THE LOCHABER AXE. 243 



Onward the baffled warrior bore 

 His course but soon his course was o'er ! 

 High in his stirrups stood the King, 

 And gave his battle-axe the swing. 

 Right on De Boune, the whiles he pass'd, 

 Fell that stern dint the first the last ! 

 Such strength upon the blow was put, 

 The helmet crush'd like hazel nut ; 

 The axe shaft, with its brazen clasp, 

 Was shiver'd to the gauntlet grasp. 

 Springs from the blow the startled horse, 

 Drops to the plain the lif eless corse. 

 First of that fatal field, how soon, 

 How sudden fell the fierce De Boune ! " 



A real Lochaber axe-head we have seen, never the complete 

 weapon properly shafted, though surely real and genuine specimens 

 of the old and famous war-arm must he found in some of our 

 museums. At what period the Lochaber axe ceased to be carried 

 as a battle-arm by the Highlanders it is impossible to say ; probably 

 soon after the general introduction of fire-arms into the northern 

 half of the kingdom, for it was certainly not used in the '45, nor, 

 so far as we know, in the '15, nor even in the wars of Montrose ; 

 so that for upwards of two hundred years at least it has not been 

 used in actual combat. 



