to do, and he entered London on the 29th of May,

-his thirtieth birthday.

a-bol-ish, do away with. ar-mour, a coat of mail. cap-tür-ing, carrying off. law-ful, according to law.

1 Scone (Skoon), 2 miles north of Perth. In its ancient abbey the Kings of Scotland used to be crowned, sitting on a famous stone (the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny), now part of the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey.

low-er orders, poor classes.
need-ed by, for the benefit of.
peas-ant, country man.
rail a-gainst', speak angrily to.

2 Dunbar.-On the coast; nearly 30 miles east of Edinburgh.

3 Portland.-A peninsula in the south of Dorsetshire.

4 From Scotland. Where he had been sent by Cromwell.

11. THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE.

[James Grahame, Marquis of Montrose, was at one time a Covenanter; but in the course of the struggle between King and Parliament, he became a Royalist. While the Scottish army was in England, supporting the cause of the Parliament, Montrose in 1645 gathered a host of Highlanders and Irishmen, with which he overran Scotland. At Philiphaugh, however, his career was cut short by General David Leslie, who defeated him and drove him to the Highlands for refuge. He was captured in 1650, and was executed at Edinburgh. The story of his execution is supposed to be told here by one of his old soldiers to young Evan Cameron of Lochiel, who afterwards served under Claverhouse.See page 84, note 14.]

1. Come hither, Evan Cameron !

Come, stand beside my knee-
I hear the river roaring down
Towards the wintry sea.

There's shouting on the mountain side,

There's war within the blast

Old faces look upon me,

Old forms go trooping past.
I hear the 'pibroch wailing
Amidst the din of fight,

And my dim spirit wakes again
Upon the verge of night!

2. "Twas I that led the Highland host
Through wild Lochaber's1 snows,

What time the plaided clans came down

To battle with Montrose.

I've told thee how the Southrons fell

Beneath the broad claymore,
And how we smote the Campbell clan
By Inverlochy's shore;2

I've told thee how we swept Dundee,
And tamed the Lindsay's pride ;-
But never have I told thee yet
How the Great Marquis died!

3. A traitor sold him to his foes ;-
Oh, deed of deathless shame!
I charge thee, boy, if e'er thou meet
With one of Assynt's name3-
Be it upon the mountain's side,
Or yet within the glen,
Stand he in martial gear alone,
Or backed by armëd men—
Face him, as thou wouldst face the man
Who wronged thy sire's 'renown;
Remember of what blood thou art,
And strike the 'caitiff down!

4. They brought him to the Watergate,
Hard bound with hempen span,
As though they held a lion there,
And not a 'fenceless man.

They set him high upon a cart—
The hangman rode below;

They drew his hands behind his back,
And bared his noble brow.

Then, as a hound is slipped from leash,

They cheered the common throng,

And blew the note with yell and shout,
And bade him pass along.

5. But when he came, though pale and wan, He looked so great and high,

6.

They placed him next.

Within the solemn hall,4

Where once the Scottish kings were throned

Amidst their nobles all.

But there was dust of vulgar feet
On that polluted floor,

And 'perjured traitors filled the place
Where good men sate before.
With savage glee came Warristoun
To read the murderous doom;
And then uprose the Great Montrose
In the middle of the room.

7. "Now, by my faith as belted knight,
And by the name I bear,

And by the bright Saint Andrew's cross 5
That waves above us there-

Yea, by a greater, mightier oath—

And oh, that such should be !-

By that dark stream of royal blood
That lies 'twixt you and me-
I have not sought in battle-field
A wreath of such renown,
Nor dared I hope, on my dying day,
To win the martyr's crown!

8. "There is a chamber far away

Where sleep the good and brave,

But a better place ye have named for me
Than by my father's grave.

For truth and right, 'gainst treason's might,
This hand hath always striven,
And ye raise it up for a witness still

In the eye of earth and heaven.
Then nail my head on yonder tower—
Give every town a limb-

And God who made shall gather them :7
from you to Him!"

I go

C. The morning dawned full darkly,
The rain came flashing down,

And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt
Lit up the gloomy town:

The thunder crashed across the heaven,
The fatal hour was come;

Yet aye broke in, with muffled beat,
The 'larum of the drum.

There was madness on the earth below,

And anger in the sky;

And young and old, and rich and poor,
Came forth to see him die.

10. He mounted up the scaffold,

(681)

And he turned him to the crowd;

A

But they dared not trust the people,
So he might not speak aloud.
But he looked upon the heavens,
And they were clear and blue,
And in the liquid ether

The eye of God shone through:
Yet a black and murky 'battlement
Lay resting on the hill,

As though the thunder slept within-
All else was calm and still.

11. A beam of light fell o'er him,

Like a glory round the shriven,
And he climbed the lofty ladders
As it were the path to heaven.
Then came a flash from out the cloud,
And a stunning thunder-roll;
And no man dared to look aloft,
For fear was on every soul.

There was another heavy sound,
A hush and then a groan;
And darkness swept across the sky—
The work of death was done!