Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Jacobite minstrelsy

92 JACOBITE
Up and warn a' Willie,
Warn, warn a';
For lords and lairds came there bedeen,
And wow but they were braw, Willie.
But when the standard was set up,
Right fierce the wind did blaw, Willie :
The royal nit upon the tap
Down to the ground did fa,* Willie.
Up and warn a', Willie,
Warn, warn a' ;
Then second sighted Sandy said,
We'd do nae gude at a', Willie.
But when the army join'd at Perth,f
The bravest e'er ye saw, Willie,
We didna doubt the rogues to rout,
Restore our king an' a' Willie,
we are to suppose it adopted for the sake of the favourite old tune
of " Up art,' n-aur them a? Willie," since there was not a Willie of any
note in the whole Jacobite army.
* This stanza refers to an incident which happened at the great
Jacobite meeting, which took place at Brae- Mar, just before the
rebellion broke out. It is thus related by George Charles : — The
Earl of Mar erected the Chevalier's standard there, on the 6th of
September, 1715, and proclaimed him King of Scotland, England,
France, and Ireland. This standard, supposed to be made by the
Earl's lady, was very elegant ; the colour was blue, having on the one
side the Scottish arms wrought in gold, and on the other the Scottish
thistle, with these words beneath, " No Union" and on the top the
ancient motto, " Nemo me impune lacesset." It had pendents of
white ribbon, one of which had these words written upon it—." For
our wronged King and oppressed country." The other ribbon had—
" For our lives and liberties." It is reported that when this standard
was first erected, the ornamental ball on the top fell off— a circum-
stance which greatly depressed the spirits of the Highlanders, whose
superstitious prejudices led them to regard it as ominous of misfor-
tune to the cause in which they had embarked.
f At setting up the standard of the Chevalier, the Earl of Mar had
not above 500 foot and horse ; yet, in a few days, his army increased
to between three and four thousand, and was able by a detachment