was, that, by +composing himself, _he could die or expire when he pleased_; and yet by +an effort, or somehow, he could come to life again, which he had +sometimes tried before he had sent for us. We heard this with surprise; +but, as it was not to be accounted for upon common principles, we could +hardly believe the fact as he related it, much less give any account of +it; unless he should please to make the experiment before us, which we +were unwilling he should do, lest, in his weak condition, he might carry +it too far. He continued to talk very distinctly and sensibly above a +quarter of an hour about this surprising sensation, and insisted so much +on our seeing the trial made, that we were at last forced to comply. We +all three felt his pulse first--it was distinct, though small and +thready, and his heart had its usual beating. He composed himself on his +back, and lay in a still posture for some time: while I held his right +hand, Dr. Baynard laid his hand on his heart, and Mr. Skrine held a +clean looking-glass to his mouth. I found his pulse sink gradually, till +at last I could not find any by the most exact and nice touch. Dr. +Baynard could not feel the least motion in his heart, nor Mr. Skrine the +least soil of breath on the bright mirror he held to his mouth; then +each of us by turns examined his arm, heart, and breath, but could not, +by the nicest scrutiny, discover the least symptom of life in him. We +reasoned a long time about this odd appearance as well as we could, and +all of us judging it inexplicable and unaccountable; and, finding he +still continued in that condition, we began to conclude that he had +indeed carried the experiment too far; and at last were satisfied he was +actually dead, and were just ready to leave him. This continued about +half an hour. As we were going away, we observed some motion about the +body; and, upon examination, found his pulse and the motion of his heart +gradually returning. He began to breathe gently and speak softly. We +were all astonished to the last degree at this unexpected change; and, +after some further conversation with him, and among ourselves, went away +fully satisfied as to all the particulars of this fact, but confounded +and puzzled, and not able to form any rational scheme that might account +for it." + + + + +HERMOTIMUS + + + I. + + "Wilt not lay thee down in quiet slumber? + Weary dost thou seem, and ill at rest; + Sleep will bring thee dreams in starry number-- + Let him come to thee and be thy guest. + Midnight now is past-- + Husband! come at last-- + Lay thy throbbing head upon my breast." + + + II. + + "Weary am I, but my soul is waking; + Fain I'd lay me gently by thy side, + But my spirit then, its home forsaking, + Through the realms of space would wander wide-- + Everything forgot, + What would be thy lot, + If I came not back to thee, my bride?" + + + III. + + "Music, like the lute of young Apollo, + Vibrates even now within mine ear; + Soft and silver voices bid me follow, + Yet my soul is dull and will not hear. + Waking it will stay: + Let me watch till day-- + Fainter will they come, and disappear." + + + IV. + + "Speak not thus to me, my own--my dearest! + These are but the phantoms of thy brain; + Nothing can befall thee which thou fearest, + Thou shalt wake to love and life again. + Were this sleep thy last, + I should hold thee fast, + Thou shouldst strive against me but in vain." + + + V. + + "Eros will protect us, and will hover, + Guardian-like, above thee all the night, + Jealous of thee, as of some fond lover + Chiding back the rosy-fingered light-- + He will be thine aid: + Canst thou feel afraid + When _his_ torch above us burneth bright?" + + + VI. + + "Lo! the cressets of the night are waning-- + Old Orion hastens from the sky; + Only thou of all things art remaining + Unrefreshed by slumber--thou and I. + Sound and sense are still; + Even the distant rill + Murmurs fainter now, and languidly." + + + VII. + + "Come and rest thee, husband!"