Go then, triumphant! sweep along
Thy course, the theme of many a song!
The power, whose dictates swell my breast,
Hath blessed thee, and thou shalt be blessed!"
21. With the faithful islanders Bruce remained for some months, while
his friends were making preparations for a rising upon the mainland.
At last the time came, and Bruce, at the head of a little force,
landed in the night and surprised and captured a castle held by the
Lord of Lorn. Holding this as a basis of operations, the king and his
principal followers, Douglas and Randolph, went out in different
directions to arouse the people against their English oppressors, and
to raise forces of sufficient strength to risk their cause in battle.
This was a matter of great hazard, as every movement of the Scotch was
closely watched by the enemy, and, when any one was suspected of
opposing the English rule, he was at once imprisoned and probably
executed. The patriots were obliged to move with great caution, and
often to secrete themselves in the fastnesses of the mountains or in
the lonely huts of the peasants. Blood-hounds were employed to track
the fugitives, and it is related that Lorn at one time followed Bruce
with a blood-hound that had once been his own. The king, seeing that
he was followed by a large body of soldiers, divided his men into
three separate parties, hoping to throw the hound off the track.
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