CANTO THIRD THE GATHERING

Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, Who danced our infancy upon their knee, And told our marveling boyhood legends store Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, 5 How are they blotted from the things that be! How few, all weak and withered of their force, Wait on the verge of dark eternity, Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, To sweep them from our sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course. 10 Yet live there still who can remember well, How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, Both field and forest, dingle, cliff, and dell, And solitary heath, the signal knew; And fast the faithful clan around him drew, 15 What time the warning note was keenly wound, What time aloft their kindred banner flew, While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round.

The summer dawn's reflected hue 20 To purple changed Loch Katrine blue; Mildly and soft the western breeze Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees, And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, Trembled but dimpled not for joy; 25 The mountain-shadows on her breast Were neither broken nor at rest; In bright uncertainty they lie, Like future joys to Fancy's eye. The water-lily to the light 30 Her chalice reared of silver bright; The doe awoke, and to the lawn, Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn; The gray mist left the mountain side, The torrent showed its glistening pride; 35 Invisible in fleckéd sky, The lark sent down her revelry; The blackbird and the speckled thrush, Good-morrow gave from brake and bush; In answer cooed the cushat dovenote 40 Her notes of peace, and rest, and love.

No thought of peace, no thought of rest, Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. With sheathéd broadsword in his hand, Abrupt he paced the islet strand, 45 And eyed the rising sun, and laid His hand on his impatient blade. Beneath a rock, his vassals' care Was prompt the ritual to prepare, With deep and deathful meaning fraught; 50 For such Antiquity had taught Was preface meet, ere yet abroad The Cross of Fire should take its road. The shrinking band stood oft aghast At the impatient glance he cast— 55 Such glance the mountain eagle threw, As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, She spread her dark sails on the wind, And, high in middle heaven reclined, With her broad shadow on the lake, 60 Silenced the warblers of the brake.

A heap of withered boughs was piled, Of juniper and rowan wild, Mingled with shivers from the oak,note Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. 65 Brian, the Hermit, by it stood, Barefooted, in his frock and hood. His grizzled beard and matted hair Obscured a visage of despair; His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, 70 The scars of frantic penance bore. That monk, of savage form and face, The impending danger of his race Had drawn from deepest solitude, Far in Benharrow's bosom rude.note 75 Not his the mien of Christian priest, But Druid's, from the grave released, Whose hardened heart and eye might brook On human sacrifice to look; And much, 'twas said, of heathen lore 80 Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. The hallowed creed gave only worse And deadlier emphasis of curse; No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer, His cave the pilgrim shunned with care, 85 The eager huntsman knew his bound, And in mid chase called off his hound; Or if, in lonely glen or strath,note The desert-dweller met his path, He prayed, and signed the cross between, 90 While terror took devotion's mien.

Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. His mother watched a midnight fold, Built deep within a dreary glen, Where scattered lay the bones of men 95 In some forgotten battle slain, And bleached by drifting wind and rain. It might have tamed a warrior's heart, To view such mockery of his art! The knot-grass fettered there the hand 100 Which once could burst an iron band; Beneath the broad and ample bone, That bucklered heart to fear unknown, A feeble and a timorous guest, The fieldfare framed her lowly nest;note 105 There the slow blindworm left his slime On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; And there, too, lay the leader's skull, Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, For heath-bell with her purple bloom 110 Supplied the bonnet and the plume. All night, in this sad glen, the maid Sat, shrouded in her mantle's shade: She said no shepherd sought her side, No hunter's hand her snood untied; 115 Yet ne'er again to braid her hair The virgin snood did Alice wear;note Gone was her maiden glee and sport, Her maiden girdle all too short, Nor sought she, from that fatal night, 120 Or holy church or blessed rite, But locked her secret in her breast, And died in travail, unconfessed.

Alone, among his young compeers, Was Brian from his infant years; 125 A moody and heartbroken boy, Estranged from sympathy and joy, Bearing each taunt with careless tongue On his mysterious lineage flung. Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale, 130 To wood and stream his hap to wail, Till, frantic, he as truth received What of his birth the crowd believed, And sought, in mist and meteor fire, To meet and know his Phantom Sire! 135 In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, The cloister oped her pitying gate; In vain, the learning of the age Unclasped the sable-lettered page; Even in its treasures he could find 140 Food for the fever of his mind. Eager he read whatever tells Of magic, cabala, and spells, And every dark pursuit allied To curious and presumptuous pride; 145 Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, And heart with mystic horrors wrung, Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, And hid him from the haunts of men.

The desert gave him visions wild, 150 Such as might suit the specter's child. Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, He watched the wheeling eddies boil, Till, from their foam, his dazzled eyes Beheld the River Demon rise;note 155 The mountain mist took form and limb, Of noontide hag, or goblin grim;note The midnight wind came wild and dread, Swelled with the voices of the dead; Far on the future battle-heath 160 His eyes beheld the ranks of death. Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, Shaped forth a disembodied world. One lingering sympathy of mind Still bound him to the mortal kind; 165 The only parent he could claim Of ancient Alpine lineage came. Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream;note Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast, 170 Of charging steeds, careering fast Along Benharrow's shingly side, Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride; The thunderbolt had split the pine— All augured ill to Alpine's line. 175 He girt his loins, and came to show The signals of impending woe, And now stood prompt to bless or ban, As bade the Chieftain of his clan.

'Twas all prepared—and from the rock, 180 A goat, the patriarch of the flock, Before the kindling pile was laid, And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. Patient the sickening victim eyed The life-blood ebb in crimson tide, 185 Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, A slender crosslet formed with care, A cubit's length in measure due; 190 The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wavenote Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, And, answering Lomond's breezes deep, Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. 195 The Cross, thus formed, he held on high, With wasted hand and haggard eye, And strange and mingled feelings woke; While his anathema he spoke.

"Woe to the clansman, who shall viewnote 200 This symbol of sepulchral yew, Forgetful that its branches grew Where weep the heavens their holiest dew On Alpine's dwelling low! Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, 205 He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, But, from his sires and kindred thrust, Each clansman's execration just Shall doom him wrath and woe." He paused—the word the vassals took, 210 With forward step and fiery look, On high their naked brands they shook, Their clattering targets wildly strook; And first in murmur low, Then, like the billow in his course, 215 That far to seaward finds his source, And flings to shore his mustered force, Burst, with loud roar, their answer hoarse, "Woe to the traitor, woe!" Ben-an's grey scalp the accents knew, 220 The joyous wolf from cover drew, The exulting eagle screamed afar— They knew the voice of Alpine's war.

The shout was hushed on lake and fell, The Monk resumed his muttered spell; 225 Dismal and low its accents came, The while he scathed the Cross with flame: And the few words that reached the air, Although the holiest name was there, Had more of blasphemy than prayer. 230 But when he shook above the crowd Its kindled points, he spoke aloud: "Woe to the wretch, who fails to rear At this dread sign the ready spear! For, as the flames this symbol sear, 235 His home, the refuge of his fear, A kindred fate shall know; Far o'er its roof the volumed flame Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, While maids and matrons on his name 240 Shall call down wretchedness and shame, And infamy and woe." Then rose the cry of females, shrill As goshawk's whistle on the hill, Denouncing misery and ill, 245 Mingled with childhood's babbling trill Of curses stammered slow; Answering, with imprecation dread, "Sunk be his home in embers red! And curséd be the meanest shed 250 That e'er shall hide the houseless head We doom to want and woe!" A sharp and shrieking echo gave, Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave!note And the gray pass where birches wave, 255 On Beala-nam-bo.

