Series 1 > Grameid: an heroic poem descriptive of the campaign of Viscount Dundee in 1689, and other pieces

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PANURGI PHILOCABALLI [386-397
Quam prius aut solitum cecinisset alaudula carmen,
Aurora aut croceos tinxisset in aequore crines.
Atque forum vigilumque domos simul occupat, acri et
Yectus equo mediam victor dat lora per urbem.
Caetera sub variis legio dum instructa magistris
Certatim ruit ad muros, atque ilicet omnes
Illi aditus fecere sibi portasque patentes.
Inde vias omnes abjecto milite complent,
Hinc atque bine, densaeque fremunt per tecta catervae,
Degeneres pars quaerit opes, pars colligit arma,
Alter equos, alter captivam detinet hostem.
Ipsum inter spolia ampla ducem jam lecta juventus
Forte Blarum somno stertentem suscitat alto,
wonted song, or Aurora gilded the sea with her yellow tresses.
At once he occupies the market-place and the watch-houses, and,
as a victor, rides freely through the town. Meanwhile, the troopers,
drawn up under their officers outside, rush to the walls, and there
make entrance for themselves by the open gates; then they fill
all the streets where the soldiers lie; here and there strong bands
storm the houses, some seize the ill-gotten money,1 others collect
arms, some horses, others guard the captive enemy. Now a band
of youthful cavaliers rouses up, amidst his ample spoil, Blair,2 the
1 ‘Degeneres opes.’ I have ventured on this translation with some hesita¬
tion. He may mean filthy lucre in general, or the revenues wrongly acquired
by an agent of the new Government. Browne, in his History of the Highlands,
without giving his authority, says that Dundee took a sum of 9000 merks of
the public revenue on this occasion. He however prohibited interference with
private property, and left behind him, in the same room where he found the
cess-money, ^500, understanding that it was private property.
2 William Blair of Blair, a man of importance, who had married into the
Duke of Hamilton’s family, his wife being Lady Margaret Hamilton, youngest
daughter of William, second Duke. He and his lieutenant, Pollock, were both
taken prisoners in their beds. The spoil of this raid included forty horses, some
arms, gunpowder, public money, besides numerous prisoners, including officers,
one of whom, Lieut. Colt, gives interesting evidence in the process of forfeiture.
They were all carried on with the party, and most of them afterwards sent as
prisoners to Duart in Mull. Blair and Pollock were raising a troop in the shire
of Perth for the new Government. On Blair’s remonstrating, Claverhouse is
reported to have said, ‘ You take prisoners for the Prince of Orange, and we
take prisoners for King James, and there’s an end of it.’ In the detailed account
sent from Claverhouse to King James by M‘Swine, we have the following: ‘He
(Dundee) took occasion to slip down through Athole to St. Johnston, where he
surprised the Laird of Blair, seized him, his lieutenant Pogue (Pollock) of that
ilk, trumpet, standard, and all the troopers that were in the town, with two