The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
To these he said, in secret guise,
With looks profound and shrewdly wise,
“I dread these coward Scots for ill;
There has been bustling on that hill,
As if some treachery were design'd,
Or some misprision in the wind:
Scouts have been running up and down,
From town to camp, from camp to town.
(For an encampment, strong and high,
The Scots had form'd on Valon-Righ.)
“'Tis meet that we should arm and watch,
Such violators first to catch,
If such there be. If I am wrong,
Our silent watch will not be long;
While, should we baulk some foul surprise,
Our fame to Odin's throne will rise.”—
His warriors armed with youthful pride,
But laugh'd full mirthfully aside;
And wondered where their gallant prince
Caught such enormous sapience.
With looks profound and shrewdly wise,
“I dread these coward Scots for ill;
There has been bustling on that hill,
As if some treachery were design'd,
Or some misprision in the wind:
Scouts have been running up and down,
From town to camp, from camp to town.
(For an encampment, strong and high,
The Scots had form'd on Valon-Righ.)
“'Tis meet that we should arm and watch,
Such violators first to catch,
If such there be. If I am wrong,
Our silent watch will not be long;
While, should we baulk some foul surprise,
Our fame to Odin's throne will rise.”—
His warriors armed with youthful pride,
But laugh'd full mirthfully aside;
And wondered where their gallant prince
Caught such enormous sapience.
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |