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[Title Page]
BY
Edinburgh:
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY J. MOIR, ROYAL BANK CLOSE:
SOLD BY LONGMAN AND REES, PATERNOSTER-ROW,
AND J. HATCHARD, PICADILLY,
LONDON:
BY MUNDELL AND SON, MANNERS AND MILLER, AND ARCH. CONSTABLE,
EDINBURGH;
BRASH AND REID,
GLASGOW;
D PEAT,
PERTH;
A. BROWN,
ABERDEEN;
ISAAC FORSYTH,
ELGIN;
AND
YOUNG AND IMRAY,
INVERNESS.
1803
TO
HER GRACE,
THE
DUCHESS OF GORDON,
THESE POEMS
ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY
HER GRACE's
OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT
THE AUTHOR.
GO
, artless records of a life obscure,
Memorials dear of loves and friendships past,
Of blameless minds from strife and envy pure;
Go, scatter'd by Affliction's
bitter blast,
And tell the proud, the busy, and the gay,
How rural peace consumes the quiet day.
Oh ye, whom sad remembrance loves to trace,
Look down complacent from your seats above,
Regard with soft compassion's melting grace,
The simple offering of surviving love:
For, while I fondly think ye hover near,
Your whisper'd melody I seem to hear.
Ye dear companions in life's thorny way,
Who see your modest virtues here display'd,
Forgive, for well you know the unstudied lay,
Was only meant to soothe the lonely shade.
But, when the rude thorn wounds the songster's breast,
The lengthen'd strains of woe betray her secret nest.
WRITTEN DURING THE AUTHOR'S RECOVERY FROM A
LONG ILLNESS, IN SPRING 1795.
IN FIVE PARTS.
THE
Complaints of Languor and Solitude, rendered more melancholy by the gloomy season. Return of Spring. Restored Health. Consequent joy and gratulation. Aspect of Nature on the late appearance of Spring in the Northern Climate. Disappointment and concern at the Depopulation of the neighbouring glens. Apostrophe to the Spirit of Malvina. Parallel betwixt the degenerate race succeeding the Fingalian Heroes, and the mechanical and frigid people who replace the Highlanders, driven to emigrate. Contrast betwixt that Life in which the frame is enervated by Sloth and Luxury,& the mind unhinged by visionary systems of Philosophy;--and that wherein the Contemplation of Nature, and early habits of Piety, have produced Patience, Fortitude and every manly Virtue:--Exemplified in the opposite characters, and illustrated by two correspondent similes, the Swallow and the Lark. The Author solicits the attention of the Reader to a picture of deep and peculiar distress.
FAR
to the North the howling tempest drove,
Light od'rous buds perfum'd the birchen grove,
The primrose, iris, and the daisy pied,
With bashful sweets bedeck'd the mountain's side;
And even from bogs with chilly moisture drown'd,
Our hardy myrtle scatter'd fragrance round *
:
Nature in happier climes look'd fresh and gay,
And sternly smil'd even on the banks of Spey.
Hid from the solar beam and living breeze,
Stretch'd on the languid couch of dire disease,
By turns in listless torpor stretch'd I lay,
Or pin'd the agonizing hours away:
"How long must I in storms and sickness mourn?
"Oh when will health on zephyrs wings return?
"When shall I sit upon yon green hill's brow,
"To view fresh verdure deck the vales below?
"When shall my heart its grateful raptures bring,
"To join the general symphony of spring?
"No more shall selfish cares my soul employ,
"But the kind throb reverb'rate kindred joy:
"Youth's generous fervours kindle in my mind,
"And the wide wish that grasps the human kind.
"How long must I in storms and sickness mourn?
"Oh when will health, and light, and spring return?"
Again, with balmy breath the western gale
Wakes the mild verdure of the shelter'd vale,
While health, and light, and spring, return once more:
But who, alas, can spring's delights restore?
Since social joys and cheerful toils are dead,
To see the cluster'd cottages around,
No more in pensive mood the gifted seer,
Or wakes the harp the well-known notes of woe,
Nay when soft April's wat'ry smile appears,
"Such are our triumphs, while at ease reclin'd,
Delighted hovering o'er the spot obscure,
Character of the Mountaineers, with a sketch of the leading causes
which produced and still preserve that peculiar Character, in which a
manly Simplicity is blended with a degree of Sentiment, and Gentleness
of Manners, seldom to be found in the lower class of any other country; and which seems so intimately connected with their language and
manner of life, that they generally lose it, when incorporated with
any other class of people. Rural occupations described as carried on
by different members of the same family. The domestic Groupe assembled in the Evening, rehearse to each other the Toils, Adventures,
Visions, and Contemplations of the Day. Enthusiastic feeling excited
by the simple pathos of artless narrative or unstudied composition--
contrasted with the apathy common among those in whom much intercourse with the world has blunted the finer feelings;--illustrated by a comparison. Evening Worship. Early rising. Devout
Aspirations. Respect paid to old peasant, who generally presides by tacit consent in every hamlet, and holds his power by
the double right of superior wisdom and experience, and is called
by way of pre-eminence,
n' Dunadh , or
the Man. A younger person in the same little circle generally admired by the rest for some
talent, such as Humour, Musical Powers, or a Faculty of Rhyming,
&c. No hamlet without some Widow, who is in a great measure
supported, and saved from the disgrace of a mendicant life, by the
little society; she is usually
childless, for the Highlanders, eminent
for filial piety, always strive to support their aged parents.
"Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
SHAKESPEARE.
COME
, then, explore with me each winding glen,
Come, trace with curious search what secret cause
The long-descended strains their sons inspire,
In peopled straths *
, where winding streams prolong
Is by her careful mother taught to cull
When cattle slumber in the peaceful fold,
For here scarce known the sordid arts of trade,
That brings the long-lost brother back again
Thus blessing heaven and by each other blest,
Or when the larger cattle forth to guide,
Like him, the bard, without the aid of art,
Is like the soft harp's many-sounding strings
Her gallant sons, who smit with honour's charms,
With cheerful haste officious children bring,
The Removal to the Mountain Shealings, when the true Pastoral
Life commences; and a Scene of vacant leisure, diversified by Music,
Poetry, and Rural Sports, is opened to the people. Return
from the Shealings. Autumn. Tokens of an early Winter.
Wattled Barns. All Saints or Hallow-Even. Rural Dancing. Grace and Agility in that exercise native to Highlanders.
NOW
hark! what loud, tumultuous joys resound,
Now all is haste, and cheerful bustle round,
The shelter'd bothys
*
rise to shield the train,
Delighted Echoes spread the cheerful strains,
Or, where the Eagle
darts his vigorous flight
While mirth's loud carol every care beguiles,
Then from the Summer-sheals
their course they bend,
And songs, according to the reaper's stroke,
And while those changing seasons fair advance,
The sons of Art
, who art alone esteem,
The dancers bound with wild peculiar grace,
Winter. Social Evenings. Little or no work done in that season in
the Highlands. Hazardous intercourse with other Straths in search of strayed cattle. Hospitality exercised. Friendship promoted. Courage, Fortitude, and Patience strengthened. A spirit of bold Adventure and strong Attachment cherished by their peculiar modes
of Life;--Exemplified in the Episode of
Farquhar. Singular View from Corryarric. Beauties of Loch-Ness, which, never freezing in Winter, is the haunt of all kinds of Aquatic Birds. Glendoe. Sun-rise on Loch Ness described. Urquhart Castle. Glenmoriston. Fyers. Return of Farquhar. Devastation of the Country after the year
1745.
NOW
Winter
pours his terrors o'er the plain,
Now dashing with diminish'd majesty,
Bright burns the hearth, th' enlivening torches blaze *
,
Where chiefs, who bore of old a mighty name,
Fair on his cheek appear'd youth's mantling glow,
The kindred smile, the dear paternal cot:
Then patient mounts the rock, and urges on,
"Strong in his strength these horrors I explore,
And when each neighbouring lake is chill'd to stone,
Exhausted nature sunk in sleep profound,
But wond'ring starts, to see a lovely form
"Daughter of Beauty, say, what heart of stone
So FARQUHAR
wond'ring sees the lovely form
"Who o'er these pathless wilds, unus'd to roam,
The matron, willing to amuse her guest,
The last sad shelter of unconquer'd worth,
'Tis wrong to stay, but doubly hard to go,
"And faithful, like a brother or a son,
Sweet April
deck'd with primrose wreath appears,
'Deep in yon secret glen, within whose shades,
Through tears the matron views her long-lost mate,
Loyalty, Fidelity, and inflexible perseverance of the Highlanders, as
exercised towards the unhappy Adventurer, Prince
Charles Edward, in
1746. His Wanderings and Escapes. Episode of Captain
M'Kenzie. Of the Banditti in the Cave of Glenmoriston. Cruelty of the licenc'd Soldiery. Patient sufferance of the inhabitants.
Wanderings of the Chevalier through Morar and Arisaig, among the
Western Isles. Soliloquy. Attempt to land on Raasay. Narrow
escape from a Frigate off South Uist. Concealment in a Cavern
there. Episode of
Flora Macdonald: She conveys the Adventurer
in disguise to Sky: She is carried Prisoner to England: Her
Conversation with the Sovereign: Dismissal, and return to Sky.
Marriage, and Emigration. Reflections on the Character of
the Highlanders, as it appears in this Narrative. On the corrupting influence which Wealth, Luxury, Extensive Commerce, and
False Refinement, produce in Society, aided by that species of Learning which exhausts itself in exploring what is for ever concealed,
and building systems that fall of themselves, before they are finished.
The importance and necessity, in a country thus enervated by luxury,
thus lost in frivolous pursuits and vain speculations,--to cherish, in
whatever remote obscurity they exist, a hardy manly Race, inur'd
to Suffering, fearless of Danger, and careless of Poverty, to invigorate Society by their Spirit, to defend it by their Courage, and to
adorn it with those Virtues that bloom in the shade, but are ready
to wither away in the sun-shine of Prosperity.
THE
vanquish'd PRINCE
, for safety forc'd to fly,
None here fair loyalty or honour sold,
Could mildest worth and gentlest graces save,
And in whose deep recess to soothe repose,
And one with watchful care attends to spy
On his fresh cheek youth's rose untimely fades,
Low in their hollow caves the loud winds sleep,
"But we, alas! inglorious from our skies,
One spent with toil, his stedfast eyes explore,
Yet, e'er they safely reach the destin'd shore,
Now from the shore with speed a stranger came,
With fix'd resolve she said, "My friend, forbear,
'That com'st in pity to this secret cave,
Hail! favour'd isle, where bards inspir'd prolong
Yet e'er the pitying Muse shall sadly close
Stern and unfeeling guards the fair-one bore
High on a rock, where from the cavern'd shore,
And partial, to the Sovereign's ear convey'd
'My kindred, peaceful subjects to your reign,
Now rumour talks of FLORA'S
charms around,
On wealth and splendour look'd with pity down,
Another Lord arose, whose early youth
However far the lessening branches spread,
The dirk, in sheath, adorn'd with curious art,
And all the train of mountain virtues fled;
Which, like our native firs, aspiring, bold,
Love the bleak heights, and scorn the fertile mould.
