 | Contributions to a Ballad History of England and the States Sprung from Her |  |
THE FALSE ALARM.
1805.
Oh they lit the fire on Home Castle,
And, men, you can understand
How, from hill to hill and heart to heart,
The flame leapt through the land.
And, men, you can understand
How, from hill to hill and heart to heart,
The flame leapt through the land.
88
They lit the fire on Home Castle,
And all the Border through,
In town and vale, on moor and hill,
Full shrill the bugles blew.
And all the Border through,
In town and vale, on moor and hill,
Full shrill the bugles blew.
For the Frenchmen lay around Boulogne;
We heard their gathering hum,
And we watched and waited for the day,
Their vaunting hosts would come.
We heard their gathering hum,
And we watched and waited for the day,
Their vaunting hosts would come.
As a hundred beacons flared that night,
There were arming, stir and din,
And fast, from far, to port and shore,
The Border gathered in.
There were arming, stir and din,
And fast, from far, to port and shore,
The Border gathered in.
On fifty cliffs the flame leapt up,
And all the Border-side,
With fiery hearts and bloody spurs,
Towards the beacons ride.
And all the Border-side,
With fiery hearts and bloody spurs,
Towards the beacons ride.
Oh Roxburghshire rose well that day,
Nor Berwick spared its breath,
Nor Selkirk drew rein for thirty miles
Till they rode into Dalkeith.
Nor Berwick spared its breath,
Nor Selkirk drew rein for thirty miles
Till they rode into Dalkeith.
Far west is bonny Liddesdale,
But no time her troopers lost;
By noon, full forty miles away,
Each man was at his post.
But no time her troopers lost;
By noon, full forty miles away,
Each man was at his post.
And Kelso heard the Teviot men
Play, spurring towards the sea,
“Oh, my name it is little Jock Elliot, boys,
And who dare meddle with me?”
Play, spurring towards the sea,
“Oh, my name it is little Jock Elliot, boys,
And who dare meddle with me?”
89
The widow sent her only son,
Nor at home would have him bide,
And the new-wed wife sped her husband off.
That night from her loving side.
Nor at home would have him bide,
And the new-wed wife sped her husband off.
That night from her loving side.
Oh, had the Frenchmen come that day
They'd have found the Border true
To her old renown, and felt full well,
What Scots can dare and do.
They'd have found the Border true
To her old renown, and felt full well,
What Scots can dare and do.
And if the foe should come to-day,
As at times they dare to threat,
They'll find the fire that rose that night
In our hearts is burning yet.
As at times they dare to threat,
They'll find the fire that rose that night
In our hearts is burning yet.
They'll find our Rifles, England through,
As quick to rise and arm
As the Border was that wintry night,
That night of “the False Alarm.”
As quick to rise and arm
As the Border was that wintry night,
That night of “the False Alarm.”
| Contributions to a Ballad History of England and the States Sprung from Her | |