On te lea of the rock shall your cradle be rock;
And you're welcome unto te isle of Skhee akain.
Come along, come along, wit your poatie and your song,
My two ponny maitens, and tree ponny maitens:
More sound shall you sleep, when you rock on te deep;
And you's aye pe welcome to Škhee akain.*

THE BATTLE OF SHERIFF-MUIR.1

TUNE-We ran, and they ran.

THERE'S Some say that we wan,
And some say that they wan,
And some say that nane wan at a', man;
But ae thing I'm sure,

That at Sheriff-muir

A battle there was, that I saw, man;

And we ran, and they ran; and they ran, and we

ran;

And we ran, and they ran awa, man.

Brave Argyle and Belhaven,2

Not like frighted Leven,3

Which Rothes and Haddington5 saw, man;
For they all, with Wightman,6

Advanced on the right, man,

While others took flight, being raw, man.

From the Jacobite Relics, 1821.

1 Fought on the 13th of November, 1715, between the forces of King George I., under John Duke of Argyle, and those of " the Pretender," commanded by John Earl of Mar. The issue of this battle was uncertain, the right wings of both armies being successful, while both left wings were defeated. It is this winning and running, common to both parties, which forms the principal humour of the song.

2 3 4 5 Lord Belhaven, the Earl of Leven, and the Earls of Rothes and Haddington, who all bore arms as volunteers in the royal army.

6 Major-General Joseph Wightman, who commanded the centre of the royal army.

Lord Roxburgh' was there,

In order to share

8

With Douglas, who stood not in awe, man,
Volunteerly to ramble

With Lord Loudoun Campbell; 9
Brave Ilay10 did suffer for a', man.

Sir John Shaw," that great knight,
With broadsword most bright,

On horseback he briskly did charge, man;
An hero that's bold,

None could him withhold,

He stoutly encounter'd the targemen.

For the cowardly Whittam,12

For fear they should cut him,

Seeing glittering broadswords with a pa', man,

And that in such thrang,

Made Baird aid-du-camp,

And from the brave clans ran awa, man.

The great Colonel Dow,

Gaed foremost, I trow,

When Whittam's dragoons ran awa, man;

Except Sandy Baird,

And Naughton, the laird,

Their horse show'd their heels to them a', man.

Brave Mar and Panmure 13
Were firm, I am sure;

7 John, fifth Duke of Roxburgh, a loyal volunteer.

8 Archibald, Duke of Douglas, who commanded a body of his vassals in the royal army.

9 Hugh Campbell, third Earl of Loudoun, of the royal army.

10 The Earl of Ilay, brother to the Duke of Argyle. He came up to the field only a few hours before the battle, and had the misfortune to be wounded.

11 Sir John Shaw of Greenock, an officer in the troop of volunteers, noted for his keen Whiggish spirit.

12 Major-General Whitham, who commanded the left wing of the King's army.

13 James, Earl of Panmure.

The latter was kidnapp'd awa, man;
But with brisk men about,

Brave Harry 14 retook

His brother, and laugh'd at them a', man,

18

Grave Marshall 15 and Lithgow,16
And Glengary's17 pith, too,
Assisted by brave Logie A'mon',"
And Gordons the bright,
Sae boldly did fight,

The red-coats took flight and awa, man.

Strathmore 19 and Clanronald 20
Cried still, "Advance, Donald !"
Till both of these heroes did fa', man;
For there was sic hashing,
And broadswords a-clashing,
Brave Forfar21 himsell got a claw, man.

Lord Perth 22 stood the storm,
Seaforth 23 but lukewarm,

Kilsyth 24 and Strathallan 25 not slaw, man;

And Hamilton 26 pled

The men were not bred,
For he had no fancy to fa', man.

Brave, generous Southesk,27

Tullibardine 28 was brisk,

14 The Honourable Harry Maule of Kellie, brother to the foregoing, whom he re-captured after the engagement.

15 16 The Earls of Marischal and Linlithgow.

17 The Chief of Glengary.

18 Thomas Drummond of Logie Almond.

19 The Earl of Strathmore, killed in the battle.

20 The Chief of Clanranald.

21 The Earl of Forfar-on the King's side-wounded in the engagement. 22 James, Lord Drummond, eldest son of the Earl of Perth, was Lieutenant-general of horse under Mar, and behaved with great gallantry. 23 William Mackenzie, fifth Earl of Seaforth.

24 The Viscount Kilsyth.

25 The Viscount Strathallan.

26 Lieutenant-general George Hamilton, commanding under the Earl of Mar.

27 James, fifth Earl of Southesk.

28 The Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest son of the Duke of Athole.

Whose father, indeed, would not draw, man,
Into the same yoke,
Which served for a cloak,

To keep the estate 'twixt them twa, man.

Lord Rollo,29 not fear'd,

Kintore 30 and his beard, Pitsligo 31 and Ogilvie 32 a', man, And brothers Balfours,

They stood the first stours;

Clackmannan 33 and Burleigh 34 did claw, man.

But Cleppan 35 acted pretty,
And Strowan,36 the witty,
A poet that pleases us a', man;
For mine is but rhyme,

In respect of what's fine,
Or what he is able to draw, man.

For Huntly 37 and Sinclair,38
They baith play'd the tinkler,
With consciences black like a craw, man;
Some Angus and Fife men,

They ran for their life, man,

And ne'er a Lot's wife there at a', man!

Then Lawrie, the traitor,

Who betray'd his master,

His king, and his country, and a', man,
Pretending Mar might

Give order to fight

To the right of the army awa, man;

29 Lord Rollo.

31 Lord Pitsligo.

30 The Earl of Kintore. 32 Lord Ogilvie, son of the Earl of Airly.

33 Bruce, Laird of Clackmannan-the husband, I believe, of the old lady who knighted Robert Burns with the sword of Bruce, at Clackmannan Tower.

34 Lord Burleigh.

35 Major William Clephane.

36 Alexander Robertson of Struan, chief of the Robertsons.
37 Alexander, Marquis of Huntly, afterwards Duke of Gordon.
38 The Master of Sinclair.

Then Lawrie, for fear
Of what he might hear,

Took Drummond's best horse, and awa, man;
'Stead of going to Perth,

He crossed the Firth,

Alongst Stirling Bridge, and awa, man.

To London he press'd,

And there he address'd,

That he behaved best o' them a', man;
And there, without strife,

Got settled for life,

An hundred a-year to his fa', man.

In Borrowstounness,

He rides with disgrace,

Till his neck stand in need of a draw, man;

And then in a tether,

He'll swing from a ladder,

And

go off the stage with a pa', man.39

Rob Roy 40 stood watch

On a hill, for to catch

The booty, for ought that I saw, man;
For he ne'er advanced

From the place he was stanced,
Till no more to do there at a', man.

So we all took the flight,
And Mowbray the wright,

But Lethem, the smith, was a braw man,

39 These four stanzas seem to refer to a circumstance reported at the time; namely, that a person had left the Duke of Argyle's army, and joined the Earl of Mar's, before the battle, intending to act as a spy; and that, being employed by Mar to inform the left wing that the right was victorious, he gave a contrary statement, and, after seeing them retire accordingly, went back again to the royal army.

40 The celebrated Rob Roy. This redoubted hero was prevented, by mixed motives, from joining either party: he could not fight against the Earl of Mar, consistent with his conscience, nor could he oppose the Duke of Argyle, without forfeiting the protection of a powerful friend.