Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems Part 3

It might not be. They placed him next Within the solemn hall, Where once the Scottish Kings were throned Amidst their n.o.bles all.

But there was dust of vulgar feet On that polluted floor, And perjured traitors filled the place Where good men sate before.

With savage glee came Warristoun To read the murderous doom, And then uprose the great Montrose In the middle of the room.

XI.

"Now by my faith as belted knight, And by the name I bear, And by the bright Saint Andrew's cross That waves above us there-- Yea, by a greater, mightier oath-- And oh, that such should be!-- By that dark stream of royal blood That lies 'twixt you and me-- I have not sought in battle-field A wreath of such renown, Nor dared I hope, on my dying day, To win the martyr's crown!"

XII.

"There is a chamber far away Where sleep the good and brave, But a better place ye have named for me Than by my father's grave.

For truth and right, 'gainst treason's might, This hand hath always striven, And ye raise it up for a witness still In the eye of earth and heaven.

Then nail my head on yonder tower-- Give every town a limb-- And G.o.d who made shall gather them: I go from you to Him!"

XIII.

The morning dawned full darkly, The rain came flashing down, And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt Lit up the gloomy town: The heavens were thundering out their wrath, The fatal hour was come; Yet ever sounded sullenly The trumpet and the drum.

There was madness on the earth below, And anger in the sky, And young and old, and rich and poor, Came forth to see him die.

XIV.

Ah, G.o.d! that ghastly gibbet!

How dismal 't is to see The great tall spectral skeleton, The ladder, and the tree!

Hark! hark! it is the clash of arms-- The bells begin to toll-- He is coming! he is coming!

G.o.d's mercy on his soul!

One last long peal of thunder-- The clouds are cleared away, And the glorious sun once more looks down Amidst the dazzling day.

XV.

He is coming! he is coming!

Like a bridegroom from his room, Came the hero from his prison To the scaffold and the doom.

There was glory on his forehead, There was l.u.s.tre in his eye, And he never walked to battle More proudly than to die: There was colour in his visage, Though the cheeks of all were wan, And they marvelled as they saw him pa.s.s, That great and goodly man!

XVI.

He mounted up the scaffold, And he turned him to the crowd; But they dared not trust the people, So he might not speak aloud.

But he looked upon the heavens, And they were clear and blue, And in the liquid ether The eye of G.o.d shone through: Yet a black and murky battlement Lay resting on the hill, As though the thunder slept within-- All else was calm and still.

XVII.

The grim Geneva ministers With anxious scowl drew near, As you have seen the ravens flock Around the dying deer.

He would not deign them word nor sign, But alone he bent the knee; And veiled his face for Christ's dear grace Beneath the gallows-tree.

Then radiant and serene he rose, And cast his cloak away: For he had ta'en his latest look Of earth, and sun, and day.

XVIII.

A beam of light fell o'er him, Like a glory round the shriven, And he climbed the lofty ladder As it were the path to heaven.

Then came a flash from out the cloud, And a stunning thunder roll, And no man dared to look aloft, For fear was on every soul.

There was another heavy sound, A hush and then a groan; And darkness swept across the sky-- The work of death was done!

NOTES TO

"THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE"

"_A traitor sold him to his foes_,"--p. 36.

"The contemporary historian of the Earls of Sutherland records, that (after the defeat of Invercarron) Montrose and Kinnoul 'wandered up the river Kyle the whole ensuing night, and the next day, and the third day also, without any food or sustenance, and at last came within the country of a.s.synt. The Earl of Kinnoul, being faint for lack of meat, and not able to travel any further, was left there among the mountains, where it was supposed he perished. Montrose had almost famished, but that he fortuned in his misery to light upon a small cottage in that wilderness, where he was supplied with some milk and bread.' Not even the iron frame of Montrose could endure a prolonged existence under such circ.u.mstances. He gave himself up to Macleod of a.s.synt, a former adherent, from whom he had reason to expect a.s.sistance in consideration of that circ.u.mstance, and, indeed, from the dictates of honourable feeling and common humanity. As the Argyle faction had sold the King, so this Highlander rendered his own name infamous by selling the hero to the Covenanters, for which 'duty to the public' he was rewarded with four hundred bolls of meal."--NAPIER'S _Life of Montrose_.

"_They brought him to the Watergate_,"--p. 36.