--And no longer + Could the young man that fond call resist: + Vainly was he warned, for love was stronger-- + Warmly did he press her to his breast. + Warmly met she his; + Kiss succeeded kiss, + Till their eyelids closed with sleep oppressed. + + + VIII. + + Soon Aurora left her early pillow, + And the heavens grew rosy-rich, and rare; + Laughed the dewy plain and glassy billow, + For the Golden God himself was there; + And the vapour-screen + Rose the hills between, + Steaming up, like incense, in the air. + + + IX. + + O'er her husband sate Ione bending-- + Marble-like and marble-hued he lay; + Underneath her raven locks descending, + Paler seemed his face, and ashen gray, + And so white his brow-- + White and cold as snow-- + "Husband! Gods! his soul hath passed away!" + + + X. + + Raise ye up the pile with gloomy shadow-- + Heap it with the mournful cypress-bough!-- + And they raised the pile upon the meadow, + And they heaped the mournful cypress too; + And they laid the dead + On his funeral bed, + And they kindled up the flames below. + + + XI. + + Swiftly rose they, and the corse surrounded, + Spreading out a pall into the air; + And the sharp and sudden crackling sounded + Mournfully to all the watchers there. + Soon their force was spent, + And the body blent + With the embers' slow-expiring glare. + + + XII. + + Night again was come; but oh, how lonely + To the mourner did that night appear! + Peace nor rest it brought, but sorrow only, + Vain repinings and unwonted fear. + Dimly burned the lamp-- + Chill the air and damp-- + And the winds without were moaning drear. + + + XIII. + + Hush! a voice in solemn whispers speaking + Breaks within the twilight of the room; + And Ione, loud and wildly shrieking, + Starts and gazes through the ghastly gloom. + Nothing sees she there-- + All is empty air, + All is empty as a rifled tomb. + + + XIV. + + Once again the voice beside her sounded, + Low, and faint, and solemn was its tone-- + "Nor by form nor shade am I surrounded, + Fleshly home and dwelling have I none. + They are passed away-- + Woe is me! to-day + Hath robbed me of myself, and made me lone." + + + XV. + + "Vainly were the words of parting spoken; + Evermore must Charon turn from me. + Still my thread of life remains unbroken, + And unbroken ever it must be; + Only they may rest + Whom the Fates' behest + From their mortal mansion setteth free." + + + XVI. + + "I have seen the robes of Hermes glisten-- + Seen him wave afar his serpent-wand; + But to me the Herald would not listen-- + When the dead swept by at his command, + Not with that pale crew + Durst I venture too-- + Ever shut for me the quiet land." + + + XVII. + + "Day and night before the dreary portal, + Phantom-shapes, the guards of Hades, lie; + None of heavenly kind, nor yet of mortal, + May unchallenged pass the warders by. + None that path may go, + If he cannot show + His last passport to eternity." + + + XVIII. + + "Cruel was the spirit-power thou gavest-- + Fatal, O Apollo, was thy love! + Pythian! Archer! brightest God and bravest, + Hear, O hear me from thy throne above! + Let me not, I pray, + Thus be cast away: + Plead for me--thy slave--O plead to Jove!" + + + XIX. + + "I have heard thee with the Muses singing-- + Heard that full, melodious voice of thine, + Silver-clear throughout the ether ringing-- + Seen thy locks in golden clusters shine; + And thine eye, so bright + With its innate light, + Hath ere now been bent so low as mine." + + + XX. + + "Hast thou lost the wish--the will--to cherish + Those who trusted in thy godlike power? + Hyacinthus did not wholly perish; + Still he lives, the firstling of thy bower; + Still he feels thy rays, + Fondly meets thy gaze, + Though but now the spirit of a flower." + + + XXI. + + "Hear me, Phoebus! Hear me and deliver! + Lo! the morning breaketh from afar-- + God! thou comest bright and great as ever-- + Night goes back before thy burning car; + All her lamps are gone-- + Lucifer alone + Lingers still for thee--the blessed star!" + + + XXII. + + "Hear me, Phoebus!"