War songs of Britain

2 July 1644

Battle of Marston Moor

WAR SONGS OF BRITAIN

THE BONNIE HOUSE O' AIRLIE. In 1640 James, Earl of
Airlie, a devoted Royalist, left Scotland for England to avoid being
forced to sign the Covenant. The Earl of Argyle, at the direction
of the Committee of Estates, marched with five thousand men of
his clan upon the House of Airlie in Forfarshire and destroyed it
with fire. Lady Ogilvy, however, was not, as this ballad narrates,
at the House of Airlie, but at Forter. The house of Forter was also
destroyed by Argyle, and it is said that he behaved with considerable
cruelty to Lady Ogilvy.

THE BATTLE OF MARSTON MOOR. On July 2, 1644, the
Royalist army under Prince Rupert and the Marquis of Newcastle
were totally defeated by Fairfax and Cromwell, together with the
Scots under Lesly, at Marston Moor, near York. The defeat lost
the northern counties to the Royalist cause.

THE HAUGHS OF CROMDALE. The batUe described in
this ballad in reality took place not on the Haughs of Cromdale, but
at Auldearn. Two battles are described in the poem. In reality
there was but one. The first fight was the attack, which resulted in
the discomfiture of Montrose's right wing under Colkitto by the
Covenanters under Sir John Hurry. The second was the desperate
charge made on the left by Montrose, when he heard of the defeat
of Colkitto. This charge saved the day. The Covenanters' cavalry
was beaten off, and Montrose was in time to save his right wing.
Hurry was eventually completely routed with the loss of two thou-
sand men, about a third of his whole force. The battle took place
on May g, 1645.

27 July 1689

Battle of Killiecrankie

WAR SONGS OF BRITAIN

II.

On the heights of Killiecrankie

Yester-morn our army lay :
Slowly rose the mist in columns

THE BURIAL MARCH OF DUNDEE

In the Garry's deepest pool.
Horse and man went down before us —

Living foe there tarried none
On the field of Killiecrankie,

When that stubborn fight was done!

NOTES

THE SONG OF THE WESTERN MEN. Trelawney, Bishop
of Bristol, was one of the seven bishops put on their trial (1688) for
addressing a petition to the King begging to be excused from
issuing the Declaration of Indulgence. Trelawney was of Cornish
blood, and the men of Cornwall rose in arms to set him free. The
Bishops were acquitted June 30, 1688.

BONNIE DUNDEE. A "Convention of the Estates of Scotland
met at Edinburgh, March 14, 1689, to consider the circumstances in
which the country had been placed by the English Revolution. It
decided (by a majority of one) to follow the example of the Conven-
tion Parliament in England, and to offer the crown to William and
Mary. Claverhouse (afterwards Viscount Dundee), the leader of
the Jacobites, was present, and protested against the decision.
After it was taken, he left Edinburgh to raise the Highland clans in
support of King James. The result was the Battle of Killiecrankie.

THE BATTLE OF KILLIECRANKIE on June 17, 1689,
the following of James II. in Scotland, under the command of John
Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, utterly defeated the
Government troops under General Mackay, at the pass of Killie-
crankie, near Blair Athol. Dundee fell in the moment of victory.

16 June 1815

Battle of Quatre Bras

WAR SONGS OF BRITAIN

THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. Sir John Moore
with a British army of 25,000 men, after a bold attempt to cut
Napoleon's line of communications between France and Madrid,
was forced by superior numbers to retreat. He retired into Galicia,
where an English fleet lay waiting at Corunna to receive his troops.
To secure a safe embarkation for his forces he turned upon his
pursuer Soult, and repulsed him with severe loss at Corunna,
January i6, 1809. His purpose was fulfilled, but he himself fell in
the moment of victory.

THE LAY OF THE BRAVE CAMERON. This poem refers
to the battle of Quatre Bras. While Napoleon was engaged with
the Prussians at Ligny, Marshal Ney was told off to keep in check
the first divisions of Wellington's army, as they marched up with a
view to joining the Prussians. He met the English troops at
Quatre Bras, on June 16, 1815, and although successful in his
immediate object was forced to retire after stubborn fighting.

THE RED THREAD OF HONOUR. In 1844, after his con-
quest of Scinde itself. Sir Charles Napier began operations against
the hill tribes on the northern frontier of Scinde. After long
marches and sharp fighting in an almost waterless country, the
enemy under their leader, Benga Khan Dumki, were driven into the
Truckee (Traki), "a curious fastness of a basin-like form with
sides of perpendicular rock, six himdred feet in height, with only
two openings to the north and south." Benga finally was captured
March 9, 1845. Sir Francis Doyle here records an incident of this
remarkable campaign.