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diff --git a/5077-0.txt b/5077-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f8459e --- /dev/null +++ b/5077-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13429 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5077 *** +MARMION: +A TALE OF FLODDEN FIELD +IN SIX CANTOS +BY +SIR WALTER SCOTT +EDITED +WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES +BY THOMAS BAYNE + + + + +EDITOR'S PREFACE. + + + +I. SCOTT AT ASHESTIEL. + +Sir Walter Scott's love of the country induced him, after his +marriage in 1797, to settle in a cottage at the pretty village of +Lasswade, near Edinburgh. Four years after leaving this district he +took Mr. Morritt of Rokeby to see the little dwelling, telling him +that, though not worth looking at, 'it was our first house when +newly married, and many a contrivance it had to make it +comfortable.' He then enumerated various devices, by which he had +secured for Mrs. Scott and himself what seemed to both, at the time, +additional convenience and elegance in and about their home. His +reminiscences culminated in an account of an arch over the gate-way, +which he had constructed by fastening together the tops of two +convenient willows and placing above them 'a cross made of two +sticks.' This is very beautiful and characteristic; and there is +much freshness and charm in the further picture of the young +cottagers rejoicing over the success of the arrangements. 'To be +sure,' Scott concluded, 'it is not much of a lion to show a +stranger; but I wanted to see it again myself, for I assure you +after I constructed it, Mamma (Mrs. Scott) and I both of us thought +it so fine, we turned out to see it by moonlight, and walked +backwards from it to the cottage-door in admiration of our own +magnificence and its picturesque effect.' It was his way to invest +his circumstances with an interest over and above what intrinsically +belonged to them, and to prompt his friends to a share in his +delight. + +When, in 1804, Scott was appointed Sheriff of Selkirkshire, a +condition attaching to his post was that he should reside during +part of the year within the bounds of his sheriffdom. He then +removed from Lasswade, and settled at Ashestiel on the Tweed, seven +miles from Selkirk. This is his own account of the new home:-- + +'We found a delightful retirement, by my becoming the tenant of my +intimate friend and cousin-german, Colonel Russell, in his mansion +of Ashestiel, which was unoccupied during his absence on military +service in India. The house was adequate to our accommodation, and +the exercise of a limited hospitality. The situation is uncommonly +beautiful, by the side of a fine river, whose streams are there very +favourable for angling, surrounded by the remains of natural woods, +and by hills abounding in game. In point of society, according to +the heartfelt phrase of Scripture, we dwelt "amongst our own +people"; and as the distance from the metropolis was only thirty +miles, we were not out of reach of our Edinburgh friends, in which +city we spent the terms of the summer and winter Sessions of the +Court, that is, five or six months in the year.' + +The functions of the Sheriff of Selkirkshire admitted of +considerable leisure, and Scott settled at Ashestiel full of +literary projects, as well as heartily prepared to meet his new +responsibilities and to add to his numerous and valuable +friendships. An enterprise that early engaged his attention was a +complete edition of the British poets, but the deliberations on the +subject came to nothing except in so far as they helped towards the +preparation of Campbell's 'Specimens of the British Poets,' which +appeared in 1819. Writing Scott regarding his project of a complete +edition of the poets, his friend George Ellis said, 'Much as I wish +for a corpus poetarum, edited as you would edit it, I should like +still better another Minstrel Lay by the last and best Minstrel; and +the general demand for the poem seems to prove that the public are +of my opinion.' The work of editing, however, he seemed at the time +determined on having, and he finally abandoned the idea of an +exhaustive issue of the British poetry previous to his own time and +settled down to edit Dryden. This was a work much needed, and Scott +did it extremely well, as may be seen by comparing his own issue of +Dryden's Life and Works in 1808 with the recent reproduction of it, +admirably edited by Mr. George Saintsbury. + +He had likewise, as he mentions in the General Preface to the +Novels, begun Waverley 'about 1805,' and other literary engagements +received their share of attention. He wrote articles for the +Edinburgh Review, besides doing such minor if useful literary +service as editing for Constable 'Original Memoirs written during +the Great Civil Wars,' and so on. At the same time, there were +prospects of professional advancement, an account of which he gives +in the following terms, in the 1830 Introduction to 'Marmion':-- + +'An important circumstance had, about the same time, taken place in +my life. Hopes had been held out to me from an influential quarter, +of a nature to relieve me from the anxiety which I must have +otherwise felt, as one upon the precarious tenure of whose own life +rested the principal prospects of his family, and especially as one +who had necessarily some dependence upon the favour of the public, +which is proverbially capricious; though it is but justice to add, +that, in my own case, I have not found it so. Mr. Pitt had +expressed a wish to my personal friend, the Right Hon. William +Dundas, now Lord Clerk Register of Scotland, that some fitting +opportunity should be taken to be of service to me; and as my views +and wishes pointed to a future rather than an immediate provision, +an opportunity of accomplishing this was soon found. One of the +Principal Clerks of Session, as they are called, (official persons +who occupy an important and responsible situation, and enjoy a +considerable income,) who had served upwards of thirty years, felt +himself, from age, and the infirmity of deafness with which it was +accompanied, desirous of retiring from his official situation. As +the law then stood, such official persons were entitled to bargain +with their successors, either for a sum of money, which was usually +a considerable one, or for an interest in the emoluments of the +office during their life. My predecessor, whose services had been +unusually meritorious, stipulated for the emoluments of his office +during his life, while I should enjoy the survivorship, on the +condition that I discharged the duties of the office in the +meantime. Mr. Pitt, however, having died in the interval, his +administration was dissolved, and was succeeded by that known by the +name of the Fox and Grenville Ministry. My affair was so far +completed, that my commission lay in the office subscribed by his +Majesty; but, from hurry or mistake, the interest of my predecessor +was not expressed in it, as had been usual in such cases. Although, +therefore, it only required payment of the fees, I