--And therewith descended + Through the window-arch a glory-gleam, + All effulgent--and with music blended, + For such solemn sounds arose as stream + From the Memnon-lyre, + When the morning fire + Gilds the giant's forehead with its beam. + + + XXIII. + + "Thou hast heard thy servant's prayer, Apollo; + Thou dost call me, mighty God of Day! + Fare-thee-well, Ione!"--And more hollow + Came the phantom-voice, then died away. + When the slaves arose, + Not in calm repose, + Not in sleep, but death, their mistress lay. + + + + +OENONE + + On the holy mount of Ida, + Where the pine and cypress grow, + Sate a young and lovely woman, + Weeping ever, weeping low. + Drearily throughout the forest + Did the winds of autumn blow, + And the clouds above were flying, + And Scamander rolled below. + + "Faithless Paris! cruel Paris!" + Thus the poor deserted spake-- + "Wherefore thus so strangely leave me? + Why thy loving bride forsake? + Why no tender word at parting? + Why no kiss, no farewell take? + Would that I could but forget thee-- + Would this throbbing heart might break! + + "Is my face no longer blooming? + Are my eyes no longer bright? + Ah! my tears have made them dimmer, + And my cheeks are pale and white. + I have wept since early morning, + I will weep the livelong night; + Now I long for sullen darkness, + As I once have longed for light. + + "Paris! canst thou then be cruel? + Fair, and young, and brave thou art-- + Can it be that in thy bosom + Lies so cold, so hard a heart? + Children were we bred together-- + She who bore me suckled thee; + I have been thine old companion, + When thou hadst no more but me. + + "I have watched thee in thy slumbers, + When the shadow of a dream + Passed across thy smiling features, + Like the ripple of a stream; + And so sweetly were the visions + Pictured there with lively grace, + That I half could read their import + By the changes on thy face. + + "When I sang of Ariadne, + Sang the old and mournful tale, + How her faithless lover, Theseus, + Left her to lament and wail; + Then thine eyes would fill and glisten, + Her complaint could soften thee: + Thou hast wept for Ariadne-- + Theseus' self might weep for me! + + "Thou may'st find another maiden + With a fairer face than mine-- + With a gayer voice, and sweeter, + And a spirit liker thine: + For if e'er my beauty bound thee, + Lost and broken is the spell; + But thou canst not find another + That will love thee half so well. + + "O thou hollow ship that bearest + Paris o'er the faithless deep, + Wouldst thou leave him on some island, + Where alone the waters weep? + Where no human foot is moulded + In the wet and yellow sand-- + Leave him there, thou hollow vessel! + Leave him on that lonely land! + + "Then his heart will surely soften, + When his foolish hopes decay, + And his older love rekindle, + As the new one dies away. + Visionary hills will haunt him, + Rising from the glassy sea, + And his thoughts will wander homewards + Unto Ida and to me. + + "O! that like a little swallow + I could reach that lonely spot! + All his errors would be pardoned, + All the weary past forgot. + Never should he wander from me-- + Never should he more depart, + For these arms would be his prison, + And his home would be my heart." + + Thus lamented fair Oenone, + Weeping ever, weeping low, + On the holy mount of Ida, + Where the pine and cypress grow. + In the self-same hour Cassandra + Shrieked her prophecy of woe, + And into the Spartan dwelling + Did the faithless Paris go. + + + + +THE BURIED FLOWER + + + In the silence of my chamber, + When the night is still and deep, + And the drowsy heave of ocean + Mutters in its charmed sleep, + + Oft I hear the angel-voices + That have thrilled me long ago,-- + Voices of my lost companions, + Lying deep beneath the snow. + + O, the garden I remember, + In the gay and sunny spring, + When our laughter made the thickets + And the arching alleys ring! + + O the merry burst of gladness! + O the soft and tender tone! + O the whisper never uttered + Save to one fond ear alone! + + O the light of life that sparkled + In those bright and bounteous eyes! + O the blush of happy beauty, + Tell-tale of the heart's surprise: + + O the radiant light that girdled + Field and forest, land and sea, + When