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And there was Balmaghie, I ween,

In front rank he wad shine;
But Balmaghie had better been
Drinking Madeira wine.

Frae the1 Glenkens came to our aid,
A chief o' doughty deed;

In case that worth should wanted be,
O' Kenmure we had need.

And by our banners marched Muirhead,
And Buittle was na slack;
Whase haly priesthood nane can stain,
For wha can dye the black?

And there sae grave Squire Cardoness,
Looked on till a' was done;

Sae, in the tower o' Cardoness,

A howlet sits at noon.

And there led I the Bushby clan,

My gamesome billie Will;

And my son Maitland, wise as brave,
My footsteps followed still.

The Douglas and the Heron's name
We set nought to their score ;
The Douglas and the Heron's name
Had felt our weight 2 before.

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owl

brother

2 Variation: Might.

But Douglasses o' weight had we,
The pair o' lusty lairds,
For building cot-houses sae famed,
And christening kail-yards.

And there Redcastle drew his sword,
That ne'er was stained wi' gore,
Save on a wanderer lame and blind,
To drive him frae his door.

And last came creeping C

Was mair in fear than wrath;

-n,

Ae knave was constant in his mind,
To keep that knave frae scaith. ***

THE DUMFRIES VOLUNTEERS.

TUNE-Push about the Jorum.

In the early part of 1795, two companies of volunteers were raised by Dumfries, as its quota towards the stationary troops which were found necessary at that crisis, when the regular army was chiefly engaged in maintaining external warfare against France. Many a liberal who had incurred the wrath or sus

picion of the government and its friends, was glad to enroll himself in these corps, in order to prove that he bore a sound heart towards his country. Syme, Dr. Maxwell, and others of the Dumfries Whigs, took this step, and Burns also joined the corps, though, according to Allan Cunningham, not without opposition from some of the haughty Tories, who demurred about his political opinions. The poet made a further and more public demonstration of his sentiments about Gallic propagandism, by penning this well-known song.

DOES haughty Gaul invasion threat?
Then let the loons beware, sir;
There's wooden walls upon our seas,
And volunteers on shore, sir.
The Nith shall run to Corsincon,1
And Criffel 2 sink in Solway,
Ere we permit a foreign foe.
On British ground to rally!
Fall de rall, etc.

Oh, let us not like snarling tykes
In wrangling be divided;
Till, slap, come in an unco loon,
And wi' a rung decide it.
Be Britain still to Britain true,
Among oursel's united;

1 A high hill at the source of the Nith.

B.

dogs

stranger

bludgeon

2 A well-known mountain near the mouth of the Nith.

For never but by British hands
Maun British wrangs be righted.
Fall de rall, etc.

The kettle o' the Kirk and State,
Perhaps a clout may fail in't ;
But deil a foreign tinkler loon

Shall ever ca' a nail in't.

Our fathers' bluid the kettle bought,
And wha wad dare to spoil it,
By Heaven, the sacrilegious dog
Shall fuel be to boil it!

Fall de rall, etc.

patch

drive

The wretch that wad a tyrant own,
And the wretch his true-born brother,
Wh' 'ould set the mob aboon the throne,
May they be damned together!
Who will not sing "God save the King,"
Shall hang as high's the steeple;

But while we sing "God save the King,"
We'll ne'er forget the People.

TOAST FOR THE 12TH OF APRIL.

In the same spirit, and in much the same phraseology, was an epigram which Burns is said to have given forth at a festive meeting to celebrate Rodney's victory of the 12th of April.

INSTEAD of a song, boys, I'll give you a toast Here's the memory of those on the twelfth that we lost!

That we lost, did I say? nay, by Heaven, that we found;

For their fame it shall last while the world

goes round.

The next in succession, I'll give you the

King!

Whoe'er would betray him, on high may he

swing;

And here's the grand fabric, our free Constitu

tion,

As built on the base of the great Revolution!
And longer with politics not to be crammed,
Be Anarchy cursed, and be Tyranny damned;
And who would to Liberty e'er prove disloyal,
May his son be a hangman, and he his first
trial!

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