Halcro's Song. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Northmaven. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Scotland: Vols. VI-VIII

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.

Northmaven

Halcro’s Song

Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)


(From The Pirate, chap. xii.) FAREWELL to Northmaven,
Gray Hillswicke, farewell!
To the calms of thy haven,
The storms on thy fell;
To each breeze that can vary	5
The mood of thy main,
And to thee, bonny Mary!
We meet not again.

Farewell the wild ferry,
Which Hacon could brave,	10
When the peaks of the Skerry
Were white in the wave.
There ’s a maid may look over
These wild waves in vain,
For the skiff of her lover,—	15
He comes not again.

The vows thou hast broke,
On the wild currents fling them;
On the quicksand and rock
Let the mermaiden sing them.	20
New sweetness they ’ll give her
Bewildering strain;
But there ’s one who will never
Believe them again.

O were there an island,	25
Though ever so wild,
Where woman could smile, and
No man be beguiled,—
Too tempting a snare
To poor mortals were given,	30
And the hope would fix there
That should anchor on heaven.