Pibroch of the Domhnall

By Joseph Charles MacKenzie

Author’s Notes:

§ The refrains at the end of each stanza are to be recited by the Inaugural crowd.

§ A Pibroch is a rallying bagpipe tune and is pronounced like “PEA-brohgh.”

§ Domhnall, the Scottish form of the name Donald, is pronounced like “TONE-all”

§ Torquil was the royal progenitor of the MacLeods of Lewis, the outer hebridean island and birthplace of President Trump’s immigrant mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.

Come out for the Domhnall, ye brave men and proud,

The scion of Torquil and best of MacLeod!

With purpose and strength he came down from his tower

To snatch from a tyrant his ill-gotten power.

Now the cry has gone up with a cheer from the crowd:

“Come out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!”

When freedom is threatened by slavery’s chains

And voices are silenced as misery reigns,

We’ll come out for a leader whose courage is true

Whose virtues are solid and long overdue.

For, he’ll never forget us, we men of the crowd

Who elected the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

When crippling corruption polluted our nation

And plunged our economy into stagnation,

As self-righteous rogues took the opulent office

And plump politicians reneged on their promise,

The forgotten continued to form a great crowd

That defended the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

The Domhnall’s a giver whilst others just take,

Ne’er gaining from that which his hands did not make.

A builder of buildings, employing good men,

He’s enriched many cities by factors of ten.

The honest and true gladly march with the crowd

Standing up for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

True friend of the migrant from both far and near,

He welcomes the worthy, but guards our frontier,

Lest a murderous horde, for whom hell is the norm,

Should threaten our lives and our nation deform.

We immigrants hasten to swell the great crowd

Coming out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

Academe now lies dead, the old order rots,

No longer policing our words and our thoughts;

Its ignorant hirelings pretending to teach

Are backward in vision, sophomoric in speech.

Now we learnèd of mind add ourselves to the crowd

That cheers on the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

The black man, forgotten, in poverty dying,

The poor man, the sick man, with young children crying,

The soldier abroad and the mother who waits,

The young without work or behind prison gates,

The veterans, wounded, all welcome the crowd

That fights for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

Whilst hapless old harridans flapping their traps

Teach women to look and behave like us chaps,

The Domhnall defends the defenseless forlorn;

For, a woman’s first right is the right to be born.

Now the bonnie young lassies that fly to the crowd

Have a champion in Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

But for all his great wisdom, the braw gallant man

Is matched by his children, the handsome Trump clan,

And the flower of Europe, Melania the fair,

Adds a luster and grace with her long flowing hair.

May they flourish and prosper to form a great crowd

Around the good Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

Is there man left in Scotland, without base alloy,

Who remembers the Wallace, the Bruce, or Rob Roy?

Or have five hundred years of a blasphemous lie

Robbed your manhood of might that you lay down and die?

Get up and walk free, all ye brave men and proud!

Long life to the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

© Joseph Charles MacKenzie, all rights reserved

Joseph Charles MacKenzie is the first and last American to win First Place in the Long Poem Section of the Scottish International Poetry Competition, Henry M. Austin Poetry Prize.

(The views expressed in individual poems on this website do not reflect those of the Society. The Society does not endorse political candidates.)

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Gentle Readers,

I am very pleased to announce that a magnificent Scottish voice has agreed to make a recording of what has become known throughout the world as “Mr. Trump’s Inaugural Poem”—quite possibly the most widely read poem in British-American circles at this moment. I hereby release it to the general public for its enjoyment and edification. If I must accept the title of “Inaugural Poet” from the hands of History herself, no more intending to wear this mantle than Mr. Trump initially intended to bear upon his shoulders that of President of our nation, know that I accept it in deepest humility and gratitude to all those who have supported my endeavor, in particular Mr. Evan Mantyk, the brilliant, young editor of the Society of Classical poets. Contrary to rumors—the fruit, no doubt, of great excitement at the appearance of so novel a work—my poem, alas, is not to be read at the official ceremonies of Inauguration. For, Providence has arranged that the “Inaugural Poem,” rather than descending from the pretentious podium of an academic elite, should arise instead from the hearts of those Forgotten Men and Women standing upon the solid earth of their convictions. For, I am one of the Forgotten Men, a worker who knows too well life’s common struggle. In offering the gift of the “Inaugural Poem” to that courageous gentleman who clearly deserves the homage of the muse, and as my financial circumstances prevent me from attending the Inauguration of the very subject of my poem, may I please invite those assisting at this happy event to share in my absence the “Pibroch to the Domhnall” with the Inaugural Crowd whose diverse members are also celebrated in my rhymes. Thank you, Scotland, birthplace of song, for the lilt of my verses, and for the large and generous character of the world’s new leader. Congratulations, Mr. President!

Joseph Charles MacKenzie

https://mackenziepoet.com/donations/