could not in +honour take out the commission in the present state, since, in the +event of my dying before him, the gentleman whom I succeeded must +have lost the vested interest which he had stipulated to retain. I +had the honour of an interview with Earl Spencer on the subject, and +he, in the most handsome manner, gave directions that the commission +should issue as originally intended; adding, that the matter having +received the royal assent, he regarded only as a claim of justice +what he would have willingly done as an act of favour. I never saw +Mr. Fox on this, or on any other occasion, and never made any +application to him, conceiving that in doing so I might have been +supposed to express political opinions contrary to those which I had +always professed. In his private capacity, there is no man to whom +I would have been more proud to owe an obligation, had I been so +distinguished. + +'By this arrangement I obtained the survivorship of an office, the +emoluments of which were fully adequate to my wishes; and as the law +respecting the mode of providing for superannuated officers was, +about five or six years after, altered from that which admitted the +arrangement of assistant and successor, my colleague very handsomely +took the opportunity of the alteration, to accept of the retiring +annuity provided in such cases, and admitted me to the full benefit +of the office.' + +At Ashestiel Scott systematically planned his day. He had his +mornings for his multifarious work, and the after part of the day +was given to necessary recreation and to his friends. He was an +ardent member of the Edinburgh Light Horse, at a time when +volunteers of a practical and energetic character seemed likely to +be needed, and at Ashestiel he combined a certain military routine +with his legal and literary arrangements. James Skene of Rubislaw, +one of his best friends and most frequent visitors, mentions that +'before beginning his desk-work in the morning he uniformly visited +his favourite steed, and neither Captain nor Lieutenant, nor the +Lieutenant's successor, Brown Adam (so called after one of the +heroes of the Minstrelsy), liked to be fed except by him.' Skene is +the friend to whom Scott addresses the Introduction to Canto IV, +charged with touching and beautiful reminiscences of earlier days. +They were comrades in the Edinburgh Light Horse Volunteers, Scott +being Quartermaster and Skene Cornet. Their friendship had been one +of eleven years' standing when the dedicatory epistle was written:-- + + 'Eleven years we now may tell, + Since we have known each other well; + Since, riding side by side, our hand + First drew the voluntary brand.' + +With regard to the Introductions, it may now be said that they are +better where they are than if the poet had published them +separately, as at one time he seems to have intended (see Notes, p. +187). It is sometimes said by those anxious to learn the story that +these introductory Epistles should be steadily ignored, and the +cantos read in strict succession. In answer to an assertion of +opinion like this, it is hardly necessary to say more than that +probably those interested in the narrative alone could not do better +than avoid the Introductions. But it will be well for them to miss +various other things besides: will they, for example, care for the +impassioned address of Constance to her judges, for the landlord's +tale of grammarye, for Sir David Lyndsay's narrative, or even for +the many descriptive passages that interrupt the free progress of +the tale? Their reading would appear to be done on the plan of +those who get through novels, or other works of imagination, by +carefully omitting the dialogue and all those passages in which the +author pauses to describe or to reflect. It is needless to say that +this is not the spirit in which to approach 'Marmion' as it stands. +Scott wrote with his friends about him, and it was part of his own +enjoyment of his work to interest them in what for the time was +receiving the main part of his attention. His talk with Mr. Morritt +in front of the little cottage at Lasswade is highly significant as +illustrative of his attitude towards his friends. His healthy, +humorous, happy nature wanted sympathy, appreciation, sociality, and +good cheer for its complete normal development, and this alone would +explain the writing of the Introductions. But there is more than +this. He talked over his subject and his progress with friends +competent to discuss and advise, and he showed them portions of the +poem as he advanced. There are indications in the Introductions of +certain discussions that had arisen over his conception and +treatment, and surely few readers would like to miss from the volume +the clever and humorous apology for his own method which the poet +advances in the Introduction to the third canto. William Erskine, +refined critic and life-long friend, is asked to be patient and +generous while the poet proceeds in his own way:-- + + 'Still kind, as is thy wont, attend, + And in the minstrel spare the friend, + Though wild as cloud, as stream, as gale, + Flow forth, flow unrestrain'd, my Tale!' + +Further, the Introductions do not in any case interrupt the progress +of the Poem. Scott was dealing with a great national theme--a cause +he and his friends could understand and appreciate--and both before +starting and at every pause he has something to say that is apposite +and suggestive. His country's wintry state is the key-note of the +first Introduction, which is an appropriate prelude to a great +national tragedy; weird Border legends and the touching and +mysterious silences of lone St. Mary's Lake fitly introduce the +'mysterious Man of Woe'; the third and the fourth Introductions, +with their features of personal interest and their bright +reminiscences of 'tales that charmed' and scenes on 'the field-day, +or the drill,' are easily connected with the Hostel and the Camp; +Spenser's 'wandering Squire of Dames,' the vigorous description of +the 'Queen of the North,' and the tribute to the notes that 'Marie +translated, Blondel sung,' all tell in their due place as +preparatory to the canto on The Court; while the ominous record, +emanating from a Yule-tide retreat, could not be more fitly +interrupted than by a battle of national disaster. Scott, then, may +have thought of publishing the Introductions separately, but it is +well that he ultimately allowed his better judgment to prevail. It +is not necessary to dwell on their special descriptive features, +which readily assert themselves and give Scott a high and honoured +place among Nature-poets. His quick and minute observation, his +sense of colour and harmonious effects, and his skill of arrangement +are admirable throughout. + + +II. COMPOSITION OF 'MARMION.' + +In 1791 Scott accompanied an uncle into Northumberland, and made his +first acquaintance with the scene of Flodden. Writing to his friend +William Clerk (Lockhart's Life, ii. 182), he says, 'Never was an +affair more completely bungled than that day's work was. Suppose +one army posted upon the face of a hill, and