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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton New Era, 1878-10-24, Page 2. THE CLINTON. NEW ERA. •Veinadn'f4 WielOOMO , to loOrne And, ,Loolge, Sim! thee, land or etreenie, there is blessing in etoreg Enioleer 0le winds,on eur ergetalltne seas! And thunderthgao aaneVer before,. A. welcome to Lorne and WS 1,0400 LOUlfie., 09 /Mr are the fielde that our foretathere won Tom the (fake of the forest nevi yellow withtern, Shag g.lew liko a mantle of gold in idg sun ,For bonnie Louise and the young lerd of Loxne. And lair are our foreste When outman doth lend Her gold and het crimson; got Miter than these, And dearer, th ,e fiag we are sworn to defend With the young lind of Lona and his'bounle Louise, An oar loyalist fathers once hailed. wtth delight The folds of Mb; flag thatfron tyranny frees, Sven so do theiiloyalist children 112,Vite 'Us young lord et. Lorne and hie bonnie Lotto. -Our brotherm, regretting the freedom they won, With a Brae) that belonged to old oolony doge, Will rejoice within rum, for at heart they are one With us in our weleorne to Lorne and Louise. Ilon the mother of empires to glery etlakest . While her ebildren united in harmony dwell; And the sera she hath eet on thie.land of the taker; Shall be gained to us and our brothers as Well. Wo vaunt not of freedorn, exd yet we axe freirr A prosperous people are eau to please; • And loyal for aye to Old England will bo ' Withlthe young lord of Lorne and hie bennie remise. With the best blood of Scotland and England there goer' Tho spirit of freedom in hearts withont guile; Then.twnie with our maple the thistle and rose For bonnie Louie.) and the Son Of Argyle., .fuld these with tiro ellsenock and fillies of l'ranee. We'll garland with ribbons of orange and•green,.‘ With emblems united our noople advance To weleoMe the children of Canada's eileen.• Aud what though' our Canada winters be cold;* Our old fashioned hearthe give a cheerier blaze, . And the charm of our sunimere bath never been teal Then come•to us, Lorne, with thy bonnie Louise, For thee, land of streame,, there is blessing in store; Rejoice, 0 ye winds, on our crystalline fronek, And thunder, Niagara, as never before, For the young lord of Lorneund his bonnie Louise. Jluo Panto,, im the Chicago 2171.1C8. Retribution -A highland smile When Cumberland's soldiers were ravaging the Highlands after Culloden, raany strange and fierce encounters took place between them and straggling par- ties of Highlanderwho were endeavor- ing to reach their respective homes. ,The • .cruelties perpetrated by the soldiers -were sometimes visited with terrible -vengeance by the exasperated High.. • lenders, as - the instance I shall now re- late will 'show. • Two of the clan Donachne (Robert - sone), wearied and hungry, were. thread: ing-their lonely way through the dreary inotintain passes, woods and swamps that lay between them and their home in Athol. In order to elude the vigi- lance of the soldiers the two 'clainainett had often to retraeFtheirstepei.ancl.take rugged and circuitous routes, rendering, as a matter of course, their jeprney har- assing and tiresome in the extreme.• One mcirning as our two heroes emerged frem a peountain gorge they were start- led at the sight of alate coludin of smoke rising lazily. through the thin early mist, whilst the •flames . hissed, leaped, and flashed in a blaZing mess on a fire' -doomed Highland cottage.. A dozen soldiers stoed looking, on, laugh- ing and chettingewith savage .indiffer- ence, while they surveyed, with evident gusto, their cruel aud cowardly handi- work. A burly sergeant igit behind. withfolded arms, his leak to a bush, andsmoking his pipe with an Retires - Bien ,of face that clearly indicated a stolid and brutal nature. Allan end Duman Robertson, our two breve clans - lace, instinctively drew back •wetting the bushes, so that -they could •watch unseen the •doings of the soldiers. Could the soldiers • only • have known, while jubilant over their fiered-like work, that the eyes of two brave, powerful, and desperate men were fixed • upon them, and determined not to lose sighe of them till a terrible vengeance had beep ex - meted, in all likelihood ,their mirth would have assumed a more subdued tone. After the flame!! had reduced • the cottage to a smoking mass of ashes, the sergeant arose, and, addreoing hes meu, put himself at their head and marched off With a swaggering air as if they had performed some deed of intrepid Mar- tial daring. No sooner had thesoldiers disappeared than the.two claninion, ad- vanced from their place of concealment and apprached the smouidering asho, where a sight met their eyes -which • raised their desire of vengeance to a terrible pitch. Before them lay the charred remains of four fearfully attesting the barbarous cruelty of their destroyers. • With knitted. brows and eyes flashing fire, their broad • and brawny chests heaving with furious Indignation, they drew their swords and registered a vow in heaven to fol- low the soldiers nnd not leave a single man of them alive to tell the tale of their butcheries; and that vow was kept and executed. All daydid the 'deter- mined clansmen follow in a wake of the soldiers, resting when they rested; but not for a moment did their desire for vengeance cool as they with intense an- xiety looked for an opportunity to carry out their fixed purpose errant/me with success. Towards evening the teoldiere halted at a deserted hut, end after exatninixig its interior, they seemed to all appear- ance to make preparations to -rest -1 the night. The two Highlanders now watched their movements with •eager scrutiny, from. a thicket of hazel !melees by which they Wire completely hid. As our two heroes spoke in Gfelics, we must just translate hetet English what theriaid, for the benefit of the English reader. Duncan' said Allan, there's not a man before our sight will love thitt hut alive; atothetehuritecl hub end black roasted bodies shall tell how speedily the Clan Donechieoan exeeute vengeance •on a cruel enemy.' The Weeping dog's eyee ate open at. present, ^ and will not shut until his teeth bite itieep,replied Duneere The soldiers, after a brierconstiltatien, entered the hut, and hi order to ensure [ their safety, left one of their number eutside to act as sentry, and he walked slowly backward and forward before the door, earring his musket on his alma - der. Jedging from the hilarious seunde that soon ore° from the hut, the sold- iere were evidently well supplied with m.eature comforts, stimulating liquor being clearly in the Ascendant. The; aentry was net overlooked in their rairtb, several ''refreshers' hiving ben handed out to hirn during Ms watch. The Saasenach is merry,' •observer' Allan, butthat very naerrituene is the certain itnell:of their doom.' And their'.song shall" end in the wail ot woe,' added Duncan. looked at each other, low whispers pale. Rd among them, and then .01 leirdly. loeleing fellow rose and pointed te- the door, • Allan again stepped out, and, thrusting the point of the sergeant's swor'i into -the ground, told the Voldier to teltelt and defend himself; A second, eambat enseed, butenot so had as the first, for the soldier was skilled in the use of the weapon, and, moreover, pos- sessed considerable strength. While the combat was (*Ding on the seldiers suddenly sprang to their feet, and, rushing at Duncan. with the inten- tion of overwhelming hini and securing his weapon, a wild struggle common. - Twilight was fast gatberifig 0,et .the eed within, Duncan WAS not to be hills and in less than half an hour the Caught napping. Springing • back he mellow liglat of a lovely moon ?as silvering' the uppetee•portions of the landscape, and throwing the lower into a deep sombre shade—the toue ensent/de forming a pone of grand end weird -like bea,uty. The sounds of hilarity Within kept the eolchers at bay, cutting two of their nunaher down whilet Allan at the nieentent entered, having despatched his antagonist, and, rushing on, slew an- other.. The remaining 'oven retAtted backwards, to thO corner, whereupon the hut were fast beceming lees boistee- 'Allan and Duncan walked to be door, ous ; the sentry was canoe in anti an- which they abut behind 'them, and fag - his unsteady step but : ill qualified to withes:. Having eaeh g,one and taken a 8'3°11'01 •again with hirchen other put in his place, who seemed from tnneci musket, they retureed.to tbe hut; and having thrust the muzzleof the mus- kets: among the dry thatch, they at lance. dischargedthetn end in a momene the mot was on tire, • fit minute or two the whole theteh wee in one • blazifig lness—the flaenes datiling./heie forlety tongues upward inthe clear moonlight, and hissing in waving grandeur, carried terror • and. 'despair to the miserable wretehes within. Madly the soldiers struggled to open the door; but; in a brief space their steuggles ceased, as 'masses of burning thatch ancl hlezing • rafterswere falling among them, whilst the yells of Mortal aeony were moatap- pailing. The clensmn's revenge weei its ctimplete as it watt fearful.;Bringing forward the soldierer mokets they recklessly •threw eheni .anmeg ,the flames, and being ell loaded, the fie- queht explosioes .invested the scene with a character the pose terrific. The headless corpse was dragged from the bun and copsigned,to the flames, aid • when morning dawned, thin smokes, fleeting. 