Then deeper paused the priest anew, And hard his laboring breath he drew, While, with set teeth and clenched hand, And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, 260 He meditated curse more dread, And deadlier, on the clansman's head, Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, The signal saw and disobeyed. The crosslet's points of sparkling wood 265 He quenched among the bubbling blood, And, as again the sign he reared, Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard: "When flits this Cross from man to man, Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan, 270 Burst be the ear that fails to heed! Palsied the foot that shuns to speed! May ravens tear the careless eyes, Wolves make the coward heart their prize! As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, 275 So may his heart's blood drench his hearth! As dies in hissing gore the spark, Quench thou his light, Destruction dark! And be the grace to him denied, Bought by this sign to all beside!" 280 He ceased; no echo gave again The murmur of the deep Amen.

Then Roderick, with impatient look, From Brian's hand the symbol took: "Speed, Malise, speed!" he said, and gave 285 The crosslet to his henchman brave. "The muster-place be Lanrick mead—note Instant the time—speed, Malise, speed!" Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, A barge across Loch Katrine flew; 290 High stood the henchman on the prow, So rapidly the barge-men row, The bubbles, where they launched the boat, Were all unbroken and afloat, Dancing in foam and ripple still, 295 When it had neared the mainland hill; And from the silver beach's side Still was the prow three fathom wide, When lightly bounded to the land The messenger of blood and brand.

300 Speed, Malise, speed! the dun deer's hidenote On fleeter foot was never tied. Speed, Malise, speed! such cause of haste Thine active sinews never braced. Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, 305 Burst down like torrent from its crest; With short and springing footstep pass The trembling bog and false morass; Across the brook like roebuck bound, And thread the brake like questing hound; 310 The crag is high, the scar is deep, Yet shrink not from the desperate leap: Parched are thy burning lips and brow. Yet by the fountain pause not now; Herald of battle, fate, and fear, 315 Stretch onward in thy fleet career! The wounded hind thou track'st not now, Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, Nor pliest thou now thy flying pace, With rivals in the mountain race; 320 But danger, death, and warrior deed, Are in thy course—speed, Malise, speed!

Fast as the fatal symbol flies, In arms the huts and hamlets rise; From winding glen, from upland brown, 325 They poured each hardy tenant down. Nor slacked the messenger his pace; He showed the sign, he named the place, And, pressing forward like the wind, Left clamor and surprise behind. 330 The fisherman forsook the strand, The swarthy smith took dirk and brand; With changéd cheer, the mower blithe Left in the half-cut swathe the scythe; The herds without a keeper strayed, 335 The plow was in mid-furrow stayed, The falc'ner tossed his hawk away, The hunter left the stag at bay; Prompt at the signal of alarms, Each son of Alpine rushed to arms; 340 So swept the tumult and affray Along the margin of Achray. Alas, thou lovely lake! that e'er Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 345 So stilly on thy bosom deep, The lark's blithe carol, from the cloud Seems for the scene too gaily loud.

Speed, Malise, speed! the lake is past, Duncraggan's huts appear at last,note 350 And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen, Half hidden in the copse so green; There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, Their Lord shall speed the signal on. As stoops the hawk upon his prey, 355 The henchman shot him down the way. —What woeful accents load the gale? The funeral yell, the female wail! A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, A valiant warrior fights no more. 360 Who, in the battle or the chase, At Roderick's side shall fill his place!— Within the hall, where torches' ray Supplies the excluded beams of day, Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, 365 And o'er him streams his widow's tear. His stripling son stands mournful by, His youngest weeps, but knows not why; The village maids and matrons round The dismal coronach resound.note

370 He is gone on the mountain, He is lost to the forest, Like a summer-dried fountain, When our need was the sorest. The font, reappearing, 375 From the raindrops shall borrow, But to us comes no cheering, To Duncan no morrow! The hand of the reaper Takes the ears that are hoary, 380 But the voice of the weeper Wails manhood in glory. The autumn winds rushing Waft the leaves that are searest, But our flower was in flushing, 385 When blighting was nearest. Fleet foot on the correi,note Sage counsel in cumber,note Red hand in the foray, How sound is thy slumber! 390 Like dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river, Like the bubble on the fountain Thou art gone, and forever!

