nally engaged in the service of the Parliament, but had abjured that party upon the execution of Charles I.; and upon hearing that the royal standard was set up by the Earl of Glencairn and General Middleton in the Highlands of Scotland, took leave of Charles II., who was then at Paris, passed into England, assembled a body of cavaliers in the neighbourhood of London, and traversed the kingdom, which had been so long under domination of the usurper, by marches conducted with such skill, dexterity, and spirit, that he safely united his handful of horsemen with the body of Highlanders then in arms. After several months of desultory warfare, in which Wogan's skill and courage gained him the highest reputation, he had the misfortune to be wounded in a dangerous manner, and no surgical assistance being within reach, he terminated his short but glori ous career. EMBLEM of England's ancient faith, Full proudly may thy branches wave, Where loyalty lies low in death, And valor fills a timeless grave. And thou, brave tenant of the tomb! These owe their birth to genial May; And can their worth be type of thine ? No! for 'mid storms of Fate opposing, Still higher swelled thy dauntless heart, And, while Despair the scene was closing, Commenced thy brief but brilliant part. 'Twas then thou sought'st on Albyn's hill, (When England's sons the strife resigned,) A rugged race resisting still, And unsubdued, though unrefined. Thy death's hour heard no kindred wail, Yet who, in Fortune's summer-shine To waste life's longest term away, Would change that glorious dawn of thine Though darkened ere its noontide day? anniversary of the death of Pitt, this and the one on page 409. This one, though not printed till July, 1814, was written for the celebration in December, 1813. THOUGH right be aft put down by strength, As mony a day we saw that, The true and leilfu' cause at length Shall bear the grie for a' that! For a' that an' a' that, Guns, guillotines, and a' that, The Fleur-de-lis, that lost her right, Is queen again for a' that! We'll twine her in a friendly knot With England's Rose, and a' that; The Austrian Vine, the Prussian Pine, (For Blucher's sake, hurra that,) The Spanish Olive, too, shall join, And bloom in peace for a' that. Stout Russia's Hemp, so surely twined Around our wreath we 'll draw that, And he that would the cord unbind, Shall have it for his gra-vat! Or, if to choke sae puir a sot, Your pity scorn to thraw that, The Devil's elbo' be his lot, Where he may sit and claw that. There's ae bit spot I had forgot, For on the land, or on the sea, Where'er the breezes blaw that, The British Flag shall bear the grie, And win the day for a' that! FAREWELL TO MACKENZIE HIGH CHIEF OF KINTAIL FROM THE GAELIC are 'The original verses,' says Scott, arranged to a beautiful Gaelic air, of which the chorus is adapted to the double pull upon the oars of a galley, and which is therefore distinct from the ordinary jorums, or boatsongs. They were composed by the Family Bard upon the departure of the Earl of Seaforth, who was obliged to take refuge in Spain, after an unsuccessful effort at insurrection in favor of the Stuart family, in the year 1718. Written by Scott in 1815. FAREWELL to Mackenneth, great Earl of the North, The Lord of Lochcarron, Glenshiel, and Seaforth; To the Chieftain this morning his course who began, Launching forth on the billows his bark like a swan. For a far foreign land he has hoisted his sail, Farewell to Mackenzie, High Chief of Kintail! Be fair as their faith and sincere as their woe: 419 IMITATION OF THE PRECEDING SONG WRITTEN IN 1815 " These verses,' one of Scott's editors explains, were written shortly after the death of Lord Seaforth, the last male representative of his illustrious house. He was a nobleman of extraordinary talents, who must have made for himself a lasting reputation, had not his political exertions been checked by the painful natural infirmities alluded to in the fourth stanza.' The 'gentle dame' of the last stanza was Lady Hood, daughter of the last Lord Seaforth, widow of Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, and later Mrs. Stewart Mackenzie of Seaford and Glasserton. So sung the old bard in the grief of his beart When he saw his loved lord from his people depart. Now mute on thy mountains, O Albyn, are heard Nor the voice of the song nor the harp of the bard; Or its strings are but waked by the stern winter gale, As they mourn for Mackenzie, last Chief of Kintail. From the far Southland Border a minstrel came forth, And he waited the hour that some bard of the north Be so soft and so fair and so faithful, His hand on the harp of the ancient should WAR-SONG OF LACHLAN HIGH CHIEF OF MACLEAN FROM THE GAELIC Like the preceding this was translated in 1815 and prefaced thus by Scott: 'This song appears to be imperfect, or, at least, like many of the early Gaelic poems, makes a rapid transition from one subject to another; from the situation, namely, of one of the daughters of the clan, who opens the song by lamenting the absence of her lover, to an eulogium over the military glories of the Chieftain. The translator has endeavored to imitate the abrupt style of the original. A WEARY month has wandered o'er 'T was valiant Lachlan gave the word: And launched them on the main. |