Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"PTE. R. D. STEWART

A sturdy Scot who enlisted with a gallant W.A. Battalion and was killed in action in France. He was the author of the following verses, and singularly enough was playing the bagpipes when the German shot came which ended his life:-

Faintly the sound of the "Pibroch" comes stealing
Thro' the wild glen o'er the sweet scented moss;
The echoes resounding are heard in the sheeling,
Where sits a fond mother lamenting her loss.

Her head is bowed low on her breast as she sobs,
The wailing notes sound thro' the half-open door.
Pealing thro' the dark glen, then gently it throbs.
The soul-stirring strains of "Lochaber no More."

"Lochaber no More,'' how her boy loved the strain.
And who in response to his country's appeal
Deserted the glen, and now lies with the slain
Where pibrochs are heard with the wild clashing steel.

He fell with the sound of the pipes in his ears.
He heard not the guns, the loud cries of the men;
He pictured a grief-stricken mother in tears
Who watched by the door of his cot in the glen.

No more will he gaze on his mother's dear face,
He'll never more hear the deep throated hurrah;
That night the pipes played o'er his last resting place,
The Flo'ers o' the Forest are a weed awa.

Sound! Sound! ye wild pibroch, ye echoes resound,
Let plaintive notes float on the calm mountain air;
Where grief-stricken, sorrowing mothers abound,
Where death has reduced a home to despair." - from the Perth Sunday Times 24 Dec 1916 (nla.gov.au)