we all were young together, + And the earth was new to me: + + Where are now the flowers we tended? + Withered, broken, branch and stem; + Where are now the hopes we cherished? + Scattered to the winds with them. + + For ye, too, were flowers, ye dear ones! + Nursed in hope and reared in love, + Looking fondly ever upward + To the clear blue heaven above: + + Smiling on the sun that cheered us, + Rising lightly from the rain, + Never folding up your freshness + Save to give it forth again: + + Never shaken, save by accents + From a tongue that was not free, + As the modest blossom trembles + At the wooing of the bee. + + O! 'tis sad to lie and reckon + All the days of faded youth, + All the vows that we believed in, + All the words we spoke in truth. + + Severed--were it severed only + By an idle thought of strife, + Such as time might knit together; + Not the broken chord of life! + + O my heart! that once so truly + Kept another's time and tune, + Heart, that kindled in the spring-tide, + Look around thee in the noon. + + Where are they who gave the impulse + To thy earliest thought and flow? + Look around the ruined garden-- + All are withered, dropped, or low! + + Seek the birth-place of the lily, + Dearer to the boyish dream + Than the golden cups of Eden, + Floating on its slumbrous stream; + + Never more shalt thou behold her-- + She, the noblest, fairest, best: + She that rose in fullest beauty, + Like a queen, above the rest. + + Only still I keep her image + As a thought that cannot die; + He who raised the shade of Helen + Had no greater power than I. + + O! I fling my spirit backward, + And I pass o'er years of pain; + All I loved is rising round me, + All the lost returns again. + + Blow, for ever blow, ye breezes, + Warmly as ye did before! + Bloom again, ye happy gardens, + With the radiant tints of yore! + + Warble out in spray and thicket, + All ye choristers unseen; + Let the leafy woodland echo + With an anthem to its queen! + + Lo! she cometh in her beauty, + Stately with a Juno grace, + Raven locks, Madonna-braided + O'er her sweet and blushing face: + + Eyes of deepest violet, beaming + With the love that knows not shame-- + Lips, that thrill my inmost being + With the utterance of a name. + + And I bend the knee before her, + As a captive ought to bow,-- + Pray thee, listen to my pleading, + Sovereign of my soul art thou! + + O my dear and gentle lady, + Let me show thee all my pain, + Ere the words that late were prisoned + Sink into my heart again. + + Love, they say, is very fearful + Ere its curtain be withdrawn, + Trembling at the thought of error + As the shadows scare the fawn. + + Love hath bound me to thee, lady, + Since the well-remembered day + When I first beheld thee coming + In the light of lustrous May. + + Not a word I dared to utter-- + More than he who, long ago, + Saw the heavenly shapes descending + Over Ida's slopes of snow: + + When a low and solemn music + Floated through the listening grove, + And the throstle's song was silenced, + And the doling of the dove: + + When immortal beauty opened + All its grace to mortal sight, + And the awe of worship blended + With the throbbing of delight. + + As the shepherd stood before them + Trembling in the Phrygian dell, + Even so my soul and being + Owned the magic of the spell; + + And I watched thee ever fondly, + Watched thee, dearest! from afar, + With the mute and humble homage + Of the Indian to a star. + + Thou wert still the Lady Flora + In her morning garb of bloom; + Where thou wert was light and glory, + Where thou wert not, dearth and gloom. + + So for many a day I followed + For a long and weary while, + Ere my heart rose up to bless thee + For the yielding of a smile,-- + + Ere thy words were few and broken + As they answered back to mine, + Ere my lips had power to thank thee + For the gift vouchsafed by thine. + + Then a mighty gush of passion + Through my inmost being ran; + Then my older life was ended, + And a dearer course began. + + Dearer!