Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Jacobite minstrelsy

MINSTRELSY. 251
« Think on the hellish acts thou'st done,
The thousands thou'st betray'd :
Nero himself would blush to own
The slaughter thou hast made.
" Nor infants' cries nor parents' tears,
Could stay thy bloody hand,
Nor could the ravish'd virgin's fears
Appease thy dire command.
" But, ah ! what pangs are set apart
In hell, thou'lt quickly see ;
For ev'n the damn'd themselves shall start
To view a fiend like thee."
In heart affrighted, Willie rose,
And trembling stood, and pale ;
Then to his cruel sire he goes,
And tells the dreadfid tale.
" Cheer up, my dear, my darling son,"
The bold usurper said,
" And ne'er repent of what thou'st done,
Nor be at all afraid.
" If we on Scotland's throne can dwell,
And reign securely here,
Your uncle Satan's king in hell,
And he'll secure us there."
elude, that the Duke of Cumberland, as Commander-in-Chief, would
not be very scrupulous in breaking the conditions of it. A sort of a
capitulation was not likely to bind one who never kept faith with the
followers of the Prince. Townly, like hundreds of other brave and
honourable men, was doubtless put to death in utter disregard of the
conditions of his surrender. The blood-thirsty Duke was above de-
cency in such matters. Hence the innumerable stains on his own
memory, and the everlasting discredit sustained by the ministry of
that period.