'Never mind, Bailie,' said
Ensign Maccombich, 'for the gude auld times of rugging and riving
(pulling and tearing) are come back again, an' Sneckus Mac-Snackus
(meaning, probably, annexis, connexis), and a' the rest of your friends,
maun gie place to the langest claymore.'
'And that claymore shall be ours, Bailie,' said the Chieftain, who saw
that Macwheeble looked very blank at this intimation.
'We'll give them the metal our mountain affords,
Lillibulero, bullen a la,
And in place of broad-pieces, we'll pay with broadswords,
Lero, lero, etc.
With duns and with debts we will soon clear our score,
Lillibulero, etc.
For the man that's thus paid will crave payment no more,
Lero, lero, etc.
[Footnote: These lines, or something like them, occur in an old magazine
of the period.]
But come, Bailie, be not cast down; drink your wine with a joyous heart;
the Baron shall return safe and victorious to Tully-Veolan, and unite
Killancureit's lairdship with his own, since the cowardly half-bred swine
will not turn out for the Prince like a gentleman.'
'To be sure, they lie maist ewest,' said the Bailie, wiping his eyes,
'and should naturally fa' under the same factory.
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