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Burns and Culloden

An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745, or Culloden

by Sir David Morier

THE LOVELY LASS O’ INVERNESS

 

THE lovely lass o’ Inverness,
    Nae joy nor pleasure can she see;
For e’en to morn she cries, “Alas!”
    And aye the saut tear blin’s her e’e:

“Drumossie moor—Drumossie day—
    A waefu’ day it was for me!
For there I lost my father dear,
    My father dear, and brethren three.

“Their winding-sheet the bluidy clay,
    Their graves are growin’ green to see;
And by them lies the dearest lad
    That ever blest a woman’s e’e!

“Now wae to thee, thou cruel lord,
    A bluidy man I trow thou be;
For mony a heart thou has made sair
    That ne’er did wrang to thine or thee!”

During Burns' Highland Tour one of the places he visited was the site of the Battle of Culloden. Burns was remarkably silent regarding the impressions gained during his visit, but he did write the poem "The Lovely Lass o' Inverness"  in the last three years of his life, which perhaps alludes to the feelings he may have had on surveying the bleak moorland setting:

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