Seven Scotch songs/The Garb of Old Gaul

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For other versions of this work, see In the Garb of Old Gaul.
3330067Seven Scotch songs — The Garb of Old GaulHenry Erskine (1710-1765)

SONGS.


THE GARB OF OLD GAUL.

In the garb of old Gaul, wi' the fire of old Rome,
From the heath-cover'd mountains of Scotia we come,
Where the Romans endeavour'd our country to gain,
But our ancestors fought, and they fought not in vain.

CHORUS.

Such our love of liberty-our country and our laws,
That like our ancestors of old we stand by freedom's cause;
We'll bravely fight, like heroes bold, for honour and applause,
And defy the French, with all their art, to alter our laws.

No effeminate customs our sinews unbrace,
No luxuriate tables enervate our race,
Our loud-sounding pipe bears the true martial strain,
So do we the old Scottish valour retain.
Such our love, &c.

As a storm on the ocean when Boreas blows,
So are we enrag'd when we rush on our foes;
We sons of the mountain, tremendous as rocks,
Dash the force of our foes with our thundering strokes.
Such our love, &c.

Quebec and Cape Breton, the pride of old France,
In their troops fondly boasted till we did advance;
But when our claymores they saw us produce,
Their courage did fail, and they su'd for a truce.
Such our love, &c.

In our realm may the fury of faction long cease,
May our councils be wise, and our commerce increase;
And in Scotia's cold climate may each of us find,
That our friends still prove true, and our beauties prove kind.

CHORUS.

Then we'll defend our liberty, our country, and our laws,
And teach our late posterity to fight in freedom's cause;
That they, like our ancestors bold, for honour and applause,
May defy the French and Spaniards to alter our laws.