Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Songs of Scotland prior to Burns

THE BATTLE OF KILLIECRANKIE. 41
Claverse and his Highlandmen
Came down upon the raw, man ;
Who, being stout, gave mony a shout ;
The lads began to claw, then.
Wi' sword and targe into their hand,
Wi' which they were na slaw, man ;
Wi' mony a fearfu' heavy sigh,
The lads began to claw, then.
Ower bush, ower bank, ower ditch, ower stank,
She flang amang them a', man ;
The butter-box 1 gat mony knocks ;
Their riggings paid for a', then.
They got their paiks wi' sudden straiks,
Which, to their grief they saw, man ;
Wi' clinkum-clankum ower their crowns,
The lads began to fa', then.
Her 2 leap'd about, her skipp'd about,
And flang amang them a', man ;
The English blades got broken heads,
Their crowns were cleaved in twa, then ;
The durk and dour made their last hour,
And proved their final fa', man ;
They thocht the devil had been there,
That play'd them sic a pa', man.
1 Butter-box ; slang word for a Dutchman, on account of the great
quantity of butter they eat. — Grose. In Mackay's little army there
were several Dutch regiments.
2 The Highlanders have only one pronoun, and as it happens to
resemble the English word her, it has caused the Lowlanders to have
a general impression that they mistake the feminine for the masculine
gender. It has even become a sort of nickname for them, as in the
present case, and in a subsequent verse, where it is extended to—
Her-nain-sell.