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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On the Lifting of the Banner of Buccleuch,
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
On the Lifting of the Banner of Buccleuch,
AT THE GREAT FOOT-BALL MATCH ON CARTERHAUGH, DEC. 5, 1815.
And hast thou here, like hermit gray,
Thy mystic characters unrolled
O'er peaceful revellers to play,
Thou emblem of the days of old?
Or comest thou with the veteran's smile,
Who deems his day of conquest fled,
Yet loves to view the bloodless toil
Of sons whose sires he often led?
Thy mystic characters unrolled
O'er peaceful revellers to play,
Thou emblem of the days of old?
Or comest thou with the veteran's smile,
Who deems his day of conquest fled,
Yet loves to view the bloodless toil
Of sons whose sires he often led?
Not such thy peaceable intent,
When, over Border waste and wood,
On foray and achievement bent,
Like eagle on the path of blood.
Symbol to ancient valour dear!
Much has been dared and done for thee—
I almost weep to see thee here,
And deem thee raised in mockery.
When, over Border waste and wood,
On foray and achievement bent,
Like eagle on the path of blood.
Symbol to ancient valour dear!
Much has been dared and done for thee—
I almost weep to see thee here,
And deem thee raised in mockery.
But no—familiar to the brave,
'Twas thine thy gleaming moon and star
Above their manly sports to wave
As free as in the field of war:
To thee the faithful clansman's shout
In revel as in rage was dear;
The more beloved in festal rout,
The better fenced when foes were near.
'Twas thine thy gleaming moon and star
Above their manly sports to wave
As free as in the field of war:
To thee the faithful clansman's shout
In revel as in rage was dear;
The more beloved in festal rout,
The better fenced when foes were near.
I love thee for the olden day,
The iron age of hardihood—
The rather that thou led'st the way
To peace and joy through paths of blood
For were it not the deeds of weir,
When thou wert foremost in the fray,
We had not been assembled here,
Rejoicing in a Father's sway.
The iron age of hardihood—
The rather that thou led'st the way
To peace and joy through paths of blood
390
When thou wert foremost in the fray,
We had not been assembled here,
Rejoicing in a Father's sway.
And even the days ourselves have known,
Alike the moral truth impress—
Valour and constancy alone
Can purchase peace and happiness.
Then hail, memorial of the brave,
The liegeman's pride, the Border's awe!
May thy gray pennon never wave
On sterner field than Carterhaugh!
Alike the moral truth impress—
Valour and constancy alone
Can purchase peace and happiness.
Then hail, memorial of the brave,
The liegeman's pride, the Border's awe!
May thy gray pennon never wave
On sterner field than Carterhaugh!
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |