Strong hearts they bear and arms as good,
To conquer or to fall;
They dash into the boiling flood,
They gain the rock's steep wall.
'Now, my brave men, this one pass more,
This narrow chasm of stone,
And Douglas for our sovereign's gore
Shall yield us back his own.'
I hear their ever-rising tread
Sound through the granite glen;
There is a tall pine overhead
Held by the mountain men.
That dizzy bridge which no horse could track
Has checked the outlaw's way;
There like a wild beast turns he back,
And grimly stands at bay.
Why smiles he so, when far below
He spies the toiling chase?
The pond'rous tree sways heavily,
And totters from its place.
They raise their eyes, for the sunny skies
Are lost in sudden shade;
But Douglas neither shrinks nor flies,
He need not fear the dead.
