Covenanters' coronal/The Banner Blue
THE BANNER BLUE
Hail, Banner of unfading youth,
Of old to Scotland dear!
When Freemen glowed with zeal for truth
And tyrants quailed for fear:
No stranger thou to battle shock,
On heathy plain, or rugged rock,
When Freedom called her faithful few
To rally round her Banner blue.
When first thine ample folds were thrown
O'er hearts no foe could daunt,
In golden ciphers brightly shone,
CHRIST'S CROWN AND COVENANT!
Tho’ Tyranny on hostile plain
Unfurled the flag of sanguine stain,
Yet, fearless of Oppression’s crew
Dunse Law maintained the Banner blue
When Scotland long had groaned and bled,
And, from her wasted plains,
Beheld her sons to slaughter led,
Or sold to foreign chains,
She drove the Tyrant from the throne,
Refused his forfeit right to own,
And bade her hills to WILLIAM'S view
And now, when Caesar, waxing bold,
Encroaching on the Free—
Would force a Shepherd on the fold
Whose voice the flock would flee;
The trump of freedom swells again,
O’er craggy peak, and fertile plain,
And every son, to Scotland true,
With rapture hails the Banner blue!
No more we seek our father’s sword,
Let rust its gleam infold;
But we will grasp the living Word,
Till death relax our hold;
Nor shall a right by it bestowed.
For which our Martyrs’ blood hath flowed,
Be bartered to a sordid crew,
While Truth unfurls her Banner blue!
The Banner’s folds shall freely wave,
Dipped in the hue of heaven,
Till Truth shall beam on Error’s cave,
And guile from earth be driven ;
For Scotland, braving Falsehood’s rage,
Hath planted on the sacred page,
Unscathed in strength, unchanged in hue,
The badge of Truth—her Banner blue!
May He who cheered our fathers’ heart,
And strung the nerves of youth,
At stake or rack with life to part,
Ere they betrayed the truth,
May He, when foes in torrents pour,
Sustain our faith in peril’s hour,
With favour all our efforts view,
But not alone on Scotland’s plains
Be Freedom’s flag unfurled;
Oh, let her life-inspiring strains
Resound thro’ all the world;
May Grace promote the glorious eause
Of freedom, truth, and equal laws,
Till love unite both Greek and Jew
In peace beneath the Banner blue!
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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