See Stumah, who, the bier beside,note 395 His master's corpse with wonder eyed— Poor Stumah! whom his least halloo Could send like lightning o'er the dew, Bristles his crest, and points his ears, As if some stranger step he hears. 400 'Tis not a mourner's muffled tread, Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, But headlong haste, or deadly fear, Urge the precipitate career. All stand aghast—unheeding all, 405 The henchman bursts into the hall; Before the dead man's bier he stood; Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood: "The muster-place is Lanrick mead; Speed forth the signal! clansmen, speed!"

410 Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. In haste the stripling to his side His father's dirk and broadsword tied; But when he saw his mother's eye 415 Watch him in speechless agony, Back to her opened arms he flew, Pressed on her lips a fond adieu— "Alas!" she sobbed—"and yet be gone, And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son!" 420 One look he cast upon the bier, Dashed from his eye the gathering tear, Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, And tossed aloft his bonnet crest, Then, like the high-bred colt, when, freed, 425 First he essays his fire and speed, He vanished, and o'er moor and moss Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. Suspended was the widow's tear, While yet his footsteps she could hear; 430 And when she marked the henchman's eye Wet with unwonted sympathy, "Kinsman," she said, "his race is run, That should have sped thine errand on; The oak has fallen—the sapling bough 435 Is all Duncraggan's shelter now. Yet trust I well, his duty done, The orphan's God will guard my son. And you, in many a danger true, At Duncan's hest your blades that drew, 440 To arms, and guard that orphan's head! Let babes and women wail the dead." Then weapon-clang and martial call Resounded through the funeral hall, While from the walls the attendant band 445 Snatched sword and targe, with hurried hand; And short and flitting energy Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, As if the sounds to warrior dear, Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. 450 But faded soon that borrowed force; Grief claimed his right, and tears their course.

Benledi saw the Cross of Fire; It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. O'er dale and hill the summons flew, 455 Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew; The tear that gathered in his eye He left the mountain breeze to dry; Until, where Teith's young waters roll Betwixt him and a wooded knoll 460 That graced the sable strath with green, The chapel of St. Bride was seen.note Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, But Angus paused not on the edge; Though the dark waves danced dizzily, 465 Though reeled his sympathetic eye, He dashed amid the torrent's roar. His right hand high the crosslet bore, His left the pole-ax grasped, to guidenote And stay his footing in the tide. 470 He stumbled twice—the foam splashed high; With hoarser swell the stream raced by; And had he fallen—forever there, Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir! But still, as if in parting life, 475 Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, Until the opposing bank he gained, And up the chapel pathway strained.

A blithesome rout, that morning tide, Had sought the chapel of St. Bride. 480 Her troth Tombea's Mary gavenote To Norman, heir of Armandave. And, issuing from the Gothic arch, The bridal now resumed their march. In rude, but glad procession, came 485 Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame; And plaided youth, with jest and jeer, Which snooden maiden would not hear: And children, that, unwitting why, Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry; 490 And minstrels, that in measures vied Before the young and bonny bride, Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose The tear and blush of morning rose. With virgin step, and bashful hand, 495 She held the kerchief's snowy band; The gallant bridegroom, by her side, Beheld his prize with victor's pride, And the glad mother in her ear Was closely whispering word of cheer.

500 Who meets them at the churchyard gate? The messenger of fear and fate! Haste in his hurried accent lies, And grief is swimming in his eyes. All dripping from the recent flood, 505 Panting and travel-soiled he stood, The fatal sign of fire and sword Held forth, and spoke the appointed word: "The muster-place is Lanrick mead; Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!" 510 And must he change so soon the hand, Just linked to his by holy band, For the fell Cross of blood and brand? And must the day, so blithe that rose And promised rapture in the close, 515 Before its setting hour, divide The bridegroom from the plighted bride? O fatal doom!—it must! it must! Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, Her summons dread, brook no delay; 520 Stretch to the race—away! away!

Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, And, lingering, eyed his lovely bride, Until he saw the starting tear Speak woe he might not stop to cheer; 525 Then, trusting not a second look, In haste he sped him up the brook, Nor backward glanced, till on the heath Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith. —What in the racer's bosom stirred? 530 The sickening pang of hope deferred, And memory, with a torturing train Of all his morning visions vain. Mingled with love's impatience came The manly thirst for martial fame; 535 The stormy joy of mountaineers, Ere yet they rush upon the spears; And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, And hope, from well-fought field returning, With war's red honors on his crest, 540 To clasp his Mary to his breast. Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, Like fire from flint he glanced away, While high resolve, and feeling strong, Burst into voluntary song.

545 The heath this night must be my bed, The bracken curtain for my head,note My lullaby the warder's tread, Far, far, from love and thee, Mary; To-morrow eve, more stilly laid, 550 My couch may be my bloody plaid, My vesper song, thy wail, sweet maid! It will not waken me, Mary! I may not, dare not, fancy now The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, 555 I dare not think upon thy vow, And all it promised me, Mary. No fond regret must Norman know; When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, His heart must be like bended bow, 560 His foot like arrow free, Mary. A time will come with feeling fraught, For if I fall in battle fought, Thy hapless lover's dying thought Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. 565 And if returned from conquered foes, How blithely will the evening close, How sweet the linnet sing repose, To my young bride and me, Mary!

Not faster o'er thy heathery braes, 570 Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze,note Rushing, in conflagration strong, Thy deep ravines and dells along, Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow, And reddening the dark lakes below; 575 Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. The signal roused to martial coil, The sullen margin of Loch Voil,note Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source 580 Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course; Thence southward turned its rapid road Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad, Till rose in arms each man might claim A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, 585 From the gray sire, whose trembling hand Could hardly buckle on his brand, To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow Were yet scarce terror to the crow. Each valley, each sequestered glen, 590 Mustered its little horde of men, That met as torrents from the height In Highland dales their streams unite, Still gathering, as they pour along, A voice more loud, a tide more strong, 595 Till at the rendezvous they stood By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, Each trained to arms since life began, Owning no tie but to his clan, No oath, but by his chieftain's hand, 600 No law, but Roderick Dhu's command.

That summer morn had Roderick Dhu Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, To view the frontiers of Menteith. 605 All backward came with news of truce; Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce; In Rednoch courts no horsemen wait, No banner waved on Cardross gate, On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, 610 Nor scared the herons from Loch Con; All seemed at peace. Now wot ye why The Chieftain, with such anxious eye, Ere to the muster he repair, This western frontier scanned with care? 615 In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, A fair, though cruel, pledge was left; For Douglas, to his promise true, That morning from the isle withdrew, And in a deep sequestered dell 620 Had sought a low and lonely cell. By many a bard, in Celtic tongue, Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung;note A softer name the Saxons gave, And called the grot the Goblin-cave.

625 It was a wild and strange retreat, As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. The dell, upon the mountain's crest, Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; Its trench had stayed full many a rock, 630 Hurled by primeval earthquake shock From Benvenue's gray summit wild, And here, in random ruin piled, They frowned incumbent o'er the spot, And formed the rugged silvan grot. 635 The oak and birch, with mingled shade, At noontide there a twilight made, Unless when short and sudden shone Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, With such a glimpse as prophet's eye 640 Gains on thy depth, Futurity. No murmur waked the solemn still,note Save tinkling of a fountain rill; But when the wind chafed with the lake, A sullen sound would upward break, 645 With dashing hollow voice, that spoke The incessant war of wave and rock. Suspended cliffs, with hideous sway, Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. From such a den the wolf had sprung, 650 In such the wild-cat leaves her young; Yet Douglas and his daughter fair Sought for a space their safety there. Gray Superstition's whisper dread Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; 655 For there, she said, did fays resort, And satyrs hold their silvan court,note By moonlight tread their mystic maze, And blast the rash beholder's gaze.

