The Garb of Old Gaul/In the Garb of Old Gaul

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For other versions of this work, see In the Garb of Old Gaul.
The Garb of Old Gaul
by Anonymous
In the Garb of Old Gaul by Henry Erskine
4518382The Garb of Old Gaul — In the Garb of Old GaulHenry Erskine (1710-1765)


IN THE GARB OF OLD GAUL.

Tune—The Highland March.

In the garb of old Gaul, with 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.

  Such our love of liberty, our country, and our laws,
  That, like our ancestors of old, we'll 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 luxurious tables enervate our race;
Our loud sounding pipes breathe the true martial strain,
So do we the old Scottish valour retain.
  Such our love, &c.

We're tall as the oak on the mount of the vale,
As swift as the roe which the hound doth assail,
As the full moon in autumn our shields do appear;
Minerva would dread to encounter our spear.
  Such our love, &c.

As a storm in the ocean, when Boreas blowing,
So are we enrag’d when we rush on our foes:
We sons of the mountains, tremendous as rocks,
Dash the force of our foes with our thundering strokes.
  Such our love, etc.

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 sued for a truce.
  Such our love, etc.

In the realm may the faction of fury 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.
  Then we'll defend our liberty, our country, and our laws,
  And bring up our posterity to fight in freedom’s cause;
  That they, like our ancestors bold, for honour and applause,
  May defy the French, with all their art, to alter our laws.