Page:Scotish Descriptive Poems - Leyden (1803).djvu/106
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CLYDE;
When, fierce in arms, the Scot, by Carron's shore,Resigned, for war, the chace and mountain boar;As the chaffed lion, on his homeward way,Returns for vengeance, and forgets the prey.By Camelon's towers, with Pictish splendor crowned,And ancient grandeur, stretched the mighty mound;Swept with broad trench o'er Falkirk's fatal plain,Still red with gore of Scotian heroes slain; 310Where dauntless Bute, with his brave Brandons, stood,Till the wide plain was slippery with their blood;Where gallant Graham, devoted, scorned to fly;And Wallace saw his fairest laurels die. But Carron's bank a fairer fame may crave,Than from a chieftain's death, or hero's grave.For Eastern wealth shall here with Western meet,And both the Indies load the bending fleet;The English tar shall, frowning, turn his eye,From fields of battle where his fathers lie; 320Dread Bannockburn, to Scots the dearest boast,Of fields most fatal to an English host;Where Bruce claimed freedom, or a glorious grave;Nor victory could desert a band so brave;And Norman Edward saw his standards fall,Like Rome's proud trophies, on the Roman wall;