secured by high grounds +projecting on each flank, with the river Till in front, a deep and +still river, winding through a very extensive valley called Milfield +Plain, and the only passage over it by a narrow bridge, which the +Scots artillery, from the hill, could in a moment have demolished. +Add that the English must have hazarded a battle while their troops, +which were tumultuously levied, remained together; and that the +Scots, behind whom the country was open to Scotland, had nothing to +do but to wait for the attack as they were posted. Yet did two- +thirds of the army, actuated by the perfervidum ingenium Scotorum, +rush down and give an opportunity to Stanley to occupy the ground +they had quitted, by coming over the shoulder of the hill, while the +other third, under Lord Home, kept their ground, and having seen +their King and about 10,000 of their countrymen cut to pieces, +retired into Scotland without loss.' Fifteen years after this was +written Scott began the composition of 'Marmion,' and it is +interesting to note that, so early in life as the date of this +letter indicates, he was so keenly alive to the great blunder in +military tactics made by James IV and his advisers, and so +manifestly stirred to eloquent expression of his feeling. + +In November 1806 Scott began 'Marmion,' designed as a romance of +Feudalism to succeed the Border study in 'The Lay of the Last +Minstrel.' The circumstances of the time, no doubt, to some extent +prompted the choice of subject. Napoleon was diligently working out +his ambitious scheme of a Western Empire, and plotting the ruin of +Great Britain as an indispensable feature of the arrangement. Scott +was not always intimately acquainted with the details of current +politics, but when a subject fairly roused his interest he was not +slow to take part in its discussion. This is notably illustrated, +in this very year 1806, by the outspoken and energetic political +ballad he produced over the acquittal of Lord Melville from a +serious charge. This ballad, which went very straight to the heart +of its subject, and left no doubt as to the party feeling of the +writer, not only arrested general attention but gave considerable +offence to the leaders on the side so sharply handled. It is given, +with an explanation of the circumstances that called it forth, in +Lockhart's Life, ii. 106, 1837 ed. + +While, however, party politics was not always a subject that +interested Scott, patriotism was a constituent element of his +character. He had a keen sense of national dignity and honour--as +the extract from his Flodden letter alone sufficiently testifies-- +and, had circumstances demanded it of him, he would almost certainly +have distinguished himself as a trooper on the field of battle. +Thus it was not only his love of a picturesque theme that inspired +him with his Tale of Flodden Field, but likewise his patriotic +ardour and his desire to touch the national heart. 'Marmion' is +epical in character and movement; and it is at the same time a +brilliant and suggestive delineation of a national effort, +illustrating keen sense of honour, resolute purpose, and pathetic +manly devotion. James IV was probably wrong, and he was certainly +very rash, in attempting to do battle with Henry VIII, but although +his people were aware of his mistake, and his advisers did all in +their power to dissuade him, he was supported to the last with a +heroism that recalls Thermopylae. This was a display of national +character that appealed directly and powerfully to Scott, prompting +him to the production of his loftiest and most energetic verse. +Mournful associations will ever cluster around the tragic battle of +Flodden--that 'most dolent day,' as Lyndsay aptly calls it--but all +the same the record remains of what heroic men had it in them to do +for King and country, where + + 'Groom fought like noble, squire like knight, + As fearlessly and well.' + +Scott intended to work slowly and carefully through his new poem, +but, as he explains in the 1830 Introduction, circumstances +interrupted his design. 'Particular passages,' he says, 'of a poem, +which was finally called "Marmion," were laboured with a good deal +of care, by one by whom much care was seldom bestowed.' The +publication, however, was hastened by 'the misfortunes of a near +relation and friend.' Lockhart (Life, ii. 115) explains that the +reference is to 'his brother Thomas's final withdrawal from the +profession of Writer to the Signet, which arrangement seems to have +been quite necessary towards the end of 1806.' At any rate, the +poem was finished in a shorter time than had been at first intended. +The subject suited Scott so exactly that, even in default of a +special stimulus, there need be no surprise at the rapidity of his +composition after he had fairly begun to move forward with it. +Dryden, it may be remembered, was so held and fascinated by his +'Alexander's Feast' that he wrote it off in a night. Cowper had a +similar experience with 'John Gilpin,' and Burns's powerful dramatic +tale, 'Tam O'Shanter,' was produced with great ease and rapidity. +De Quincey records that, in his own case, his very best work was +frequently done when he was writing against time. Scott's energy +and fluency of composition are clearly indicated in the following +passage in Lockharts Life, ii. 117:-- + +'When the theme was of a more stirring order, he enjoyed pursuing it +over brake and fell at the full speed of his Lieutenant. I well +remember his saying, as I rode with him across the hills from +Ashestiel to Newark one day in his declining years--"Oh, man, I had +many a grand gallop among these braes when I was thinking of +'Marmion,' but a trotting canny pony must serve me now." His +friend, Mr. Skene, however, informs me that many of the more +energetic descriptions, and particularly that of the battle of +Flodden, were struck out while he was in quarters again with his +cavalry, in the autumn of 1807. "In the intervals of drilling," he +says, "Scott used to delight in walking his powerful black steed up +and down by himself upon the Portobello sands, within the beating of +the surge; and now and then you would see him plunge in his spurs +and go off as if at the charge, with the spray dashing about him. +As we rode back to Musselburgh, he often came and placed himself +beside me to repeat the verses that he had been composing during +these pauses of our exercise."' + +This is wholly in keeping with the production of such poetry of +movement as that of 'Marmion,' and it deserves its due place in +estimating the work of Scott, just as Wordsworth's staid and sober +walks around his garden, or among the hills by which he was +surrounded, are carefully considered in connexion with his +deliberate, meditative verse. Scott wrote the Introduction to Canto +IV just a year after he had begun the poem, and between that time +and the middle of February 1808 the work was finished. There is no +rashness in saying that rapidity of production did not detract from +excellence of result. Indeed, it is admiration rather than +criticism that is challenged by the reflection that, in these short +months, the poet should have turned out so much verse of high and +enduring quality. + + +III. