If wealth thou art wooing, or title, or fame,
There is that in the doing brings honour or shame ;
There is something in running life's perilous race,
Will stamp thee as worthy, or brand thee as base.
Oh, then, be a man — and, whatever betide,
Keep truth thy companion, and honour thy guide.
If a king — be thy kingship right royally shewn,
And trust to thy subjects to shelter thy throne ;
Rely not on weapons or armies of might,
But on that which endureth, — laws loving and right.
Though a king, be a man — and, whatever betide,
Keep truth thy companion, and honour thy guide.
If a noble — remember, though ancient thy blood,
The heart truly noble is that which is good ;
Should a stain of dishonour encrimson thy brow,
Thou art slave to the peasant that sweats at the plough.
Be noble as man — and, whatever betide,
Keep truth thy companion, and honour thy guide.
If lover or husband — be faithful and kind,
For doubting is death to the sensitive mind ;
Love's exquisite passion a breath may destroy ;
The sower in faith, reapeth harvests of joy.
Love dignifies man — and, whatever betide,
Keep truth thy companion, and honour thy guide.
If a father — be firm, yet forgiving, and prove
How the child honours him who rebuketh with love.
If rich, or if poor, or whate'er thou may'st be,
Remember the truthful alone are the free.
Erect in thy manhood, whatever betide,
Keep truth thy companion, and honour thy guide.
Then, though sickness may come, or misfortunes may fall,
There is that in thy bosom surviveth them all;
Truth, honour, love, friendship, no tempests can pale,
They are beacons of light in adversity's gale.
Oh, the manlike is godlike — no ill shall betide
While truth's thy companion, and honour thy guide. [V, 7-8]
Bibliography
Jerdan, William. “Francis Bennoch” in Charles Rogers’s The Modern Scottish Minstrel, or The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century 6 vols. Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1857. Hathi Trist Digital Library online version of a copy in the Harvard University Library. Web. 14 July 2020.
Last modified 14 July 2020