| Red Lion famed and feared of old
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| On Scotland’s battle field,
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| The blazon of her banner fold—
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| The 'scutcheon of her shield.
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| Meet emblem of her heroes, whom
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| Thou ledd’st to battle forth,
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| And ledd’st to triumph, or a tomb,
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| Red Lion of the North
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| The warlike Pict, the wandering Dane,
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| Oft thou hast made to mourn,
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| And sterner glories dyed thy name, —
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| The blood of Bannockburn!
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| On later fields, in many a clime,
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| Hast thou pawed proudly forth,
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| Triumphant as of olden time,
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| Red Lion of the North
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| The chieftain’s cairn, the martyr’s grave,
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| Where sleep the heroic dead,
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| May ne’er the footstep of a slave,
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| Profane them with their tread—
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| Nor vainly may the Future see
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| Our armed hosts go forth,
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| Beneath St. Andrew’s cross, and thee,
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| Red Lion of the North
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| The ancient mind, the ancient might,
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| Still may our hills produce,
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| To wield the sword of Wallace wight,
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| The battle-axe of Bruce !
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| The soul to love the minstrel’s lore,
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| And prize the patriot’s worth.
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| The spirit of the years of yore,
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| Red Lion of the North
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| High honour unto thine and thee,
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| For never shalt thou wave,
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| But from the flag-staff of the free,
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| The banner of the brave !
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| And by thy glories in the past,
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| When Scotland bears thee forth,
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| Stand thou for freedom, first and last.
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| Red Lion of the North |