Hess 190 / 207 Variants, alternative and excluded versions of folk songs from various countries
Hess 192 – From the 20 Irish Folk Songs, No. 5.
Hess 192 – From the 20 Irish Folksongs, No. 5. Copy: 29 IV. (This is to be understood as a replacement – and therefore a second version, not a second elaboration – of the folksong WoO 152 No. 5 “On the Massacre of Glencoe” composed in February 1813. Cifr. C/C page 271. For accuracy it is written from the sixth line of page 126 recto to page 127 versus of manuscript 29/IV. Poetic text: Walter Scott.
Oh! Tell me, Harper, wherefore flow
Thy wayward notes of wail and woe
Far down the desert of Glencoe,
Where non may list their melody?
Say, harp’st thou to the mist that fly,
Or to the dun deer glancing by,
Or to the eagle, that from hig
Screams chorus to thy minstrelsy?
Thy wayward notes of wail and woe
Far down the desert of Glencoe,
Where non may list their melody?
Say, harp’st thou to the mist that fly,
Or to the dun deer glancing by,
Or to the eagle, that from hig
Screams chorus to thy minstrelsy?
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No, not to these, for they have rest,
The mist‐wreath has the mountain crest,
The stag his lair, the erne her nest,
Abode of lone security.
But those for whom I pour the lay,
Not wild wood deep, nor mountain grey,
Not this deep dell that shrouds from day
Could screen from treach’rous cruelty.
The mist‐wreath has the mountain crest,
The stag his lair, the erne her nest,
Abode of lone security.
But those for whom I pour the lay,
Not wild wood deep, nor mountain grey,
Not this deep dell that shrouds from day
Could screen from treach’rous cruelty.
Their flag was furled, and mute their drum,
The very household dogs were dumb,
Unwont to bay at guests that come
In guise of hospitality.
His blithest notes the piper plied,
Her gayest snood the maiden tied,
The dame her distaff flung aside,
To tend her kindly housewifery.
The very household dogs were dumb,
Unwont to bay at guests that come
In guise of hospitality.
His blithest notes the piper plied,
Her gayest snood the maiden tied,
The dame her distaff flung aside,
To tend her kindly housewifery.
————————————–
The hand that mingled in the meal,
At midnight drew the felon steel,
And gave the host’s kind breast to feel,
Meed for his hospitality.
The friendly heart which warm’d that hand,
At midnight arm’d it with a brand
That bade destruction’s flames expand
Their red and fearful blazonry.
At midnight drew the felon steel,
And gave the host’s kind breast to feel,
Meed for his hospitality.
The friendly heart which warm’d that hand,
At midnight arm’d it with a brand
That bade destruction’s flames expand
Their red and fearful blazonry.
Then woman’s shriek was heard in vain,
Nor infancy’s unpitied plain,
More than the warrior’s groan, could gain
Respite from ruthless butchery!
The winter wind that whistled shrill,
The snows that night that cloaked the hill,
Though wild and pitiless, had still
Far more than Southern clemency.
Nor infancy’s unpitied plain,
More than the warrior’s groan, could gain
Respite from ruthless butchery!
The winter wind that whistled shrill,
The snows that night that cloaked the hill,
Though wild and pitiless, had still
Far more than Southern clemency.
—————————————-
Long have my harp’s best notes been gone,
Few are its strings, and faint their tone,
They can but sound in desert lone
Their grey‐hair’d master’s misery.
Were each grey hair a minstrel string,
Each chord should imprecations fling,
’Till startled Scotland loud should ring,
“Revenge for blood and treachery!”
Few are its strings, and faint their tone,
They can but sound in desert lone
Their grey‐hair’d master’s misery.
Were each grey hair a minstrel string,
Each chord should imprecations fling,
’Till startled Scotland loud should ring,
“Revenge for blood and treachery!”
