Castell Gloom. Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne (1766-1845). Castell Gloom. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. 1876-79. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes. Scotland: Vols. VI-VIII

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

Castell Gloom

Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne (1766–1845)

Castle Gloom, better known as Castle Campbell, was a residence of the noble family of Argyll, from the middle of the fifteenth till the middle of the seventeenth century, when it was burned by the Marquis of Montrose. The castle is situated on a promontory of the Ochil hills, near the village of Dollar, in Clackmannanshire, and has long been in the ruinous condition described in the song.

O CASTELL GLOOM! thy strength is gone,
The green grass o’er thee growin’;
On hill of Care thou art alone,
The Sorrow round thee flowin’.

O Castell Gloom! on thy fair wa’s	5
Nae banners now are streamin’,
The houlet flits amang thy ha’s,
And wild birds there are screamin’.
O, mourn the woe, O, mourn the crime,
Frae civil war that flows;	10
O, mourn, Argyll, thy fallen line,
And mourn the great Montrose.

Here ladies bright were aften seen,
Here valiant warriors trod;
And here great Knox has aften been,	15
Wha feared naught but his God!
But a’ are gane! the gude, the great,
And naething now remains,
But ruin sittin’ on thy wa’s,
And crumblin’ down the stanes.	20
O, mourn the woe, etc.

Thy lofty Ochils bright did glow,
Though sleepin’ was the sun;
But mornin’s light did sadly show,
What ragin’ flames had done.	25
O, mirk, mirk was the misty cloud,
That hung o’er thy wild wood!
Thou wert like beauty in a shroud,
And all was solitude.
O, mourn the woe, O, mourn the crime,	30
Frae civil war that flows;
O, mourn, Argyll, thy fallen line,
And mourn the great Montrose.

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