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156 THE BATTLE OF SHEKIFF-MUIR. |
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Because they ran awa' then. Had bent their brows, like Highland trows,
And made as lang a stay, man, They'd sav'd their king, that sacred thing, a
And Willie'd ran awa' then. |
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THE BATTLE OF SHERIFF-MUIR.
Fought on the 13th of November, 1715, between the Duke of Argyle, general of the forces of King George the First, and the Earl of Mar, for the Chevalier de St. George. The right wing of both armies, led by the respective commanders, was successful, and the left wing of both was routed. Hence the victory was claimed by both sides. The Chevalier's army was much the larger of the two, and all the advantages of the contest remained with the other party.
This ballad is printed in Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 170, and in many subsequent collections. It is ascribed by Burns to the " Rev. Murdoch M'Lellan, minister of Crathie, Dee-side." Our copy is taken from Hogg's Jacobite Relics, ii. 1, where the stanzas in brackets appear for the first time. The notes are from Chambers's Scottish Songs, p. 408.
There are several other ballads upon this battle: Up and war them a', Willie, Johnson's Museum, p. 195, and (different) Herd's Scottish Songs, ii. 234: From Bogie Side, or, The Marquis's Raide, a false and scurrilous party song, Hogg's Jacobite Relics, ii. 13: A |
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