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POEM. + +'Marmion' is avowedly a descriptive poem. It is a series of skilful +and impressive pictures, not only remarkable in themselves, but +conspicuous in their own kind in poetical literature. Scott is said +to have been deficient, or at any rate imperfectly trained, in +certain sense activities, but there is no denying his quick +perception of colour and his strong sense of the leading points in a +landscape. Even minute features are seized and utilized with ease +and precision, while the larger elements of a scene are depicted +with breadth, sense of proportion, and clearness and impressiveness +of arrangement. This holds true whether the description is merely a +vivid presentment of what the imagination of the poet calls from the +remote past, or a delineation of what has actually come under his +notice. Norham at twilight, with the solitary warder on the +battlements, and Crichtoun castle, as Scott himself saw it, +instantly commend themselves by their realistic vigour and their +consistent verisimilitude. Any visitor to Norham will still be able +to imagine the stir and the imposing spectacle described in the +opening stanzas of the first canto; and it is a pleasure to follow +Scott's minute and faithful picture of Crichtoun by examining the +imposing ruin as it stands at the present day. Then it is +impossible not to feel that the Edinburgh of the sixteenth century +was exactly as it is depicted in the poem, and that the troops on +the Borough Moor were disposed as seen by the trained military eye +of Sir Walter Scott. It would be difficult to find anywhere a more +striking ancient stronghold than Tantallon, nor would it be easy to +conceive a more appropriate scene for that grim and exciting morning +interview in which the venerable Douglas found that he had harboured +a recreant knight. Above all, there is the great battle scene, +standing alone in literature for its carefully detailed delineation- +-its persistent minuteness, its rapidity of movement, its balanced +effects, its energetic purpose--and surpassing everything in modern +verse for its vivid Homeric realism. Fifteen years before, as we +have seen, Scott had the progress of the battle in his mind's eye, +and at length he produced his description as if he had been present +in the character of a skilful and interested spectator. There are +envious people who decline to admit that Scott discovered his +scenery, and who contend that others knew all about it before and +appreciated it in their own way. Be it so; and yet the fact remains +that Scott likewise saw and appreciated in the way peculiar to him, +and thereby enabled his numerous readers to share his enjoyment. A +very interesting and suggestive account of the new popularity given +to the Flodden district by the publication of 'Marmion' will be +found in Lockhart's Life, iii. 12. In the autumn of 1812 Scott +visited Rokeby, doing the journey on horseback, along with his +eldest boy and girl on ponies. The following is an episode of the +way:-- + +'Halting at Flodden to expound the field of battle to his young +folks, he found that "Marmion" had, as might have been expected, +benefited the keeper of the public-house there very largely; and the +village Boniface, overflowing with gratitude, expressed his anxiety +to have a Scott's Head for his sign-post. The poet demurred to this +proposal, and assured mine host that nothing could be more +appropriate than the portraiture of a foaming tankard, which already +surmounted his doorway. "Why, the painter man has not made an ill +job," said the landlord, "but I would fain have something more +connected with the book that has brought me so much good custom." +He produced a well-thumbed copy, and handing it to the author, +begged he would at least suggest a motto from the Tale of Flodden +Field. Scott opened the book at the death-scene of the hero, and +his eye was immediately caught by the "inscription" in black +letter:-- + + "Drink, weary pilgrim, drink, and pray + For the kind soul of Sibyl Grey," &c. + +"Well, my friend," said he, "what more would you have? You need but +strike out one letter in the first of these lines, and make your +painter-man, the next time he comes this way, print between the +jolly tankard and your own name:-- + + 'Drink, weary pilgrim, drink, and PAY.'" + +Scott was delighted to find, on his return, that this suggestion had +been adopted, and for aught I know the romantic legend may still be +visible.' + +The characters in the poem are hardly less vigorous in conception +and presentation than the descriptions. It may be true, as Carlyle +asserts in his ungenerous essay on Scott, that he was inferior to +Shakespeare in delineation of character, but, even admitting that, +we shall still have ample room for approval and admiration of his +work. So far as the purposes of the poem are concerned the various +personages are admirably utilized. We come to know Marmion himself +very intimately, the interest gradually deepening as the real +character of the Palmer and his relations to the hero are steadily +developed. These two take prominent rank with the imaginary +characters of literature. James IV, that 'champion of the dames,' +and likewise undoubted military leader, is faithfully delineated in +accordance with historical records and contemporary estimates. +Those desirous of seeing him as he struck the imagination of a poet +in his own day should read the eulogy passed upon him by Barclay in +his 'Ship of Fools.' The passage in which this occurs is an +interpolation in the division of the poem entitled 'Of the Ruine and +Decay of the Holy Faith Catholique.' The other characters are all +distinctly suited to the parts they have to perform. Acting on the +licence sanctioned by Horatian authority:-- + + 'Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet, + Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum'-- + +Scott appropriates Sir David Lyndsay to his purpose, presenting him, +even as he presents the stately and venerable Angus, with faithful +and striking picturesqueness. Bishop Douglas is exactly suited to +his share in the development of events; and had room likewise been +found for the Court poet Dunbar--author of James's Epithalamium, the +'Thrissill and the Rois'--it would have been both a fit and a seemly +arrangement. Had Scott remembered that Dunbar was a favourite of +Queen Margaret's he might have introduced him into an interesting +episode. The passage devoted to the Queen herself is exquisite and +graceful, its restrained and effective pathos making a singularly +direct and significant appeal. The other female characters are well +conceived and sustained, while Constance in the Trial scene reaches +an imposing height of dramatic intensity. + +After the descriptions and the characterisation, the remaining +important features of the poem are its marked practical irony and +its episodes. Marmion, despite his many excellences, is