Note 554 — Chapter XIX
Reading edition
It is to this interview that Sir Walter Scott alludes in his well-known and stirring ballad of “Bonnie Dundee.”
—“The Gordon has asked of him whither he goes? ‘Wherever shall guide me the soul of Montrose! Your grace in short space shall have tidings of me, Or that low lies the bonnet of Bonnie Dundee! ‘There’s lands beyond Pentland, and hills beyond Forth, If there’s lords in the South-land, there’s chiefs in the North, And wild dunnie-wassels three thousand times three, Will cry hoigh! for the bonnet of Bonnie Dundee? ‘Away to the hills, to the woods, to the rocks— Ere I own an usurper I’ll couch with the fox; So, tremble, false Whigs, though triumphant ye be, For ye’ve not seen the last of my bonnet or me!’ He waved his proud arm and the trumpets were blown, The kettle-drums clashed, and the horsemen rode on, Till by Ravelston craigs and on Clermiston-lea Died away the wild war-note of Bonnie Dundee. —‘Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can, Come saddle my horses and call up my men, Fling all your gates open and let me go free, For it’s up with the bonnets of Bonnie Dundee!’”