DAUGHTER
of TOSCAR
! who by Lutha's streams
Oft met thy warlike spouse in mournful dreams:
MALVINA
! come in all thy pensive charms,
Stretch from thy robe of mist thy snowy arms;
Lift thy slow-rolling eyes, whose azure beams
So oft of old were quench'd in sorrow's streams;
When sons of little men, an abject race,
Appear'd in thy departed hero's place:
Tell in what secret cave, or whispering shade,
Thy harp of sadly-pleasing sound is laid,
(Whose plaintive tones, so sweet to OSSIAN'S
ear,
The child of sorrow still delights to hear,)
That my bold hand may wake its strings again,
And teach the mountain-echoes to complain:
While to each dusky heath, and woody dell,
The Genius of the mountains bids farewell.
Now, where the dappl'd fawns and bounding roes
Were wont their sprightly gambols to disclose,
Slow wand'ring sheep gaze round with vacant eye,
While sullen rocks return their plaintive cry:
Pensive and slow, I climb the mountain brow,
To view each social hamlet's mutual plough *;
Page 24
Where tranquil peace and rural joy were found;
Where gentle manners, piety sincere,
"The sympathies of love and friendship dear;"
Fancy and music blest each humble cot,
Each heart endearing to the native spot;
While at the frugal meal the blue smokes rise *
Like grateful incense to the fav'ring skies;
For, here the beauties of one smiling day,
Whole months of low'ring gloom and storms repay.
While spring with soft hand scatters fragrance round,
Devotion, gratitude, and joy abound;
And more delight expands th' untutor'd heart,
Than pomp or luxury could e'er impart.
In vain my eyes the length'ning vale explore,
From hillocks green the blue smokes rise no more:
"No more at evening hour the hamlets round,"
The voice of joy and melody resound;
No more the maids with plaintive ditties old,
And warbl'd love-tales, soothe the musky fold;
Or guardian-spirits hovering round in air,
Attend the village-patriarch's simple pray'r,
Where breathes the native soul devoid of art,
The genuine language of the grateful heart:
No more the pibroch wakes the martial strain,
No more the clan's proud standard waves amain,
Page 25
Beholds the joyous nuptial train appear;
Or sees the funeral pomp approaching slow,
Or hears thro' the still air, the shrieks of future woe:
No more the bard, whom native genius fires,
(Celestial flame, that heaven-ward still aspires),
Bids patriot valour in full glory blaze,
Or consecrates departed worth with praise.
Thus brave MONTROSE
was sung, and great ARGYLE
:
The gentle Chieftain of the misty isle,
Snatch'd in the bloom of opening worth away,
Thus lives--the theme of many a plaintive lay *
;
Which still his honour'd memory shall prolong;
So young MARCELLUS
lives in VIRGIL'S
song.
Say, banish'd masters of the tuneful art,
Who sway with latent pow'r the willing heart,
Where are you now? across the Atlantic's roar,
Do your sad eyes your native hills explore?
Or homeward do you strain your aching view,
Where restless waves each other still pursue?
Where angry billows meet with frowning skies,
Till fancy's self recoils, and vision dies:
Or bending o'er the prow, your mournful strain,
Mix with the murmurs of the boundless main,
Where sinking surges equal cadence keep,
While misty showers around you seem to weep;
Page 26
That wont along the funeral path to flow,
That, while our vanish'd comforts we deplore,
Repeats emphatic, "They return no more *
."
Go, hapless bards, and sing in other lands
Your country's praise to charm her exil'd bands;
And soothe each drooping mind with thoughts of home,
While hopeless, through the pathless wilds they roam.
But wherefore exil'd? while afar they rove,
Still glow their filial breasts with patriot love;
The thoughts of home still aching at their heart,
While distance only aggravates the smart.
Did not their hard hands earn with patient toil
Their scanty pittance from the rugged soil?
And did not blameless morals add a grace
To simple manners, in the untaught race?
Uncouth and wild these manners may appear,
And even these virtues savage and austere,
To those vain tribes, who indolently gay,
Know but to dream and trifle life away;
Who on soft luxury's velvet lap reclin'd,
Shrink from each bold exertion of the mind;
Whose unbrac'd languid frame dissolv'd in ease,
Recoils and shivers at th' autumnal breeze.
When winter rides terrific on the blast,
They shrink to covert till the storm be past;
Page 27
The gale that from the primrose shakes the tears,
Too rudely breathes for them--altho' its power
Wounds not the texture of the silken flower:
Born in the sun's enlivening beams to play,
Like sportive insects of a summer day,
Say, how should they fatigue and danger brave,
Or climb the rocky steep, or mount the wint'ry wave?
"These tasks befit the rugged sons of toil,"
Cries speculative Pride with scornful smile,
"While they in ignorance and darkness grope,
"And labour on, and talk of faith and hope;
"Far nobler labours aid us to extol,
"The task of minds, the labour of the soul.
"To trace French novelists with steady gaze,
"Thro' sentiment's inexplicable maze;
"Whose evanescent meaning caught meanwhile,
"Shall add new graces to enrich our stile;
"New systems of philosophy be shown,
"With happier art in language all our own;
"New modes, new governments, new laws, new light,
"Shall put all superstition's train to flight;
"And revelation's trembling, dubious ray,
"No more its faint, uncertain beams display;
"But knowledge flash with such resplendent blaze,
"That maddening crowds grow giddy while they gaze.
Page 28
"With active force the comprehensive mind
"Breaks custom's chains and prejudice's ties,
"And wide in sportive curves unbounded flies."
Thus have I seen in some long shining day,
The Swallow
kind their sportive gambols play;
They roam'd excursive through the boundless air,
Sporting with wanton wing, now here, now there;
And twittering on with inharmonious mirth,
Each surface skimm'd, yet scorn'd to touch the earth:
Nor heav'n-ward strove on wing sublime to rise,
But chac'd with eager haste the summer flies;
Till the chill blasts of the first wint'ry day
To darkness drove the flutterers and their prey.
Such be your fate--ye silken sons of ease,
Whom hardships terrify, and trifles please.
Be mine to watch the blush of early dawn,
And thoughtful muse along the dewy lawn,
Where the sweet Lark
, with cheerful ardour springs
Shakes the cold night-drops from her russet wings;
With music's raptures cheers the vaulted sky,
And wakens all the feather'd minstrelsy;
Then stooping to her feather'd nest again,
With grateful joy renews the charming strain.
Thus from his native glen, when forc'd to roam,
Some Alpine peasant, joyous hails his home;
Page 29
Where useful toils are mix'd with pleasures pure;
While his fond eyes explore the low retreat,
He feels his glowing heart tumultuous beat;
And views with more delight his humble shed,
Than all the scenes where pomp and pleasure tread.
Will you, ye proud and gay, attend a while,
To homely truths rehears'd in homely stile;
And hear a rustic muse those truths impart,
From the full sources of the swelling heart?
No strains of measur'd harmony shall here
With meretricious tinkle soothe your ear;
Nor art ambitious snatch exotic flow'rs,
From eastern groves, or soft Italia's bow'rs;
Be mine to raise, without disguise or art,
The British song, and touch the British heart.
To scenes of heartfelt sorrow turn your eye,
Unlock the sacred source of' sympathy;
Nor let to Afric's wilds Compassion roam,
While modest Anguish weeps unseen at home.
* See Note I. on Part I.
* See note 2. on Part I.
* See note 3. on Part I.
* See note 4. on Part I.
* See note 5. on Part I.
END OF PART FIRST.
Page 30
THE
HIGHLANDERS:
PART II.
ARGUMENT.
Page 31
THE HIGHLANDERS:
PART II.
"Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
"More free from peril than the envious court?
"And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
"Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
"Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."
Far from the noisy haunts of busy men;
Let us with stedfast eye attentive trace
The local habits of the CELTIC
race;
Renown'd even in those old heroic times,
That live in OSSIAN'S
songs, and RUNIC
rhymes;
When ardent Valour call'd his children forth,
And Glory lighten'd through the beaming North:
Whose hardy sons that twilight age adorn,
Like the quick splendours of the Boreal morn,
Fill'd with amaze and awe the world's dread kings,
And bade their eagles stoop with flagging wings.
Page 32
Each native's heart with strong attraction draws,
Though wealth in happier lands her stores unlock,
To cling with fervour to his native rock:
Why lonely mountains, dark with russet heath,
And rushing streams, and narrow vales beneath;
With more delight his wand'ring eye detain,
Than FORTH'S
rich banks, or LOTHIAN'S
fertile plain:
The many-colour'd herd, his wealth and pride,
Like deer, through wastes extended, wand'ring wide;
And sportive goats, a bold aspiring flock,
High on the ridge of yon aerial rock;
More self-importance to his mind impart,
And fill with warmer joys his simple heart,
Than all the flocks the southern shepherd pens,
Or the fat herds that graze the LINCOLN
fens.
Dear to his heart, those rocks that oft have rung
With legends which the CELTIC
muse has sung;
While all the attentive hamlets round admire
The deeds gigantic of their common sire:
The honest pride those noble deeds impart,
With kind contagion flies from heart to heart.
And while they hang delighted on the sound,
The ties of kindred love are doubly bound;
And lisping children, youths, and grandsires grey,
Enamour'd dwell on the exalting lay:
Page 33
To wake new raptures from the melting lyre,
Bid every sympathetic bosom glow
With modest triumph, or with virtuous woe;
With fine emotions rudest spirits move,
And teach at once to wonder and to love:
While glowing tenderness and thought refin'd,
Exalt the spirit of the lowly hind.
In other lands, where abject peasants toil,
To gain rich products from the cultur'd soil;
Where, grovelling interest draws each sordid plan,
And all things feel improvement's aid but man;
To plod in dull mechanic sort their lot,
And vegetate upon the self-same spot:
Thro' the dull year's unvarying circle round,
The self-same fields their cares and projects bound.
No common toils have they, nor liberal views,
Alternate ease, nor "rapture for the muse;"
No leisure intervals to soothe their care,
Save the gross pastimes of a village-fair:
Extinct in these the spirit fierce and bold
That blaz'd thro' all the Scottish ranks of old;
Extinct the vital spark of energy,
That bids the soul claim kindred with the sky.
Far to the North, where Scotia's Alps arise,
And shroud their white heads in the misty skies;
Page 34
Their course familiar in the CELTIC
song:
Or where the narrow wooded glens display,
Their verdant bosoms opening to the day,
And each his tributary torrent pours,
To swell the midland river's copious stores:
While near their confluence stand the mouldering seats,
Where ancient Chieftains
rul'd those green retreats,
And faithful Clans
delighted to obey
The kind behests of patriarchal sway;
The social tribes branch'd out on every side,
The pleasures and the toils of life divide;
And long experienc'd in the ages gone,
Peculiar toils and pleasures all their own.
Here all is open as the ambient sky,
Nor fence, nor wall, obstructs the wandering eye:
Each hamlet's flocks and herds, a mutual charge,
That wander up the mountain's side at large;
Alternate claim the rustic's daily care;
And thus each various rural toil they share.
The lesser Children
guide the bleating lambs,
When wean'd and forc'd to quit their tim'rous dams;
The more advanc'd the sportive kidlings guide,
Where rocks o'erhang the torrent's dashing pride.
The little Maiden
, whose unsteady hand
Can scarce the distaff's yielding weight command,
Page 35
From whitest curling fleeces, silky wool;
Her flowing tresses decks with garlands gay,
Then spins beside her playful calves the day.
