Wide waves the eagle plume,

Blended with heather.
Cast your plaids, draw your blades,

Forward each man set!
Pibroch of Donuil Dhu,

Knell for the onset!

NORA'S VOW.

AIR -" Cha teid mis a chaoidh."

WRITTEN FOR ALBYN'S ANTHOLOGY, (1816.) ?

In the original Gaelic, the Lady makes protestations that she will not go

with the Red Earl's son, until the swan should build in the cliff, and the eagle in the lake until one mountain should change places with another, and so forth. It is but fair to add, that there is no authority for supposing that she altered her mind - except the vehemence of her protestation.

I.
HEAR what Highland Nora said,
“ The Earlie's son I will not wed,
Should all the race of nature die,
And none be left but he and I.
For all the gold, for all the gear,
And all the lands both far and near,
That ever valour lost or won,
I would not wed the Earlie's son."

'I will never go with him.”
• [See also Mr. Thomson's Scottish Collection, 1822.]

II.
“A maiden's vows,” old Callum spoke,
“Are lightly made, and lightly broke;
The heather on the mountain's height
Begins to bloom in purple light;
The frost-wind soon shall sweep away,
That lustre deep from glen and brae;
Yet Nora, ere its bloom be gone,
May blithely wed the Earlie's son.”—

III. “ The swan,” she said, “the lake's clear breast May barter for the eagle's nest ; The Awe's fierce stream may backward turn, Ben-Cruaichan fall, and crush Kilchurn; Our kilted clans, when blood is high, Before their foes may turn and fly; But I, were all these marvels done, Would never wed the Earlie's son."

IV.

Still in the water-lily's shade
Her wonted nest the wild swan made;
Ben-Cruaichan stands as fast as ever,
Still downward foams the Awe's fierce river;
To shun the clash of foeman's steel,
No Highland brogue bas turn'd the heel;
But Nora's heart is lost and won,

-She's wedded to the Earlie's son!

MACGREGOR'S GATHERING.

AIR :-“ Thain' a Grigalach." !

WRITTEN FOR ALBYNS ANTHOLOGY. (1816.]

These verses are adapted to a very wild, yet lively gathering-tune,

used by the MacGregors. The severe treatment of this Clan, their outlawry, and the proscription of their very name, are alluded to in the Ballad."

The moon 's on the lake, and the mist's on the brae,
And the Clan has a name that is nameless by day;

Then gather, gather, gather Grigalach !
Gather, gather, gather, &c.

Our signal for fight, that from monarchs we drew,
Must be heard but by night in our vengeful haloo !

Then haloo, Grigalach! þaloo, Grigalach !
Haloo, haloo, haloo, Grigalach, &c.

Glen Orchy's proud mountains, Coalchuirn and her

towers,
Glenstrae and Glenlyon no longer are ours;

We're landless, landless, landless, Grigalach!
Landless, landless, landless, &c.

1. The MacGregor is come.”

' [For the history of the clan, see Introduction to Rob Roy – Waverley Novels, vol. vii.]

But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord,
MacGregor bas still both his heart and his sword !

Then courage, courage, courage, Grigalach!
Courage, courage, courage, &c.

If they rob us of name, and pursue us with beagles, Give their roofs to the flame, and their flesh to the

eagles !
Then vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, Griga-

lach!
Vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, &c.

While there's leaves in the forest, and foam on the

river,
MacGregor, despite them, shall flourish forever!

Come then, Grigalach, come then, Grigalach,
Come then, come then, come then, &c.

Through the depths of Loch Katrine the steed shall

career,
O’er the peak of Ben-Lomond the galley shall steer,
And the rocks of Craig Royston' like icicles melt,
Ere our wrongs be forgot, or our vengeance unfelt!

Then gather, gather, gather, Grigalach!
Gather, gather, gather, &c.

1

[“ Rob Roy MacGregor's own designation was of Innersnaid; but he appears to have acquired a right of some kind or other to the property or possession of Craig Royston, a domain of rock and forest, lying on the east side of Loch Lomond, where that beautiful lake stretches into the dusky mountains of Glenfalloch." - Introduction to Rob Roy, Waverley Novels, vol. vii. p. 31.]

DONALD CAIRD'S COME AGAIN.

AIR — “ Malcolm Caird's come again.” ?

CHORUS.

Donald Caird's come again!
Donald Caird's come again!
Tell the news in brugh and glen,
Donald Caird's come again!

Donald Caird can lilt and sing,
Blithely dance the Hieland fling,
Drink till the gudeman be blind,
Fleech till the gudewife be kind;
Hoop a leglin, clout a pan,
Or crack a pow wi' ony man;
Tell the news in brugh and glen,
Donald Caird's come again.

Donald Caird's come again !
Donald Caird's come again !
Tell the news in brugh and glen,
Donald Caird's come again.

Donald Caird can wire a maukin,
Kens the wiles o dun-deer staukin,

*[Written for Albyn's Anthology, vol. ii., 1818, and set to music in Mr. Thomson's Collection, in 1822.]

· Caird signifies Tinker.