Now eve, with western shadows long, 660 Floated on Katrine bright and strong, When Roderick, with a chosen few, Repassed the heights of Benvenue. Above the Goblin-cave they go, Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo:note 665 The prompt retainers speed before, To launch the shallop from the shore, For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way To view the passes of Achray, And place his clansmen in array. 670 Yet lags the chief in musing mind, Unwonted sight, his men behind. A single page, to bear his sword,note Alone attended on his lord; The rest their way through thickets break, 675 And soon await him by the lake. It was a fair and gallant sight, To view them from the neighboring height, By the low-leveled sunbeam's light! For strength and stature, from the clan 680 Each warrior was a chosen man, As even afar might well be seen, By their proud step and martial mien. Their feathers dance, their tartans float, Their targets gleam, as by the boat 685 A wild and warlike group they stand, That well became such mountain-strand.

Their Chief, with step reluctant, still Was lingering on the craggy hill, Hard by where turned apart the road 690 To Douglas's obscure abode. It was but with that dawning morn, That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn To drown his love in war's wild roar, Nor think of Ellen Douglas more; 695 But he who stems a stream with sand, And fetters flame with flaxen band, Has yet a harder task to prove— By firm resolve to conquer love! Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, 700 Still hovering near his treasure lost; For though his haughty heart deny A parting meeting to his eye, Still fondly strains his anxious ear, The accents of her voice to hear, 705 And inly did he curse the breeze That waked to sound the rustling trees. But hark! what mingles in the strain? It is the harp of Allan-bane, That wakes its measures slow and high, 710 Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. What melting voice attends the strings? 'Tis Ellen, or an angel, sings.

Ave Maria! maiden mild! Listen to a maiden's prayer! 715 Thou canst hear though from the wild, Thou canst save amid despair. Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, Though banished, outcast, and reviled— Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; 720 Mother, hear a suppliant child! Ave Maria! Ave Maria! undefiled! The flinty couch we now must share Shall seem with down of eider piled, 725 If thy protection hover there. The murky cavern's heavy air Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled; Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; Mother, list a suppliant child! 730 Ave Maria! Ave Maria! stainless styled! Foul demons of the earth and air, From this their wonted haunt exiled, Shall flee before thy presence fair. 735 We bow us to our lot of care, Beneath thy guidance reconciled; Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, And for a father hear a child! Ave Maria!

740 Died on the harp the closing hymn— Unmoved in attitude and limb, As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord Stood leaning on his heavy sword, Until the page, with humble sign, 745 Twice pointed to the sun's decline. Then while his plaid he round him cast, "It is the last time—'tis the last," He muttered thrice, "the last time e'er That angel voice shall Roderick hear!" 750 It was a goading thought—his stride Hied hastier down the mountain side; Sullen he flung him in the boat, And instant 'cross the lake it shot. They landed in that silvery bay, 755 And eastward held their hasty way, Till, with the latest beams of light, The band arrived on Lanrick height, Where mustered, in the vale below, Clan-Alpine's men in martial show.

760 A various scene the clansmen made, Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed; But most with mantles folded round, Were couched to rest upon the ground, Scarce to be known by curious eye, 765 From the deep heather where they lie, So well was matched the tartan screen With heath-bell dark and brackens green, Unless where, here and there, a blade, Or lance's point, a glimmer made, 770 Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. But when, advancing through the gloom, They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 775 Thrice it arose, and lake and fell Three times returned the martial yell; It died upon Bochastle's plain, And Silence claimed her evening reign.