Where smiled the bank, or frown'd the bending hill,

Each river, lake, or sea-arm, own'd his skill:
The strong swift hero of the mountain chace,
To haunts of red-deer, and the roebuck race,
Was wont to steal, and there in secret lie,
Before the dawn shot through the orient sky:
Not the fell tyrant's dart 'mongst human game,
More sure, than sped the Stalker's deadly aim : (1)
Or, haply wandering o'er the mountain's head,
He'd rouse the timid tenant from her bed;
Or, still excursive, thro' some wider range,
From deer to feather'd game his course he'd change;
Or, careless roaming, heard in early Spring
The heath-cock's clarion, while on sounding wing,
Unheeding danger, in exultance, shrill,

He wak'd the slumbering echoes of each hill. (2)
When Spring return'd in soft refreshing showers,
These snow-clad mountains welcomed back the powers
Of sunshine's genial warmth, to nature true,
Which in gay gladness did their face renew.

II. But, now, tho' Spring returns in joy serene,
Tho' Summer spreads its verdure o'er the scene,
Tho' Autumn every sanguine hope fulfils,
Yet, ah! how desolate the Grampian hills!
The GAEL are banish'd! strangers fill their room!
And desolation spreads around its gloom !-

No joys return to those who distant far
Toil hard for bread,-or urge the toils of war;
From home far distant,-hopeless who deplore
The joys departed that return no more!

But those who, favour'd by their partial lord,
Remain inglorious, and rack-rent afford,
Still find oppression hastening at their heels,
And curse the system, whilst their heart it steels!
How strangely altered our once virtuous GAËL !-
Ere thus oppression sore did them assail,

In friendship mutual every hill and glen
Were ruled by powerful, upright, steady men ;
And, in due order, all the Chief obey'd,
Whilst with a father's care he all things sway'd.
Behold a CHIEF!-at heart his kindred's weal,
Dispensing justice due, with upright zeal;
No discontents nor murmurings are heard,
All seem convinced that just is each award.
Behold!-the hospitable board now spread,
The Father of his People at its head

Adorns the feast with welcome's smile benign,
As circulates the shell with foaming wine.

A toast!" our Chieftain's health!" All catch the sounds,
"Long life and health!" the joyous hall resounds.
The pipe's high-sounding strains arrest the throng,
Till deeds of former times inspire the song.

Now strike the harp responsive to each lay,
Till night be gone, and beams the dawn of day!
The soul-enchanting joys, Oh! who can tell,
While round and round they hand the brimful shell!
Joys like to those shall never more return!
Dim gleams the flame that erst did brilliant burn,
When in the social hall each equal deem'd
A man of worth, of courage true esteem'd,
Shared all the comforts of their common Sire,
Who in return possess'd their love entire ;
Who did all differences soon appease,
With mild authority and equal ease:
But now, self-interest guides the will alone.
Strict honour, confidence, alas! are gone.
And base emotions that to wiles give birth,
Disgrace the comeliness of manly worth!

These are degenerate days: Our alter'd GAËL
Have breath'd infectious air,-and nature frail
Yields to those wiles that oft waylay the soul,
Whilst sinking virtue loses all controul.
And hence arise innumerable woes,-

The best of friends become the worst of foes,
The inmost secrets of the soul reveal,

And wound those feelings that no time can heal:
Or, eager on the watch, each hails the signs
Foreboding ruin to the best designs;

Rejoicing madly, as the time draws near
That steeps in poverty the friend once dear!
And now, the Law presents-and, each quite sure
Of prompt, strict justice, equitable, pure!
Relies on sound advice-forthwith departs (3) -
For court, to combat lawyer's wily arts.
He headlong plunges down th' impending steep
In law's unbounded, fathomless, dread deep!
No more to raise his head above the wave,
The harpies drag him to their hideous cave!
So, some bold Diver, eager for the prize,
Sees not the shark that deep in secret lies;
And having sped-when lo! the monster keen
Snaps off a limb, and darts away unseen!
The hapless victim weltering in his gore,
Shrieks in amaze-and sinks, to rise no more!

III. Ill-fated GAËL ! content, and tranquil joy
No longer soothe your care, or calm employs !—
Days of delight are gone! your joys are fled;
Ye smite the rending breast, and bow the head!
Amid
your mountain-wilds, and woody vales,
You rear your herds no more-nor raise your sails
That skim along your lakes and round your isles,
Nor swell the sea-song that your toil beguiles.
No more, as Spring advances, Summer nigh,
All nature fresh, serene and clear the sky,

The yearly journey ye were wont to go (4)
To upland pasture-ranges-thither, slow
To urge with tender care the heights along,
The feeble firstlings, kine, and yearlings strong;
And as they wind far up the narrow vale,
Their lowings wafted on the gentle gale
Steal on the ear-erect of fawn and hind,
Who bound away a secret haunt to find,
Where in deep solitude her dappled charge
She rears in safety, till he roam at large.
Still journeying onward, now the joyous crew
Far on the distant heath the Airidh view
Where lonely bothans stud its lively green ; (5)
And here and there a verdant spot is seen,
Along the bending mountain's dark-brown base,
Where snows dissolving in the solar rays,
Scarce swell the amber rills as on they flow
In gentle murmurs to the lake below,
Whose ample bosom of cerulean hue,
Inverts the scene sublime to nature true.

Or, when the storm is up, around the shore

The wild waves lift their heads, the loud winds roar :

If calm, serene and beauteous smiles the dawn,
All bathed in dew is seen the bordering lawn;
The feather'd tribes the wooded cliffs among,
Pour forth melodiously their early song;