The Youth
, whose cheek the manly down o'erspreads
Wide o'er the hills the stronger cattle leads:
While milky mothers lowing o'er the land,
With plaintive cries their absent young demand.
The careful Father
forms the hamlet's fold,
Or else with patient labour turns the mould;
And watchful leaning o'er the faithful share,
The small domain divides with frugal care;
And free from cautious doubts and selfish fears,
They reap their portion of the ripen'd ears.
Thus, while they sow and reap the mutual
field,
And each to each by turns is wont to yield;
With one consent they trace the general plan,
And blended interests form the social man:
Hence gradual ties of kind endearment flow,
Hence bland address and courteous actions grow;
And hence th' unstudied manners of the swain,
The graces of a gentler mind explain.
When the declining sun withdraws his fires,
And slowly from the mountain-top retires;
When echoes whisper to the evening gale,
And shadows dim the visionary vale;
Page 36
And clouds in wild fantastic shapes are roll'd;
The scatter'd family delighted meet,
And with complacent smile each other greet.
All day, from deep recesses of the woods,
From shelving rocks, or secret winding floods,
Each individual strives to bring a share
To aid their household wants, or help their frugal fare.
The boastful Boy
, caught by his feeble hook
Displays the scaly tenants of the brook:
The Goat-herds
in their osier baskets bring
The wholesome herbs on airy cliffs that spring;
The alder bark that gives the sable dye,
Or buds of heath that with the saffron vie;
While moss, that wont on aged rocks to grow,
Shall make the various woof with purple glow:
The housewife pleas'd the varied gifts beholds,
While hope anticipates the checker'd folds;
And colours of the home-made drapery,
Pride of her heart, and pleasure of her eye.
The cumbrous burden see the Father
bear,
Of pliant birch, or smooth-grain'd juniper;
To form the roof that shields the humble dome,
"Where every wand'ring stranger finds a home;"
Or frame the seemly vessels that contain
The milky store which from their flocks they drain;
Page 37
They seek no gross mechanic's frigid aid:
Tho' mean the dwelling thus uncouthly rear'd,
'Tis still by kindly gratitude endear'd:
While each his neighbour aids with cordial smile,
To build, like lab'ring ants, the rustic pile.
The household stuff their simple wants demand,
Is fashion'd by th' ingenious owner's hand:
The knife, the axe, the auger, and the fire,
The only tools that aid th' inventive sire.
From courtly domes on marble columns borne,
Let not the artist view their works with scorn;
Till he another cot produce to view,
By means as simple, and with tools as few.
The wish'd Repast
the weary inmates cheers,
And kindness now on every face appears;
Well pleas'd to meet in comfort, and display
The mix'd adventures of the various day.
What bounding deer and fluttering game they trac'd,
What hunter met them on the moory waste;
What straying cattle from th' adjacent strath,
They careful turn'd into the homeward path:
Or tell what rude and new-invented lay,
With soothing cadence lull'd their tedious day;
Th' unearthly voice, deep sounding thro' the wood,
Or vision wild of mournful solitude,
Page 38
From QUEBEC'S
gates, or sad CULLODEN'S
plain:
By turns in wonder wrapt, or chill'd with fear,
Or sunk in woe, th' attentive audience hear;
And each impression which their words impart,
Sinks with deep interest on the artless heart:
Not all the magic cunning of the scene,
Though SIDDONS
self in sorrow's pomp be seen,
Can wake emotions in the callous mind,
Vers'd in the crooked science of mankind,
So soft, so strong, so warm, as here are known,
Where modest NATURE
works, and works alone.
The vivid portion of celestial fire
Which bids the energetic soul aspire,
Like the clear flames that light the frozen zone,
Blown by the fav'ring breath of heaven alone,
More brightly blazes, more intensely glows,
Than where slow art her languid aid bestows.
Now all the household with due reverence kneel,
While in emphatic phrase with fervent zeal,
The Parent Swain
pours out his ardent pray'r,
For the dear objects of his tend'rest care;
Or else, by humble gratitude inspir'd,
His swelling heart with holy transport fir'd,
Presents his praise--an Evening Sacrifice
,
Sincere and welcome to the approving skies.
Page 39
They drown their toils in sweet oblivious rest.
When, on his eastern throne the Sun appears,
From Nature's mantle green to dry the tears,
With cheerful haste to meet his beams they rise,
And pay again their homage to the skies *
;
Then greet the hamlet Sage
with due esteem,
Whose wise behest an oracle they deem:
Ev'n Nature's artless children thus we find,
A rude unconscious homage pay to mind.
Then, why at Fortune's vain distinctions low'r?
Since Wisdom
still in every state is Pow'r
.
When Probity
and Wisdom
both combine,
'Tis indefeasible and right divine;
While all beneath the secret influence bow,
And wait suspended the decision slow.
Thus Grecian chiefs, with mute attention heard,
When hoary NESTOR
spoke, by all rever'd.
In every hamlet some experienc'd Sire
,
Whose worth and wisdom all the rest admire,
Known to each track where deer are wont to range,
And vers'd in every planetary change;
Why meteors glare, or wand'ring comets blaze,
And which propitious, which unlucky days;
Directs what time to yoke the mutual plough,
And when to feed the weakly flocks below;
Page 40
Where fresher herbage decks the mountain's side;
What dreadful judgments wait on broken vows,
How conscious guilt low'rs on the murderer's brows;
How voices whispering thro' the gloomy wood,
Or groaning caves, make known the man of blood:
How fields are blighted, or how cattle die,
To punish secret fraud, or perjury:
Or how red lightening scath'd the vassal's head,
Who show'd the way his outlaw'd chieftain fled;
He tells at large,--while every hearer's sense
Is ravish'd by his copious eloquence:
In each debate he gives the casting vote,
And his wise sayings all repeat by rote.
Much does each hamlet boast its sage's skill,
To draw the severing bounds 'twixt good and ill:
And much indeed his knowledge is extoll'd,
In local history, and tradition old.
Thus, though he holds pre-eminence, as fit,
The circle also boasts its Bard
or Wit
.
Some *
Genius
, who by Nature taught to sing,
Responsive warbles to the trembling string:
Each theme, by turns, th' attentive audience warms,
The smile of beauty, or the clash of arms;
Or grottos, woods, and shaded vales are shown,
Description, such as THOMSON'S
self might own:
Page 41
Awakes the fine emotions of the heart:
Like him, can every "tend'rness infuse,"
And teach to love the "humanizing muse:"
Or else some Youth, who smiles and wounds by turns,
With all poignant humour of a BURNS
,
Bids sportive mirth and pleasantry abound,
And scatters ridicule's light darts around;
With the shrewd glance of quick inspection keen,
Detects the vain, the selfish, and the mean;
Drags vice and folly to the public eye,
And points them out to grinning obloquy:
Not even the worthy are from fear exempt,
Such in the general horror of contempt.
Besides th' ingenious Youth and sapient Sire,
One darling object all the rest admire:
Some blushing Maid
, whose sweet, tho' simple charms,
In many an artless bosom wake alarms;
Whom all the young with secret joy behold,
With looks of kind complacence all the old:
See, with dishevell'd locks she moves along,
The theme of many a wildly-warbl'd song:
And many a quaint similitude is sought,
Through all the boundless wilderness of thought,
To paint the graces of th' excelling fair:
The glossy burnish of her shining hair,
Page 42
To which the bard the deeds of heroes sings;
Like stars that shed sweet influence from the skies,
The beamy lustre of her downcast eyes;
The downy cannach
*
of the wat'ry moors,
Whose shining tufts the shepherd-boy allures;
Which, when the Summer's sultry heats prevail,
Sheds its light plumage on th' inconstant gale:
Even such, so silky soft, so dazzling white,
Her modest bosom seems, retir'd from sight.
The tufted berries rich in crimson glow,
That on the mountain-ash conspicuous grow,
Seem a fit image of the deepening red,
With which the conscious fair-one's cheek is spread:
While emulous her neighbour-swains declare
No other virgin can with her compare;
And challenge all the neighbouring hamlets round,
To show a maid with such perfections crown'd.
Where yonder ridgy mountains bound the scene,
The narrow op'ning glens that intervene
Still shelter in some lowly nook obscure,
One poorer than the rest--where all are poor;
Some widow'd Matron
, hopeless of relief,
Who to her secret breast confines her grief;
Dejected sighs the wint'ry night away,
And lonely muses all the summer day:
Page 43
Pursued the phantom Fame thro' war's alarms,
Return no more;--stretch'd on Hindostan's plain,
Or sunk beneath th' unfathomable main;
In vain her eyes wat'ry waste explore,
For heroes--fated to return no more!
Let others bless the morning's red'ning beam,
Foe to her peace--it breaks th' illusive dream
That, in the prime of manly bloom confest,
Restor'd the long-lost warriors to her breast;
And as they strove, with smiles of filial love,
Their widow'd parent's anguish to remove,
Thro' her small casement broke th' intrusive day,
And chac'd the pleasing images away!
No time can e'er her banish'd joys restore,
For ah! a heart once broken, heals no more.
The dewy beams that gleam from pity's eye,
The "still small voice" of sacred sympathy,
In vain the mourner's sorrows would beguile,
Or steal from weary woe one languid smile;
Yet what they can they do,--the scanty store,
So often open'd for the wandering poor,
To her each cottager complacent deals,
While the kind glance the melting heart reveals;
And still, when evening streaks the west with gold,
The milky tribute from the lowing fold
Page 44
And every smiling flow'r that decks the Spring:
Ah! little know the fond attentive train,
That spring and flow'rets smile for her in vain:
Yet hence they learn to reverence modest woe,
And of their little all a part bestow.
Let those, to wealth and proud distinction born,
With the cold glance of insolence and scorn
Regard the suppliant wretch,--and harshly grieve
The bleeding heart their bounty would relieve,
Far different these;--while from a bounteous heart
With the poor sufferer they divide a part:
Humbly they own, that all they have is given
A boon precarious from indulgent heaven;
And the next blighted crop, or frosty spring,
Themselves to equal indigence may bring.
* See note No. 6.
* See note No. 7.
* See note No. 8.
* See note No. 9.
END OF PART SECOND
Page 45
THE
HIGHLANDERS:
PART III.
ARGUMENT.
"Forms or customs had not shackl'd Man,
"But Wild in woods the noble Savage ran."
DRYDEN.
From all the echoing rocks and valleys round;
And hear! the sage oraculous declare,
'Tis time the summer-flitting
to prepare:
The summer-flitting!
youths delighted cry,
The summer-flitting!
lisping babes reply *
.
Page 46
To reach the wilds, with plenteous herbage crown'd.
Thus when assembled storks prepare to fly,
When NILUS
leaves his slimy borders dry,
The prudent leaders first consult with care,
Then all the younger followers mount the air:
Their figur'd flight with due precision steer,
While hope exulting heads the gay career.
When dappl'd grey first streaks the eastern sky,
With quick dispatch the cottage-matrons vie,
Who first shall load the steeds that lead the way,
And wheels and vessels in due order lay.
Then, in collected numbers duly rang'd,
With lighten'd hearts, to care and fear estrang'd,
The train proceed,--and first the motley herd,
For greater strength, or agile force preferr'd,
Lead on,--the milky mothers following near,
Their sportive young behold with matron fear:
Then come the bleating kind with plaintive cry,
And children overjoy'd, they know not why;
And mothers, smiling on the guiltless race,
Or clasping infants in their fond embrace.