throughout- +-and for obvious reasons--the victim of a persistent Nemesis. Scott +is much interested in his hero; one fancies that if it were only +possible he would in the end extend his favour to him, and grant him +absolution; but his sense of artistic fitness prevails, and he will +abate no jot of the painful ordeal to which he feels bound to submit +him. Marmion is a knight with a claim to nothing more than the half +of the proverbial qualifications. He is sans peur, but not sans +reproche; and it is one expression of the practical irony that +constantly lurks to assail him that even his fearlessness quails for +a time before the Phantom Knight on Gifford Moor. The whole +attitude of the Palmer is ironical; and, after the bitter parting +with Angus at Tantallon, Marmion is weighted with the depressing +reflection that numerous forces are conspiring against him, and with +the knowledge that it is his old rival De Wilton that has thrown off +the Palmer's disguise and preceded him to the scene of war. In his +last hour the practical irony of his position bears upon him with a +concentration of keen and bitter thrusts. Clare, whom he intended +to defraud, ministers to his last needs; he learns that Constance +died a bitter death at Lindisfarne; and just when he recognises his +greatest need of strength his life speedily ebbs away. There is a +certain grandeur of impressive tragical effort in his last +struggles, as he feels that whatever he may himself have been he +suffers in the end from the merciless machinery of a false +ecclesiastical system. The practical irony follows him even after +his death, for it is a skilful stroke that leaves his neglected +remains on the field of battle and places a nameless stranger in his +stately tomb. + +As regards the episodes, it may just be said in a word that they are +appropriate, and instead of retarding the movement of the piece, as +has sometimes been alleged, they serve to give it breadth and +massiveness of effect. Of course, there will always be found those +who think them too long, just as there are those whose narrowness of +view constrains them to wish the Introductions away. If the poet's +conception of Marmion be fully considered, it will be seen that the +Host's Tale is an integral part of his purpose; and there is surely +no need to defend either Sir David Lyndsay's Tale or the weird +display at the cross of Edinburgh. The episode of Lady Heron's +singing carries its own defence in itself, seeing that the song of +'Lochinvar' holds a place of distinction among lyrics expressive of +poetical motion. After all, we must bear in mind that though it +pleases Scott to speak of his tale as flowing on 'wild as cloud, as +stream, as gale,' he was still conscious that he was engaged upon a +poem, and that a poem is regulated by certain artistic laws. If we +strive to grasp his meaning we shall not be specially inclined to +carp at his method. It may at the same time be not unprofitable to +look for a moment at some of the notable criticisms of the poem. + + +IV. CRITICISMS OF THE POEM. + +When 'Marmion' was little more than begun Scott's publishers offered +him a thousand pounds for the copyright, and as this soon became +known it naturally gave rise to varied comment. Lord Byron thought +it sufficient to warrant a gratuitous attack on the author in his +'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.' This is a portion of the +passage:-- + + 'And think'st thou, Scott! by vain conceit perchance, + On public taste to foist thy stale romance. + Though Murray with his Miller may combine + To yield thy muse just half-a-crown per line? + No! when the sons of song descend to trade, + Their bays are sear, their former laurels fade.' + +As a matter of fact, there was on Scott's part no trade whatever in +the case. If a publisher chose to secure in advance what he +anticipated would be a profitable commodity, that was mainly the +publisher's affair, and the poet would have been a simpleton not to +close with the offer if he liked it. Scott admirably disposes of +Byron as follows in the 1830 Introduction:-- + +'The publishers of the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," emboldened by the +success of that poem, willingly offered a thousand pounds for +"Marmion." The transaction being no secret, afforded Lord Byron, +who was then at general war with all who blacked paper, an apology +for including me in his satire, entitled "English Bards and Scotch +Reviewers." I never could conceive how an arrangement between an +author and his publishers, if satisfactory to the persons concerned, +could afford matter of censure to any third party. I had taken no +unusual or ungenerous means of enhancing the value of my +merchandise--I had never higgled a moment about the bargain, but +accepted at once what I considered the handsome offer of my +publishers. These gentlemen, at least, were not of opinion that +they had been taken advantage of in the transaction, which indeed +was one of their own framing; on the contrary, the sale of the Poem +was so far beyond their expectation, as to induce them to supply the +author's cellars with what is always an acceptable present to a +young Scottish housekeeper, namely, a hogshead of excellent claret.' + +A second point on which Scott was attacked was the character of +Marmion. It was held that such a knight as he undoubtedly was +should have been incapable of forgery. Scott himself; of course, +knew better than his critics whether or not this was the case, but, +with his usual good nature and generous regard for the opinion of +others, he admitted that perhaps he had committed an artistic +blunder. Dr. Leyden, in particular, for whose judgment he had +special respect, wrote him from India 'a furious remonstrance on the +subject.' Fortunately, he made no attempt to change what he had +written, his main reason being that 'corrections, however in +themselves judicious, have a bad effect after publication.' He +might have added that any modification of the hero's guilt would +have entirely altered the character of the poem, and might have +ruined it altogether. He had never, apparently, gone into the +question thoroughly after his first impressions of the type of +knights existing in feudal times, for though he states that 'similar +instances were found, and might be quoted,' he is inclined to admit +that the attribution of forgery was a 'gross defect.' Readers +interested in the subject will find by reference to Pike's 'History +of Crime,' i. 276, that Scott was perfectly justified in his +assumption that a feudal knight was capable of forgery. Those who +understand how intimate his knowledge was of the period with which +he was dealing will, of course, be the readiest to believe him +rather than his critics; but when he seems doubtful of himself, and +ready to yield the point, it is well that the strength of his +original position can thus be supported by the results of recent +investigation. + +Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh Review, not being able to understand and +appreciate this new devotion to romance, and probably