THE PIPER OF DUNTRUNE

I

'Pon the rocky headland by Loch Crinan,
a haunted fortress in Argyll stands;
'twas raised for Cal'donian seas to guard
'gainst invaders from faraway lands.

Tributes of blood the battlements mantled,
where clansmen brave their foes overcame;
'neath thundering feet its stones once trembled,
their anguish now they silent declaim.

A lone piper's spirit the ramparts roams,
his airs 'cross the misty waters sound;
his heroic deeds the village folk praise,
tho' sorrows deep his refrains expound.

By masters and brethren alike esteemed,
by clans the highest standing tendered,
troops into battle doughty pipers led;
e'en foes such sanctuary rendered.

Centuries ago, the great Campbell clan
'pon Duntrune and its acr'age held sway;
as war in this divided nation raged,
this stronghold long feebly guarded lay.

Allegiance they to their Parliament spoke,
their sovereign they vehement forswore,
as, alas, to these brave-hearts unbeknownst,
the MacDonalds besieged Duntrune's shores.

Bitter rivals' citadel they wrested,
'pon its bastion their standard upraised;
anon sailed away for King Charles to serve,
as the bagpipe's strains their valour phrased.

The piper, for the castle to defend,
with a paltry garrison remained;
paragon of learning, wisdom and skill
his weary soldiers' spirits sustained.

II


Erelong the Campbells to Duntrune returned,
aghast at their sworn foe's banners stared;
enraged, an attack to mount they resolved,
silent to nearby woodlands repaired.

At dawn, these mettlesome men the fort stormed,
their rightful dominion they reclaimed;
every MacDonald to the sword was put,
sole one they spared, this piper unnamed.

This young tunesmith the Campbells captive held,
now for Chief Alasdair's life he feared,
for how would he his master caution
when his boat 'pon the horizon appeared?

One early morn, the galley he espied,
when prompt a clever ruse 'pon him dawned;
a glad tune he piped, then sudden a dirge,
with rotating airs his chieftain warned.

Thusly from death he his clansfolk preserved,
this faithful gallant's judgement they hailed;
with heavy hearts their boats homeward turned,
their brother grieving, to safety sailed.

III


Alas, the Campbells this signal construed,
declared the piper ne'er more would play;
for this bold trespass his hands they severed,
jeered, as 'pon the stones he bleeding lay.

And so into eternal sleep he passed, 
resting place sole to his slayer known;
thenceforth, say village folk, they oft discern
the piper's notes thro' dawnlit winds moan.

"Tis naught but a myth", unbelievers said,
the villagers' accounts they dismissed;
yet, ever and anon his refrain swelled
when first light Duntrune's rugged shores kissed.

This Spring, all doubts forever were silenced,
as journeymen the citadel girthed;
a handless corpse 'neath the flagstones they found,
'twas the piper's remains they unearthed.

The grieving past its message had spoken,
the laird and his kinfolk deeply stirred;
'pon a grassy knoll by his favoured post
the departed soul's bones they interred. 

With a carv'd stone the piper's grave they marked,
the bishop his troubled spirit blessed;
for his easement the assemblage prayed,
still the troubled phantom knows no rest.

'Pon Duntrune's shores this lost soul yet wanders,
at daybreak to his station returns;
his plaintive tunes o'er dawnlit ripples drift,
as for his beloved clan he yearns.

© 2014 Lily's Verse
Lilium Candidum

Image: www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk

Image: deidremccrimmon.co.uk