 | Lays of the Highlands and Islands |  |
130
ROB ROY'S CAVE.
Here lodged Rob Roy; proud kings have palaces,And foxes holes, and sheep the sheltering fold;
Fish own the pools, and birds the plumy trees;
And stout Rob Roy possessed this granite hold.
Call him not thief and robber: he was born
A hero more than most that wear a star,
And brooked his brawny strength with manly scorn
On fraud and force and falsehood to make war.
In these well-trimmed and well-oiled times a man
Moves part of a machine: but then strong will
Shaped each hard-sinewed life to kingly plan,
And ruled by right of might and law of skill.
When kings were weak, lords false, and lawyers knaves,
Rob Roy saved honest men from being slaves.
| Lays of the Highlands and Islands | |