For her, who won as win could none That rung from Moy its knell; With roses wont to dwell! How can we think, nor swooning sink, Silk wrapp'd thy frame, as lily stem, So once, and now must love allow, A blast could overpower; Beseems his grief the princely chief, And from the tower where Meiners'* power * She was a daughter of Menzies of that Ilk, in Perthshire. The founder of the family was a De Moyeners, in the reign of William the Lion. The name in Gaelic continued to testify to its original, being Meini, or Meinarach. THE DAY OF CULLODEN. Aн, the wound of my breast! Sinks my heart to the dust, And the rain-drops of sorrow are watering the ground; So impassive to hear, never pierces my ear, Or briskly or slowly, the music of sound. For, what tidings can charm, while emotion is warm With the thought of my Prince on his travel unknown; The royal in blood, by misfortune subdued, While the base-born* by hosts is secured on the throne? Of the hound is the race that has wrought our disgrace, Yet the boast of the litter of mongrels is small, Not the arm of your might makes it boast of our flight, But the musters that failed at the moment of call— Five banners were furl'd that might challenge the world, Of their silk not a pennon was spread to the day; Where is Cromarty's earl, with the fearless of peril, Young Barisdale's following, Mackinnon's array? Where the sons of the glen,† the Clan-gregor, in vain That never were hail'd to the carnage of war— Where Macvurich,‡ the child of victory styled? How we sigh'd when we learn'd that his host was afar! Clan-donuil,§ my bosom friend, woe that the blossom That crests your proud standard, for once disappear'd, Nor marshall'd your march, where your princely deserts Without stain might the cause of the right have uprear'd! * George the First's Queen was a divorcée. The Jacobites retorted the alleged spuriousness of the Chevalier de St George, on George II., the reigning Soverign. Glengyle, and his Macgregors, were on their way from the Sutherland expedition, but did not reach in time to take part in the action. Macpherson of Clunie, the hero of the night skirmish at Clifton, and with his clan, greatly distinguished in the Jacobite wars. § Macdonald of the Isles refused to join the Prince. And now I say woe, for the sad overthrow Of the clan that is honour'd with Frazer's* com mand, And the Farquharsons† bold on the Mar-braes enroll'd, As I think of Clan-chattan,‡ the foremost in fight; And Alister Rua the king of the feast; And valorous Raipert the chief of the true-heart, In the mist of that night vanish'd stars that were bright, Nor by tally nor price shall their worth be replaced; Ah, boded the morning of our brave unreturning, When it drifted the clouds in the rush of its blast. As we march'd on the hill, such the floods that distil, Turning dry bent to bog, and to plash-pools the heather, That friendly no more was the ridge of the moor, Nor free to our tread, and the ire of the weather * Of the routed army, the division whereof the Frazers formed the greater number fled to Inverness. Being the least considerable in force, they were pursued by the Duke of Cumberland's light horse, and almost entirely massacred. The Farquharsons formed part of the unfortunate right wing in the battle, and suffered severely. The Mackintoshes, whose impetuosity hurried the right wing into action before the order to engage had been transmitted over the lines. They were of course the principal sufferers. § An allusion to the provocation given to the Macdonalds of Clanranald, Glengarry, and Keppoch, by being deprived of their usual position—the right wing. Their motions are supposed to have been tardy in consequence. The poet was himself in the right wing. Anon was inflamed by the lightning untamed, And the hail rush that storm'd from the mouth of the gun, Hard pelted the stranger, ere we measured our danger, And broadswords were masterless, marr'd, and undone.* Sure as answers my song to its title, a wrong To our forces, the wiles of the traitor† have wrought; To each true man's disgust, the leader in trust Has barter'd his honour, and infamy bought. From the south or the north, the award of his due. Not a brother to love, not a babe to embrace; Mute the harp, and the taper be smother'd in vapour, Like Egypt, the darkness and loss of his race! Oh, yet shall the eye see thee swinging on high, And thy head shall be pillow'd where ravens shall prey, And the lieges each one, from the child to the man, * The unfortunate night-march of the Highlanders is described with historic truth and great poetic effect. Roy Stuart lived and died in the belief (most unfounded, it seems), that Lord George Murray was bribed and his army betrayed. Military orders received from the Court of St Germains. The Duke of Cumberland. JOHN MORRISON. JOHN MORRISON was a native of Perthshire. Sometime before 1745 he was settled as missionary at Amulree, a muirland district near Dunkeld. In 1759 he became This minister of Petty, a parish in the county of Inverness. He obtained his preferment in consequence of an interesting incident in his history. The proprietor of Delvine in Perthshire, who was likewise a Writer to the Signet, was employed in a legal process, which required a diligence to be executed against one of the clan Frazer. A design to waylay and murder the official employed in the diligence had been concerted. came to the knowledge of a clergyman who ministered in a parish chiefly inhabited by the Lovat tenantry. The minister, afraid of openly divulging the design, on account of the unsettled nature of his flock, begged an immediate visit from his friend, Mr Morrison, who speedily returned to Perthshire with information to the laird of Delvine. The Frazers found the authority of the law supported by a sufficient force; and Mr Morrison was rewarded by being presented, through the influence of the laird of Delvine, to the parish of Petty. Amidst professional engagements discharged with zeal and acceptance, Morrison found leisure for the composition of verses. Two of his lyrics are highly popular among the Gael; one of them we offer as a specimen, and an improved version of the other will afterwards appear in the present work. Mr Morrison died in November 1774. |