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THE DANCE OF DEATH.

(1815.)

NIGHT and morning were at meeting

Over Waterloo;

Cocks had sung their earliest greeting;
Faint and low they crew,
For no paly beam yet shone
On the heights of Mount Saint John;
Tempest-clouds prolong'd the sway
Of timeless darkness over day;
Whirlwind, thunder-clap, and shower,
Mark'd it a predestined hour.
Broad and frequent through the night
Flash'd the sheets of levin-light;
Muskets, glancing lightnings back,
Show'd the dreary bivouac

Where the soldier lay,

Chill and stiff, and drench'd with rain,

Wishing dawn of morn again,

But long his native lake's wild shore, And Sunart rough, and high Ardgower,

And Morven long shall tell, And proud Bennevis hear with awe, How, upon bloody Quatre-Bras, Brave Cameron heard the wild hurra Of conquest as he fell.

Lone on the outskirts of the host
The weary sentinel held post,
And heard, through darkness far aloof,
The frequent clang of courser's hoof,
Where held the cloak'd patrol their

course,

And spurr'd 'gainst storm the swerving horse.

But there are sounds in Allan's ear
Patrol nor sentinel may hear,
And sights before his eye aghast
Invisible to them have pass'd,

When down the destined plain, 'Twixt Britain and the bands of France,

Though death should come with day. Wild as marsh-borne meteor's glance,

'Tis at such a tide and hour,

Wizard, witch, and fiend have power, And ghastly forms through mist and shower

Gleam on the gifted ken; And then the affrighted prophet's ear Drinks whispers strange of fate and fear,

Presaging death and ruin near

Among the sons of men ;Apart from Albyn's war-array, 'Twas then grey Allan sleepless lay; Grey Allan, who, for many a day,

Had follow'd stout and stern, Where, through battle's rout and reel, Storm of shot and hedge of steel, Led the grandson of Lochiel,

Valiant Fassiefern. Through steel and shot he leads no

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Strange phantoms wheel'd a revel

dance,

And doom'd the future slain. Such forms were seen, such sounds were heard,

When Scotland's James his march prepared

For Flodden's fatal plain; Such, when he drew his ruthless sword, As Choosers of the Slain, adored

The yet unchristen'd Dane. An indistinct and phantom band, They wheel'd their ring-dance hand in hand,

With gestures wild and dread: The Seer, who watch'd them ride the storm,

Saw through their faint and shadowy form

The lightning's flash more red; And still their ghastly roundelay Was of the coming battle-fray, And of the destined dead :

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His oath of honour on the shrine he And while he march'd with helm on

graved it with his sword,

And follow'd to the Holy Land the banner of his Lord;

Where, faithful to his noble vow, his

war-cry fill'd the air,

'Be honour'd aye the bravest knight, beloved the fairest fair.'

They owed the conquest to his arm, and then his Liege-Lord said,

'The heart that has for honour beat

by bliss must be repaid. My daughter Isabel and thou shall be a wedded pair,

For thou art bravest of the brave, she fairest of the fair.'

And then they bound the holy knot

before Saint Mary's shrine, That makes a paradise on earth, if

hearts and hands combine; And every lord and lady bright, that

were in chapel there, Cried, 'Honour'd be the bravest knight, beloved the fairest fair!"

head

And harp in hand, the descant rung, As, faithful to his favourite maid,

The minstrel-burden still he sung: 'My arm it is my country's right,

My heart is in my lady's bower; Resolved for love and fame to fight, I come, a gallant Troubadour." Even when the battle-roar was deep, With dauntless heart he hew'd his

way,

'Mid splintering lance and falchion. sweep,

And still was heard his warrior-lay: 'My life it is my country's right,

My heart is in my lady's bower; For love to die, for fame to fight, Becomes the valiant Troubadour.'

Alas! upon the bloody field

He fell beneath the foeman's glaive, But still reclining on his shield,

Expiring sung the exuiting stavę: 'My life it is my country's right,

My heart is in my lady's bower; For love and fame to fall in fight

Becomes the valiant Troubadour.'

FROM THE FRENCH.

(1815.)

IT chanced that Cupid on a season, By Fancy urged, resolved to wed, But could not settle whether Reason Or Folly should partake his bed.

What does he then ?-Upon my life, 'Twas bad example for a deity He takes me Reason for a wife,

And Folly for his hours of gaiety.

Though thus he dealt in petty treason, He loved them both in equal mea

sure;

Fidelity was born of Reason,
And Folly brought to bed of Pleasure.

LINES

ON THE LIFTING OF THE BANNER OF THE HOUSE OF BUCCLEUCH, AT A GREAT FOOTBALL MATCH ON CARTERHAUGH.

(1815.)

FROM the brown crest of Newark its ..summons extending,

Our signal is waving in smoke and in flame;

And each forester blithe, from his mountain descending, Bounds light o'er the heather to join in the game.

CHORUS.

Then up with the Banner, let forest winds fan her,

She has blazed over Ettrick eight

ages and more;

In sport we'll attend her, in battle defend her,

With heart and with hand, like our fathers before.

When the Southern invader spread waste and disorder,

At the glance of her crescents he paused and withdrew,

For around them were marshall'd the pride of the Border,

The Flowers of the Forest, the
Bands of Buccleuch.

Then up with the Banner, &c.

A Stripling's weak hand to our revel has borne her,

No mail-glove has grasp'd her, no

spearmen surround;

But ere a bold foeman should scathe or should scorn her,

A thousand true hearts would be cold on the ground.

Then up with the Banner, &c.

We forget each contention of civil dissension,

And hail, like our brethren, Home,

Douglas, and Car:

And Elliot and Pringle in pastime shall mingle,

As welcome in peace as their fathers in war.

Then up with the Banner, &c.

Then strip, lads, and to it, though sharp be the weather, And if, by mischance, you should happen to fall,

There are worse things in life than a tumble on heather, And life is itself but a game at football.

Then up with the Banner, &c. And when it is over, we'll drink a blithe measure

To each Laird and each Lady that witness'd our fun, And to every blithe heart that took part in our pleasure,

To the lads that have lost and the
lads that have won.
Then up with the Banner, &c.

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O hush thee, my babie, the time soon will come

When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum;

Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may,

For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day.

O ho ro, i ri ri, &c.

THE RETURN TO ULSTER.

(1816.)

ONCE again, but how changed since my wand'rings began

I have heard the deep voice of the Lagan and Bann,

And the pines of Clanbrassil resound to the roar

That wearies the echoes of fair Tullamore.

Alas! my poor bosom, and why shouldst thou burn?

With the scenes of my youth can its raptures return?

Can I live the dear life of delusion again, That flow'd when these echoes first mix'd with my strain?

It was then that around me, though poor and unknown,

High spells of mysterious enchantment were thrown ;

The streams were of silver, of diamond the dew,

The land was an Eden, for fancy was

new.

I had heard of our bards, and my soul was on fire

At the rush of their verse, and the sweep of their lyre:

To me 'twas not legend, nor tale to the ear,

But a vision of noontide, distinguish'd and clear.

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