stimulated by +his misreading of the reference to Fox in the Introduction to Canto +I, did his utmost to cast discredit on 'Marmion.' Scott was too +large a man to confound the separate spheres of Politics and +Literature; whereas it was frequently the case with Jeffrey--as, +indeed, it was to some extent with literary critics on the other +side as well--to estimate an author's work in reference to the party +in the State to which he was known to belong. It was impossible to +deny merits to Scott's descriptions, and the extraordinary energy of +the most striking portions of the Poem, but Jeffrey groaned over the +inequalities he professed to discover, and lamented that the poet +should waste his strength on the unprofitable effort to resuscitate +an old-fashioned enthusiasm. They had been the best of friends +previously--and Scott, as we have seen, worked for the Edinburgh +Review--but it was now patent that the old literary intimacy could +not pleasantly continue. Nor is it surprising that Scott should +have felt that the Edinburgh Review had become too autocratic, and +that he should have given a helping hand towards the establishing of +the Quarterly Review, as a political and literary organ necessary to +the balance of parties. + + +V. THE TEXT OF THE POEM. + +Scott himself revised 'Marmion' in 1831, and the interleaved copy +which he used formed the basis of the text given by Lockhart in the +uniform edition of the Poetical Works published in 1833. This will +remain the standard text. It is that which is followed in the +present volume, in which there will be found only three--in reality +only two--important instances of divergence from Lockhart's +readings. The earlier editions have been collated with that of +1833, and Mr. W. J. Rolfe's careful and scholarly Boston edition has +likewise been consulted. It has not been considered necessary to +follow Mr. Rolfe in several alterations he has made on Lockhart; but +he introduces one emendation which readily commends itself to the +reader's intelligence, and it is adopted in the present volume. +This is in the punctuation of the opening lines in the first stanza +of Canto II. Lockhart completes a sentence at the end of the fifth +line, whereas the sense manifestly carries the period on to the +eleventh line. In the third Introd., line 228, the reading of the +earlier editions is followed in giving 'From me' instead of 'For +me,' as the meaning is thereby simplified and made more direct. In +III. xiv. 234, the modern versions of Lockhart's text give 'proudest +princes VEIL their eyes,' where Lockhart himself agrees with the +earlier editions in reading 'VAIL'. The restoration of the latter +form needs no defence. The Elizabethan words in the Poem are not +infrequent, giving it, as they do, a certain air of archaic dignity, +and there can be little doubt that 'vail' was Scott's word here, +used in its Shakespearian sense of 'lower' or 'cast down,' and +recalling Venus as 'she vailed her eyelids.' + +MARMION +A TALE OF FLODDEN FIELD +IN SIX CANTOS + +Alas! that Scottish maid should sing +The combat where her lover fell! +That Scottish Bard should wake the string, +The triumph of our foes to tell! +LEYDEN. + + +TO + +THE RIGHT HONOURABLE + +HENRY, LORD MONTAGUE + +&c. &c. &c. + +THIS ROMANCE IS INSCRIBED + +BY + +THE AUTHOR + + +ADVERTISEMENT +* * * +It is hardly to be expected, that an Author whom the Public have +honoured with some degree of applause, should not be again a +trespasser on their kindness. Yet the Author of MARMION must be +supposed to feel some anxiety concerning its success, since he is +sensible that he hazards, by this second intrusion, any reputation +which his first Poem may have procured him. The present story turns +upon the private adventures of a fictitious character; but is called +a Tale of Flodden Field, because the hero's fate is connected with +that memorable defeat, and the causes which led to it. The design +of the Author was, if possible, to apprize his readers, at the +outset, of the date of his Story, and to prepare them for the +manners of the Age in which it is laid. Any Historical Narrative, +far more an attempt at Epic composition, exceeded his plan of a +Romantic Tale; yet he may be permitted to hope, from the popularity +of THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL, that an attempt to paint the +manners of the feudal times, upon a broader scale, and in the course +of a more interesting story, will not be unacceptable to the Public. + +The Poem opens about the commencement of August, and concludes with +the defeat of Flodden, 9th September, 1513. + Ashestiel, 1808, + + +MARMION. + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FIRST. + +TO WILLIAM STEWART ROSE, ESQ. + +Ashestiel, Ettrick Forest. + +November's sky is chill and drear, +November's leaf is red and sear: +Late, gazing down the steepy linn, +That hems our little garden in, +Low in its dark and narrow glen, 5 +You scarce the rivulet might ken, +So thick the tangled greenwood grew, +So feeble trill'd the streamlet through: +Now, murmuring hoarse, and frequent seen +Through bush and brier, no longer green, 10 +An angry brook, it sweeps the glade, +Brawls over rock and wild cascade, +And, foaming brown with double speed, +Hurries its waters to the Tweed. + +No longer Autumn's glowing red 15 +Upon our Forest hills is shed; +No more, beneath the evening beam, +Fair Tweed reflects their purple gleam; +Away hath pass'd the heather-bell +That bloom'd so rich on Needpath-fell; 20 +Sallow his brow, and russet bare +Are now the sister-heights of Yair. +The sheep, before the pinching heaven, +To sheltered dale and down are driven, +Where yet some faded herbage pines, 25 +And yet a watery sunbeam shines: +In meek despondency they eye +The withered sward and wintry sky, +And far beneath their summer hill, +Stray sadly by Glenkinnon's rill: 30 +The shepherd shifts his mantle's fold, +And wraps him closer from the cold; +His dogs no merry circles wheel, +But, shivering, follow at his heel; +A cowering glance they often cast, 35 +As deeper moans the gathering blast. + +My imps, though hardy, bold, and wild, +As best befits the mountain child, +Feel the sad influence of the hour, +And wail the daisy's vanish'd flower; 40 +Their summer gambols tell, and mourn, +And anxious ask,--Will spring return, +And birds and lambs again be gay, +And blossoms clothe the hawthorn spray? + + Yes, prattlers, yes. The daisy's flower 45 +Again shall paint your summer bower; +Again the hawthorn shall supply +The garlands you delight to tie; +The lambs upon the lea shall bound, +The wild birds carol to the round, 50 +And while you frolic light as they, +Too short shall seem the summer day. + + To mute and to material things +New life revolving summer brings; +The genial call dead Nature hears, 55 +And in her glory reappears. +But oh! my Country's wintry state +What second spring shall renovate? +What powerful call shall bid arise +The buried warlike and the wise; 60 +The mind that thought for Britain's weal, +The hand that grasp'd the victor steel? +The vernal sun new life bestows +Even on the meanest flower that blows; +But vainly, vainly may he shine, 65 +Where Glory weeps o'er NELSON'S shrine: +And vainly pierce the solemn gloom, +That shrouds, O PITT, thy hallow'd tomb! + + Deep graved in every British heart, +O never let those names depart! 