High on the mountain's side, or in the wood
Where Nature reigns in savage solitude;
Or deep embosom'd in some narrow glen,
Where coy Retirement shuns the haunts of men,
Page 47
Who joy to view their summer-haunts again;
For here again the Sylvan Age returns,
Nor man the curse of ceaseless labour mourns:
Fair Freedom walks abroad, unties her zone,
And joys to see the landscape all her own.
Thrown careless on the slope--see vacant Ease
Bask in the sun, or court the cooling breeze;
And musing Fancy
, by some brook reclin'd,
In language clothe the murmurs of the wind;
Or frame to vocal reeds the native lay,
Or form of mountain-flowers the chaplet gay,
See Sport
, with Exercise
and Health
combin'd,
In happy union, fleeter than the wind,
Thro' pathless wastes the sprightly game pursue,
"Oft out of reach, but never out of view:"
While eager Hope
impetuous grasps the prize,
And Ardour
lightens in the hunter's eyes.
At length, exulting o'er their trembling spoil,
They see the dun deer fall to crown their toil.
And when calm evening bathes the flow'rs in dew,
And bids the thrush his mellow note renew,
With answering music maidens pour the lay,
And drain the listening kine at close of day:
Page 48
And rapt Attention holds the silent swains:
But holds not long--from every thicket round
Young voices mix'd in cheerful chorus sound.
Each lone recess the wand'ring tribes explore,
And now return exulting with their store
Of berries
*
, that in rich luxuriance spread,
O'er the dark heath their crimson lustre shed;
Or trailing o'er the rocky fragment's side,
The glossy foliage spreads its verdant pride;
While raspberries
richly flavour'd, climb on high,
And bask in all the radiance of the sky;
Or brambles
, on the brook's wild margin spread,
With jetty lustre deck their pebbly bed:
Where with coy wing the Ptarmigan
retires,
And high beyond the rolling mist aspires,
In safest solitude and purest air,
To rear her young with fond maternal care +
:
And mountain Hares
, white as the drifted snow,
Ascend, while fear and danger pant below;
Page 49
From cliffs sublime, to trace the realms of light;
A fruit there grows, to fertile plains unknown,
Whose beauties deck the sterile rock alone *
;
The creeping plant, low on the stony ground,
Spreads like some lonely gem its radiance round:
The topaz and the ruby here display
Their blended lustre to the eye of day:
'Twas thus Hesperian gardens bloom'd of old,
Where Dragons watch'd the vegetable gold.
All these, and more beside, of names unknown,
Has Nature o'er the wilds profusely strown;
And vent'rous children wide the waste explore,
And to the Arrie
bring the various store +
.
While bolder youth pursue the feather'd game,
Of various plumage, and as various name;
And adding what the finny tribes afford,
With unbought viands load the simple board;
Where milky draughts refresh the happy train,
And each lives o'er th' excursive day again:
Page 50
And guiltless loves, that play in artless smiles;
And aged swains, that talk of battles old,
And wonders new, by ancient seers foretold;
And matrons, who the busy spindle ply,
Till evening's warning star is mounted high;
Thus comes with speed unmark'd the hour of rest,
That hour to peace and innocence so blest:
How sweet to slumber on the bed of heath,
Whose purple blossoms health and vigour breathe!
How sweet to dream of heavenly melody,
And wake to hear it warbling thro' the sky!
While larks ascending tune their matin lays,
And scatter darkness with the notes of praise.
Thus, while successive days, new pleasures bring,
Gay Summer
hastes away on blithsome wing:
But now, when equal days and nights draw near,
And pensive Autumn
mild, of sober cheer;
When clustering nuts are changing into brown,
When from the nest the plover's young is flown,
When nimble moor-powts scatter o'er the heath,
And hear in every blast the licenc'd death:
When round the lonely hamlet's green domain,
The grass in fresh luxuriance springs again;
When flowery herbage richly clothes the mead,
And corn shot up, supplies the past'ral reed;
Page 51
And with reluctant leisure slow descend.
How cheap the pleasures of the simple mind!
Unknown to joys that Fashion calls refin'd:
What fine, what slender, and unconscious ties,
To hold the kind ingenuous heart, suffice.
The wide, wild haunts, where Nature lonely reigns,
Unwilling they forsake, to seek the plains;
Yet when they see the dear familiar spot,
Where each descries his lov'd, his native cot,
Well pleas'd they hail the Genius of the plain,
And joy to meet their household-gods again:
Though penury and ceaseless toil await,
They resolutely brave the storms of fate,
And see fair Hope's eternal lamp display
The gloomy path that leads to endless day.
Now Autumn
lifts her head, with plenty crown'd,
The breezes wave her yellow locks around,
The purest azure decks her sky serene,
And mild Dejection marks her pensive mien:
Now lonely Meditation walks abroad,
Thro' all his bounteous works to trace her GOD
:
Now Labour plies his task, with smiling cheer,
To reap the produce of the ripen'd year;
And sportive glee, and talk, and social toil,
The patient reaper's weary task beguile,
Page 52
Brisk emulation o'er the field provoke:
The ancient swains attentive wait behind,
With patient care the yellow sheaves to bind;
Or else, with long-liv'd prudence, chide the while,
Where, lur'd by Beauty's soft attractive smile,
Some Youth who plies his task beside the fair,
Whose artless charms his simple heart ensnare,
With stroke unequal reaps; while on the ground
The broken ears are careless scatter'd round:
In vain the fond Enthusiast ye reprove,
For when did Prudence ever dwell with Love?
Triumphant Love, who scorning Wisdom's rules,
Exulting sees the wise become his fools.
Now dark October
comes, obscur'd with rain,
And low'ring threats the plenty of the plain;
For Winter here, too oft, with boisterous form,
Comes early riding on the howling storm;
And oft with rude and chilly hand is found,
To scatter Autumn's heavy locks around.
High on these mountains BOREAS
dwells alone,
While icy terrors gird his frozen throne:
When Sister-Seasons dance the graceful round,
Where Harmony appears with order crown'd;
In fury oft he mounts his airy car,
His blustering heralds sound the notes of war;
Page 53
Spreads wild confusion through the mazy dance.
Hence Winter here oft breaks the mystic ring,
And chills the blooms that deck the breast of Spring;
Or rages fierce among unwither'd leaves,
And shakes from Autumn's bounteous lap the sheaves.
Hence aged swains, by slow experience taught,
When heavy clouds appear with moisture fraught,
And bending willows hang their dripping heads,
And turbid rivers rise beyond their beds,
And mountain-cataracts, of dingy brown,
With brawling rage o'er broken rocks come down;
And plenteous fruits, with early ripeness red,
In crimson tufts bedeck the witch-elm's head;
And numerous hips, with ripen'd scarlet glow,
And frosty gales, in ruddy evenings blow;--
Direct, in haste, to lead the new-shorn grain,
From the dank moisture of the wat'ry plain
To rocky heights, where frequent breezes blow,
And sun-beams with redoubled ardour glow.
Now young and old from every quarter come,
To share the cheerful task of leading home:
Here, studious of the clime, they form with care
The wattled barn
that courts th' enlivening air,
Lest the fresh sap their labour render vain,
Fermenting through the scarcely-ripen'd grain:
Page 54
These, marks of savage indolence may deem;
But sage Experience, Wisdom's eldest child,
When nurs'd by Nature 'midst th' untutor'd wild,
Though small her bounds appear, and short her view,
Yet in these narrow bounds her steps are true:
Nor let rash Speculation's letter'd pride,
O'erturn her modest works with daring stride.
Now comes the day to Superstition *
dear,
When frosty mists foretel the closing year,
Hallow'd and reverenc'd in the elder time,
Sacred to every saint, of every clime;
When aerial tribes in joyful freedom stray,
Or hover round the church-yard's lonely way;
Or o'er the annual mystic rites preside,
And form of air the visionary bride:
In joyful groupes the rustics then appear,
To crown the finish'd labours of the year,
And bid the rural genius come along,
With dance, and sport, and revelry, and song:
Then native
Music wakes in sprightly strains,
Which gay according motion best explains:
Fastidious Elegance, in scornful guise,
Perhaps th' unpolish'd measure may despise;
But here, where infants lisp in tuneful lays,
And Melody her untaught charms displays;
Page 55
And sound thro' all its raptur'd mazes trace;
Nor aukward step, nor rude ungainly mien,
Through all the glad assemblage can be seen:
But with decorous air, and sprightly ease,
Even critic taste the agile dancers please.
Cameleon Fashion's self, whose varying hue,
Assumes the likeness of each object new,
Returns, to copy motion's artless grace,
Even from the wildest of the mountain race,
And with decisive voice her votaries calls,
To ape with air constrain'd the rural balls!
The nymph that wont to trace the source of Tay
,
Or lead the sprightly dance by rapid Spey
,
With conscious triumph smiles aside to see,
This "faint reflection of the rural glee;"
Short pleasure languid imitation feels,
While polish'd courtiers pant in active reels.
* It is a season of rapturous freedom and variety to the children, who are always delighted at its return; which is indeed very much the case with the people in general.
* Bothy
is a provincial phrase, signifying a booth or slight building, applied to the huts in the shealings.
* Wortle-berries
and cran-berries
abound very much in those districts where the peasants retire in summer. Their vivid colours and glossy leaves make a beautiful variety among the productions of the mountains.
+ On the tops of the highest mountains, far above all human haunts, the Ptarmigan
nestles, and the White Hare
breeds.
* The natives call this fruit Eyreickan
, which is of the size and form of a large Strawberry
, and not unpleasant to the taste; it is of incomparable beauty, being almost transparent, and of the most glowing colours, from all the variations of scarlet, shading off into a bright, and then paler yellow.
+ Arrie
is a name in some districts given to the shealings.
* See note No. 10.
END OF PART THIRD.
Page 56
THE
HIGHLANDERS:
PART IV.
ARGUMENT.
Page 57
THE
HIGHLANDERS:
PART IV.
"A thousand fantasies
"Begin to throng into my memory,
"Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire,
"And airy tongues, that syllable men's names
"On sands, and shores, and desart wildernesses.
"These thoughts may startle well, but not astound
"The virtuous mind that ever walks attended
"By a strong siding champion--Conscience
.
MILTON.
And icy barriers close the wild domain,
From the fierce North the sweeping blast descends,
And drifted snow in wild confusion blends;
The Mountain-Cataract, whose thundering sound,
Made echoes tremble in their caves around,
Page 58
In frozen state suspended seems on high;
While in the midst a small contracted stream
Tinkles like rills that lull the shepherd's dream.
The River crusted o'er, and hid in snow,
Unfaithful tempts the traveller below;
While pools and boiling springs, unsafe beneath,
Betray th' unwary to the snares of death.
How awful now appears Night's silent reign!
Where lofty mountain bound the solemn scene.
While Nature, wrapt in chilly bright disguise,
And sunk in deep repose unconscious lies; *
And through the pure cerulean vault above,
In lucid order constellations move:
The milky-way, conspicuous glows on high.
Redoubled lustre sparkles thro' the sky;
And rapid splendours, from the dark-blue North,
In streams of brightness pour incessant forth;
While crusted mountain-snows reflect the light,
And radiance decks the sable brows of night.
