 | The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith |  |
THE GORDONS AND CORRICHIE
The Queen has ridden North:
Lord James is at her side,
And Knight and Lord, with one accord,
Should with her banner ride;
Yet scant three hundred men
Have answered to her call
In fighting gear, with sword and spear,
Or arquebuse and ball.
Lord James is at her side,
And Knight and Lord, with one accord,
Should with her banner ride;
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Have answered to her call
In fighting gear, with sword and spear,
Or arquebuse and ball.
'Twas known that robber bands
Beyond the Grampians stood,
Who raided cattle, and did stark battle,
And shed the lieges' blood;
And if the truth be told
They laughed at Queen and Crown,
And had no awe for Kirk or Law,
Stronghold or Borough's town.
Beyond the Grampians stood,
Who raided cattle, and did stark battle,
And shed the lieges' blood;
And if the truth be told
They laughed at Queen and Crown,
And had no awe for Kirk or Law,
Stronghold or Borough's town.
There was not room in the North
For Huntly and also the Queen;
The Gordons gay had all the sway,
The Sheriff was never seen;
With shaveling Priests to sain
The clansmen when they fell,
They robbed and killed even as they willed,
And feared nor death nor hell.
For Huntly and also the Queen;
The Gordons gay had all the sway,
The Sheriff was never seen;
With shaveling Priests to sain
The clansmen when they fell,
They robbed and killed even as they willed,
And feared nor death nor hell.
She might not leave her folk
To be so sore oppressed,
Nor yet would she let Huntly be
Too utterly distressed;
Therefore she ordered so
That a small array came forth:
Not one in ten of her noblemen
Went with her to the North.
To be so sore oppressed,
Nor yet would she let Huntly be
Too utterly distressed;
Therefore she ordered so
That a small array came forth:
Not one in ten of her noblemen
Went with her to the North.
When Huntly heard the bruit
About the Queen's array,
He sent to call his kinsmen all
To Bog-an-gight straightway,
While they might meet secure,
And hunt a stag and dine,
And counsel hold with the wise and old,
And drink a flask of wine.
About the Queen's array,
He sent to call his kinsmen all
To Bog-an-gight straightway,
While they might meet secure,
And hunt a stag and dine,
And counsel hold with the wise and old,
And drink a flask of wine.
Then trooped to Bog-an-gight
The Gordons near and far,
From Dee and Spey they took their way,
From Buchan and Braemar.
Glentanar lads arose,
Strathbogie was not slow,
And Enzie's carles gave up their quarrels
And girt their swords to go.
The Gordons near and far,
From Dee and Spey they took their way,
From Buchan and Braemar.
Glentanar lads arose,
Strathbogie was not slow,
And Enzie's carles gave up their quarrels
And girt their swords to go.
Aboyne from a sick bed rose,—
He was aye of a ready mind,—
And Haddo sware no Gordon there
Should leave him far behind;
Ellon and Udny came,
And grim old Rothiemay,
And Gordon o' Gight, ere morning light,
Was up, and horsed and away.
He was aye of a ready mind,—
And Haddo sware no Gordon there
Should leave him far behind;
Ellon and Udny came,
And grim old Rothiemay,
And Gordon o' Gight, ere morning light,
Was up, and horsed and away.
Bonnie and broad their lands
By Livet and Ythan and Dee,
Where Deveron flows, and Lossie goes
Past Elgin to the sea;
The Bogie drove their mills,
The Gadie cooled their heat,
In Spean and Spey the Gordons gay
Did wash their horses' feet.
By Livet and Ythan and Dee,
Where Deveron flows, and Lossie goes
Past Elgin to the sea;
The Bogie drove their mills,
The Gadie cooled their heat,
In Spean and Spey the Gordons gay
Did wash their horses' feet.
And now from Peel and Grange,
From Clachan and Castle strong,
O'er moor and moss, past cairn and cross,
They merrily march along.
Loose in its scabbard each
His sword held ready to draw;
Their hearts were light, and their weapons bright,
And they laughed at Queen and Law.
From Clachan and Castle strong,
O'er moor and moss, past cairn and cross,
They merrily march along.
Loose in its scabbard each
His sword held ready to draw;
Their hearts were light, and their weapons bright,
And they laughed at Queen and Law.
The Earl was old and fat,
And therefore might not brook
Graith of steel on head or heel,
Or brazen clasp, or hook;
But wily and cunning plots
Came ready to his brain,
For more by wit than by weapons fit
His ends he strove to gain.
And therefore might not brook
Graith of steel on head or heel,
Or brazen clasp, or hook;
But wily and cunning plots
Came ready to his brain,
For more by wit than by weapons fit
His ends he strove to gain.
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Now, when the feast was ended
And all had drunk their fill,
The Chiefs still sat, consulting what
Might bode them good or ill;
What meant the base-born Prior,
What Lethington wished to get,
What Grange would do if the trumpet blew
A note of battle yet.
And all had drunk their fill,
The Chiefs still sat, consulting what
Might bode them good or ill;
What meant the base-born Prior,
What Lethington wished to get,
What Grange would do if the trumpet blew
A note of battle yet.
And some said this, and some said that,
And hot debate arose,
And young heads got with the good wine hot,
And well-nigh came to blows.
Then the Earl held up a brimming cup,
Saying, “Pledge we all our Queen,
The fairest face, and the rarest grace,
That ever the land hath seen.
And hot debate arose,
And young heads got with the good wine hot,
And well-nigh came to blows.
Then the Earl held up a brimming cup,
Saying, “Pledge we all our Queen,
The fairest face, and the rarest grace,
That ever the land hath seen.
