We hear the bagpipe and the drum
and see the martial clans gathering in serried ranks and catch the glint
of their arms and armor as they flash back the sunlight. We hear their
lusty calls as they rush together to defend the hills and the homes they
love. We see, again, the Wallace and the Bruce inciting valorous men to
deeds of heroism and hear the hills reechoing with the shock of steel
upon steel. From hill to hill the pibroch leaps, and hearts and feet
quicken at its sound. And mothers are pressing their bairns to their
bosoms as they cheer their loved ones away to the strife. And while
their eyes are weeping their hearts are saying:
"Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha can fill a coward's grave?
Wha so base as be a slave?
Let him turn and flee!"
=Faith.=--And after the sounds of battle are hushed he sings "To Mary in
Heaven" and causes the man to stand in the presence of the Burning Bush
and to hear the command "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground." And the heart of the man
grows tender as the poet opens his eyes to catch a glimpse of the life
of faith that the star foretells even as the Star of Bethlehem was
prophetic. And, through the eyes of the lover, he looks over into the
other life and knows that his faith is not in vain. And when faith sits
enthroned, the music of the brook at his feet becomes sweeter, the stars
shine more brightly, the earth becomes a place of gladness, and life is
far more worth while.
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