'away, .front the • smouldering ashee, mingledwith the mists Of the ..Leaving the scene of their Ven- geance, the two Highlanders retired 40 a wild and lonelY retreatart a distenee, and,. being 'wearied, they -Were soon ;Weep, . ' Snob is ati instance of. the kind of retallatiens which the brutal soldiers ••of CeMberlatid provoked. ' , • keep watch and ward over lne drunken:. cempanions, A , email burn passed within a few yards of the pies. where tha clansmen stood, and the •euleer (The waters along the reeky: channel' was dietinctly heard for a .considerable dis- tance over the silent _heath.- The Ben. tiwin consequence most of his eVenings inclelgenne, had become thirsty, And healieg the •refreshing sound of :the mountain rivulet, approached with the ,evident intention of allayinghis thirst: -Laying down the umeket, and stretch, ing hitnself down on his belly, and loWe ering.hie. head till hisntouth • dame in • contact with, the cooling liquid, he little. thought that in a moment his eleom would • be, sealed. • At three bounds Allan clelneered the intervening space' be.• •tween hihnnd„ the prostrate soldier, his 'Claymore flashed ip the moonlight, and .inshalf a second the. soldier's head was slowly rolling down the burn, and, dye: ingitieweters with tints of gem. The .first has not • tasted a lingering death ; he bashed his luck, and theresteeball have their's,' cooly remerkedeAllen,, as he'etopped and wiped his eemed on the geess.Their luck .is net fee distant • • .• • . . now, adeecl -Duncan, looliinge•towarcls the hut. The. Saseenacli isegoingeo sleep ; the noiso. is hushed.; sheet Will this sleep haeatlieir long and last ;one is•the next.' ' • . , • .. Both inetinctively, moved cantiously towards theibue, occasionally stepping to listen, and to...learn, it possible, if the rest 'of the ioldiers were asleep. Coming. within a few. yards of the hut, the tWO' Highlanders- distinetly heard'a stmeg, chorue.of snoring, a eound tMt cleaely. indieated to the avengers that • the mo- nTerib for action had ardved, , On reach- ing the door, ' which was partly, open, they cautiously -p.eered within, and there before •theie gaze lay the • soldiers; faeteasleep, upon some dried grass which lay in the far end of the hut. Allan and Duncan briefly exchanged a 'few •Whiepers, then stealthily Moved to where the% seldiers' muskets eteed ire a row against , the will. Allan now sloWly drOW: his eivoed, fixing his eye .,on the steeping acediers • at the same time, Whilst Duncan, coolly proceeded to re - dove their muskets to the door. Bayo- nets had been fixed, so that the sleepers were tompletelyedeprived of, their arms. Both now stole out, and with great ex- pedition carried the muskets a little distance, and concealed them among. Otte bushes. • Returning to the hut they eeenred the door, with birch and retiting a little distend°, held a brief consultation. They are in our power,' 'began Allan, 'but we seiil not assault a sleeping foo.' The serg.ettnt has a sword,' suggested Duncan; let each eoldier in his turn take that sword and we will fight then) singly, andif they °bine to these terms, We'll fire the lutt Abotit their ars.' I 'shall take the first eixe replied Allan, and thesr giant to begih with, and Yon, -Duncan, can claymore the other half-dozen.' • .They•now• approached the door 'ra- pidly, and..openhig if with little cere- mony, and drawing their • swords, .step - ,ped ; Attention 1' shouted. Allan, With a piercing Celtic accent.; Rise and. learn 'out Amazed and bewildered beyetid. exprese sion, the sOldiers sat up, and seeirig their ail= were gone, and the fixed.and stern facee of the two powerful ereied Highlanders standing before thee, they were eabeeed at • once, as they °lonely SAW tibey were • fairly trapped, 'Ser- geant,' said Allan, yott have got a sword; come to the outside my cont. rade will, keep the door while yeti and -fight to the death. There's a ,chanco yon do not. deserve.' Tbe aergeant quailed for a Moment as he surveyed his stal watt, antagonist; but seeing no other altematiVe or mops of, ,eseane from the fix they were in; he rose to his feet and pointed to the door. Allan walked out followed by the sergeant Whilst Duncan kept a watchful oyo,ou . the mem Peeing about, Allan uttered the monosyllable, Draw,' lerandishieg his sword in 0. threatening manlier at the same titn. The sergeant dreW hie sword,. a brief combat ensued, but the soldier WO no match. for the brawny Highlander, for hi leo than ••A minute he tolled on the heath cloVen to the Bers'e0ocroe. • GietezetnetenCoeuenteieci -oay a thorough tnovZedge of the natural tawserhieb govern the eperations of digestion andt (13)y eateful appliewtion O