ST. MICHAEL AND THE PREACHER. 153 



extent by the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into 

 the grievances of the Highland Crofters. 



The angel, St. Michael, who visits Skye and listens to the 

 tale of misery its people has to tell, exclaims : 



"Ye men of Skye ! ye heirs of woe : 

 O'er whom great tribulations flow, 

 Know that the mighty Lord designed 

 | This bounteous earth for all mankind,; 

 That they obedient to His law 

 Might from its soil their sustenance draw, 

 And reap those joys which in the strife 

 Make light their little round of life : 

 But Landlords, by their works, have driven 

 From off the earth the will of heaven : 



Thus by their laws they ever stand 

 The foes of those who till the land. 



Preferring brutes and desolation 

 To men, the bulwark of a nation ! 



But fear not tho' your countrymen, 

 By sophistries of tongue and pen, 

 Condemn ye heedlessly because 

 Ye dare to dare a landlord's laws ; 

 These but the men who are impressed 

 With naught but what will pay them best. 



O ! be ye of good cheer, the hour 



Has struck the knell of landlord power, 



And men arise with vatic eye, 



And see the dawn of new things nigh, 



And fear not to proclaim the creed 



' The land for those who sow the seed ! ' 



Despair not, be united all, 



Resolved for right, to stand or fall, 



And should the factor's law-hounds come 



To drive ye from your peaceful home, 



Remember this is Freedom's token 



' Good laws are based on bad laws broken ! ' 



And no great Cause is worth the name, 



Without its martyrs, bonds, and shame. 