70 +Say to your sons,--Lo, here his grave, +Who victor died on Gadite wave; +To him, as to the burning levin, +Short, bright, resistless course was given. +Where'er his country's foes were found, 75 +Was heard the fated thunder's sound, +Till burst the bolt on yonder shore, +Roll'd, blazed, destroyed,--and was no more. + + Nor mourn ye less his perished worth, +Who bade the conqueror go forth, 80 +And launch'd that thunderbolt of war +On Egypt, Hafnia, Trafalgar; +Who, born to guide such high emprize, +For Britain's weal was early wise; +Alas! to whom the Almighty gave, 85 +For Britain's sins, an early grave! +His worth, who, in his mightiest hour, +A bauble held the pride of power, +Spum'd at the sordid lust of pelf, +And served his Albion for herself; 90 +Who, when the frantic crowd amain +Strain'd at subjection's bursting rein, +O'er their wild mood full conquest gain'd, +The pride, he would not crush, restrain'd, +Show'd their fierce zeal a worthier cause, 95 +And brought the freeman's arm, to aid the freeman's laws. + + Had'st thou but lived, though stripp'd of power, +A watchman on the lonely tower, +Thy thrilling trump had roused the land, +When fraud or danger were at hand; 100 +By thee, as by the beacon-light, +Our pilots had kept course aright; +As some proud column, though alone, +Thy strength had propp'd the tottering throne: +Now is the stately column broke, 105 +The beacon-light is quench'd in smoke, +The trumpet's silver sound is still, +The warder silent on the hill! + +Oh, think, how to his latest day, +When Death, just hovering, claim'd his prey, 110 +With Palinure's unalter'd mood, +Firm at his dangerous post he stood; +Each call for needful rest repell'd, +With dying hand the rudder held, +Till, in his fall, with fateful sway, 115 +The steerage of the realm gave way! +Then, while on Britain's thousand plains, +One unpolluted church remains, +Whose peaceful bells ne'er sent around +The bloody tocsin's maddening sound, 120 +But still, upon the hallow'd day, +Convoke the swains to praise and pray; +While faith and civil peace are dear, +Grace this cold marble with a tear,- +He, who preserved them, PITT, lies here! 125 + + Nor yet suppress the generous sigh, +Because his rival slumbers nigh; +Nor be thy requiescat dumb, +Lest it be said o'er Fox's tomb. +For talents mourn, untimely lost, 130 +When best employ'd, and wanted most; +Mourn genius high, and lore profound, +And wit that loved to play, not wound; +And all the reasoning powers divine, +To penetrate, resolve, combine; 135 +And feelings keen, and fancy's glow,-- +They sleep with him who sleeps below: +And, if thou mourn'st they could not save +From error him who owns this grave, +Be every harsher thought suppress'd, 140 +And sacred be the last long rest. +HERE, where the end of earthly things +Lays heroes, patriots, bards, and kings; +Where stiff the hand, and still the tongue, +Of those who fought, and spoke, and sung; 145 +HERE, where the fretted aisles prolong +The distant notes of holy song, +As if some angel spoke agen, +'All peace on earth, good-will to men;' +If ever from an English heart, 150 +O, HERE let prejudice depart, +And, partial feeling cast aside, +Record, that Fox a Briton died! +When Europe crouch'd to France's yoke, +And Austria bent, and Prussia broke, 155 +And the firm Russian's purpose brave, +Was barter'd by a timorous slave, +Even then dishonour's peace he spurn'd, +The sullied olive-branch return'd, +Stood for his country's glory fast, 160 +And nail'd her colours to the mast! +Heaven, to reward his firmness, gave +A portion in this honour'd grave, +And ne'er held marble in its trust +Of two such wondrous men the dust. 165 + + With more than mortal powers endow'd, +How high they soar'd above the crowd! +Theirs was no common party race, +Jostling by dark intrigue for place; +Like fabled Gods, their mighty war 170 +Shook realms and nations in its jar; +Beneath each banner proud to stand, +Look'd up the noblest of the land, +Till through the British world were known +The names of PITT and Fox alone. 175 +Spells of such force no wizard grave +E'er framed in dark Thessalian cave, +Though his could drain the ocean dry, +And force the planets from the sky. +These spells are spent, and, spent with these, 180 +The wine of life is on the lees. +Genius, and taste, and talent gone, +For ever tomb'd beneath the stone, +Where--taming thought to human pride!-- +The mighty chiefs sleep side by side. 185 +Drop upon Fox's grave the tear, +'Twill trickle to his rival's bier; +O'er PITT'S the mournful requiem sound, +And Fox's shall the notes rebound. +The solemn echo seems to cry,-- 190 +'Here let their discord with them die. +Speak not for those a separate doom, +Whom Fate made Brothers in the tomb; +But search the land of living men, +Where wilt thou find their like agen?' 195 + + Rest, ardent Spirits! till the cries +Of dying Nature bid you rise; +Not even your Britain's groans can pierce +The leaden silence of your hearse; +Then, O, how impotent and vain 200 +This grateful tributary strain! +Though not unmark'd from northern clime, +Ye heard the Border Minstrel's rhyme: +His Gothic harp has o'er you rung; +The Bard you deign'd to praise, your deathless names has sung. + + Stay yet, illusion, stay a while, +My wilder'd fancy still beguile! +From this high theme how can I part, +Ere half unloaded is my heart! +For all the tears e'er sorrow drew, 210 +And all the raptures fancy knew, +And all the keener rush of blood, +That throbs through bard in bard-like mood, +Were here a tribute mean and low, +Though all their mingled streams could flow-- 215 +Woe, wonder, and sensation high, +In one spring-tide of ecstasy!-- +It will not be--it may not last-- +The vision of enchantment's past: +Like frostwork in the morning ray, 220 +The fancied fabric melts away; +Each Gothic arch, memorial-stone, +And long, dim, lofty aisle, are gone; +And, lingering last, deception dear, +The choir's high sounds die on my ear. 225 +Now slow return the lonely down, +The silent pastures bleak and brown, +The farm begirt with copsewood wild +The gambols of each frolic child, +Mixing their shrill cries with the tone 230 +Of Tweed's dark waters rushing on. + + Prompt on unequal tasks to run, +Thus Nature disciplines her son: +Meeter, she says, for me to stray, +And waste the solitary day, 235 +In plucking from yon fen the reed, +And watch it floating down the Tweed; +Or idly list the shrilling lay, +With which the milkmaid cheers her way, +Marking its cadence rise and fail, 240 +As from the field, beneath her pail, +She trips it down the uneven dale: +Meeter for me, by yonder cairn, +The ancient shepherd's tale to learn; +Though oft he stop in rustic fear, 245 +Lest his old legends tire the ear +Of one, who, in his simple mind, +May boast of book-learn'd taste refined. + + But thou, my friend, canst fitly tell, +(For few have