Did from the Norman win a gallant wreath; 10
  Confirmed the charters that were yours before;—­
  No parleying now!  In Britain is one breath;
  We all are with you now from shore to shore:—­
  Ye men of Kent, ’tis victory or death!

* * * * *

VARIANT ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1: 

1827.

  It’s ... 1807.

  It’s haughty forehead ’gainst ...  MS.]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A:  Compare Michael Drayton’s ‘Barons’ Wars’, book i.: 

  ’Then those of Kent, unconquered of the rest,
  That to this day maintain their ancient right.’

Ed.]

* * * * *

IN THE PASS OF KILLICRANKY,

An invasion being expected, October 1803

Composed October 1803.—­Published 1807

From 1807 to 1820 this sonnet was one of those “dedicated to Liberty.”  In 1827 it was included among the “Memorials of a Tour in Scotland, 1803.”  From 1807 to 1820 the title was simply October, 1803.—­Ed.

  Six thousand veterans practised in war’s game,
  Tried men, at Killicranky were arrayed
  Against an equal host that wore the plaid,
  Shepherds and herdsmen.—­Like a whirlwind came
  The Highlanders, the slaughter spread like flame; 5
  And Garry, thundering down his mountain-road,
  Was stopped, and could not breathe beneath the load
  Of the dead bodies.—­’Twas a day of shame
  For them whom precept and the pedantry
  Of cold mechanic battle do enslave. 10
  O for a single hour of that Dundee, [A]
  Who on that day the word of onset gave! 
  Like conquest would the Men of England see;
  And her Foes find a like inglorious grave.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A:  See an anecdote related in Mr. Scott’s Border Minstrelsy.  —­W.  W. 1807.

“Oh for an hour of Dundee” was an exclamation of Gordon of Glenbucket at Sheriffmuir.—­Ed.]

The following is from Dorothy Wordsworth’s ’Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland’, 1803: 

“Thursday, September 8th.—­Before breakfast we walked to the Pass of Killicrankie.  A very fine scene; the river Garry forcing its way down a deep chasm between rocks, at the foot of high rugged hills covered with wood, to a great height.  The pass did not, however, impress us with awe, or a sensation of difficulty or danger, according to our expectations; but, the road being at a considerable height on the side of the hill,