Jethart Callant's Festival Songs

---

Jethart's Here

Words: G. F. Lenid  Music: J. Hewie

I
​The cry’s gane thro’ the Borderland,
The beacons bleeze on Dunion tap;
For English knaves fra’ Cumberland
​Ha’ crost the Fell by Carter Slap.

Chorus
Dear Borderland! Blench na’ nor fear!
Oor Borderland, nae foe comes near!
Stand firm and sure; For Jethart’s Here!
Stand firm and sure; For Jethart’s Here!

II
At Mercat Cross the Warden mak’s
The ’larm bell clang we’deaf’nin soun’
Ilk’ prikker grips his Jedwood Axe:
And Kers and Elyots rally roun’.

III
Then up and spak, our gallant chief,
Oh! wha will bauldly gang wi’ me?
Nor Hoblyyer, nor Reed Swire thief
Shall e’er gae by the Lintalee.

​IV
As lang’s the red bluid fills my veins–
As lang’s my airm can Jedstaff ply–
Nae foe shall daur tread on these stanes
Or I shall ken the reason why.

V
​His voice rang out; the banners flout
The air – while clangs the tocsin bell
An’ Burgers raise the warrior shout,
To Carter Fell! To Carter Fell!

---

Ancrum Toon

I
Let poets praise each ‘Eden scene’
Beside the classic Jed
Let rhymsters rave ower Denholm
Dene
When Autumn paints it red,
But I’ve a scene
Before my een,
That can a’ others croon,
For beauties pale,
Beside the vale
That smiles on Ancrum toon.
​

III
A mystic tale breathes ower the
vale,
An’ tells, in whispered breath,
O’ coats o’ mail, an’ piercing wail,
An’ English raid, an’ death.
An’ how her fame
To Lilliard came,
In a’ the country roun‘;
That heroine,
Was child o’ thine
Mane, sweet Ancrum toon.

Refrain
O’ Ancrum toon,
Sweet Ancrum toon,
I’ll love thee aye the best.
In winter’s gloom,
Or simmer’s bloom,
Frae distant East to West,
What scene could ere
Wi‘ thee compare?
What fairer spot could be,
By day or nicht,
Sae Sweet, sae bricht,
Dear Ancrum toon, as thee?

IV
E’en let me wander by the stream
That murmurs thro’ the glade
Or lie on Primrose Bank an’ dream
O’ thy brave woods arrayed
In varied sheen
O’ springtime‘s green,
Or Autumn’ fading broon;
An’ a my days
Sing lood in praise
O‘ thee, Sweet Ancrum toon.

II
Like rustic queen, the village green
Is fringed by leafy trees,
Oft bursting into leaf I’ve seen,
Or bending to the breeze.
While Ale‘s bright waves
Thy valley laves,
When laughing gaily doon
To seek his bride
By Teviot’s side,
But loves thee, Ancrum toon.

​

V
Or’ let me ponder a’ alane,
Beside the hallowed dead,
Upon a lyin’,mossy stane,
That haps some narrow bed.
What memories
O’ bygone days,
Like wafts from distant June
Thy ruined kirk,
An’ scented birk,
Revive, sweet Ancrum toon

---

Brave Lads O' Jethart  
Words: Edmund Hope Music: T Wight

I
Let others sing o’ Heiland hills
Where leaps the mountain flood;
For me, I’ll sing o’ Border rills
And valiant Border blood,
O’ Border lads in days of yore
Wha focht for Scotland’s right.
For Freedom’s banner high they bore
Wi hardihood and might.

III
In Chevy Chase and Ancrum Moor
An’ mony mair beside,
And e’en in Scotland’s darkest ’oor
When fell oor Border pride,
Oor Border lads Wane could surpass,
They fell like heroes a’,
An e’en at Killiecrankie Pass
They bore the gree an a’.

Chorus​
Then here’s to Border hill and wood
And plain and bank and brae,
To Border lads who boldly stood
And kept our foes at bay;
Wha eye were foremost in the fight
Where’er their foeman gethert,
And showed the flower o’ Scotland’s might,
The brave, brave lads o’ Jethart!

II
At Bannockburn, to do or die,
Staunch Border lads were they,
Wi "Jethart’s Here!" their battle-cry
They rushed into the fray. ’
On, on they dashed, like waves on shore,
And forced their foes to yield,
Then soon the foeman’s standard bore
In triumph frae the field.

IV
Fain would I tell of Border wights
That lie on foreign shore,
At Waterloo, on Alma’s heights,
They aye were to the fore;
Oor Border lads are leal and true,
And rousing is their cheer