crhoades
Puritan Board Graduate
Battlesong of the Pentlands
James Dodds
[A party of around 900 men under the command of James Wallace met the superior forces of Dalyell on the morning of Novermber 28th, 1666, on Rullian Green. Though the Covenanters sought a peaceful pact with the council, nothing but blood would satisfy the Royalist leaders. In the ensuing struggle scores of Covenanters were slain.]
This day must be set in blood!
- Each true man to his post!
Strike for Christ´s Crown and Covenant,
- And God be with His host!
Though few and faint we be,
- And the tempests wildly blow,
Yet here, upon this naked heath,
- We fearless dare the foe.
Long hath the tyrant raged,
- And the people have been dumb:
Sword of the Lord! Avenge the past,
- And free the time to come!
Not for the fading leaf
- That decks the conqueror´s head,
Nor sinful thirst for blood or gold,
- Our feet have hither led:
We combat for our rights,
- For our heritage Divine.
O Lord! Look down from heaven in love,
- And visit this Thy vine.
Our homes in blackness lie,
- And our pleasant fields are waste
And our fathers and our brethren
- Like beasts of prey are chased.
Our priests are driven forth,
- And our temples are defiled;
And the house of God must now be sought
- Far in the desert wild.
And now that, front to front,
- We have met the tyrant´s horde,
Woe be to him that slacks his arm
- Or turns away his sword!
Better to fall in fight
- For the charter of our land,
Than pine in bondage and in fear,
- A crouching, hunted band.
And if we fall, this hill
- Beneath the heather sod,
The youth of Scotland shall renew
- Their Covenant with God.
This day must set in blood!
- Each true man to his post!
Strike for Christ´s Crown and Covenant,
- And God be with His host!
James Dodds
[A party of around 900 men under the command of James Wallace met the superior forces of Dalyell on the morning of Novermber 28th, 1666, on Rullian Green. Though the Covenanters sought a peaceful pact with the council, nothing but blood would satisfy the Royalist leaders. In the ensuing struggle scores of Covenanters were slain.]
This day must be set in blood!
- Each true man to his post!
Strike for Christ´s Crown and Covenant,
- And God be with His host!
Though few and faint we be,
- And the tempests wildly blow,
Yet here, upon this naked heath,
- We fearless dare the foe.
Long hath the tyrant raged,
- And the people have been dumb:
Sword of the Lord! Avenge the past,
- And free the time to come!
Not for the fading leaf
- That decks the conqueror´s head,
Nor sinful thirst for blood or gold,
- Our feet have hither led:
We combat for our rights,
- For our heritage Divine.
O Lord! Look down from heaven in love,
- And visit this Thy vine.
Our homes in blackness lie,
- And our pleasant fields are waste
And our fathers and our brethren
- Like beasts of prey are chased.
Our priests are driven forth,
- And our temples are defiled;
And the house of God must now be sought
- Far in the desert wild.
And now that, front to front,
- We have met the tyrant´s horde,
Woe be to him that slacks his arm
- Or turns away his sword!
Better to fall in fight
- For the charter of our land,
Than pine in bondage and in fear,
- A crouching, hunted band.
And if we fall, this hill
- Beneath the heather sod,
The youth of Scotland shall renew
- Their Covenant with God.
This day must set in blood!
- Each true man to his post!
Strike for Christ´s Crown and Covenant,
- And God be with His host!
