Notes
1] Auld Lang Syne ("old time long ago"): echoing Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne":
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne!
The Jacobite heirs of James II, deposed from the English monarchy in 1689, included the Old Pretender, his son "James III" and grandson Charles Edward, "bonnie Prince Charlie." Rebels attempting to restore the pretenders fought against the British successfully until the disastrous battle of Culloden.
5] Louis XIV of France.
10] the red-coat line: the British army.
11] Eden: a river in Scotland.
13] coofs: fellows.
14] Garry: perhaps Glengarry Castle, where Prince Charles stayed after Culloden.
the Rhine: river in Germany.
15] Gledsmuir: not located.
the field o' Val: evidently Valla Field in Shetland.
19] Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh.
23] in the Bush: an allusion to an angel's appearance to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3.2).
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang, ed. Mrs. Lang, 4 vols. (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1923): 64-65. British Library 011645.ee.47
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 2001
Recent editing: 2:2002/2/20
Rhyme: ababcdcd