A Croft In Clachan (The Ballad Of Rob MacDunn)

With the Campbells and McDonalds

It was in their blood to fight

With each passing generation it

Became a mans birthright

But they always had a common enemy

Never would the English crown

Take Scottish independency

Oh the battles rage in

Glasgow and majestic Edinburgh

And they came with war machines and

In the highlands shots were heard

Then the people rose in union and

The forces moved as one

And the Clans all joined together to

See English on the run

And in a tiny croft in Clachan sat a mother

Peg Macdunn

And she sewed the cords together for

Her 16 year old son

And she cried as he was leaving, donâ

And come you back to Clachan when

The English are all done

Now Rob Macdunn was ready as

The left the croft behind

And he joined the highland pipe brigade

With one thing on his mind

That to keep his home and freedom he

Must face it like a man

So he marched in common union with

His musket in his hand

And he met the hill of battle

In the highlands and the low

And the reason for the fighting long

Within his blood to know

In the middle of the rumble

He was forward gaining ground

And the bagpipes still were piping as

The dead lay all around

Then he moved in no direction till

He faced the winds of North

And he boldly climbed the highlands

Further from the Firth of Forth

Then one freezing, blowing morning

Came the cry of Peg Macdunn

Back to my croft in Clachan God

Has sent me home my son

And in another croft in Clachan cross

The way from the Macdunnâ

With her face against the window

Sat a young girl, tired and worn

And she smiled a secret knowing as

She breathed a prayer alone:

"I thank thee, Lord

For bringing Rob Macdunn back safely home"

Back to the croft in Clachan

He returned to peace again

He had gone a boy of 16

But he came back as a man