Poets and Poetry of the Covenant" As This Author
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Poets and Poetry OF The Covenant COMl'ILEl), WITH An Intrjoduction BY THE REV. DAVID MCALLISTER, D. D., LL. D. ""^N 201894 % ij ^ ;^- ALLEGHENY, PA. ' COVENAiSTTER PUBLISHING CO. 37 Federal Street 1894 .0^^ ^ Copyright of Covenanter Publishing Co., 1894. TO ADAM B. TODD, WHO, AS ONE OF THE POETS OF THE COVENANT, AND AS AUTHOR OF "HOMES, HAUNTS AND BATTLEFIELDS OF THE COVENANTERS," HAS RENDERED MOST VALUABLE SER- VICE TO THE SAME GLORIOUS CAUSE OF CIVIL AND RELIG- IOUS LIBERTY FOR WHICH THE HEROES AND MAR- TYRS OF THE COVE- NANT SUFFERED AND DIED, This Volume IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. mw^^F^w^^wwwww^^w^^ fTTy^yr^^^yr GREYFRIARS CHURCHYARD AND EDINBURGH CASTLE. PREFACE. A volume of -'Poetry of the Covenant" had been in the mind of the compiler for nearly forty years. His admiration and study of '• The Cameronian Dream," when but a college student, first suggested such a volume. Acquaintance at a later day with George Gilfillan's " Martyrs, Heroes and Bards of the Scottish Covenant," and Mrs. Menteath"s " Lays of the Covenant," and with a number of other spirited poems copied into the monthly magazine, "The Covenanter," pub- lished in Philadelphia by the Rev. James M. Willson, intensi- fied the desire for such a compilation. But not until the work of preparation for publication was begun did the com- piler dream of the wealth of poetry which the Covenanters and their times had called forth. The book happily styled '• The Treasury of the Covenant," by the Rev. J. C. Johnstoa, of Dunoon, Scotland, published at Edinburgh in 1887, was a revelation of the rich resources of this field of literature. But careful search in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, in 1888, and again and more particularly in 1892, failed to bring to light many of the books referred to in that volume. An acquaintance (since ripened into Avarm and enduring- friendship) first formed with a kindred spirit, Mr. A. B. VI PREFACE. Todd, of Cumnock, in a visit through Martyrland in the sum- mer of 1892, opened up the treasures of this realm of sacred poetry in their wide extent. No other man is so thoroughly versed in the *' Poets and Poetry of the Covenant" as this author. His study of the times of persecution; his admira- tion of the character of the heroes of the Covenant; his de- votion to the principles for which multitudes of them laid down their lives; his frequeut visits to the scenes of conflict and martyrdom in preparation for writing his admirable de- scriptions of the " Homes, Haunts, and Battlefields of the Cov- enanters;" and his own poetic sympathies and labors, have brought him into most intimate fellowship with all who have swept the strings of the Covenant harp. While materials for this volume have been drawn from ever}^ available source, as indicated all along with due acknowledgments, it is to Mr. Todd that we are indebted for many of the poems and for a large part of the biographical sketches of the following- pages. Special mention should also be made of the help of Mr. John Tibb}', of Sharpsburg, Pa., to the free use of whose large and valuable library the compiler was made most cordial- ly welcome. Should the present volume find a reception such as the merits of its gathered treasures certainly deserve, another series of kindred poems from the same rich and inexhausted field may be published at a future day. It was judged best not to insert in this volume any anonymous poem, or any of which the authorship is not certainly known, and of the writer of which at least a brief biographical sketch could not be given. .Accordingly, a number of beautiful poems, collected during the preparation of this volume, are reserved for further in- vestigation and a possible second series of Poets and Poetry of the Covenant. CONTENTS. v\r.K. Tiitroduction, . ix .Tauie.s ( iraliame, Memoir of, '-i Tril)ute to the Covenanters . 