Now, though their herds excite their anxious care,
Tir'd Labour slumbers with the shining share:
Short while they ply the flail, the scanty corn,
Dealt out with frugal care, employs the morn:
But social glee, around the cheerful hearth,
Lets loose the careless soul of rural mirth:
Page 59
The pipes awake the notes of former days:
Again they feel their ancient spirit rise,
And courage fires, or pity melts their eyes,
As love or war alternate swells the sound,
And hearts dilate, and bosoms glow around:
Yet even while frost comes bitter on the breeze,
Not all their nights are spent in social ease.
Some bolder spirits of the hardy race,
O'er snow-clad mountains wake the dangerous chace;
And some advent'rous youths, with fearless mind,
All thoughts of ease and safety leave behind,
The pathless wilds for wandering steers explore,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
Climb the steep rock where nestling Falcons
soar,
And heights by human feet untrod before+
.
There, danger threats in every hideous form,
There groans the Genius of the gathering storm;
And solitude forlorn, and frantic fear,
And howling blasts, and echoing caves are there.
Yet adamantine souls, and iron forms,
Hard brac'd by toil, and nurst among the storms,
Whom pleasure ne'er could melt, or terror freeze,
Can trace undaunted even such scenes as these;
Amidst the rattling hail erect their head,
And view serene the dwelling of the dead.
Page 60
In four grey stones concenter all their fame;
Where sleeps the hunter on the hill of heath,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
By fancy pictur'd in the misty wreath,
Dim hovering o'er the narrow bed of death.
Yet when the wearied storm has spent its wrath,
Patient he still explores th' adjacent Strath
:
By the pale moon he tracks the famish'd hare,
Who seeks among the cots her scanty fare:
At length, a distant light his steps invites,
To share the wonted hospitable rites;
Where plenteous cheer, and welcome's genial smiles,
In simple guise the wanderer's care beguiles;
The timely aid, the long-remember'd feast,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
Are deep upon the stranger's mind imprest,
And hope and gratitude distend his breast.
Deep in a narrow vale, unknown to song,
Where Maeshy
leads her lucid stream along *
,
Then turns, as if unwilling to forsake
The peaceful bosom of her parent lake,
While her pure streams the polish'd pebbles show,
That thro' the native crystal shine below;
Upon her flow'ry banks there dwelt a Swain,
Who liv'd a stranger to the cultur'd plain:
He mov'd with active ease, and artless grace,
And manly spirit brighten'd in his face.
Page 61
While lines of stedfast thought had mark'd his brow;
Alone, superior in the sylvan reign,
'Twas his to lead the life that poets feign,
Amidst luxuriant fruits, and chrystal springs,
"Where the free soul looks down to pity kings *
."
Yet while through woods and mountains wont to rove,
The pious youth excell'd in filial love;
For his lov'd parents, and their duteous race,
He search'd the flood, or urg'd the vent'rous chace:
And while o'er distant moors he lov'd to roam,
The fruit of all his toils enrich'd their home:
For them the deer resign'd his ample hide,
For them th' enamell'd roes their beauteous pride,
The otter's costly fur, the dappl'd fawn,
The leveret wounded in the dewy dawn:
No Sylvan game their FARQUHAR'S
pow'r withstood,
Who reign'd despotic o'er the pathless wood.
But see! where Winter
fierce array'd in storms,
With early fury Nature's face deforms;
And pours his snows with wild unwonted haste,
E'er scatter'd herds are brought from every waste,
Where they thro' summer months unheeded rang'd,
Or left the district to their home estrang'd .
Now FARQUHAR
ceas'd thro' gloomy woods to roam,
And hastening downwards, sought his peaceful home,
Page 62
But while through new-fall'n snows he hail'd the spot,
His father with unwonted sternness cried,--
"While heedless you traverse the forest wide,
"Our little all, those heifers and those steers,
"Rear'd as a stock for our declining years,
"Your unregarded charge, have wander'd far,
"Where ridgy rocks the dangerous access bar;
"Or in the western Corry's depth profound,
"Where blasts in fatal eddies circle round *
:
"While sylvan sports your vigorous youth engage,
"Must penury and sorrow cloud our age."
The generous youth heart-chill'd with anguish stood,
The "light forsook his eyes, his cheeks the blood,"
Cold thro' his breast the new sensation came,
A stranger yet to censure or to shame;
Turning, he cried, "I go, where to the west
"Declining suns in Ocean's bosom rest:
"I go, your wand'ring heifers to explore,
"To find them, or, alas! return no more."
In sorrow thus he spoke, then turning round,
His variegated vest succinctly bound:
Array'd for speed, he westward bends his way,
While low the wint'ry sun forsakes the day:
His dog, the fleetest of the hunter kind,
Oft with reluctant wonder looks behind:
Page 63
Till the last glimpse of lingering day was gone.
Now wide and wild the dreary prospect shews
Where stars with glimmering light illume the snows,
Through fleecy clouds a dubious lustre spread,
Where Corryaric
rears his lofty head:
Deep at his feet the dismal Corry
lies,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
Where dwells a spirit, hid from human eyes,
Whose magic art the fatal blast unties *
:
The fatal blast, incessant whirling round,
With horror fills the cavity profound:
The Dæmon, in the whirling drift disguis'd,
Has oft th' unweeting stranger here surpriz'd;
And many a grave is seen with fox-glove crown'd,
When Spring appears, with dewy locks unbound;
And many a plaintive ghost sad fancy forms,
And hears their hollow shriek amidst the storms.
Here FARQUHAR
paus'd, look'd back, and shuddering saw
His faithful dog first shrink in silent awe,
Then, howling, trembling, fly with quicken'd pace,
To warn his master from the fatal place.
"Shall I too fly, (he cried) or trust the Pow'r
"Who guards us in the dark and silent hour?
"From whom commission'd blasts have leave to fly,
"Or sleep within the curtains of the sky.
Page 64
"By him protected, FARQUHAR
fears no more."
His plaid in ample folds around him cast,
The vent'rous youth ascends the steep in haste;
Loud from the Corry's
depth arose the wind,
Unmov'd he heard the yelling blast behind,
And flying from the grim pursuit of death,
No backward look retrac'd the dangerous path.
Now high above the rolling clouds he goes,
Where clearer star-light brightens whiter snows;
Sublime on Corryaric's
height he stood,
And all the wide horizon wond'ring view'd *
:
Through the pure air, where vision unconfin'd
Still ranges like the quick creative mind;
Saw, where the sun, from Ocean's fluid breast,
Begins his radiant progress in the East;
And where with milder majesty he shines,
When in the western wave his light declines:
Saw the long vista, where 'midst candy'd snows,
The mighty depths of Ness
appear unfroze
+
.
Majestic lake! which rocky mountains bound,
Or steepy heights, with yew and holly crown'd;
Fed by thy tepid breath, each bordering tree,
Still with reflected verdure shine in thee;
While wide the wint'ry blast in fury roves,
And strips the graceful foliage from the groves.
Page 65
Warmth, health, and beauty, dwell with thee alone:
There birds disport, bedeck'd with plumage gay,
And snowy swans their stately pride display.
The ruthless tyrant of the frozen year,
Repell'd, retiring, shuns thy bosom clear.
And now the moon in cloudless splendour rose,
Where lofty Alps their snowy tops disclose:
And the wild Garrie
, 'midst his ridgy zone,
To her pale beams an icy mirror shone:
There Moidart's
hills in clustering groupes appear,
And Aonich's
slow ascent and piny summit here;
Knoidart's
wild rocks in shapeless forms were seen,
And Oich
with softer beauties deck'd the scene:
A while entranc'd, in solemn awe he gaz'd,
Then to the skies his raptur'd eyes he rais'd:
"And why (said he) should coward fears controul,
"Or doubts desponding, sink the guiltless soul?
"The hand which bade those lofty summits rise,
"And with those living splendours deck'd the skies,
"Which move obedient to his dread command,--
"I dwell beneath the shadow of that hand."
Then downwards to the sheltering glen he hies,
And close beneath the tangling thicket lies,
Which o'er the rocky cavity was spread,
Where wither'd leaves collected form'd his bed:
Page 66
And peaceful visions lightly hover'd round.
Now bleak and dim the chilly morn arose,
And keen the North wind swept the glossy snows,
The blast loud rushing thro' the wither'd oak,
Arous'd his dog, and FARQUHAR
starting woke:
Forlorn and sad, he cast his eyes around,
But in his view no living object found;
Nor track, save to a gloomy cavern near,
Where the false fox's bloody steps appear:
Resolv'd, he turns, intent to trace the way
From whence the nightly robber bore his prey;
For well he knew, at this inclement hour
No wand'ring flocks were subject to his pow'r;
But from some cot perhaps not far away,
He slunk insidious with his helpless prey.
Forward with eager speed again he goes,
And traces up th' ascent th' ensanguin'd snows;
Eastward he bends, till weak, and spent with toil,
He sees the new-fall'n snow his steps beguile;
The buried track no longer leads him on,
And strength, and fortitude, and hope, are gone.
The flaky torrent now conceals the sun,
And hunger faint to dim his sight begun;
Cheerless he turns, to seek the friendly shade
Where verdant hollies rose, amidst a glade;
Page 67
Who in the self-same shelter shunn'd the storm;
In youth's first, bloom, and deck'd with matchless grace,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
The morning's orient hues adorn'd her face:
He gaz'd, nor thought the maid of mortal race.
The snow-clad stranger gentle MORAIG
saw,
And blushing turn'd, and shrunk with timid awe.
The beauteous vision FARQUHAR
still survey'd,
And softly thus in suppliant accents said:
"Fair wanderer of the wood, if deck'd in light
"An airy spirit only cheats my sight;
"Or if a sister of the earth you come,
"No longer let me here bewilder'd roam;
"But to some peaceful harbour guide my path,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
"Weary and faint, beneath the tempest's wrath
"I sink unpitied in the grasp of death."
'Stranger! in evil hour you come,' she cries
And lifts with soft concern her modest eyes:
'A helpless maid, unaided and alone,
'Perplex'd I wander here thro' paths unknown:
'An ewe last evening from our sheep-cot stray'd,
'In search of her I trace the lonely glade.'
"Vain search (cries FARQUHAR
) for along the wood
"I track'd the guileful fox by marks of blood;
"But what are they, who leave those toils severe
"To female softness, and to maiden fear?
Page 68
"Could bid thee trace those frozen wilds alone?"
'Hast thou not heard,' she faintly said, thro' sighs,
The big tears trembling in her lovely eyes,
'How, to assert the STUART'S
ancient claim,
'To Moidart's
wilds a youthful HERO
came *
!
'To join his cause, in arms my kindred rose,
'And while they pour fierce vengeance on his foes,
'Forlorn and sad we tend their wonted care,
'And manly toils and dangers learn to bear:
'With me our mother anxious tends the flocks,
'My grandsire pensive shakes his silvery locks;
'While gloomy presages his mind engage,
'The trance of foresight, or the dream of age:
'But come, however fate decides our lot,
'And banish cold and hunger in our cot.'
The pitying maid, impatient hastes before,
Again with wonder FARQUHAR
views her o'er;
Her auburn locks with azure fillet bound,
Her snowy neck luxuriant shaded round;
Like some fair huntress of the times of old,
Whom, rapt in vision, gifted seers behold:
Page 69
Smooth gliding, light him thro' the thickening storm.
