Verses on James the IVth, of Scotland. Who Fell at the Battle of Flodden
Among the various antiquities preserved in the Heralds College, London, there are the Sword, Dagger, and Turquois Ring, of James the IVth, of Scotland, slain at the battle of Flodden.
’Twas he that rul’d his Country’s heart
With more than Royal sway—
But Scotland saw her James depart,
And sadden’d at his stay.
She heard his fate—she wept her grief—
That James, her own, her darling Chief,
Was gone for evermore.
But this she learnt, that e’er he fell,
(Oh, Men! Oh, Patriots! mark it well)
His Fellow Soldiers round his fall,
Enclos’d him like a living wall,
Mixing their friendly gore.
Nor was the day of Flodden done,
’Till they were slaughter’d, one by one,
And this may serve to shew—
When Kings are Patriots none will fly:
When such a King was doom’d to die,
Oh, who would Death forego?