“She comes not here for judgment,
Nor comes she here to fight,
But trusts in you whose hearts are true,
That you'll maintain her right;
Lord Gordon has been wooing,
And I think that he has won
Her love and faith that until death
Shall bind them into one.
Nor comes she here to fight,
But trusts in you whose hearts are true,
That you'll maintain her right;
Lord Gordon has been wooing,
And I think that he has won
Her love and faith that until death
Shall bind them into one.
“As for her bastard brother
Who thinks our lands to gain—
Moray and Mar both, mine they are,
And mine they shall remain.
Cleverly she has fooled them
Here where our strength doth lie,
And six to one we shall set on,
And smite them hip and thigh.”
Who thinks our lands to gain—
Moray and Mar both, mine they are,
And mine they shall remain.
Cleverly she has fooled them
Here where our strength doth lie,
And six to one we shall set on,
And smite them hip and thigh.”
Up sprang Adam o' Gordon,
A cockerel brisk was he,
With a lusty shout his voice rang out,
And his sword he brandished free;
And up the rest leaped with him,
Clashing their blades with might
And drank a noggin, and cried the slogan,
Keen for the coming fight.
A cockerel brisk was he,
With a lusty shout his voice rang out,
And his sword he brandished free;
And up the rest leaped with him,
Clashing their blades with might
And drank a noggin, and cried the slogan,
Keen for the coming fight.
I know not if the Gordon
Spake sooth about the Queen,
For Huntly's Earl a crafty carle
From youth to age had been.
And royal hearts are deep,
And who may search their thoughts?
And her way of life amid storm and strife
Some cunning may well have taught.
Spake sooth about the Queen,
For Huntly's Earl a crafty carle
From youth to age had been.
And royal hearts are deep,
And who may search their thoughts?
And her way of life amid storm and strife
Some cunning may well have taught.
They reckoned that the muster
Of the Gordon clan would daunt
The little band from the Fife lowland,
Which was all the Queen could vaunt.
But though her force was scanty
When she rode off to the North,
She well might boast of her gallant host,
For they all were men of worth.
Of the Gordon clan would daunt
The little band from the Fife lowland,
Which was all the Queen could vaunt.
But though her force was scanty
When she rode off to the North,
She well might boast of her gallant host,
For they all were men of worth.
Lord James could play the man,
Though he liked to rule the State,
Kirkaldy stood a soldier good,
And few with him could mate;
And Maitland, deep in thought, could keep
A cool head in the fray;
They had learned in France to wield the lance,
And to order the battle array.
Though he liked to rule the State,
Kirkaldy stood a soldier good,
And few with him could mate;
And Maitland, deep in thought, could keep
A cool head in the fray;
They had learned in France to wield the lance,
And to order the battle array.
To Corrichie marched the Gordons,
All ready for the fight,
With cords and bands to bind the hands
Of captive Lord and Knight—
Two thousand plaided men
With dirk and sharp claymore,
They were ill trained, but they had stained
The heather full oft with gore.
All ready for the fight,
With cords and bands to bind the hands
Of captive Lord and Knight—
Two thousand plaided men
With dirk and sharp claymore,
They were ill trained, but they had stained
The heather full oft with gore.
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They came on with a rush
And a barbarous slogan cry,
And taunting words, and brandished swords,
And the pibroch sounding high;
The odds indeed were great.
But their foes were better drilled,
And theirs too was the better cause,
And their leaders better skilled.
And a barbarous slogan cry,
And taunting words, and brandished swords,
And the pibroch sounding high;
The odds indeed were great.
But their foes were better drilled,
And theirs too was the better cause,
And their leaders better skilled.
Half-way across the field,
When the race had tried their wind,
They had to cross a black flow moss
Where their ranks were swiftly thinned.
The volleys from the muskets
They answered still with cheers,
But they faltered plain when they reached the main
Battle of bristling spears.
When the race had tried their wind,
They had to cross a black flow moss
Where their ranks were swiftly thinned.
The volleys from the muskets
They answered still with cheers,
But they faltered plain when they reached the main
Battle of bristling spears.
Lord Huntly was a Chief
But hardly a fighting man;
It might not be fear, but from the rear
He ordered still his clan,
Though he saw Lord James in front,
And Grange lead on his men,
And their serried rank from the solid bank
Hurl back his force again.
But hardly a fighting man;
It might not be fear, but from the rear
He ordered still his clan,
Though he saw Lord James in front,
And Grange lead on his men,
And their serried rank from the solid bank
Hurl back his force again.
Right soon the play was played,
And shouts were changed to shrieks;
'Twas scarce begun ere it was done,
Though it had been planned for weeks.
Brief was the time of battle,
The Coronach needed more.
But it will be years ere the woman's tears,
Are dry as they were before.
And shouts were changed to shrieks;
'Twas scarce begun ere it was done,
Though it had been planned for weeks.
Brief was the time of battle,
The Coronach needed more.
But it will be years ere the woman's tears,
Are dry as they were before.
Some said Earl Huntly fell—
For he was an unwieldy man,
And scant o' breath—and was done to death
In the back rush of his clan.
Some held that he died of shame
That his House was brought so low;
This only I say that dead he lay
With never a wound to show.
For he was an unwieldy man,
And scant o' breath—and was done to death
In the back rush of his clan.
Some held that he died of shame
That his House was brought so low;
This only I say that dead he lay
With never a wound to show.
So the Gordon's might was broken,
And it did not fall alone,
For never again was a great House fain
To wrestle a fall with the throne,
As Somerled and Bell-the-Cat
Had done in days of old,
For the power o' th' Law now held in awe
Both chief and baron bold.
And it did not fall alone,
For never again was a great House fain
To wrestle a fall with the throne,
As Somerled and Bell-the-Cat
Had done in days of old,
For the power o' th' Law now held in awe
Both chief and baron bold.
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