--O, I cannot tell thee + What a load was swept away, + What a world of doubt and darkness + Faded in the dawning day! + + All my error, all my weakness, + All my vain delusions fled: + Hope again revived, and gladness + Waved its wings above my head. + + Like the wanderer of the desert, + When, across the dreary sand, + Breathes the perfume from the thickets + Bordering on the promised land; + + When afar he sees the palm-trees + Cresting o'er the lonely well, + When he hears the pleasant tinkle + Of the distant camel's bell: + + So a fresh and glad emotion + Rose within my swelling breast, + And I hurried swiftly onwards + To the haven of my rest. + + Thou wert there with word and welcome, + With thy smile so purely sweet; + And I laid my heart before thee, + Laid it, darling, at thy feet!-- + + O ye words that sound so hollow + As I now recall your tone! + What are ye but empty echoes + Of a passion crushed and gone? + + Wherefore should I seek to kindle + Light, when all around is gloom? + Wherefore should I raise a phantom + O'er the dark and silent tomb? + + Early wert thou taken, Mary! + In thy fair and glorious prime, + Ere the bees had ceased to murmur + Through the umbrage of the lime. + + Buds were blowing, waters flowing, + Birds were singing on the tree, + Every thing was bright and glowing, + When the angels came for thee. + + Death had laid aside his terror, + And he found thee calm and mild, + Lying in thy robes of whiteness, + Like a pure and stainless child. + + Hardly had the mountain violet + Spread its blossoms on the sod, + Ere they laid the turf above thee, + And thy spirit rose to God. + + Early wert thou taken, Mary! + And I know 'tis vain to weep-- + Tears of mine can never wake thee + From thy sad and silent sleep. + + O away! my thoughts are earthward! + Not asleep, my love, art thou! + Dwelling in the land of glory + With the saints and angels now. + + Brighter, fairer far than living, + With no trace of woe or pain, + Robed in everlasting beauty, + Shall I see thee once again, + + By the light that never fadeth, + Underneath eternal skies, + When the dawn of resurrection + Breaks o'er deathless Paradise. + + + + +THE OLD CAMP + + +WRITTEN IN A ROMAN FORTIFICATION IN BAVARIA + + I. + + There is a cloud before the sun, + The wind is hushed and still, + And silently the waters run + Beneath the sombre hill. + The sky is dark in every place, + As is the earth below: + Methinks it wore the self-same face + Two thousand years ago. + + + II. + + No light is on the ancient wall, + No light upon the mound; + The very trees, so thick and tall, + Cast gloom, not shade, around. + So silent is the place and cold, + So far from human ken, + It hath a look that makes me old, + And spectres time again. + + + III. + + I listen, half in thought to hear + The Roman trumpet blow-- + I search for glint of helm and spear + Amidst the forest bough: + And armour rings, and voices swell-- + I hear the legion's tramp, + And mark the lonely sentinel + Who guards the lonely camp. + + + IV. + + Methinks I have no other home, + No other hearth to find; + For nothing save the thought of Rome + Is stirring in my mind. + And all that I have heard or dreamed, + And all I had forgot, + Are rising up, as though they seemed + The household of the spot. + + + V. + + And all the names that Romans knew + Seem just as known to me, + As if I were a Roman too-- + A Roman born and free: + And I could rise at Cæsar's name, + As though it were a charm + To draw sharp lightning from the tame, + And brace the coward's arm. + + + VI. + + And yet, if yonder sky were blue, + And earth were sunny gay, + If nature wore the summer hue + That decked her yesterday, + The mound, the trench, the rampart's space, + Would move me nothing more + Than many a sweet sequestred place + That I have marked before. + + + VII. + + I could not feel the breezes bring + Rich odours from the trees; + I could not hear the linnets sing, + And think on themes like these. + The painted insects as they pass + In swift and motley strife, + The very lizard in the grass + Would scare me back to life. + + + VIII. + + Then is the past so gloomy now + That it may never bear + The open smile of nature's brow, + Or