The poetical works of Sir Alexander Boswell ... Now first collected and edited, with memoir, by Robert Howie Smith |
 | I. |
ON THE FIDELITY OF THE HIGHLANDERS
IN THE REBELLION, 1745–6. |
 | II. |
 | The poetical works of Sir Alexander Boswell |  |
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ON THE FIDELITY OF THE HIGHLANDERS IN THE REBELLION, 1745–6.
Fatal the cause to the sons of the hill,
Who rushed to the standard, the boast of a day;
More fatal the Captain, whose merciless will
Bade sweep the bold chief and his vassals away.
Who rushed to the standard, the boast of a day;
More fatal the Captain, whose merciless will
Bade sweep the bold chief and his vassals away.
Scotland, beloved for the blood of thy sons,
Ah! never again spread the heath-cover'd plain!
Thou stream of the mountain, that wandering runs,
Ah! never be purpled by faction again!
Ah! never again spread the heath-cover'd plain!
Thou stream of the mountain, that wandering runs,
Ah! never be purpled by faction again!
I'll-fated Stuart! thy hopes we bemoan;
Bold, rash, and ardent, deceived and elate,
The crown of your fathers you sought as your own,
Unaided by Britain, and thwarted by fate.
Bold, rash, and ardent, deceived and elate,
The crown of your fathers you sought as your own,
Unaided by Britain, and thwarted by fate.
Disown'd by the land that your fathers had sway'd,
Ah! why didst thou rouse the calamitous flame?
In vain were the clans in thy legions array'd,
For victims they fell to a desperate claim.
Ah! why didst thou rouse the calamitous flame?
In vain were the clans in thy legions array'd,
For victims they fell to a desperate claim.
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Fierce and untam'd, yet devoted to thee,
Proud that their death should their loyalty seal,
In the torrent of battle, the block, or the tree;
Though blind and mistaken, we honour their zeal.
Proud that their death should their loyalty seal,
In the torrent of battle, the block, or the tree;
Though blind and mistaken, we honour their zeal.
The chieftain,
undaunted, press'd onward and fell,
Firm to the last, in the face of his clan;
The wandering hind did his duty as well,
And seeking thy safety did honour to man.
Firm to the last, in the face of his clan;
The wandering hind did his duty as well,
And seeking thy safety did honour to man.
To virtue awake, to fidelity true;
Wealth with dishonour was spurn'd by the brave.
O Charles! while in pity we sorrow for you,
Exulting we'll think on Glenmorriston's cave.
Wealth with dishonour was spurn'd by the brave.
O Charles! while in pity we sorrow for you,
Exulting we'll think on Glenmorriston's cave.
Alluding to the severities which were inflicted after the Battle of Culloden, altogether omitted in Home's “History of the Rebellion.”
The cave where seven Highlanders concealed Charles Stuart, and in disguise procured necessaries and information. Although fugitives, and in poverty, these seven had the nobleness of mind to prefer fidelity, to the man whom they considered as their Prince, to £30,000, the reward offered for his person.—See Home's History.
| The poetical works of Sir Alexander Boswell | |