Yon cauld sleety cloud skiffs alang the bleak mountain,
And shakes the dark fire on the stey rocky brae,
While down the deep glen brawls the snaw-flooded fountain,
That murmur'd sae sweet to my laddie and me.
It's no its loud roar on the wintry winds swellin',
It's no the cauld blast brings the tear to my e'e,
For, O! gin I saw but my bonnie Scots callan,
The dark days o' winter were simmer to me.
Pibroch of Donuil Dhu.
[The "Pibroch of Donald the Black" is a very ancient pibroch belonging to Clan Macdonald, and supposed to refer to the expedition of Donald Balloch, who, in 1431, launched from the isles with a considerable force, invaded Lochaber, and at Inverlochy defeated and put to flight the Earls of Mar and Caithness, though at the head of an army superior to his own. The song here given was written by Sir Walter Scott for Campbell's Albyn's Anthology, 1816. It may also be seen set to music in Thomson's collection, 1830.]
Pibroch of Donuil Dhu,
Pibroch of Donuil,
Wake thy wild voice anew,
Summon Clan Conuil.
Come away, come away,
Hark to the summons;
Come in your war array,
Gentles and commons!
Come from deep glen, and
From mountain so rocky,
The war-pipe and pennon
Are at Inverlochy.
Come every hill-plaid, and
True heart that wears one;
Come every steel blade, and
Strong hand that bears one!
Leave the deer, leave the steer,
Leave nets and barges;
Come with your fighting gear,
Broadswords and targes.
Leave untended the herd,
The flock without shelter;
Leave the corpse uninterr'd,
The bride at the altar.
Come as the winds come, when
Forests are rended:
Come as the waves come, when
Navies are stranded.
Faster come, faster come,
Faster and faster:
Chief, vassal, page, and groom,
Tenant and master.
Fast they come, fast they come,
See how they gather;
Wide waves the eagle plume,
Blended with heather.
Cast your plaids, draw your blades,
Forward each man set;
Pibroch of Donuil Dhu,
Now for the onset!
Macgregor's Gathering.
[These verses were written by Sir Walter Scott for Albyn's Anthology in 1816. They are adapted to a very wild, yet lively gathering-tune, used by the Macgregors. The severe treatment of this clan, their outlawry, and the very proscription of their name, are alluded to here.]
The moon's on the lake, and the mist's on the brae,
And the clan has a name that is nameless by day—
Then gather, gather, gather, Grigalach!
Our signal for fight, which from monarchs we drew,
Must be heard but by night, in our vengeful halloo—
Then halloo, halloo, halloo, Grigalach!
Glenorchy's proud mountains, Calchuirn and her towers,
Glenstrae, and Glenlyon, no longer are curs—
We're landless, landless, landless, Grigalach!
But, doomed and devoted by vassal and lord,
Macgregor has still both his heart and his sword—
Then courage, courage, courage, Grigalach!
If they rob us of name, and pursue us with beagles,
Give their roof to the flames, and their flesh to the eagles—
Then vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, Grigalach!