Glendoe
, in high Schicuman's
breast repos'd,
With streaming birch and hazel shades inclos'd *
,
Receiv'd the pair; where pendent o'er the lake
The aspin trembles, and the osiers shake.
While evening wraps the hills in shadows pale,
The careful matron spreads her frugal meal;
The younger children crowding round the fire,
Sadly their absent father's fate enquire:
The grandsire, narrative, recounts the wars,
Talks o'er the fatal pass, and shews his scars,
When sudden, like two wandering beams of light,
The youthful pair came full upon their sight.
The fire burns clear, the kindling torches blaze,
All eyes with new delight impatient gaze;
"Sweet MORAIG
, sister dear!" with fondness wild,
The children cry, thro' tears the mother smil'd;
"Why lonely wandering thro' the drifted snow,
"Where gloomy Tarfe's
inchanted waters flow +
?
"She cries, does MORAIG
tempt the haunted path,
"Where lurking withcraft
spreads the snares of death?
"And who is this young wanderer of the chace,
"Whose looks bespeak some high-descended race;
Page 70
"With kindly care thus deigns to guide thee home?"
With downcast eyes the modest youth replied,
"An humble swain, to no high race allied,
"In hopeless search of wandering steers I come,
"By pity thus conducted to your home,--
"In my dim view imperfect objects swim,
"An icy torpor chills each weary limb:
"Too late, alas! my rashness I deplore,
"Doom'd to behold my pleasant home no more!"
Unfinish'd accents faulter'd on his tongue,
And thro' his ears delusive murmurs rung;
The aged peasant saw youth's roses fade,
And propt the fainting swain with kindly aid:
With patient care the matron chafes him o'er,
While gradual warmth she labours to restore,
To bring the needful cordials MORAIG
flies,
With soft compassion melting in her eyes *
.
By due attention now the Youth restor'd,
Sees plenty deck, and welcome cheer the board:
The hoary sire retraces former times,
Or valiant deeds recounts in rustic rhymes:
Page 71
Tells in what distant glen the cheese she prest,
And how the monarch salmon's sportive young,
Snar'd in the brook, within the roof she hung:
How frugal care had made the viands last,
And how they still remain to finish the repast:
Fair MORAIG
softly moves, with silent care,
And pours the draught that crowns their simple fare.
Now social talk and song deceive their woes,
Till wearied Nature lulls them in repose.
The Genius of the storm his wrath forbore,
And rav'd among the leafless woods no more:
Calm silence brooded o'er the long dark night,
Till from the East arose the wish'd for light;
Now FARQUHAR
, starting from his downy trance,
Beheld with joy the new-born day advance;
And blest with ardent gratitude the Pow'r,
Who led him thro' that dark and dreadful hour;
And pray'd unnumber'd blessings on the fair
Who sav'd him from the wanderings of despair.
Wrapt in his manly garb of various hue,
He sallies forth the novel scene to view.
Thy waters, Ness!
all hush'd to tranquil rest,
Reflected graces deck'd thy halcyon breast *
:
There URQUHART'S
ruin'd castle gleam'd afar,
Disastrous relic of unhallow'd war!
Page 72
When EDWARD'S
iron sceptre bruis'd the North *
.
The shaded Inver
, haunt of social peace,
Here bids his streams thy wat'ry stores increase,
And proudly boasts of his excelling Fair +
,
Their simple manners, and ingenuous air:
There Fyers
with plaintive murmurs soothes his dells,
Where wild romantic Melancholy dwells +
;
And Tarfe
, long wandering, hid in copses green,
To pour his tributary wave is seen.
Now strict enquiring from the swains around,
His wandering cattle's haunt young FARQUHAR
found,
Deep in the shelter of a gloomy grove,
By rocks defended from the storm above,
They shunn'd, sequester'd in the narrow vale,
The blast tempestuous, and the rattling hail.
Clear was the freezing air, and bright the sky,
Short was the day, and now the sun grew high;
The cattle found,--no lingering can avail,
Yet still he feels his wonted spirits fail.
Page 73
A while he pauses--lost in tender woe:
"And shall I, helpless, friendless, leave the maid
"Whose pitying care my feeble steps convey'd?
"Whose gentle aid my fainting heart restor'd,
"Oh, were I of this lake's fair borders lord;
"Had I the joys of wealth, without its care,
"Those joys, that wealth, my lovely maid should share."
The new sensation swelling in his heart,
Inspir'd the untaught swain with sudden art;
And thus in cautious Wisdom's solemn guise,
To veil his latent purpose FARQUHAR
tries:
First to the courteous matron bending low,--
"You, to whose care my rescu'd life I owe,
"Whose tender fears your absent friends deplore,
"May heaven triumphant soon those friends restore!
"Yet while their standard flies on Southern plains,
"To till your fields no manly hand remains;
"The coming Spring will soon your cares engage,
"With toils unfit for childhood or for age:
"So short the freezing day, so deep the snow,
"No cattle o'er the mountain path can go.
"Warm shelter'd in yon bushy glen behind,
"My steers repose, and food and safety find;
"But when relenting Spring shall smile a-new,
"Again your hospitable hearth I'll view;
Page 74
"Will till your fields till May's bright days come on;
"And while warm life her vital pow'r retains,
"And truth, and sense, and memory remains:
"Should penury, or sad mischance betide
"My friendly hostess, or my gentle guide,
"My kindred, mindful of the generous deed,
"Shall yield them shelter in the hour of need."
The matron pleas'd, accepts the promis'd aid,
In silence meek assents the grateful maid.
Serene and peaceful smil'd the shortening day,
And FARQUHAR
now unwilling hastes away:
Yet oft he turn'd, as inly loth to go,
And blest the gentle inmates of Glendoe
.
Now doubly welcome to his native vale,
Of war's alarms he tells th' awakening tale,
And keen recounts what all his kindred owe
For hospitable rites in fair Glendoe
.
Now all the North grew bright with hostile arms,
From every hill resound the loud alarms *
,
And rumour tells, in shrill discordant tones,
Of vanquish'd monarchs, and of tottering thrones.
But FARQUHAR
, reckless of the fatal strife,
Still past in tranquil shades his blameless life;
And chid the hours, and thought the sun too slow
That rose to light him to his lov'd Glendoe
.
Page 75
And smiles, like harmless infancy, thro' tears;
When thro' the pathless hills, th' advent'rous swain,
His MORAIG'S
peaceful dwelling sought again.
In vain he casts around his searching eyes,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
From every side the smoky columns rise,
And savage shouts are heard, and doleful cries!
While from the mountain's top he views a-far
The barbarous traces of unsparing war,
Irresolute he stands, to turn, or go,
Urg'd by despair to meet the ruthless foe;
Resolv'd at last, he seeks the dark retreat
Where lovely MORAIG
first he chanc'd to meet,
In hopes some victim of disastrous fate,
Hid in those shades, might aught of her relate.
Her grandsire there, deep sorrowing on the ground,
With haggart looks, in silent woe he found.
"Oh tell, good father, tell, what wretched lot
"Befel the blameless inmates of thy cot:
"Have they obey'd the victor's stern command,
"Or fled for succour to some happier land *
?"
'Say, where, my son, should helpless females go?
'A happier land than this they ne'er can know.
'They make their bed beneath th' inclement sky,
'And meet with sorrow wheresoe'er they fly:
Page 76
'Whose privacy no hostile step invades,
'Where your lost steers avoid the wint'ry blast,
'They rest conceal'd, till this dread hour be past:
'My sons, with blood deform'd, and faint with wounds,
'Last night came from Culloden's
fatal bounds,
'And shelter in a neighbouring cave, while I
'Th' approach of danger here attend to spy.'
Now FARQUHAR'S
glowing cheek and heaving breast
The strong emotions of his soul confest:
"Come, father, haste to quit this scene of woe,
"First to the cave to seek the warriors go;
"Then let us fly to MORAIG'S
secret glen,
"And shun the blood-stain'd haunts of impious men;
"Thro' dark Glenmurky's
woods I know a way,
"Impervious to the searching eye of day:
"Through that lone path your secret steps I'll guide,
"Where plenty dwells on Maeshie's
grassy side.
"Beneath my father's roof my only love
"Shall to the aged pair a daughter prove:
"Their ancient home, tho' destin'd thus to leave,
"Let not my gentle MORAIG'S
kindred grieve:
"Endear'd by ties of sympathy divine,
"Henceforth be gentle MORAIG'S
kindred mine."
The wounded warriors, and the sorrowing sage,
Now sought the darling comforts of their age;
Page 77
And all their various tales of woe relate.
To go is danger--but 'tis death to stay,
Beneath the moon's wan beams they take their way;
With Heaven their trust, and FARQUHAR
for their guide,
They reach the winding Maeshie's
peaceful side;
There cheer'd by welcome, sooth'd by grateful love,
They built their humble dwelling in the grove.
* See note No. 11.
* See note No. 12.
+ See note No. 13
* See note No. 14.
* See note No. 15.
* See note No. 16.
* See note No. 17.
* See note No. 18.
+ See note No. 19.
* It was in Moidart
that the PRINCE
, who made the rash
attempt in 1745, which proved so fatal to his followers, first set
his standard.
* See note No. 20.
+ See note No. 21.
* MORAIG
is the CHLOE
or PHILLIS
of the Gaelic Poets; when they conceal the true name of their mistress, for they never pay the tuneful tribute to an ideal personage.
* See note No. 22.
* See note No. 23.
+ Invermoriston
, a river, at the mouth of which is the seat of an ancient family, whose daughters, now respectable matrons, were justly admired for uncommon beauty, unaffected gentle manners, and every domestic virtue.
+ See note No. 24.
* See note No. 25.
* See note No. 26.
END OF PART FOURTH.
Page 78
THE
HIGHLANDERS:
PART V.
ARGUMENT.
Page 79
THE
HIGHLANDERS:
PART V.
"------------------'Tis wonderful,
SHAKESPEARE
.
"That an invisible instinct should frame them
"To Loyalty
unlearn'd *
; Honour untaught;
"Civility not seen from other; Valour,
"That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop
"As if it had been sow'd!"
Amidst those mountains shunn'd each searching eye;
No threat of terror, or no splendid bribe,
Could warp to treachery the generous tribe:
For pleas'd with little, and in hardships try'd,
Their wants were all by simple means supplied;
Exertion bold, and feeling strong combin'd,
Here nurse the noble independent mind.
Page 80
To purchase pleasure with unhallow'd gold;
Fearless of pain, yet dreading sore disgrace,
Whose sable blot might sully all their race:
When CHARLES
an outlaw shrunk in wilds unknown,
Where long his fathers fill'd an awful throne;
Though wealth and pow'r combin'd their forces led,
To point the axe at his devoted head,
Safe in the truth of his devoted train,
See! wealth and pow'r combine their force in vain:
Unhurt he slumbers in his sea-beat cave,
While round his bed the guiltless billows rave *
.
Tho' gloomy guards protect the Monarch's gate,
Distrust and fear around his table wait:
And anxious doubts disturb his secret soul,
Of hidden daggers, or the poison'd bowl.
But far from courts, and their delusive arts,
How blest the PRINCE
who rules o'er honest hearts!
Unblasted he by treachery's poisonous breath,
And safely smiling 'midst the snares of death.
