Ossian Collection > Romance of the Highlands

ORIGIN OF THE CELT. 3
Thus the youth's mind is first quickened by the story
of the valiant Wallace, who, never, even in his worst
reverses, would bow the knee to Edward. Again it is
roused to enthusiasm by the record of his heroic
successor, the good King Robert the Bruce. Of
innumerable battles and sieges, with some successes and
many failures, he reads and learns of the skill that
culminates in a Bannockburn. And to think that only a
few years previously his country's destiny lay in a
spider's web in a wretched hut ! Nor does Scottish
history end here, for to the present time, in the field and
in the senate, Scotsmen — both Highlanders and Low-
landers — have marched forward, shoulder to shoulder,
earning renown to themselves and honour to theii
country.
There is another reason why patriotic pride should
fill the bosom of our race. Nowhere else on the earth's
surface is there a lovelier country. The blue Highland
mountains mirrored in the crystal lakes of the north,
the Border peel and the martyr's grave of the south
could hardly rear other than a patriot and a patriot poet.
The people of mountainous lands are always more
attached to their country than are those where the
prospect is champaign. The emigrant has invariably
an overpowering desire to see his native land again, and
it is interesting to note that the Swiss have a similar
predilection. The temperament of the Highlanders and
Irishmen makes them very susceptible to this yearning
of the spirit.
If these facts were not sufficient there is always the
pride of family. This is the tie which binds the Scottish
Highlander to a territorial designation, where his clan
reigned supreme, with his chief as local king. His
clan, his family, his name are indissolubly linked with
the nation's history, and if he cannot emulate the deeds
of his forefathers he can at least find pride in their works.