Lord Derwentwater’s Farewell

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Sir James Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater (1689-1716) spent part of his youth as the companion of the young James VIII at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He received permission to return to England in 1709 and quickly established himself as the leader of the Jacobites in Northumberland. Following his capture at Preston and execution in London he became a tragic hero of songs and ballads.

FAREWELL to pleasant Dilston Hall,
My father’s ancient seat;
A stranger now must call thee his,
Which gars my heart to greet.
Farewell each friendly well-known face,
My heart has beld so dear:
My tenants now must leave their lands,
Or hold their lives in fear.

No more along the banka ofTyne
I’ll rove in autumn gray ;
No more I’ll hear, at early dawn,
The lav’rocks wake the day.
Then fare thee well, brave Witherington,
And Forster ever true.
Dear Shaftsbury and Errington,
Recieve my last adieu.

And fare thee well, George Colllngwood,
Since fate has put us down;
If thou and I have lost our lives,
Our king has lost his crown.
Farewell, farewell, my lady dear
Ill, ill thou counsell’dst me:
I never more may see the babe’
That smiles upon thy knee.

And fare thee well, my bonny gray steed,
That carried me aye so free ;
I wish I had been asleep in my bed,
The last time I mounted thee.
The warning bell now bids me cease ;
My trouble’s nearly o’er;
Yon sun that rises from the sea
Shall rise on me no more.

Albeit that here in London town
It is my fate to die,
O carry me to Northumberland,
In my father’s grave to lie.
There chant my solemn requiem
In Hexham’s holy towers,
And let six maids of fair Tyneda1e
Scatter my grave with Howers.

And when the head that wean the crown
Shall be laid low like mine,
Some honest hearta may then lament
For Radcliff ’s fallen line.
Farewell to pleasant Ditson Hall,
My father’s ancient seat;
A stranger now must call thee his,
Which gars my heart to greet.