The Right Honourable the Earl of Bosebery,
VICE-PRESIDENTS, OFFICE-BEARERS, AND MEMBERS
ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER.
Fraternal band! brave sons of Scot and Gael,
Whose leaders form a long and glorious line,
Deign to accept this puny book of mine
As from a heart that warmly bids thee, hail !
Thine is a land of minstrels and of song;
Her straths and glens have echoed to the chimes
Of their wild music from primæval times,
Nor could they brook disloyalty or wrong.
Since, ye have reached the foreground of thy kind;
Whether on sea or land all round the world,
Thine ancient banner waves aloft unfurl'd,
Fill'd with the fruits of many a prosp'rous wind;
Thoughtful and nobly true-thy daughters fair,
Oppression's foe, yet mercy hath to spare.