No word Dunolly spoke, but went,
An altered man, and said;
"Go bring them home, for rich are they,
Love shows them nobly wed."
THE ARMADA GUN [1]
[1] This cannon was recovered in 1740 from the wreck of a vessel of the Spanish Armada sunk in Tobermory Bay, and is at Inveraray.
An ancient cannon, finely cast.
Of bronze, all smooth and green with age,
A by-gone actor on the stage,
Yet fit to take, as in the past
A role in war, and be the last
Dread argument of kings!
The daisies grew around, and brought
The homage of young spring to praise
This stately relic of old days,
When France with Spain for mastery fought;
And Philip over England sought
To spread the Papal wings.
Initialed with King Francis' name,
With Gallic lilies sculptured o'er,
Above the vent the metal bore
A Salamander crowned, in flame;
The massive breech could even claim
A sheath of lotos bloom.
This goodly weapon, forged where Seine
By Fontainebleau and Paris flows,
And many a painted Palace shows
These emblems of the Valois' reign,
For centuries unseen has lain
Within the sea's dark tomb.
How came it there? A Spanish keel
One of the Great Armada gay,
Was blasted in Our Lady's Bay;
One of the Fleet the floods conceal,
Though o'er the waves was wont to peal
The thunder of their pride.
But how came France's lilies there
Beneath the flag of red and gold?
And o'er the ancient gun we told
The story which the legends bear,
How in defeat it bore its share
And stemmed the Victory's tide.
We thought the winds of hollow sound
Spoke from its mouth in solemn tone,
Of great events its life had known,
That thronged, as with the nearly drowned,
To recollection, ere it found
Beneath the sea a grave.