meet the sunny air? + I know not that--but joy is power, + However short it last; + And joy befits the present hour, + If sadness fits the past. + + + + +DANUBE AND THE EUXINE + + + "Danube, Danube! wherefore com'st thou + Red and raging to my caves? + Wherefore leap thy swollen waters + Madly through the broken waves? + Wherefore is thy tide so sullied + With a hue unknown to me; + Wherefore dost thou bring pollution + To the old and sacred sea?" + + "Ha! rejoice, old Father Euxine! + I am brimming full and red; + Noble tidings do I carry + From my distant channel-bed. + I have been a Christian river + Dull and slow this many a year, + Rolling down my torpid waters + Through a silence morne and drear; + Have not felt the tread of armies + Trampling on my reedy shore; + Have not heard the trumpet calling, + Or the cannon's gladsome roar; + Only listened to the laughter + From the village and the town, + And the church-bells, ever jangling, + As the weary day went down. + So I lay and sorely pondered + On the days long since gone by, + When my old primæval forests + Echoed to the war-man's cry; + When the race of Thor and Odin + Held their battles by my side, + And the blood of man was mingling + Warmly with my chilly tide. + Father Euxine! thou rememb'rest + How I brought thee tribute then-- + Swollen corpses, gashed and gory, + Heads and limbs of slaughter'd men? + Father Euxine! be thou joyful! + I am running red once more-- + Not with heathen blood, as early, + But with gallant Christian gore! + For the old times are returning, + And the Cross is broken down, + And I hear the tocsin sounding + In the village and the town; + And the glare of burning cities + Soon shall light me on my way-- + Ha! my heart is big and jocund + With the draught I drank to-day. + Ha! I feel my strength awakened, + And my brethren shout to me; + Each is leaping red and joyous + To his own awaiting sea. + Rhine and Elbe are plunging downward + Through their wild anarchic land, + Everywhere are Christians falling + By their brother Christians' hand! + Yea, the old times are returning, + And the olden gods are here! + Take my tribute, Father Euxine, + To thy waters dark and drear. + Therefore come I with my torrents, + Shaking castle, crag, and town; + Therefore, with the shout of thunder, + Sweep I herd and herdsman down; + Therefore leap I to thy bosom, + With a loud triumphal roar-- + Greet me, greet me, Father Euxine, + I am Christian stream no more!" + + + + +THE SCHEIK OF SINAI IN 1830 + + +FROM THE GERMAN OF FREILIGRATH + + I. + + "Lift me without the tent, I say,-- + Me and my ottoman,-- + I'll see the messenger myself! + It is the caravan + From Africa, thou sayest, + And they bring us news of war? + Draw me without the tent, and quick! + As at the desert well + The freshness of the purling brook + Delights the tired gazelle, + So pant I for the voice of him + That cometh from afar!" + + + II. + + The Scheik was lifted from his tent, + And thus outspake the Moor:-- + "I saw, old Chief, the Tricolor + On Algiers' topmost tower-- + Upon its battlements the silks + Of Lyons flutter free. + Each morning, in the market-place, + The muster-drum is beat, + And to the war-hymn of Marseilles + The squadrons pace the street. + The armament from Toulon sailed: + The Franks have crossed the sea." + + + III. + + "Towards the south, the columns marched + Beneath a cloudless sky: + Their weapons glittered in the blaze + Of the sun of Barbary; + And with the dusty desert sand + Their horses' manes were white. + The wild marauding tribes dispersed + In terror of their lives; + They fled unto the mountains + With their children and their wives, + And urged the clumsy dromedary + Up the Atlas' height." + + + IV. + + "The Moors have ta'en their vantage-ground, + The volleys thunder fast-- + The dark defile is blazing + Like a heated oven-blast; + The lion hears the strange turmoil, + And leaves his mangled prey-- + No place was that for him to feed; + And thick and loud the cries, + Feu!--Allah! Allah!