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Nor he alone reposes in the dust,

But Aristides too, the good, the just,

Whose worth by all that knew him was confest,

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And still they prized him most who knew him best.
Good men him loved, and men of sense revered;
The wretched blest him, and the villain feared.
For virtue's self he followed virtue's ways,
And valued not if crowds should blame or praise.
From that Hungarian chief his line descends,
Who led with Edgar his Sarmatian bands; (1)
Who, when the conquering Norman's lawless might
Drove the young sovereign from his royal right,
A faithful friend, aspired his fate to share:
But when great Malcolm raised his virtuous heir
To Scotia's throne, and bade the warrior reign
The princely lord of many a vast domain,
For Somervilles were daily heifers slain,
Which grazed Carnwath's luxuriant level plain.
Where ancient Corehouse hangs above the stream, (2)
And far beneath the tumbling surges gleam,
Engulphed in crags, the fretting river raves,
Chafed into foam, resound his tortured waves;

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(1) According to some antiquaries, the ancestor of Somerville accompanied Edward of Atheling, the grandson of Edmund Ironside, on his return from Hungary, whither his father had been sent by the king of Sweden, to whose custody he had been committed by Canute the Dane. By the exertions of Malcolm IV. of Scotland, Edgar was restored to his patrimonial estate. Cuthally, the ancient castle of the Somervilles, the ruins of which still exist in the vicinity of Carnwath, is commonly pronounced Cowdaily; whence the punning spirit of tradition has taken occasion to say, that it derived its name from the daily slaughter of a cow for the board of Somerville, alluded to in the poem.-[In 'The Memorie of the Somervilles'-a curious book, published in 1816 from the original MS. which was written by James Somerville, who died in 1690, and who is styled in the title-page, James, Eleventh Lord Somerville-many curious notices are given of the royal visits to Cowthally; and especially of the flirtations of James V. with "Mistress Katherine Carmichael, the Captain of Crawfuird's daughter, a young lady much about sexteinth years of age, admired for her beautie, handsomenes of person, and vivacity of spirit."]

(2) [See Note THE FALLS OF CLYDE, at end of Canto ]

With giddy heads we view the dreadful deep,
And cattle snort, and tremble at the steep,
Where down at once the foaming waters pour,
And tottering rocks repel the deafening roar :
Viewed from below, it seems from heaven they fell!
Seen from above, they seem to sink to hell!
But when the deluge pours from every hill,

And Clyde's wide bed ten thousand torrents fill,

His rage the murmuring mountain streams augment: Redoubled rage, in rocks so closely pent:

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Then shattered woods, with ragged roots uptorn,
And herds and harvests down the wave are borne;
Huge stones heaved upward through the boiling deep,
And rocks enormous thundering down the steep,
In swift descent fixed rocks encountering, roar,
Crash as from slings discharged, and shake the shore.
From that drear grot which bears thy sacred name,
Heroic Wallace! ever dear to fame,

Did I the terrors of the scene behold;

I saw the liquid snowy mountains rolled

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Prone down the awful steep; I heard the din

That shook the hill, from caves that boiled within:
Then wept the rocks and trees, with dropping hair,
Thick mists ascending loaded all the air,

Blotted the sun, obscured the shining day,
And washed the blazing noon at once away.
The wreck below, in wild confusion tost,
Convolved in eddies, or in whirlpools lost,
Is swept along, or dashed upon the coast,
Where Lanark's ancient towers assert her claim

To eldest rank, and give a province name.
Old Lanark's origin, which search transcends, (1)
In ancient venerable darkness ends.

(1) [See Note ANTIQUITY OF LANARK, at end of Canto.]

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Here Kenneth oft retired, whose skilful hand
Swayed Scotia's sceptre of supreme command;
The stain of feudal combats to efface,

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Through Clyde's fair forest he pursued the chase;
Revolving godlike projects in his breast,
By peaceful arts to make his people blest.
But discontented pride his chiefs inflame;
Their fiery souls, athirst for martial fame,
Disdain a peaceful monarch to obey,
And secret plot against his sovereign sway.
Bewrayed, the monarch bids his heralds call
A solemn council; guards surround the hall;
When thus the king: "From war heaven bids us cease,
And cultivate the beauteous works of peace;

So plenty shall o'erflow these happy plains,

And love and joy shall crown the nymphs and swains. But such as place in war their horrid joy,

And count it glorious only to destroy,

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May pour their fury on an open foe,

Nor weave in secret plots their country's woe.
Yet those of miscreant soul, who grace refuse,
Despise our counsel, and our love abuse,

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Shall know what justice and our trust demand;
Nor shall the vengeance loiter in our hand.
But ah! why should his much-loved sons conspire
Against the life of their indulgent sire?

