THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH - VOL. 2 (Completed)

IN THE PASS OF KILLICRANKY,

An invasion being expected, October 1803

Composed October 1803.--Published 1807

From 1807 to 1820 this sonnet was one of those "dedicated to Liberty." In 1827 it was included among the "Memorials of a Tour in Scotland,1803." From 1807 to 1820 the title was simply October, 1803.--Ed.

Six thousand veterans practised in war's game,

Tried men, at Killicranky were arrayed

Against an equal host that wore the plaid,

Shepherds and herdsmen.--Like a whirlwind came

The Highlanders, the slaughter spread like flame;

And Garry, thundering down his mountain-road,

Was stopped, and could not breathe beneath the load

Of the dead bodies.--'Twas a day of shame

For them whom precept and the pedantry

Of cold mechanic battle do enslave.

O for a single hour of that Dundee, [A]

Who on that day the word of onset gave!

Like conquest would the Men of England see;

And her Foes find a like inglorious grave.

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FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: See an anecdote related in Mr. Scott's Border Minstrelsy.--W. W. 1807.

"Oh for an hour of Dundee" was an exclamation of Gordon of Glenbucket at Sheriffmuir.--Ed.]

The following is from Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland', 1803:

"Thursday, September 8th.--Before breakfast we walked to the Pass of Killicrankie. A very fine scene; the river Garry forcing its way down a deep chasm between rocks, at the foot of high rugged hills covered with wood, to a great height. The pass did not, however, impress us with awe, or a sensation of difficulty or danger, according to our expectations; but, the road being at a considerable height on the side of the hill, we at first only looked into the dell or chasm. It is much grander seen from below, near the river's bed. Everybody knows that this Pass is famous in military history. When we were travelling in Scotland, an invasion was hourly looked for, and one could not but think with some regret of the times when, from the now depopulated Highlands forty or fifty thousand men might have been poured down for the defence of the country, under such leaders as the Marquis of Montrose or the brave man who had so distinguished himself upon the ground where we were standing. I will transcribe a sonnet suggested to William by this place, and written in Oct. 1803."

Ed.

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