NECTABANUS

(Walter Scott, The Talisman)

I send you herewith a Gothic gnome … he came out of a deep 
mine, where he guards the fountain of tears.
R.L. STEVENSON, 1886

                                                       1
When we emerged frae oor cave o forgettin, 
My leddy and I, frae the clammy fankle o shafts and dubs, 
We thocht: are we rescued? They gien us fancy duds,
Fair skailin wi silks, and fedders o pown,
And we thocht: are we free?

Here am I, Nectabanus, and my leddy Guenevra,
Fit ti dae yer biddin, oh heid yins! – Fit fir naethin else. 
Sall we shak wir wee bells at yez? Divert yez wi somersauts?
Sall we cral athort yer flair, the bandy-leggit pair o us,
Wi puddock lowps ti gar yez gaff – oh, cruikit limbs o pain –
Yez mak o us a bairnspiel when nane o yez are bairns,
Ye’d find a whigmaleerie in the verra daunce o daith.

                                   2

Oh lustrous Queen, the Saxon Majestie,
Wha weirs the mask o sovereign courtesie,
And winks at vowed chivalric chastity –
Oh lustrous Queen!

Fir we were royal lang afore your reign,
     Compoundit o a rouchness and a grace;
The knarly aiks i the glen were oor domain;
     The scaur, the craig, oor castellatit space.
Fou seeven-year wis perpetuitie,
      Passed in a blenk: oors wis an eldritch airt
O necromantic tales and sangs: but we
      Grew stale o oor ain Gods, and gan depairt
Fir ither launds and faiths. Aince we had delled
      The riches o oor yird, dounby oor pit:
New pits became new dungeons. We were sellt
      As baests, enslaved ti gowd; oor wages, grit.
Sae turns ti exile this oor lang stravaig,
Faur frae oor glen, nae mair oor scaur, oor craig.

                             
                                                        3

Kobolds, goblins; - bogles;
Whitever yez want ti cry uz: see, we hae bonny gee-gaws fir yez!
Can siclike hairy haurdened paws fashion sic filigree?
Can siclike bowlie-backit craiturs pynt yez ti perfection?
Na, na, juist fecht amang yersels. Trust uz, there comes the season
Ti guide yez, undeservin, through the labyrinth o treason.