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With

sour-featured Whigs the Grassmarket was

cramm'd

As if half the West had set tryst to be hang'd; 15 There was spite in each look, there was fear in each e'e, As they watch'd for the bonnets of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, &c.

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These cowls of Kilmarnock had spits and had spears,
And lang-hafted gullies to kill Cavaliers;
But they shrunk to close-heads, and the causeway
was free,

At the toss of the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.
Come fill up my cup, &c.

25

He spurr'd to the foot of the proud Castle rock, And with the gay Gordon he gallantly spoke ; 'Let Mons Meg and her marrows speak twa words or three,

For the love of the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.'

Come fill up my cup, &c.

The Gordon demands of him which way he goes'Where'er shall direct me the shade of Montrose ! 30 Your Grace in short space shall hear tidings of me, Or that low lies the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.

Come fill up my cup, &c.

There are hills beyond Pentland, lands beyond Forth;

If there's lords in the Lowlands, there's chiefs in

the North;

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There are wild Duniewassals, three thousand times

three,

Will cry Hoigh! for the bonnet of Bonny Dundee. Come fill up my cup, &c.

20. lang-hafted] long-handled. gullies] knives. 21. closeheads] entrances to alleys. 26. marrows] companions.

'There's brass on the target of barken'd bull-hide There's steel in the scabbard that dangles beside; 40 The brass shall be burnish'd, the steel shall flash free At a toss of the bonnet of Bonny Dundee.

Come fill up my cup, &c.

'Away to the hills, to the caves, to the rocks-
Ere I own an usurper, I'll couch with the fox; 45
And tremble, false Whigs, in the midst of your glee,
You have not seen the last of my bonnet and me!'
Come fill up my cup, &c.

He waved his proud hand, and the trumpets were blown,

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The kettle-drums clash'd, and the horsemen rode on, Till on Ravelston's cliffs and on Clermiston's lee, Died away the wild war-notes of Bonny Dundee.

Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can, Come saddle the horses and call up the men, Come open your gates, and let me gae free, 55 For it's up with the bonnets of Bonny Dundee! SIR W. SCOTT.

1. Lords of Convention. The parliament of the Scottish Estates, representing the clergy and the nobility, who_met_at Edinburgh to settle the government of Scotland at the Revolution of 1689.

7. the West Port. One of the exits of Edinburgh.

14. Grassmarket. A street in Edinburgh.

25. gay Gordon. The Marquis of Huntly, first Duke of Gordon, was Constable of Edinburgh Castle in 1689. After an interview with Claverhouse he agreed to hold the Castle for James II but would not promise to fire on the Convention. He subsequently surrendered the Castle, three days before the battle of Killicrankie.

26. Mons Meg, a gun in Edinburgh Castle. It was cast at Mons in Flanders. (Meg-Maggie.)

30. shade of Montrose. The Earl of Montrose attempted a rising in favour of Charles II, but was defeated and executed in 1650.

36. Duniewassals. Highland gentlemen.

KILLICRANKIE
(1689)

This sonnet was written by Wordsworth on his first sight of the pass of Killicrankie in 1803, when an invasion of the French was expected.

5

SIX thousand veterans practised in war's game,
Tried men, at Killicrankie were arrayed
Against an equal host that wore the plaid,
Shepherds and herdsmen.-Like a whirlwind came
The Highlanders, the slaughter spread like flame;
And Garry, thundering down his mountain-road,
Was stopped, and could not breathe beneath the load
Of the dead bodies.-'Twas a day of shame
For them whom precept and the pedantry
Of cold mechanic battle do enslave.

O for a single hour of that Dundee,
Who on that day the word of onset gave!
Like conquest would the Men of England see;
And her Foes find a like inglorious grave.

W. WORDSWORTH.

THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE

(1692)

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Maclan (or 'Glencoe ') was the last of the Scottish chiefs to take the oath of allegiance to William III. He reached Fort William for this purpose after the appointed day. His oath was accepted; but, through the malice of either Argyle or the Master of Stair, his submission was not reported to the Council of Edinburgh. Six weeks later Maclan and almost the whole of the Macdonald clan were murdered by a contingent of Argyle's regiment which had lived with them for a fortnight as guests.

'O TELL me, Harper, wherefore flow
Thy wayward notes of wail and woe,
Far down the desert of Glencoe,

Where none may list their melody?

Say, harp'st thou to the mists that fly,
Or to the dun-deer glancing by,
Or to the eagle, that from high

Screams chorus to thy minstrelsy?'—

'No, not to these, for they have rest,-
The mist-wreath has the mountain-crest,
The stag his lair, the erne her nest,
Abode of lone security.

But those for whom I pour the lay,
Not wild-wood deep, nor mountain grey,
Not this deep dell, that shrouds from day,
Could screen from treach'rous cruelty.

'Their flag was furl'd, and mute their drum,
The very household dogs were dumb,
Unwont to bay at guests that come

In guise of hospitality.

His blithest notes the piper plied,
Her gayest snood the maiden tied,
The dame her distaff flung aside,

To tend her kindly housewifery.

'The hand that mingled in the meal

5

ΤΟ

15

20

25

At midnight drew the felon steel,

And gave the host's kind breast to feel

The friendly hearth which warm'd that hand,

30

Meed for his hospitality!

At midnight arm'd it with the brand,
That bade destruction's flames expand

Their red and fearful blazonry.

'Then woman's shriek was heard in vain,
Nor infancy's unpitied plain,

More than the warrior's groan, could gain
Respite from ruthless butchery !

II. erne] eagle.

22. snood] ribbon.
28. meed] reward.

35

The winter wind that whistled shrill,
The snows that night that cloked the hill,
Though wild and pitiless, had still

Far more than Southern clemency.

'Long have my harp's best notes been gone, Few are its strings, and faint their tone, They can but sound in desert lone

Their grey-hair'd master's misery. Were each grey hair a minstrel string Each chord should imprecations fling, Till startled Scotland loud should ring, 'Revenge for blood and treachery!'

SIR W. SCOTT,

40

45

MARLBOROUGH AT BLENHEIM

(1704)

Blenheim was the first of that series of victories by Marlborough which shook the military prestige of France, and eventually led to the Treaty of Utrecht, with its far-reaching effects on the establishment of England as a great power.

BUT, O my muse, what numbers wilt thou find
To sing the furious troops in battle joined!
Methinks I hear the drum's tumultuous sound
The victor's shouts and dying groans confound,
The dreadful burst of cannon rend the skies,
And all the thunder of the battle rise.

5

'Twas then great Marlborough's mighty soul was proved,

That, in the shock of charging hosts unmoved,
Amidst confusion, horror, and despair,

Examined all the dreadful scenes of war;

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