All those idle thoughts and phantasies, Devices, dreams, opinions unsound, Shows, visions, soothsays, and prophecies, And all that feigned is, as leasings, tales, and lies. Chap. xiii. (9.)-FLORA MACIVOR'S SONG. "FLORA had exchanged the measured and monotonous recitative of the bard for a lofty and uncommon Highland air, which had been a battle-song in former ages. A few irregular strains introduced a prelude of a wild and peculiar tone, which harmonized well with the distant water-fall, and the soft sigh of the evening breeze in the rustling leaves of an aspen which overhung the seat of the fair harpress. The following verses convey but little idea of the feelings with which, so sung and accompanied, they were heard by Waverley:" There is mist on the mountain, and night on the vale, The dirk and the target lie sordid with dust, The deeds of our sires if our bards should rehearse, Let a blush or a blow be the meed of their verse! Be mute every string, and be hush'd every tone, That shall bid us remember the fame that is flown. But the dark hours of night and of slumber are past, O high-minded Moray !—the exiled-the dear!-- Ye sons of the strong, when that dawning shall break, O sprung from the Kings who in Islay kept state, Proud chiefs of Clan-Ranald, Glengary, and Sleat! Combine like three streams from one mountain of snow, And resistless in union rush down on the foe! True son of Sir Evan, undaunted Lochiel, Stern son of Lord Kenneth, high chief of Kintail, Let the clan of grey Fingon, whose offspring has given How Mac-Shimei will joy when their chief shall display Ye sons of brown Dermid, who slew the wild boar, Awake on your hills, on your islands awake, "Tis the summons of heroes for conquest or death, Be the brand of each chieftain like Fin's in his ire! Burst the base foreign yoke as your sires did of yore! "As Flora concluded her song, Fergus stood before them, and immediately commenced with a theatrical air," O Lady of the desert, hail! That lovest the harping of the Gael, "But English poetry will never succeed under the influence of a Highland Helicon-Allons, courage”. O vous, qui buvez à tasse pleine, A cette heureuse fontaine, Où on ne voit sur le rivage Que quelques vilains troupeaux, Suivis de nymphes de village, Qui les escortent sans sabots Chap. xxii. (10.)-LINES ON CAPTAIN WOGAN. "THE letter from the Chief contained Flora's lines on the fate of Captain Wogan, whose enterprising character is so well drawn by Clarendon. He had | originally engaged in the service of the Parliament, but had abjured that party upon the execution of Charles I.; and upon hearing that the royal standard was set up by the Earl of Glencairn and General Middleton in the Highlands of Scotland, took leave of Charles II., who was then at Paris, passed into England, assembled a body of cavaliers in the neighbourhood of London, and traversed the kingdom, which had been so long under domination of the usurper, by marches conducted with such skill, dexterity, and spirit, that he safely united his handful of horsemen with the body of Highlanders then in arms. After several months of desultory warfare, in which Wogan's skill and courage gained him the highest reputation, he had the misfortune to be wounded in a dangerous manner, and no surgical assistance being within reach, he terminated his short but glorious career." The Verses were inscribed, (11.)—“ FOLLOW ME, FOLLOW ME." "WHO are dead?' said Waverley, forgetting the incapacity of Davie to hold any connected discourse. upon the oars of a galley, and which is therefore distinct from the ordinary jorrams, or boat-songs. They were composed by the Family Bard upon the departure of the Earl of Seaforth, who was obliged to take refuge in Spain, after an unsuccessful effort at insurrection in favour of the Stuart family, in the year 1718. „ FAREWELL to Mackenneth, great Earl of the North, O swift be the galley, and hardy her crew, "Baron-and Baillie-and Sanders Sanderson-May her captain be skilful, her mariners true, and Lady Rose, that sang sae sweet-A' dead and In danger undaunted, unwearied by toil, gane-dead and gane, (said Davie) But follow, follow me, While glow-worms light the lea, I'll show ye where the dead should be- Each in his shroud, While winds pipe loud, Though the whirlwind should rise, and the ocean should boil: On the brave vessel's gunnel I drank his bonail,l Awake in thy chamber, thou sweet southland gale! And the red moon peeps dim through the cloud. Be prolong'd as regret, that his vassals must know, Be fair as their faith, and sincere as their woe: Be his pilot experienced, and trusty, and wise, IMITATION OF THE PRECEDING SONG. So sung the old Bard, in the grief of his heart, From the far Southland Border a Minstrel came forth, The original verses are arranged to a beautiful Gaelic | And shalt thou then sleep, did the Minstrel exclaim, air, of which the chorus is adapted to the double pull❘ Like the son of the lowly, unnoticed by fame? 1 Bonail, or Bonallez, the old Scottish phrase for a feast at parting with a friend. 2 These verses were written shortly after the death of Lord Seaforth, the last male representative of his illustrious house. He was a nobleman of extraordinary talents, who must have made for himself a lasting reputation, had not his political exertions been checked by the painful natural infirmities alluded to in the fourth stanza.-See Life of Scott, vol. v., pp. 18, 19. Nor then, with more delighted ear, The circle round her drew, Than ours, when gather'd round to hear Our songstress' at Saint Cloud. Few happy hours poor mortals pass,Then give those hours their due, And rank among the foremost class Our evenings at Saint Cloud. The Bance of Beath. 1815. I. NIGHT and morning 3 were at meeting Cocks had sung their earliest greeting; On the heights of Mount Saint John; Where the soldier lay, Chill and stiff, and drench'd with rain, Though death should come with day. II. "Tis at such a tide and hour, Wizard, witch, and fiend have power, And ghastly forms through mist and shower Among the sons of men ; Apart from Albyn's war-array, Had follow'd stout and stern, Where, through battle's rout and reel, Valiant Fassiefern. Through steel and shot he leads no more, III. 'Lone on the outskirts of the host, And heard, through darkness far aloof, When down the destined plain, Such forms were seen, such sounds were heard, For Flodden's fatal plain; The yet unchristen'd Dane. The Seer, who watch'd them ride the storm, IV. Song. "Wheel the wild dance While lightnings glance, And thunders rattle loud, And call the brave To bloody grave, To sleep without a shroud. 1 These lines were written after an evening spent at Saint Cloud with the late Lady Alvanley and her daughters, one of whom was the songstress alluded to in the text. 2 Originally published in 1815, in the Edinburgh Annual Register, vol. v. 3 MS.-" Dawn and darkness." 4 See note, ante, p. 505. 5 MS." Oft came the clang," &c. 6 See ante, Marmion, canto v., stanzas 24, 25, 26, and Appendix, Note 4 A., p. 165. |