Part 2 / Act 5 — THE VISION OF HUNGUS.
Reading edition
The King of the Saxons, with wrath in his hand,
Gives the land of the Pict to the sword and the brand;
He seizes their horsemen encumber’d with spoil,
And gives horse and rider to manure the soil.
“O wo to King Hungus!” he swore in his wrath,
“His foot-marks have left us a desolate path;
“But while a true Saxon remains in the land,
“He shall weep that he trod upon Mercia’s strand.
“Remember your altars, down cast and profaned!
“Remember your virgins, their purity stain’d!
“Then onward, ye sons of the field and the flood,
“Till Vengeance be drunk with your enemies’ blood!”
234Thus spake the fierce chief, as to Heaven he vow’d,
While around him his warriors hung grim as a cloud;
“Go, glut your red sabres, till pyramids piled
“Arise on these plains, built with women and child!
“Already the bards of your country prepare
“To waken their harps to the conqueror’s air;
“Already their chords vibrate bold in the hall
“To Athelstane’s glory and Hungus’s fall!”
Meanwhile, in his tent, Hungus courted repose,
Sleep came to his couch, though surrounded by foes;
As sunk on his mattress, all silent and lone,
On his slumbers a vision celestial shone.
St Andrew, the patron of Picta, appear’d,
His cross, sheathed in glory, triumphantly rear’d;
His star-studded band did a motto display,
Where “victory” shone in a red golden ray.
O bright was that token!—it set in despair;
For the shouts of the Saxons are rending the air;
The soldiers of Hungus are scatter’d and broke,
And leave him alone, as the tide leaves the rock.
235He shew’d them his vision—it was but a dream!
The souls of the bravest did wavering seem;
When, lo! in the firmament blazing on high,
The cross of St Andrew illumined the sky.
Each arm now was nerved that was feeble before,
They rush like the torrent that bursts on the shore;
As the scythe of the reaper the stubble lays low,
So the lances of Hungus are sweeping the foe.
As the proud hosts of Pharaoh aghast did recede,
When the ocean divided, closed over their head,
So the soul of the Saxon was palsied with fear
When he saw the red sign in the heavens appear.[7]
236“King Athelstane, yield; for thou shalt not depart!”
Said a voice, as the Pict pierced the prince to the heart;
And the spot, where the chief fell, ’neath Alpine’s broad sword,
Is still in our annals call’d Athelstane-ford.
Kneeling low in the dust, princely Hungus was laid,
While vows to his patron were reverently paid;
To the church he bequeathed a fair service of gold,
As we read in the chronicle Holinshed told.
“Now joy to the Pict, and defeat to the foe!
“In his banner triumphant St Andrew shall glow;
“While the bards and the sanachies tell in the hall
“Of Hungus’s glory and Athelstane’s fall.”
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NOTES TO THE VISION OF HUNGUS.
Page 236, line 5.
Kneeling low in the dust, princely Hungus was laid,
While vows to his patron were reverently paid;
To the church he bequeathed a fair service of gold, &c.
In gratitude to St Andrew, Hungus rebuilt the church of that name, in St Andrews, in a magnificent style; and, besides many valuable gifts in commemoration of his success, gave the tithes of his domains in support of the clergy, and ordained that the cross should be adopted as the Pictish ensign armorial, which the Scots assumed as theirs, when, by right of conquest, they succeeded to the Pictish kingdom.—See Maitland’s Hist. Scot. It is worthy of remark, that part of the lands of Markle, on the estate of Gilmerton, still belongs to the church. These lands were transferred from the monks of St Andrews to the abbey of Holyrood-house, and from their rental the stipends of the three deans of the chapel royal are still paid. Tradition says, that the cross was seen immediately above Markle, from whence the place has its etymology from miracle. This is absurd. The name, as spelt in old charters, is Merkhill; even as places which formerly paid duty to the sovereign or superior were called Merk-lands. The situation, however, is in the vicinity of the conflict, which must have extended over many miles. In 1782, the head of a hatchet of polished yellow marble was turned up by the ploughshare in a field of Gilmerton. It was in length about nine inches, and sharpened at both ends. Now it is well known that missiles of stone carry us back to a very barbarous period.
About a mile northward, on the farm of Muirhouses, a rude monumental whinstone is erected; and at Dingleton, a few furlongs farther, are the fragments of a large pillar, which some idle 238Goth has splintered. Both of these are supposed to mark the scene of Hungus’s conflict. Still a few furlongs westward, there is a pillar of white freestone, called the Boar Stane,[8] seemingly of more recent erection, (though not in the memory of man) situated in a field on the farm of Prora, called Bluidy Side. In the names of many places in this district we may trace their Celtic or Gaelic origin. A spot called Fingal-street shews where stood Fingal-ton; Dingleton is a corruption for Dongal-ton; and Congal-ton is still the name of a mansion and of an estate.
But the most remarkable thing in this neighbourhood is the seeming remains of a Pictish town or fortlet, in the barony of Drem. The zealous antiquary has traced the separate foundations of at least forty houses, which are of a circular form, in the manner of the Danes or Scandinavians. The camp is surrounded by three strong circumvallations, called the Rings—the stones of which have been partly removed for building agricultural enclosures. The space occupied consists of at least four acres. There appears to have been only one chief entrance, which is in the east. An eminent antiquary, who lately visited the spot, declared, that the remains of Berigonium in Lorn, the ancient capital of Scotland, do not present so valuable a picture of antiquity as those of Drem.
These circumvallations are situated at Drem-hills, and go by the name of the Chesters (from Anglo-Saxon Ceaster, a fort or castle.) In Forest’s map this name is applied to a hill that lies immediately above this ancient fortification. Besides numerous circular encampments, which are seen on the skirts of Lammermoor, the parishes of Oldhamstocks, Innerwick, Spott, Bara, and Bolton, each have their Chesters. From the etymology of these places, we may conclude that they are nearly as old as the end of the sixth century, when the Saxons formed an alliance with the Picts to aid them against the Scots and Britons.
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