--En avant! + In mingled discord rise; + The Franks have reached the summit-- + They have won the victory!" + + + V. + + "With bristling steel, upon the top + The victors take their stand: + Beneath their feet, with all its towns, + They see the promised land-- + From Tunis, even unto Fez, + From Atlas to the seas. + The cavaliers alight to gaze, + And gaze full well they may, + Where countless minarets stand up + So solemnly and gray, + Amidst the dark-green masses + Of the flowering myrtle-trees." + + + VI. + + "The almond blossoms in the vale; + The aloe from the rock + Throws out its long and prickly leaves, + Nor dreads the tempest's shock: + A blessed land, I ween, is that, + Though luckless is its Bey. + There lies the sea--beyond lies France! + Her banners in the air + Float proudly and triumphantly-- + A salvo! come, prepare! + And loud and long the mountains rang + With that glad artillery." + + + VII. + + "'Tis they!" exclaimed the aged Scheik. + "I've battled by their side-- + I fought beneath the Pyramids! + That day of deathless pride-- + Red as thy turban, Moor, that eve, + Was every creek in Nile! + But tell me--" and he griped his hand-- + "Their Sultaun. Stranger, say-- + His form--his face--his posture, man? + Thou saw'st him in the fray? + His eye--what wore he?" But the Moor + Sought in his vest awhile. + + + VIII. + + "Their Sultaun, Scheik, remains at home + Within his palace walls: + He sends a Pasha in his stead + To brave the bolts and balls. + He was not there. An Aga burst + For him through Atlas' hold. + Yet I can show thee somewhat too. + A Frankish Cavalier + Told me his effigy was stamped + Upon this medal here-- + He gave me with others + For an Arab steed I sold." + + + IX. + + The old man took the golden coin: + Gazed steadfastly awhile, + If that could be the Sultaun + Whom from the banks of Nile + He guided o'er the desert path-- + Then sighed and thus spake he-- + "'Tis not _his_ eye--'tis not _his_ brow-- + Another face is there: + I never saw this man before-- + His head is like a pear! + Take back thy medal, Moor--'tis not + That which I hoped to see." + + + + +EPITAPH OF CONSTANTINE KANARIS + + +FROM THE GERMAN OF WILHELM MÜLLER + + I am Constantine Kanaris: + I, who lie beneath this stone, + Twice into the air in thunder + Have the Turkish galleys blown. + + In my bed I died--a Christian, + Hoping straight with Christ to be; + Yet one earthly wish is buried + Deep within the grave with me-- + + That upon the open ocean + When the third Armada came, + They and I had died together, + Whirled aloft on wings of flame. + + Yet 'tis something that they've laid me + In a land without a stain: + Keep it thus, my God and Saviour, + Till I rise from earth again! + + + + +THE REFUSAL OF CHARON[4] + + +FROM THE ROMAIC + + Why look the distant mountains + So gloomy and so drear? + Are rain-clouds passing o'er them, + Or is the tempest near? + No shadow of the temptest + Is there, nor wind nor rain-- + 'Tis Charon that is passing by, + With all his gloomy train. + + The young men march before him, + In all their strength and pride; + The tender little infants, + They totter by his side; + The old men walk behind him, + And earnestly they pray-- + Both old and young imploring him + To grant some brief delay. + + "O Charon! halt, we pray thee, + Beside some little town, + Or near some sparkling fountain, + Where the waters wimple down! + The old will drink and be refreshed, + The young the disc will fling, + And the tender little children + Pluck flowers beside the spring." + + "I will not stay my journey, + Nor halt by any town, + Near any sparkling fountain, + Where the waters wimple down: + The mothers coming to the well, + Would know the babes they bore, + The wives would clasp their husbands, + Nor could I part them more." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 4: According to the superstition of the modern Greeks, Charon +performs the function which their ancestors assigned to Hermes, of +conducting the souls of the dead to the other world.] + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and +Other Poems, by W.E. Aytoun + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10945 *** |