Note 47 — Chapter XVIII
Reading edition
To this period belong Sir W. Scott's song to the Edinburgh Volunteers:—
"If ever breath of British gale Shall fan the tricolor, Or footstep of invader rude, With rapine foul and red with blood, Pollute our happy shore— Then farewell home! and farewell friends! Adieu each tender tie! Resolved, we mingle in the tide Where charging squadron furious ride, To conquer or to die," &c.
And various sonnets of Mr. Wordsworth; such as—
"It is not to be thought of that the flood Of British freedom," &c.
"Vanguard of liberty! ye men of Kent, Ye children of a soil that doth advance Its haughty brow against the coast of France, Now is the time to prove your hardiment!" &c.