"There are hills beyond Pentland1 and lands beyond

Forth; 2

If there's lords in the lowlands,3 there's chiefs in the

north;

There are wild Duniewassals 5 three thousand times three
Will cry Hoigh!' for the bonnet of bonnie Dundee.

"There's brass on the target of barkened bull-hide,
There's steel in the scabbard that dangles beside;
The brass shall be burnished, the steel shall flash free,
At a toss of the bonnet of bonnie Dundee.

66

Away to the hills, to the caves, to the rocks, Ere I own an usurper I'll couch with the fox:

8

And tremble, false whigs, in the midst of your glee,
You have not seen the last of my bonnet and me."

He waved his proud hand, and the trumpets were blown,
The kettle-drums clashed, and the horsemen rode on,

Till on Ravelston's cliffs and on Clermiston's lea 10

Died

away
the wild war-notes of bonnie Dundee.
Come fill.up my cup, come fill up my can,
Come saddle the horses, and call up the men;
Come open your doors and let me gae free,
For it's up with the bonnets of bonnie Dundee.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

1 Pentland: the Pentland Hills on the south of Edinburgh County.

2 Forth: an arm of the sea, the Firth of Forth. Claverhouse means that Edinburgh does not represent all Scotland, and that he will seek aid elsewhere- especially in the Highlands.

8 Lowlands: the lords in the Lowlands were favorable to William III. 4 Chiefs: Highland chiefs who were friendly to King James.

5 Duniewassals: Highland chiefs or noblemen and their principal followers. 6 Target: a shield. 7 Barkened: hardened. 8 Couch: hide. 9 Ravelston's cliffs and Clermiston's lea: places in the vicinity of Edinburgh. 10 Lea: a meadow.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.1

3

THE Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,2 And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath flown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew
still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

1 Sennacherib (Sen-nak'er-ib), king of Assyria, marched on Libnah and Lachish, two frontier towns of Egypt, about 639 B.C., to punish them for the aid they had given or promised to Hezekiah, king of Judah, who had revolted against the authority of the Assyrian monarch. For what befell Sennacherib and his host, see 2 Kings xix.

2 Fold: a pen or enclosure for sheep, and hence the sheep thus enclosed. 3 Cohorts: a body of troops. 4 Sheen brightness, splendor.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur1 are loud in their wail;
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; 2
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

3

LORD BYRON.

1 Ashur or Asshur; the same as Assyria.

2 Baal (Ba'al): a heathen god, represented by the sun or some heavenly body, worshipped by the Assyrians.

3 Gentile the heathen; those who did not worship the God of the Jews.

INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH CAMP.1

You know we French stormed Ratisbon: 2

A mile or so away,

On a little mound, Napoleon

Stood on our storming-day;
With neck out-thrust, you fancy how,
Legs wide, arms locked behind,
As if to balance the prone 3 brow,
Oppressive with its mind.

Just as perhaps he mused, "My plans
That soar, to earth may fall,
Let once my army-leader Lannes 4
Waver at yonder wall,” —

Out 'twixt the battery-smokes there flew
A rider, bound on bound
Full-galloping; nor bridle drew

Until he reached the mound.

1 In 1809 Napoleon began a victorious campaign against Austria. On his march against Vienna, the Austrian capital, he stormed and carried the walled city of Rat'isbon, in Bavaria, on the Danube. A soldier (here represented as a boy) received his death-wound in planting the French flag within the walls of the captured town. Though dying, he gallops out to the emperora mile or two away-to announce the victory.

2 Ratisbon: a city of Bavaria, on the Danube, on the route to Vienna. The place is walled, and a breach had to be battered by cannon in order to take the town. 3 Prone: bent forward; but here, apparently, prominent.

4 Lannes (Lan): Marshal Lannes, one of Napoleon's generals. He led the attack at Ratisbon.

Then off there flung in smiling joy,

And held himself erect

By just his horse's mane, a boy:
You hardly could suspect-
(So tight he kept his lips compressed,
Scarce any blood came through)

You looked twice ere you saw his breast
Was all but shot in two.

"Well," cried he, "Emperor, by God's grace
We've got you Ratisbon!

The marshal's in the market-place,

And you'll be there anon1

To see your flag-bird 2 flap his vans 3

Where I, to heart's desire,

Perched him!" The chief's eye flashed; his plans

Soared up again like fire.

The chief's eye flashed; but presently

Softened itself, as sheathes

A film the mother eagle's eye

When her bruised eaglet breathes ;
"You're wounded!" "Nay," his soldier's pride

Touched to the quick, he said:

"I'm killed, sire!" And, his chief beside,
Smiling, the boy fell dead.

1 Anon: presently.

2 Flag-bird: the eagle on the French flag.

ROBERT BROWNING.

8 Vans: wings.

4 Fell dead: a similar incident occurred at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863. An officer of the Sixth Wisconsin approached Lieutenant-Colonel Dawes, the commander of the regiment, after the sharp fight in the railroad cut. The colonel supposed, from the firm and erect attitude of the that he came to report for orders of some kind; but the compressed lips told a different story. With a great effort the officer said, ' Tell them at home I died like a man and a soldier.' He threw open his coat, displayed a ghastly wound, and dropped dead at the colonel's feet. - Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, by Major-General Doubleday.

man,