7 David ^tai'lieth 'SUnr, Memoir of, 10 Covenanters' Night Hymn, 12 James Hyslop, Memoir of, 17 The Cameron ian's Dream, 25 A Scottish Sacramental Sabbath, 28 Mrs. Harriet Stuart Menteath, Sketch of, :}G Introduction to Lays of the Kirk and Covenant, .... :]9 The ;^rartyr's Grave, 47 Peden at the Grave of Cameron, 49 The Signing of the Covenant •">'^> The Martyrs of Wigt on, "'•^ '2 Patrick Hamilton The Deatlibed of Rutlierford, 78 The Martyr's Child, >'^1 James Dodds, Memoir of, ^'^ Battle Song of the Pentlands, 117 Viii C 01^ TENTS. PAGE; Tlie Death of James (kithrie, 121 Cargill Taken Prisoner at Covington Mill, 128 The Dove and the Ruin, 132 The Aged Covenanter, 13G The Battle of Airsnioss, 141 The Martyr of Priesthill 148 The Christian Exile, 1(17 Adam E. Todd, Sketch of, 17;! Peden the Prophet's (i rave, 177 ^fartyrland in August, 179 Jolni Stuart BUickie, Sketch of, 185 Sonnet on Alexander Peden, 187 The Covenanter's Lament, 188 p]legy on the Death of James Pen wick, I'JO The Song of Jenny Geddes, 11)4 (ieorge Paulin. Sketch of, 107 The Covenanters, 1S)9 A Visit to Priesthill 202 The Covenant Banner, 205 The Covenant Sangs, 207 The Rev. James Murray, Memoir of, 209 A Conventicle in Snow Time, 212 The Banner of the Covenant, 215 The Black Saturday, 218 Dr. Horatius Bonar, Memoir of, 222 I'he Martyr's Hymn, 22:5 The Martyr's Grave, 225 iriigh C. Wilson, Sketch of, 227 Covenant Times, 228 John Wright, Memoir of, 2:>2 The Battle of Pentland Hills, 2:J3 CONTENTS. IX PAGE. The Rev. Henry Scott IMddoll, :Memoir of, 237 Rullion Cireen, 240 Allan Cunningham, Memoir ol', 243 The Downfall of Dalzell, 246 William McDowall, Memoir of, 250 The Nithsdale ^Fartyrs, 2,")! John Struther^i, Memoir of, 25') Admonition and Warning, 258 Martyrland and Its Heroes, 200 >[arion Paul Aird, Memoir of, 204 Tlie Martyrs' Graves, 266 Roi.ert Allan, ^iemoir of, 2G8 The Covenanter's Lament, 270 The Twa Martyrs' Widows, 272 Hugh Brown, ^femuir of, 274 The Martyrdom of .fohn Brown, . 276 The Rev. James (i. Small, ]*renu)ir of, 280 The Land of the iNIartyrs, . 281 William McComb, Memoir of, 285 Our Fathers —Where are They ? 285 Prof. John Veiteh, Sketch of, 288 •> Andrew Hislop, 290 James Hogg, Memoir of, 293 The Land of the Covenant. 296 Tlie Covenanter's Scatluld Hymn 299 : ! INTROBUCTIOX. The natural scenery of Scotland is of itself sufficient to quicken into vigorous exercise the gifts of the poet. Moun- tain and loch, moorland and glen, inland valley and sea- girt coast—all conspire to stir the soul that is capable of deep and fervid emotion. Added to the rare beauties of her natural scenery are the tales and traditions of her po- litical history—the records of as noble a struggle as any country ever made for civil liberty. The story of the Scot- tish chiefs who fought for the independence of the nation is a household song of freedom. Who has not felt the in- spiration of the lines " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled Scots wham Bruce has often led ! Welcome to your gory bed, Or to victory!" And no wonder that Mary Howitt, like Burns himself, has tuned her harp to this lofty key : " O wild traditioned Scotland, Thy briery burns and braes xii IKTKODUCTION. Are full of pleasant memories And tales of other days. Thy story -haunted waters In music gush along ; Thy mountain glens are tragedies, Thy heathery hills are song.'' It was such thoughts as these that led Henry Ward Beecher to speak of Scotland, as a " land, which, though small, is as full of memories as the heaven is full of stars, and almost as bright. There is not the most insignificant piece of water that does not make my heart thrill with some story of heroism, or some remembered poem ; for not only lias Scotland had the good fortune to have had men that knew how to make heroic history, but she has reared those bards who have known how to sing her histories." But natural scenery and the records of an heroic strug- gle for civil liberty are not of themselves sufficient to at- tune the poet's harp to its highest and noblest strains. We only reach the climax of a country's poetical inspiration when to struggles for national independence and civil free- dom is added the long conflict, amid the fires of fierce per- secution, for freedom of conscience and liberty of religious faith. High as are the names of Bruce and Wallace, and glorious as is the record of their achievements, there are other names, unknown to the world's wide fame, that nevertheless exercise a deeper and more potent influence on the generations of posterity, as they come and go, and that will increase in their moulding power to the end of time. We must not only say with Mary Howitt, " Land of the Bruce and Wallace! Where patriot hearts have stood," : —; INTRODUCTION. xiii but taking a loftier step Ave must add, " And for their country and their faith Like water poured their blood I Where wives and little children Were steadfast to the death, And graves of martyr warriors Are in the desert heath." Cowper ill the Fifth Book of "The Task," has recog- nized in his most exalted verse, this " brighter prize" for which the martyr struggles " Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause deserve, Bled nobly ; and their deeds, as they Receive proud recompense. We give in charge Their names to the sweet lyre.