On the Restoration of the Forfeited Estates, 1784
or: As O'er the Highland Hills I Hied
by William Cameron
circa 1784

No more the trumpet calls to arms,
Awaking battle's fierce alarms,
But every hero's bosom warms
With songs of exultation;
While brave Lochiel at length regains,
Through toils of war, his native plains,
And, won by glorious wounds, attains
His high paternal station.

Let now the voice of joy prevail,
And echo wide from hill to vale.
Ye warlike clans, arise, and hail
Your laurell'd chiefs returning.
O'er every mountain, every isle,
Let peace in all her lustre smile,
And discord ne'er her day defile
With sullen shades of mourning.

Macleod, Macdonald, join the strain;
Macpherson, Fraser, and Maclean;
Through all your bounds let gladness reign,
Both prince and patriot praising,
Whose generous bounty richly pours
The streams of plenty round your shores,
To Scotia's hills their pride restores,
Her faded honours raising.

Let all the joyous banquet share,
Nor e'er let Gothic grandeur dare
With a scowling brow to overbear,
A vassal's rights invading.
Let Freedom's conscious sons disdain
To crowd his fawning timid train,
Nor even own his haughty reign,
Their dignity degrading.

Ye northern chiefs, whose rage, unbroke,
Has still repell'd the tyrant's shock;
Who ne'er have bow'd beneath her yoke
With servile base prostration;
Let each now train his trusty band
'Gainst foreign foes alone to stand
With undivided heart and hand,
For Freedom, King, and Nation.

Editor's Note: The Lochiel Estate was restored under the General Act of Indemnity of 1784, subject to a fine of £3422 9s 1d.

This song first appeared in the Scots Musical Museum.  It was written by Aberdeen resident William Cameron, and sung to the old air "The Haughs of Cromdale."

William Cameron was born in 1751, and studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen, where he was a pupil of Dr. Beattie.  In 1781, along with the celebrated John Logan and Dr. Morrison, minister of Canisbay, he contributed towards the formation of a collection of Paraphrases from Scripture, which, being approved by the General Assembly, is still used in public worship in Scotland.  William is understood to have composed the 14^th and 7^th Paraphrases, and to have revised thirty-nine others in the series. He was ordained to the pastoral charge of Kirknewton, in the county of Midlothian, on the 17^th August 1786.  William died in his manse, on November 17, 1811.