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IN THE GARB OF OLD GAUL, by                    
First Line: Such our love of liberty, our country and out laws
Last Line: May defy the foe, with all their art, to alter our laws.
Alternate Author Name(s): Erskine, Harry


IN the garb of old Gaul, with the fire of old Rome,
From the heath-covered mountains of Scotia we come;
Where the Romans endeavoured our country to gain,
But our ancestors fought, and they fought not in vain.
Such our love of liberty, our country, and our laws,
That, like our ancestors of old, we stand by freedom's cause:
We'll bravely fight, like heroes bold, for honour and applause,
And defy the foe, with all their art, to alter our laws.

No effeminate customs our sinews unbrace,
No luxurious tables enervate our race,
Our loud-sounding pipe breathes the true martial strain,
So do we the old Scottish valour retain.
Such our love ...

We're tall as the oak on the mount of the vale,
Are swift as the roe which the hound doth assail,
As the full moon in autumn our shields do appear,
Minerva would dread to encounter our spear.
Such our love ...

As a storm in the ocean when Boreas blows,
So are we enraged when we rush on our foes,
We sons of the mountains, tremendous as rocks,
Dash the force of our foes with our thundering strokes.
Such our love ...

In our realm may the fury of faction long cease,
May our counsels be wise, and our commerce increase,
And in Scotia's cold climate may each of us find,
That our friends still prove true, and beauties prove kind.
Then we'll defend our liberty, our country, and our laws,
And teach our late posterity to fight in freedom's cause:
That they, like our ancestors bold, for honour and applause,
May defy the foe, with all their art, to alter our laws.





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