The Highland Character.
[This song, which appears in "The Lark" (1765,) and also in Herd's collection (1769,) was written by Lieut.-General Sir Harry Erskine, Bart. and M. P., who succeeded his uncle, the Hon. General St. Clair, in the command of the Royal Scots in 1762, and died at York in 1765. His eldest son, who assumed the name of St. Clair, became second earl of Rosslyn, and died in 1831. The tune to the song, which is called "The Highland or 42d Regiment's March," was composed by General John Reid, colonel of the 88th regiment—the same person who bequeathed a sum of money for establishing a professorship of music in Edinburgh College.]
In the garb of old Gaul, with the fire of old Rome,
From the heath-cover'd mountains of Scotia we come;
Where the Romans endeavour'd our country to gain,
But our ancestors fought, and they fought not in vain.
Such is our love of liberty, our country, and our laws,
That, like our ancestors of old, we'll stand in freedom's cause:
We'll bravely fight, like heroes bold, for honour and applause,
And defy the French, with all their art, to alter our laws.
No effeminate customs our sinews unbrace,
No luxurious tables enervate our race;
Our loud sounding pipe breathes the true martial strain,
And our hearts still the old Scottish valour retain.
Such is our love, &c.
We're tall as the oak on the mount of the valo
And swift as the roe which the hound doth assail;
As the full moon in autumn our shields do appear;
Ev'n Minerva would dread to encounter our spear.
Such is our love, &c.
As a storm in the ocean, when Boreas blows,
So are we enrag'd when we rush on our foes;
We sons of the mountains tremendous as rocks,
Dash the force of our foes with our thundering strokes.
Such is our love, &c.
Quebec and Cape Breton, the pride of old France,
In their numbers fondly boasted, till we did advance;
But when our claymores they saw us produce,
Their courage did fail, and they sued for a truce.
Such is our love, &c.
In our realm may the fury of faction long cease,
May our councils be wise, and our commerce increase,
And in Scotia's cold climate may each of us find,
That our friends still prove true, and our beauties prove kind.
Then we'll defend our liberty, our country, and our laws,
And teach our late posterity to fight in freedom's cause;
That they, like their ancestors bold, for honour and applause,
May defy the French, with all their arts, to alter our laws.
