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Show Services at Concord. TH1~ EXECUTION OF 1\IONTROSE. • They brought him to the "ratcrgate, Hard bound with hempen span, As though they held a lion there, Antl not u fenceless man. They set him high upon a cart - The hangman rode below - They drew his hands behind his back, And bared his noble brow. Then as a hound is slipped from leash, They cheered the common throng, And blew the note with yell and shout, And bade him pass along. It would have made n brave man's heart Grow sad and sick, that day, To watch the keen, malignnnt eyes Bent down on that array. Then stood the \Vhig south country lords In balcony and bow; There sat their gaunt and withered dames, And their daughters all a-row ; And every open window \Vas full as full might be '\Vith black-robed Covenanting caries, That goodly sport to sec! But when he came, though pale and wan, He looked so grr.at and high, So noble was his manly front, So calm his steadfast eye, - The rabble rout forbore to shout, Al1d each man held his breath, For well they knew the hero's soul Was face to face with death. And then a mournful shudder Through all the people crept, And some that came to scoff at him Now turned aside and wept. Eut onward- always onwardIn silence and in gloom, • From Aytoun's "Lays oftbo Scottish Cavaliert.'' Services at Concord. The dreary pngeant labored, Till it reached the place of doom. And then uprose the great Montrose In the middle of the room- "I have not sought in battle-field A wreath of such renown, N o1· dared I hope, on my dying day, To win the martyr's crown. "There is n chr.mbcr far away \Vhcre sleep the good and brave, But a better place ye have named for me Than by my father's grave. For truth and right, 'gninst tyrnnts' might This hand hath ulwnys striven, And ye raise it up for u ·witness still In the eye of earth nnd heaven. Then nail my hend on yonder towerGive every town n limb- And God, who made, shall gather them; I go from you to Him ! " The morning dawned full darkly, The rain came fln!:ihing clown, And the jagged streak of the levin-bolt Lit up the gloomy town: '!'he thunder crashed across the heaven, The fatal hour wa!:i come ; Yet aye broke in, with muffled bent, The 'I arum of the drum. There ''~'as madness on the earth below, And anger in the sky ; And young and old, and rich and poor, Came forth to sec him die. Ah, God I that ghastly gibbet ! How dismal 'tis to see The great, tall, spectral skeleton, The ladder and the tree ! Hark! hark! it is the clash of armsThe bells begin to toll - "He is coming! He is coming!" "God's mc:rcy on his soul ! " 44-7 |