Oh! say, what gentle heart, what pitying muse,
Can the sad tribute of a tear refuse,
To that brave YOUTH
, who in life's early bloom
Hid all his opening virtues in the tomb;
Forsook the region of tumultuous strife,
And clos'd with pious fraud a blameless life.
Page 81
No weeping muses had adorn'd his grave:
But noble force and dignity of mind,
Despis'd a life in honour's cause resign'd;
Let traitors ashes sleep in sculptur'd urns,
While thee, blest Youth! thy country's Genius mourns*
.
Forgive, ye valiant dead! ye kindred shades!
That glide with heroes thro' Elysian glades,
The muse whose trembling hands entwine the wreath,
Whose mournful eyes retrace the paths of death:
So fast ye crowd upon her dazzl'd view,
Like sun-beams on a cypress wet with dew:
She sinks, o'ercome, unequal to relate
Your loyal zeal, or your disastrous fate.
Yet e'er oblivion's leaden gates be clos'd
On humble worth, in life's low vale repos'd,
She'd touch the callous mind, unus'd to feel,
With savage virtue, and the lawless zeal
Of the bold Brothers
in their darksome grove;
Whose steps licentious wont at ease to rove;
Who live like Nature's commoners at large,
Obey no master, and attend no charge,
But wander thro' the grassy glens at will,
Nor ask what owner rear'd the beeves they kill,
Then drag their prey home to their ample cave,
O'er whose dark entrance trembling aspins wave:
Page 82
A weeping rill, with tinkling murmur flows:
Returning from the chace or prosp'rous spoil,
'Twas here they hid the fruits of all their toil;
Yet aw'd by jealous fear, no stranger guest,
E'er view'd their secret haunt, or shar'd their feast.
On every side the deathful ambush lay,
When fate propitious led the PRINCE
that way;
His guide,--a native of the mountains near,
Who often with those Outlaws chac'd the deer,
And knew their minds, by avarice unstain'd,
The price of treachery and blood disdain'd,--
Now forc'd o'er trackless mountains to explore,
The way by which his Lord should gain the shore;
Once more adventures thro' the snares of death,
And trusts his precious charge to savage hunters faith.
Oh faith unstain'd! and truth beyond compare!
With him the produce of the chace they share,
With furry spoils they deck'd their cave around,
With wholesome cups their liberal board they crown'd,
The hostile camp thro' danger's paths they sought,
And to their Royal Guest unwonted dainties brought *
:
For him the sanguine paths of death they tread,
And scorn the mighty price that buys the Wand'rer's head.
One brother daily ranges thro' the woods,
Or snares the finny tenants of the floods;
Page 83
The hostile troops, with scrutinizing eye;
The third with prompt obedience mark'd his look,
And from his eyes commands in silence took.
Now twenty summer morns beheld renew'd
The rage of rapine, and the waste of blood;
The moon as oft, with want and anguish pale
Saw hopeless wanderers trace each dreary vale;
The plaints of orphan woe, and infant's cries,
With doleful clamour pierce the pitying skies:
The slaughter'd herds bespread th' ensanguin'd ground,
And smoking hamlets lay in ruins round:
In dreary wilds, from human dwelling far,
The wretched remnants of unsparing war,
Precarious life with gather'd herbs sustain,
Or chace the deer and tim'rous fawns in vain;
For none dare now the levell'd tube let fly,
Whose thund'ring sound might wake some danger nigh
No voice of joy is heard, no smile is seen,
No rural pastime sports along the green;
But sad solicitude, and shuddering fear,
And patient sufferance dwell in silence there;
No hopes of mercy to th' offending train,--
Thy worth and wisdom, FORBES
, plead in vain! *
The royal EXILE
hears the tale of woe,
And tears unwonted now began to flow:
Page 84
And livid grief his hollow eye invades;
The cheerful spirit, that still upward soar'd,
Nor vanish'd hope, nor regal state deplor'd,
Now drooping o'er his wretched follower's woes,
Abandons light and food, and shuns repose.
While thus the PRINCE
in silent sorrow mourns,
With cautious steps his faithful guide returns:
His fear and anguish hides in feeble smiles,
And leads the Wanderer to the Western Isles.
Ah! what avails to trace each darksome maze,
While watchful centinels beset the ways;
To tell, how high upon some cliffy brow,
Whole days he patient view'd the coast below;
Where bands victorious spread the snares of death,
Or count the price of his high-valu'd breath.
In vain each night he strove to reach his bark,
While answering watch-fires glimmer'd thro' the dark;
With many a meal of uncouth viands fed,
With many a bleak blast whistling round his head,
Beset with threatening perils, every hour
His life in many a savage native's power:
Yet through the vigilance of Avarice past,
He reach'd secure the destin'd bark at last.
Now soft and slow they raise the cautious oar,
And quit with silent care the dang'rous shore:
Page 85
And rest and darkness brooded o'er the deep:
Far out to sea they steer'd to shun their foes,
Till deck'd with orient red the morn arose;
Then thus the PRINCE
*
: "Thou radiant Orb of Light,
"At whose first smile recede the shades of night!
"When from the sacred East thy beams arise,
"A flood of glory brightens all the skies:
"The constellations fade before thy sight,
"And ocean rolls his thousand waves in light:
"Yet shall not even thy
greatness still remain,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
"Even thou shalt sink beneath the western main,
"And leave the darken'd earth to mourn thy beams in vain!
"Like thee in beauty, pow'r, and splendour drest,
"Our royal lineage sway'd supreme the west;
"With awful trident rul'd the circling sea,
"And quench'd the light of lesser stars, like thee:
"Like thee, in dim eclipse conceal'd from sight,
"We sink or vanish in the shades of night:
"The circling hours shall thy bright beams restore,
"And bid fresh morn her roses strew once more;
Page 86
"Are hurl'd to depths profound, no more to rise;
"In vain our vanish'd glories we deplore,
"For Fate imperious cries,--return no more!
"
Then calmly to the will supreme resign'd,
In stern composure he collects his mind;
His sorrows sooth'd with retrospective view,
And comfort from the woes of exil'd monarchs drew.
He thought how CHARLES
from Wor'ster's
bloody fight
Retreating, shunn'd in gloomy groves the light,
And bred in soft luxurious ease erewhile,
Assum'd the weighty axe, and shar'd the woodman's toil:
How great GUSTAVUS
, deep in mines immur'd,
Laborious tasks and wretched want endur'd;
While distant glimmering like the polar star,
The diadem allures their steps afar:
Hope, softly whispering, smoothes the brow of care,
For who, alas! can labour and despair?
The winds tempestuous now began to roar,
And danger darkly frown'd along the shore;
The mustering thunders threaten in the skies,
And livid lightning glaring dims their eyes:
Fear, while the boatmen ply the busy oar,
Shakes those firm nerves that never shook before.
Serene, the Royal Wanderer view'd the scene,
And read his peril in their haggard mien:
Page 87
Then from the breathless youth he snatch'd the oar,
With patient toil the task unwearied plies,
Till the mild evening star arose in calmer skies *
.
Now slept the winds on ocean's breast serene,
Reflected stars bedeckt her mantle green:
A safer coast they vainly hop'd to view,
And near high Rasay's
rocky border drew +
:
Pale rose the moon upon the placid wave,
That wont along the rugged bank to rave;
And pale, upon a promontory's brow,
With eyes that anxious search'd the deep below,
The island Chief in silent sorrow sate,
Alarm'd and watchful for th' EXILE'S
fate.
Suspended on their wearied oars they lie,
And hope to read their welcome in his eye:
"Belov'd, lamented, fly this fatal place,
"Though ever faithful to thy honour'd race!
"Death in dark ambush waits with treach'rous wile,
"The victor's barks surround this narrow isle:
"Thy near approach, unhappy PRINCE
, is known,
"And watchful thousands seek thy blood alone."
Now to the distant isle, whose swains obey
In plenteous peace CLANRONALD'S
gentle sway;
Grown weak with want, with ceaseless labour spent,
To shun the foe the weary wanderers went:
Page 88
They see a bark the self-same port explore;
Whose gallant trim and hostile colours shew
The proud defiance of a haughty foe:
With swelling sails she speeds before the wind,
And near, and nearer still, she presses on behind.
With steady eye the PRINCE
the danger saw,
And round a rocky point he bids them draw:
Then lightly springing on the sandy shore,
He cries, "Adieu, my generous friends, no more
"For me in pain you draw precarious breath,
"And struggle thro' the bloody toils of death:
"Here in those hollow cliff's will I abide,
"My trust in Heaven, and Providence my guide;
"Ye try'd in perils, faithful to your charge,
"Now wander safely o'er your seas at large."
He said, and silent sought the dark recess,
His parting steps his weeping followers bless.
In the green centre of the sea-girt isle
The Chieftain's dwelling rose,--an ancient pile;
The sylvan virtues lov'd the peaceful dome,
There blameless truth and pity found a home:
The Chief's fair Consort, and her gentle guest *
,
'Midst war's rude clamours here in safety rest;
In female tasks consume the lingering hours,
And wake the plaintive lute, or form unwithering flow'rs.
Page 89
And thus in secret guise bespoke the dame:
"Oh thou, in virtue's gentlest graces drest,
"If ever soft compassion touch'd thy breast,
"Let not a royal SUFFERER
plead in vain;
"Hard by a rock that juts into the main,
"Hid in a darksome grot, he pines away
"In want and solitude the tedious day:
"The sad retreat his followers dare not trace,
"The hostile pinnace anchors near the place:
"With hostile troops each neighbouring island swarms,
"And all th' adjacent plain is bright with arms."
With soft concern the gentle dame returns,--
'Your Master's fate each generous bosom mourns,
'Even those who justly blam'd the rash design,
'And bade his daring hand the sword resign,
'Lament the rigour of the Victor's hate,
'And deprecate the youthful HERO'S
fate.
'Your secret safely lodg'd within my breast,
'Suspend your fears, and leave to Heav'n the rest.'
Then turning sad, her lovely friend she sought,
In whom she safe confided every thought;
Who mildly wise, and firm in artless truth
With prudent mind, mature in early youth,
Pois'd with reflection calm the dubious scale,
And felt compassion's sinking weight prevail
Page 90
"Nor thus perplex thy mind with fruitless care;
"Thy Lord in peace obeys the ruling pow'rs,
"Then, while this storm of fate impending lours,
"From base imputed treason keep him free,
"Who hopes his peace and honour safe with thee,
"Nor dread of guiltless blood the sanguine stain;
"I'll seek the EXILE'S
cavern by the main,--
"If in his cause I should my life resign,
"The guilt or danger shall be only mine."
Fair FLORA
then, with fortitude serene,
And tranquil courage in her modest mien,
The viands and the generous wine conveys,
And o'er the rocks, as heedless wandering, strays,
Bids her attendant maid the shells explore,
The lessening tide had scatter'd on the shore.
Then to the cavern'd rock unseen she steals,
And to the hapless PRINCE
obsequious kneels:
"Receive, indulgent, from thy suppliant's hand,
"The humble aid thy urgent wants demand,
"And grant my boon, and trust thy life to me,
"From danger's thickening toils to set thee free:
"No leisure serves thy perils to relate,
"But dark approach the hours with hovering fate."
With silent wonder, long the PRINCE
survey'd
The beauteous guest, then thus:--'Heroic maid,
Page 91
'Unvisited, save by the rolling wave,
'To thy fair faith my wanderings I resign,[This and the following two lines are connected by a large brace in the right margin of the original printed edition.]
