thehighlanderspoems

Misty Meandering Rivers

In the misty glens of Scotland
Meandering rivers run
Below the blanket of the clouds
Where the moon becomes the sun 

The darkened green shadows
Of the pines, the evergreens
As they silhouette the skyline
A beautiful Scottish scene

Shapes fly through the light
Bats and night time birds
The sounds of their conversations
Some of the best the night has shared

So when you come to Bonnie Scotland
View our misty meandering rivers
For this country of the Scots
And her nature, can sure deliver 

Braveheart

Highlander so tall
Dwarfs warriors in battle   
Brave heart of Scotland

From a Heather Laden Hill

From a heather laden hill
A Scots King looks down
The march of his armies
In their blood his enemy drown

His tartan clad warriors
The joining of the clans
MacDonald's, Fraser's and Stuart's
To every single man

With their claymores at the ready
Across the fields they charge
Five thousand Braveheart clansman
Patriotic hearts so large

They will never take our freedom
They will never take our lands
Whilst a Scotsman breathes
We will fight with our bare hands

They charge into their enemy
Bloodied fallen, strewn
As blood rains everywhere
Wars red monsoon

Many hours later
The sounds of dying men
Boy's among the still
Thought their time was then

On his heather laden hill
Our Scots King looks down
The march of his armies
His enemy in beaten drown

We have driven them from our lands
They will never darken our shores
For if they ever return
They will fear the Bravehearts roar

The Boy from Perthshire

Our Scots botanist
Coniferous evergreen
The Douglas fir tree

Scotland

Scenery so awesome
Captured by seasons
Outstanding wildlife
Thrilling and pleasing     
Land of lochs
Ancestors proud
Nation of Bravehearts
Diehard

Alba

Rustic mountains
Through glaciations
Moulded this wonderful
Scottish Nation
 
Caledonian Forests
Covered our land
On our Western Islands
Golden beached sands
 
Glens and rivers
Cris cross our land
Glorious moors
Where the Highland Stag stands  
Majestic and tall
Proud and might
This king of beasts
The most wonderful sight
 
Scenery to thrill
Heather-ed in purpled bloom
Look out any window
Its our own front room
 
Golden Eagles
Soar above these lands
Winged royalty
In their blue blooded strand
 
Our contribution to our modern world
Is all around us, read and learn
Logie Baird, with Television
Pedal Cycle, Kirkpatrick MacMillan
Medical marvel, Penicillin
 
In other Nations our touch has felt
Our Ancestors us, we Celts
For centuries we cast our nets
To further lands
We were always met
Friendly Scots in every way
Gave this world
A better say
 
America, Canada,  New Zealand too
Us Scots are in me and you
Ancestral blood runs through our veins
The quite wonderful Scottish strain
Alba

Tartan and Pipes

Tradition and dress
A nations finesse
Symbolic in style
By a country mile
 
The drone of the pipes
Tartan clad
Bonnie on the girls
Proud on the lads
 
Highland dancers
In kilted skirts
Grooms at weddings      
Kilt and dirk

But our Tartan and Pipes
Go back many years
Led soldiers into battles
See the enemy fear

After Culloden
Both were banned
A country naked
At the English hand

Our clans of many
In colours so grand
Woven by weavers
Our women's hands

All over the world
Scots are spread
Taking their Tartans
Of green, blue and red

Its a welcome reminder
To the kin of their past
Never forgotten
Designed to last

This plaid of cloth
History enriched
Scottish pride
In every stitch

And like our pipes
From centuries past
This Scottish of Scots
Are here to last 

Blàr Chùil Lodair - The Battle Of Culloden

16th April 1746
The day a country ceased to exist
British Army, Hanoverian scum
Defeated our Jacobite's
Scotland is on the run
 
Our Tartans banished, bagpipes no more  
To lead our troops, to frighten the foe
Cumberland's men hunt us down
In every village and every town
Massacred, slaughtered
Wiped from our earth
Erased from the country of our birth
 
2000 men died to fight for their right
Against the British Armies might
Cameron's MacDonald's and Fraser's slain
Many other Clans, population drained
The survivors facing Hanoverian bans
Led to
The Scattering of the Clans
 
The Clan Chiefs lands, vast and many
Asset stripped, taken by the enemy
Alleged traitors tried, treason their crime
As Hanoverian Scum, on our riches dine.
 