If griefs oppress, my children may demand,
Assured relief from their dear father's hand.
Then freely ask; and let my people know,
For them my wealth, for them my blood shall flow."
The father of his people thus exprest

The generous dictates of his noble breast..
Remorse and reverence every bosom tamed;
The just revered, the guilty stood ashamed;

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Duteous obedience discontent succeeds:
Such reverence still consummate virtue breeds!

Here Hazelrig the spouse of Wallace slew ; (1)
His sword for vengeance here the hero drew.
Wretch bid thy slighted son redress demand,
As suits a warrior, from his rival's hand;
On me exhaust thy coward rage, nor dare
To wreak thy wrath on the defenceless fair.
On barren hearts the tears of beauty fall;
But soon red flames involve the tyrant's hall.

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Here their broad wings Rome's ravening eagles spread, When great Agricola her legions led :

Not Grampian mountains could his speed restrain; 500
And brave Galgacus fought, but fought in vain.
Then Freedom, loth to leave her native seat,
Mid northern snow-hills sought her sad retreat;
Bade hardy Graham her ancient bounds restore,
And Romans sink beneath the red claymore.

Clyde, foaming o'er his falls, tremendous roars,
And Mouse through rugged rocks his waters pours,
Where Cleghorn, beauteous by a Lockhart's care,
Bares to the distant view her bosom fair;

(1) [Lanark is celebrated in Scottish history, especially in the chronicles of Fordun and Blind Harry, as being the scene of the first exploits of the patriot Wallace. The accounts of this early part of his career are somewhat obscure; but the popular belief and tradition is, that the insolence and oppression of the English sheriff of Lanarkshire, William de Hesliope, having become insupportable, Wallace joined or instigated a rising of his countrymen, and, defeating the common enemy, put the obnoxious sheriff to death in the town of Lanark. The time of this occurrence is laid in 1297. Blind Harry, who enters fully into this detail, relates that Wallace having married a lady of the name of Braidfoot, the heiress of Lamington, lived with her privately at Lanark, and that while there a scuffle ensued in the street between Wallace and his friends and a body of Englishmen. The patriot, having been overpowered, fled, first to his own house and then to Cartlane Craigs, upon which the sheriff, Hesliope or Hesilrig, seized his wife and put her to death. In revenge for the deep injury he had sustained, Wallace gathered a party of his friends, attacked Hesliope in the night, and killed him with 240 of his band.]

And Lee's recess; whence many a chief of name,
Heroes and sages, moved in quest of fame.

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Bosomed in woods, and rising o'er the plain, See fair Stonebyres, generous Vere's domain. From Oxford's lofty race their lineage springs; Famed Oxford, sprung from emperors and kings. How bright the Veri Antonini shone ! When virtue's self possest the imperial throne. The world admired Aurelius' godlike sway, And blest his power, delighted to obey. But when the fierce prætorian cohorts sold The earth's broad empire for alluring gold, The generous Veri left imperial Rome, And fixed in warlike Normandy their home. And when before the Normans' furious might, The conquered Saxon sunk in fatal fight, Above the bravest shone the valiant Vere, And far-famed Oxford fell the hero's share. But, led by friendship, from their native soil, They shared the noble Hamilton's exile. On either side they stretch their wide domain Where turbid Nethan rends the indented plain. (1) Where ample fields could scarce one sheep sustain, The plains of Kennedy wave white with grain; Where scarce the heath the lark's low nest could shade, Now lofty trees ascending, heaven invade.

Now Clyde propitious opes his fair retreats,

Sage wisdom's haunts, the muses' pleasant seats.
Recesses soft, where rocks around them rolled,
Rebuke the tempest, and defy the cold:

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(1) [The Nethan, a beautiful stream whose banks are finely diversified with hanging woods, green holms and corn-fields, rises in the hills which separate the parishes of Lesmahagow and Muirkirk, and running northeast through Lesmahagow parish is joined by the Logan and other streams, and falls into the Clyde a little below Craignethan Castle.]

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