'Fraud never harbour'd in a form like thine,
'Nor dark suspicion in a breast like mine.'
Now turning, homewards she her steps addrest,
With peace and conscious honour in her breast;
But when the morn's first beams began to shine,
And glittering danc'd upon the restless brine,
In female garb the hapless youth array'd,
She leads disguis'd in semblance of a maid;
And from the English chief, with specious wile,
Permission seeks to view her native isle:
To ask with her was quickly to obtain,
For when did suppliant beauty plead in vain?
The gazing troops th' intrepid maid admire,
Nor less her bold attendant's strange attire;
The haughty measur'd step, the lofty grace,
And air unsuited to a female face:
For in-born dignity but stoops with pain,
And veils the proud superior soul in vain.
Now in the pinnace plac'd, the western gales
Obsequious crowd, to fill the Wanderer's sails:
Across the waves with winged speed they flew,
And soon the misty isle appears to view.
Page 92
To ages yet unborn th' undying song *
,
And ancient faith, and unstain'd loyalty,
And truth sincere, and friendship, dwell in thee;
Here, when dark midnight lull'd the world to rest,
Safe, in her kindly home, she lodg'd her guest;
Her pious mother, with a matron's care,
Attends the due refection to prepare:
While studious of each hospitable rite,
Her Lord with cheerful converse cheats the night:
And when grey morning rose, the royal guest
Finds on a downy couch unwonted rest;
Now first at ease his weary limbs repos'd,
Since sad CULLODEN'S
bloody evening clos'd!
But who can tell what farther perils wait,
Or who his future wanderings can relate?
Or who shall the exalted meed assign
To worth, above such humble praise as mine?
Ambition, sordid interest, servile fear,
That rule the world, could find no vot'ry here:
Then how shall any claim superior praise,
When all alike deserve th' immortal bays?
When pride first threw the rebel angels down,
One stedfast ABDIEL
kept his faith alone:
But when the STUART
line resign'd to fate,
One only traitor bore his country's hate.
Page 93
The weary tale of wanderings and of woes;
Where virtue shines thro' dark misfortune bright,
Like dim-seen stars in a tempestuous night,
Let not kind sympathy suspended wait,
The sequel of th' intrepid maiden's fate.
By kindred virtues led, a generous Youth,
To FLORA
long had vow'd his plighted truth*
:
In childhood's paths together they had stray'd,
Together life's gay morning views survey'd,
Together that plain path of duty trod,
That leads thro' Nature's love to love of GOD
;
And now but waited till the stormy blast
Of civil rage and noisy tumult past,
To sanctify those vows, long seal'd above,
And tie the secret bond of nuptial love.
But see! what toils ungentle minds prepare,
The innocent and lovely to ensnare:
When the stern Chief that led the British host,
Learnt how the PRINCE
escap'd the fatal coast,
How female stratagem, and female truth,
With guiltless art had sav'd the hapless youth,
Enrag'd he cries, "A ready victim led,
"Low on the scaffold let her guilty head
"Atone the forfeit life her arts have sav'd,
"And pacify the pow'r her crime has brav'd."
Page 94
All unprotected to the sea-beat shore;
No unavailing plaints, no female cries
Are heard,--she silent lifts her streaming eyes,
And inly to the guardian pow'rs above
Commends her spotless fame, her hapless Love.
Thro' inland moors he
roam'd with careless aim,
And seem'd all day to chace the flying game;
But oft he turn'd his sorrowing eyes with pain,
When loud along the border of the main,
Where ruthless foes on board their pris'ners bear,
Resound the direful yellings of despair.
The victims bore their fate with steady mind,
The cries arose from those they left behind.
Ah! when the lofty vessel left the shore,
And o'er the seas his heart's rich treasure bore,
How little did the wretched Lover know,
How great his
portion of the general woe!
But when mild eve in glowing purple drest,
Smil'd on the lingering twilight of the west,
He went to tell his FLORA
all his grief,
And find in social sympathy relief.
But why should words endeavour to explain
What eloquence herself would speak in vain,--
The pangs that rent the hopeless Lover's breast,
When all the fatal truth appear'd confest.
Page 95
Hoarse echoes murmur, while the billows roar,
The live-long night he trac'd the parting sail,
Or pour'd his sorrows to the midnight gale,
Till morning rose in wonted beauty bright,
And the lone mourner sicken'd at the sight.
Now fav'ring breezes blow along the shore,
The sailors hail the English coast once more;
In summer radiance drest, majestic Thames
,
The haunt of commerce and the pride of streams,
Receives the vessel, while her banks around,
And cultur'd plains, with stately villas crown'd,
And London's
glories rising thick to view,
To FLORA'S
eyes present a prospect new:
The novel pomp, undazzl'd she surveys,
While to her native isle sad fancy strays;
And sees, where misty mountains prop the skies,
The wild magnificence of Nature rise;
And feels no novel scenes a charm impart,
To soothe the anguish that consumes the heart.
Yet, while the canker wastes the bud unseen,
In pensive peace she drest her placid mien;
The dignity of conscious honour wears,
And slanderous taunts with patient sufferance bears.
The ancient Judge, by long experience wise,
With wonder hears her modest firm replies;
Page 96
The just applause due to the dauntless MAID
*
.
The Monarch, still to honour's dictates true,
Nor mean revenge nor cruel purpose knew;
But, long misled by faction's treacherous art,
As yet he reign'd not in the general heart;
To fury's gripe resign'd th' imperial sword,
Nor heard when pity's feeble voice implor'd;
Nor knew, exalted on a distant throne,
How delegated pow'r made mis'ry groan:
He bids his messengers the captive bring,--
Submissive in the presence of the king,
With downcast eyes the blushing captive stands,
And waits in silence for his dread commands.
"Presumptuous damsel, say, what secret cause
"Has made thee dare the rigour of our laws?
"When thus an outlaw'd traitor sought the shore,
"To stain our peaceful realm with native gore;
"Did frantic love, or rash ambition, say,
"To treason's paths delude thee thus away?
"That forfeit life thy folly bade thee save,
"For thee now opens an untimely grave."
'Dread Sir,' the Maid replied in humble guise,
With truth's pure spirit brightening in her eyes,
'No motive base my fearless mind could move,
'Nor mad ambition, nor presumptuous love;
Page 97
'Against your pow'r have drawn no sword in vain:
'Yet thro' the years our country's records trace,
'Our ancestors obey'd the exil'd race;
'And when they yielded to the frown of fate,
'We mourn'd their hopeless fall from regal state.
'To loyalty, by pious precepts led,
'We ever sacred held th' anointed head;
'And thought each branch of that long-hallow'd line
'A partial sharer of the "right divine."
'But, if the mighty hand that rules the ball,
'And bids the heirs of empire rise or fall,
'To you
, dread Sire, the bitter cup had given,
'From regal pomp to wretched exile driven;
'If cast a suppliant on my native plain,
'You never should have sought my aid in vain;
'Nor should a STUART
prince have ever said
'That treacherous FLORA
royal blood betray'd *
.
The thoughtful Monarch, pausing, view'd the fair,
Her chasten'd graces, and ingenuous air,
And sigh'd to think, how often civil strife
Drags blameless victims from the shades of life,
And with blind rage, unknowing to relent,
Involves the guilty and the innocent:
He bids the judge the guileless maid release,
And let her seek her native isle in peace.
Page 98
Those artless charms, with matchless virtues crown'd,
Whose native force subdu'd the rage of pow'r,--
And FLORA
reigns the fashion of the hour;
The gaze of wonder now, at FLORA'S
gate
Attendants see, and glittering chariots wait;
While noble dames, with costly gay attire,
Would deck the graceful form which all admire:
In vain! from those she scorns to borrow aid,
But veils her beauties in the highland plaid;
And drest in garb of homely tartan, wears
The livery of the tribe whose name she bears;
And mindful of her absent faithful swain,
Preserves the simple manners of the plain *
.
Her future consort now to Thule's
shore,
Sees pitying Heaven his faithful bride restore,
With every opening grace of artless youth,
With every charm of tenderness and truth,
With meek simplicity's unpractis'd look,
And eyes that Nature's genuine language spoke:
Her noble mind superior in distress,
No rigour e'er could move, or fear depress;
Nor could prosperity's vain smiles elate
The soul that bore serene the frowns of fate:
The generous Youth, with secret transport fir'd,
No higher bliss, nor happier state desir'd;
Page 99
And blest his fate when FLORA
was his own
Now, many a happy year had slid away,
Since HYMEN
smil'd upon their bridal day.
Alike, as mother, mistress, friend, or wife,
Fair FLORA
shone the grace of private life:
With latent wisdom and endearing art,
She stretch'd her blameless empire o'er the heart;
Her happy household rul'd with gentle sway,
And made it their first pleasure to obey.
Belov'd and reverenc'd in his native place,
Obey'd and honour'd by a duteous race,
Blest in his FLORA
, by his neighbours blest,
The worthiest of his generous tribe confest,--
Her consort long in peaceful plenty dwelt,
And oft to want his liberal bounty dealt+
.
Their blooming Chief, whom in life's smiling morn
All nature's wealth, and learning's stores adorn;
With worth's fair promise fed their raptur'd eyes,
But ah! too early sought his native skies!
Belov'd in vain,--for him in doleful strains
The Genius of the misty isle complains;
For him his Clan with ceaseless sorrow mourn,
And wreathe with purple heath his Roman urn *
.
Page 100
Was wasted in the soft luxurious South,
Whence prudent lore and maxims sage he drew,
And frigid notions, and opinions new:
He scorn'd the rustic grandeur of the plain,
The hospitable hall, the vassal train,
And distant kindred widely branching round,
Still to the parent tree by fond attachment bound.
'Tis thus the stranger, who astonish'd roves
Among the lofty shades of Indian groves,
Deep in the centre sees with dumb surprise
The native Fig
in solemn grandeur rise:
Its mighty head in leafy pomp display'd,
Appears th' acknowledg'd monarch of the shade;
Its verdant arms, that wide extend around,
Low bending downward seek their native ground:
There, in the kindly soil again they root,
And up once more the vig'rous saplings shoot;
Their parent plant they both adorn and aid,
Protect its stem, and send abroad its shade,
Till spread in massy pyramidal form,
Itself a grove, it scorns th' assaulting storm;
Page 101
They conscious draw their support from the head:
However high the tow'ring head may grow,
Well pleas'd he sees his offspring thrive below.
Thus Clans around their kindred Chief were spread,
And liv'd and flourish'd in their common head.
But other views and systems now arose,
Their honour's friends became their int'rest's foes;
The fine-spun kindred ties no longer draw,
Even local habits yield to rig'rous law *
.
The active youth by manly spirit led,
Who wont to range the wastes with heath o'erspread,
And send death's message with unerring aim,
To reach the flying or the bounding game;
No longer arm'd the sylvan haunts explore,
And thunder from the fatal tube no more:
No missile weapons, bright with silver, grace
The long-descended sons of generous race;
The broad-sword glittering with a twofold blade,
With apt device, and costly work inlaid;
Page 102
And worn suspended near the owner's heart:
The bossy buckler, rich in studded pride,
That turn'd of old the jav'lin's point aside;
No longer now, when war has ceas'd to storm,
With gallant grace bedeck t
