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86 A CENTURY OF BALLADS |
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drew me towards her, and exclaimed, ' Dinna ye hear it? Dinna ye hear it? Ay, I'm no dreamin', it's the slogan o' the Highlanders! We're saved! We're saved!' Then flinging herself on her knees, she thanked God with passionate fervour. I felt utterly bewildered ; my English ears heard only the roar of the artillery, and I thought my poor Jessie was still raving; but she darted to the batteries, and I heard her cry incessantly to the men, 'Courage! Courage! Hark to the slogan—to the Macgregor, the grandest o' them a' ! Here's help at last!' To describe the effect of these words upon the soldiers would be impossible. For a moment they ceased firing, and every soul listened in intense anxiety. Gradually, however, there arose a murmur of disappointment, and the wailing of the women who had flocked to the spot burst out anew as the Colonel shook his head. Our dull Lowland ears heard nothing but the rattle of the musketry. A few moments more of this death-like suspense, of this agonising hope, and Jessie, who had again sunk on the ground, sprang to her feet, and cried in a voice so clear and piercing that it was heard along the whole line, ' Will ye no believe it noo ? The slogan has ceased indeed, but the Campbells are comin'! D'ye hear? D'ye hear?' At that moment we seemed indeed to hear the voice of God in the distance, when the pibroch of the Highlanders |
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