 | Lyrical Poems |  |
6
THE TWO MEEK MARGARETS.
The brutal and unfeeling martyrdom of Margaret Wilson and Margaret M'Lauchlan on the eleventh of May 1685 will remain for ever in the minds of the Scottish people, as a memorial of that perverse and pig-headed generation of crowned formalists, who employed themselves for more than a ccntury in forcing Episcopacy upon a people essentially Presbyterian. See Macaulay, ch. iv. I have followed Wodrow.
It fell on a day in the blooming month of May,
When the trees were greenly growing,
That a captain grim went down to the brim
O' the sea, when the tide was flowing.
When the trees were greenly growing,
That a captain grim went down to the brim
O' the sea, when the tide was flowing.
Twa maidens he led, that captain grim,
Wi' his red-coat loons behind him,
Twa meek-faced maids, and he sware that he
In the salt sea-swell should bind them.
Wi' his red-coat loons behind him,
Twa meek-faced maids, and he sware that he
In the salt sea-swell should bind them.
And a' the burghers o' Wigton town
Came down, full sad and cheerless,
To see that ruthless captain drown
These maidens meek, but fearless.
Came down, full sad and cheerless,
To see that ruthless captain drown
These maidens meek, but fearless.
7
O what had they done, these maidens meek,
What crime all crimes excelling,
That they should be staked on the ribbed sea-sand,
And drowned, where the tide was swelling?
What crime all crimes excelling,
That they should be staked on the ribbed sea-sand,
And drowned, where the tide was swelling?
O wae's me, wae! but the truth I maun say!
Their crime was the crime of believing
Not man, but God, when the last false Stuart
His Popish plot was weaving.
Their crime was the crime of believing
Not man, but God, when the last false Stuart
His Popish plot was weaving.
O spare them! spare them! thou captain grim!
No! no!—to a stake he hath bound them,
Where the floods as they flow, and the waves as they grow,
Shall soon be deepening round them.
No! no!—to a stake he hath bound them,
Where the floods as they flow, and the waves as they grow,
Shall soon be deepening round them.
The one had threescore years and three;
Far out on the sand they bound her,
Where the first dark flow of the waves as they grow
Is quickly swirling round her.
Far out on the sand they bound her,
Where the first dark flow of the waves as they grow
Is quickly swirling round her.
The other was a maiden fresh and fair;
More near to the land they bound her,
That she might see by slow degree
The grim waves creeping round her.
More near to the land they bound her,
That she might see by slow degree
The grim waves creeping round her.
8
O captain, spare that maiden grey,
She's deep in the deepening water!
No! no!—she's lifted her hands to pray,
And the choking billow caught her!
She's deep in the deepening water!
No! no!—she's lifted her hands to pray,
And the choking billow caught her!
See, see, young maid, cried the captain grim,
The wave shall soon ride o'er thee!
She's swamped in the brine whose sin was like thine;
See that same fate before thee!
The wave shall soon ride o'er thee!
She's swamped in the brine whose sin was like thine;
See that same fate before thee!
I see the Christ who hung on a tree
When His life for sins He offered;
In one of His members, even He
With that meek maid hath suffered.
When His life for sins He offered;
In one of His members, even He
With that meek maid hath suffered.
O captain, save that meek young maid;
She's a loyal farmer's daughter!
Well, well! let her swear to good King James,
And I'll hale her out from the water!
She's a loyal farmer's daughter!
Well, well! let her swear to good King James,
And I'll hale her out from the water!
I will not swear to Popish James,
But I pray for the head of the nation,
That he and all, both great and small,
May know God's great salvation!
But I pray for the head of the nation,
That he and all, both great and small,
May know God's great salvation!
9
She spoke; and lifted her hands to pray,
And felt the greedy water,
Deep and more deep, around her creep,
Till the choking billow caught her!
And felt the greedy water,
Deep and more deep, around her creep,
Till the choking billow caught her!
O Wigton, Wigton! I'm wae to sing
The truth o' this waesome story;
But God will sinners to judgment bring,
And His saints shall reign in glory.
The truth o' this waesome story;
But God will sinners to judgment bring,
And His saints shall reign in glory.
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