"_Friday, 17th May_.--Act ordaining James Grahame to be brought from the Watergate on a cart, bareheaded, the hangman in his livery, covered, riding on the horse that draws the cart--the prisoner to be bound to the cart with a rope--to the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and from thence to be brought to the Parliament House, and there, in the place of delinquents, on his knees, to receive his sentence--viz., to be hanged on a gibbet at the Cross of Edinburgh, with his book and declaration tied on a rope about his neck, and there to hang for the s.p.a.ce of three hours until he be dead; and thereafter to be cut down by the hangman, his head, hands, and legs to be cut off, and distributed as follows--viz., his head to be affixed on an iron pin, and set on the pinnacle of the west gavel of the new prison of Edinburgh; one hand to be set on the port of Perth, the other on the port of Stirling; one leg and foot on the port of Aberdeen, the other on the port of Glasgow. If at his death penitent, and relaxed from excommunication, then the trunk of his body to be interred, by pioneers, in the Greyfriars; otherwise, to be interred in the Boroughmuir, by the hangman's men, under the gallows."--BALFOUR'S _Notes of Parliament_.

It is needless to remark that this inhuman sentence was executed to the letter. In order that the exposure might be more complete, the cart was constructed with a high chair in the centre, having holes behind, through which the ropes that fastened him were drawn. The author of the _Wigton Papers_, recently published by the Maitland Club, says, "The reason of his being tied to the cart was in hope that the people would have stoned him, and that he might not be able by his hands to save his face." His hat was then pulled off by the hangman and the procession commenced.

"_But when he came, though pale and wan, He looked so great and high_,"--p. 37.

"In all the way, there appeared in him such majesty, courage, modesty--and even somewhat more than natural--that those common women who had lost their husbands and children in his wars, and who were hired to stone him, were upon the sight of him so astonished and moved, that their intended curses turned into tears and prayers; so that next day _all the ministers preached against them for not stoning and reviling him."--Wigton Papers._

"_Then first a woman's voice was heard In jeer and laughter loud_,"--p. 38.

"It is remarkable that, of the many thousand beholders, the Lady Jean Gordon, Countess of Haddington, did (alone) publicly insult and laugh at him; which being perceived by a gentleman in the street, he cried up to her, that it became her better to sit upon the cart for her adulteries."--_Wigton Papers_. This infamous woman was the third daughter of Huntly, and the niece of Argyle. It will hardly be credited that she was the sister of that gallant Lord Gordon, who fell fighting by the side of Montrose, only five years before, at the battle of Aldford!

"_For seven long years thou hast not dared To look him in the face_,"--p. 39.

"The Lord Lorn and his new lady were also sitting on a balcony, joyful spectators; and the cart being stopped when it came before the lodging where the Chancellor, Argyle, and Warristoun sat--that they might have time to insult--he, suspecting the business, turned his face towards them, whereupon they presently crept in at the windows; which being perceived by an Englishman, he cried up, it was no wonder they started aside at his look, for they durst not look him in the face these seven years bygone."--_Wigton Papers_.

"_With savage glee came Warristoun, To read the murderous doom_,"--p. 40.

Archibald Johnston of Warristoun. This man, who was the inveterate enemy of Montrose, and who carried the most selfish spirit into every intrigue of his party, received the punishment of his treasons about eleven years afterwards. It may be instructive to learn how he met his doom. The following extract is from the MSS. of Sir George Mackenzie:--"The Chancellor and others waited to examine him; he fell upon his face, roaring, and with tears entreated they would pity a poor creature who had forgot all that was in the Bible. This moved all the spectators with a deep melancholy; and the Chancellor, reflecting upon the man's great parts, former esteem, and the great share he had in all the late revolutions, could not deny some tears to the frailty of silly mankind.

At his examination, he pretended he had lost so much blood by the unskilfulness of his chirurgeons, that he lost his memory with his blood; and I really believe that his courage had been drawn out with it.

Within a few days he was brought before the parliament, where he discovered nothing but much weakness, running up and down upon his knees, begging mercy; but the parliament ordained his former sentence to be put to execution, and accordingly he was executed at the Cross of Edinburgh."

"_And G.o.d who made shall gather them: I go from you to Him_!"--p. 41.

"He said he was much beholden to the parliament for the honour they had put on him; 'for,' says he, 'I think it a greater honour to have my head standing on the port of this town, for this quarrel, than to have my picture in the king's bedchamber. I am beholden to you that, lest my loyalty should be forgotten, ye have appointed five of your most eminent towns to bear witness of it to posterity.'"--_Wigton Papers_.

"_He is coming! he is coming!

Like a bridegroom from his room_,"--p. 42.