Farewell to Glen-Shalloch

Farewell to Glen-Shalloch.

A farewell for ever !
Farewell to my wee cot
That stands by the river !
The fall is loud sounding
In voices that vary,
And the echoes surrounding
Lament with my Mary.

I saw her last night,
'Mid the rocks that enclose them,
With a child at her knee,
And a child at her bosom :
I heard her sweet voice
'Mid the depth of my slumber,
And the sang that she sung
Was of sorrow and cumber.

" Sleep sound, my sweet babe,
There is nought to alarm thee ;
The sons of the valley
No power have to harm thee !
I'll sing thee to rest
In the balloch untrodden,
With a coronach sad
For the slain of Culloden !

" The brave were betray'd,
And the tyrant is daring
To trample and waste us,
Unpitying, unsparing !
Thy mother no voice has,
No feeling that changes,
No word, sign, or song,
But the lesson of vengeance !

" I'll tell thee, my son,
How our laurels are withering ;
I'll bind on thy sword
When the clansmen are gathering ;
I'll bid thee go forth
In the cause of true honour,
And never return
Till thy country hath won her !

" Our tower of devotion
Is the house of the reaver ;
The pride of the ocean
Is fallen for ever !
The pride of the forest,
That time could not weaken,
Is trod in the dust,
And its honours are shaken !

" Rise, spirits of yore,
Ever dauntless in danger !
For the land that was yours
Is the land of the stranger.
O come from your caverns,
All bloodless and hoary,
And these fiends of the valley
Shall tremble before ye !"