In the aftermath, many Scots left their shores
To distant lands to open new doors
Many writers on here
On their Ancestors scan
You may be here, because of
The Scattering Of The Clans

Country of the Clans and Glens

Scotland, rich in pride
Braw mountainous scenery
Stands proud and salutes
 
Saltire shares the wind
Tartan Highlanders kilted   
Kingdom of the clans

When One Sits on the Moor

When one sits on the moor at this Culloden place
Where the Clans of the Tartan lay in deathly deface

On many a night through the following years
Families would gather, and continue their tears

If you listen carefully you can still hear their screams
Run through so young ending their freedom of dreams

When one sits on the moor at this Culloden place
Where a proud nation fell, nearly disappearing without trace

On many a night through the following years
From every nook and cranny we would rise again without fear

If you listen carefully you can still hear their screams
We are now a nation so proud, their tears to esteem

The Scattering of the Clans

America, in this modern age
Population so proud
On their ancestors heritage
 
But in the annuls of time
Not that long ago
To a new world they came
Immigrants so
 
They travelled far and wide
Some further than most
Open invitation from their American host    
 
Many reasons
As they left their homes
Some directly
While many roamed
 
To America's shores
In their many ports
Protection by, their military forts
 
To the land of plenty
And the home of the free
Where many immigrants settled
New future, families
 
The Scots Americans
Now American Scots
Left their shores
From a country so fraught
 
To sail the Atlantic
And escape the wrath
To hone in on their freedom path
To wear their plaid
A tartan true
America, has pulled us through

Monster of the Ness

Southwest of Inverness
A stretch of water called " Loch Ness "
It runs along The Great Glen Fault
Freshwater deep, not a tinge of salt
 
But this legendary loch
Has a secret to share
In its murky depths
Is their a monsters lair?

St Columbus is believed to have seen
The traits of this monster, in its particular mean     
The place where he stayed, the locals in mourn 
A swimmer chased by this water born

Dragged to the deep of this peat stained loch
A family now mourn their loss
An aid of the Saint, on his masters so
Enters the loch, as he swims with the flow
Not long in, something chases his wake
His master rises and with a cross he makes

Go no further
Do not touch the man
Go back at once
From that lair you come
The beast recedes like natures tide
This Saintly man had him cast aside

In our modern world 1934
The monster again came to the fore
This time captured on film
Is it a her, or is it a him

All i can say is we leave it alone
Its the lochs monster so let it roam
If it does exist, its for natures bless
This awesome of beasts
Monster of the Ness

Hanoverian Fort George

This mighty Fort
Hanoverian built
To suppress the Scot's
Deter the kilt
 
This Star-fort design
One of Europe's best
Never attacked
No enemy zest
 
Strategically set
On the Moray Firth
This fort of forts
Hanoverian best
 
Near Inverness
Where Culloden was fought
The Jacobite's defeated
Our army now nought
 
So this fort you see
Curtailed the future me
To keep us in check
In case we rose again
To chase the English
From our Highland domain
 
Centuries later it stands to tell
The construction of, has lasted well
This fort of forts, from the link you can see
Why it suppressed many of me

Rugged, Rustic and Beautiful

In the country of the clans
Scenery abounds
Around our cities of old
And our villages and towns

Rugged and rustic
Greens, grays and browns
Adorn our countryside
They are natures gowns

Plants come alive
At the start of spring
New buds appear
Awaiting joys do they bring

In the summer sunshine
They burst into life
Colours so delightful
Radiant and rife

The autumn closes
No longer the colours parade
They are like scenes in a play
Their fading blooms, are summers last serenade

As the temperature falls
And the winter months settle in
We also enjoy it's beauty
Until the spring, springs again

In the country of the clans
In our mountains and glens
Natures seasons delight
Amen