Their celebrated pibroch of Hoggil nam Bo, which is the
name of their gathering tune, intimates similar practices, the sense
being:--
We are bound to drive the bullocks,
All by hollows, hirsts, and hillocks,
Through the sleet, and through the rain.
When the moon is beaming low
On frozen lake and hills of snow,
Bold and heartily we go;
And all for little gain.
NOTE 27
This noble ruin is dear to my recollection, from associations which have
been long and painfully broken. It holds a commanding station on the
banks of the river Teith, and has been one of the largest castles in
Scotland. Murdoch, Duke of Albany, the founder of this stately pile, was
beheaded on the Castle-hill of Stirling, from which he might see the
towers of Doune, the monument of his fallen greatness.
In 1745-46, as stated in the text, a garrison on the part of the
Chevalier was put into the castle, then less ruinous than at present. It
was commanded by Mr. Stewart of Balloch, as governor for Prince Charles;
he was a man of property near Callander. This castle became at that time
the actual scene of a romantic escape made by John Home, the author of
Douglas, and some other prisoners, who, having been taken at the battle
of Falkirk, were confined there by the insurgents.
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