'Thy secret keep, I urge thee not;--
Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?'
'No, by my word;--of bands prepared To guard King James's sports I heard;Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear This muster of the mountaineer, Their pennons will abroad be flung, Which else in Doune had peaceful hung.'
'Free be they flung! for we were loath Their silken folds should feast the moth.
Free be they flung!--as free shall wave Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave.
But, stranger, peaceful since you came, Bewildered in the mountain-game, Whence the bold boast by which you show Vich-Alpine's vowed and mortal foe? '
'Warrior, but yester-morn I knew Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, Save as an outlawed desperate man, The chief of a rebellious clan, Who, in the Regent's court and sight, With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight;Yet this alone might from his part Sever each true and loyal heart.'
