Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 2, 1894

142
THE CELTIC MONTHLY.
"SECOND TO NON E."
(The motto of the Second Dragoons, lioyal Scots Greys).
CHARGE OF THE SCOTS GltEYIS AT WATERLOO; AXD I■■RE^T^ "EAGLE" CAPTURED liY
SERGEANT EWART.
[The above Bpiritecl pieture is reproduced from W. & A. K. .lolinston's excellent work on the " Royal Scots Greys,'
which we heartily rcconnnend to our readers.]
Scotland for ever ! hark, it is ringing,
Down the long vista of echoing years ;
Slirill and triumphant tlie cavalry trumpet
Sounds " To the charge," amid deafening cheers.
" Sensere gigantes," * the giants have felt it,
Jove's thunder falls powerless on Scotia's shield :
The pride of a nation, untouched by a focman,
The white standard-bearer to Scotland must yield.
Hurrah for the lads of the white plume and thistle !
Their fame lives for aye, in the deeds they have done ;
Where danger lies thickest, and stout hearts are needed.
Look there for the lads who are " Second to none."
Scotland for ever ! grey steed and sabre
Flash as the foam on a storm-beaten rock,
Back, driven hack on their haunches, the Frenchmen
Tremble and reel 'neath the terrible shock.
" Fight for the standard,"! brave son of the mountains.
The Waterloo eagle is linked with thy name ;
More leaves for the laurol entwining the standard,
Already o'erweighted with Scotia's fame.
Hnrrah for the lads of the white plume and thistle !
The lads of " the bonnets of Bonnie Dundee,"
Long may they llourish, our pride and our glory.
For the dread of their foes are the "de'ils o' Dundee."
• At Dettingcn the Greys captured from the French
the white ntaiidard, which bore in the centre a thunder-
bolt, with the motto, ".Sensere gigantes."
t During the retreat to Waterloo, Sergeant Ewart, of
the Oreys, captured the eagle of the 4r)th French Jii-
fantry, immortalised in art as " The Fight for the
Standard."
Scotland for ever I the " Greys " to the rescue
(Long shall the Frenchman remember the cry) —
They were two thousand, the Gordons two hundred,*
charged them with bayonet, to conquer or die.
Oh ! the wild clash they made, grey steed and tartan,
Hand on the stirrup, and face to the foe :
Scotland for ever! their columns are scattered
As trees are borne down by a torrent in flow.
Hurrah for the lads of the white plume jind thistle !
Resistless in battle, or cotirtesies charms ;
Long shall the land that so proudly hath borne them
Ring with the tale of the brothers in arms.
Scotland for ever ! grey steed and scarlet.
The clank of the spur, and the tuck of the drum ;
" Second to cone '' in their dash and their finish —
Welcome our gallants wherever they come.
On guidon and sabretache see the French eagle,
The grey steed clasped fast on the bearskin behind ;
On stirrup or saddle, where'er the eye glances,
Some record of valour he sure you may find.
Hurrah for the lads of the white plume and thistle !
Their fame lives for aye, in the deeds they have done.
Honour and welcome to Scotia's darlings,
Tiio bonnie " Scots Greys," who stand " Second to
none"
Alice C. MacDonf.ll.
London.
• The 92nd Gordon Highlanders, reduced to 200,
cliarRcd with the bayonet HOOO French. As they broke
into it, the (jrcys rode up in support, the Highlanders
holding on by their stirrups.