read romance so well,) 250 +How still the legendary lay +O'er poet's bosom holds its sway; +How on the ancient minstrel strain +Time lays his palsied hand in vain; +And how our hearts at doughty deeds, 255 +By warriors wrought in steely weeds, +Still throb for fear and pity's sake; +As when the Champion of the Lake +Enters Morgana's fated house, +Or in the Chapel Perilous, 260 +Despising spells and demons' force, +Holds converse with the unburied corse; +Or when, Dame Ganore's grace to move, +(Alas, that lawless was their love!) +He sought proud Tarquin in his den, 265 +And freed full sixty knights; or when, +A sinful man, and unconfess'd, +He took the Sangreal's holy quest, +And, slumbering, saw the vision high, +He might not view with waking eye. 270 + + The mightiest chiefs of British song +Scorn'd not such legends to prolong: +They gleam through Spenser's elfin dream, +And mix in Milton's heavenly theme; +And Dryden, in immortal strain, 275 +Had raised the Table Round again, +But that a ribald King and Court +Bade him toil on, to make them sport; +Demanded for their niggard pay, +Fit for their souls, a looser lay, 280 +Licentious satire, song, and play; +The world defrauded of the high design, +Profaned the God-given strength, and marr'd the lofty line. + +Warm'd by such names, well may we then, +Though dwindled sons of little men, 285 +Essay to break a feeble lance +In the fair fields of old romance; +Or seek the moated castle's cell, +Where long through talisman and spell, +While tyrants ruled, and damsels wept, 290 +Thy Genius, Chivalry, hath slept: +There sound the harpings of the North, +Till he awake and sally forth, +On venturous quest to prick again, +In all his arms, with all his train, 295 +Shield, lance, and brand, and plume, and scarf, +Fay, giant, dragon, squire, and dwarf, +And wizard with his wand of might, +And errant maid on palfrey white. +Around the Genius weave their spells, 300 +Pure Love, who scarce his passion tells; +Mystery, half veil'd and half reveal'd; +And Honour, with his spotless shield; +Attention, with fix'd eye; and Fear, +That loves the tale she shrinks to hear; 305 +And gentle Courtesy; and Faith, +Unchanged by sufferings, time, or death; +And Valour, lion-mettled lord, +Leaning upon his own good sword. + Well has thy fair achievement shown, 310 +A worthy meed may thus be won; +Ytene's oaks--beneath whose shade +Their theme the merry minstrels made, +Of Ascapart, and Bevis bold, +And that Red King, who, while of old, 315 +Through Boldrewood the chase he led, +By his loved huntsman's arrow bled-- +Ytene's oaks have heard again +Renew'd such legendary strain; +For thou hast sung, how He of Gaul, 320 +That Amadis so famed in hall, +For Oriana, foil'd in fight +The Necromancer's felon might; +And well in modern verse hast wove +Partenopex's mystic love; 325 +Hear, then, attentive to my lay, +A knightly tale of Albion's elder day. + + +CANTO FIRST. + +THE CASTLE. + + +I. + +Day set on Norham's castled steep, +And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep, + And Cheviot's mountains lone: +The battled towers, the donjon keep, +The loophole grates, where captives weep, 5 +The flanking walls that round it sweep, + In yellow lustre shone. +The warriors on the turrets high, +Moving athwart the evening sky, +Seem'd forms of giant height: 10 +Their armour, as it caught the rays, +Flash'd back again the western blaze, + In lines of dazzling light. + + +II. + +Saint George's banner, broad and gay, +Now faded, as the fading ray 15 + Less bright, and less, was flung; +The evening gale had scarce the power +To wave it on the Donjon Tower, + So heavily it hung. +The scouts had parted on their search, 20 + The Castle gates were barr'd; +Above the gloomy portal arch, +Timing his footsteps to a march, + The Warder kept his guard; +Low humming, as he paced along, 25 +Some ancient Border gathering-song. + + +III. + +A distant trampling sound he hears; +He looks abroad, and soon appears, +O'er Horncliff-hill a plump of spears, + Beneath a pennon gay; 30 +A horseman, darting from the crowd, +Like lightning from a summer cloud, +Spurs on his mettled courser proud, + Before the dark array. +Beneath the sable palisade, 35 +That closed the Castle barricade, + His buglehorn he blew; +The warder hasted from the wall, +And warn'd the Captain in the hall, + For well the blast he knew; 40 +And joyfully that knight did call, +To sewer, squire, and seneschal. + + +IV. + +'Now broach ye a pipe of Malvoisie, + Bring pasties of the doe, +And quickly make the entrance free 45 +And bid my heralds ready be, +And every minstrel sound his glee, + And all our trumpets blow; +And, from the platform, spare ye not +To fire a noble salvo-shot; 50 + Lord MARMION waits below!' +Then to the Castle's lower ward + Sped forty yeomen tall, +The iron-studded gates unbarr'd, +Raised the portcullis' ponderous guard, 55 +The lofty palisade unsparr'd, + And let the drawbridge fall. + + +V. + +Along the bridge Lord Marmion rode, +Proudly his red-roan charger trode, +His helm hung at the saddlebow; 60 +Well by his visage you might know +He was a stalworth knight, and keen, +And had in many a battle been; +The scar on his brown cheek reveal'd +A token true of Bosworth field; 65 +His eyebrow dark, and eye of fire, +Show'd spirit proud, and prompt to ire; +Yet lines of thought upon his cheek +Did deep design and counsel speak. +His forehead by his casque worn bare, 70 +His thick mustache, and curly hair, +Coal-black, and grizzled here and there, + But more through toil than age; +His square-turn'd joints, and strength of limb, +Show'd him no carpet knight so trim, 75 +But in close fight a champion grim, + In camps a leader sage. + + +VI. + +Well was he arm'd from head to heel, +In mail and plate of Milan steel; +But his strong helm, of mighty cost, 80 +Was all with burnish'd gold emboss'd; +Amid the plumage of the crest, +A falcon hover'd on her nest, +With wings outspread, and forward breast; +E'en such a falcon, on his shield, 85 +Soar'd sable in an azure field: +The golden legend bore aright, +Who checks at me, to death is dight. +Blue was the charger's broider'd rein; +Blue ribbons deck'd his arching mane; 90 +The knightly housing's ample fold +Was velvet blue, and trapp'd with gold. + + +VII. + +Behind him rode two gallant squires, +Of noble name, and knightly sires; +They burn'd the gilded spurs to claim: 95 +For well could each a warhorse tame, +Could draw the bow, the sword could sway, +And lightly bear the ring away; +Nor less with courteous precepts stored, +Could dance in hall, and carve at board, 100 +And frame love-ditties passing rare, +And sing them to a lady fair. + + +VIII. + +Four men-at-arms came at their backs, +With halbert, bill, and battle-axe: +They bore Lord Marmion's lance so strong, 105 +And led his sumpter-mules along, +And ambling palfrey, when at need +Him listed ease his battle-steed. +The last and trustiest of the four, +On high his forky pennon bore; 110 +Like swallow's tail, in shape and hue, +Flutter'd the streamer glossy blue, +Where, blazon'd sable, as before, +The towering falcon seem'd to soar. +Last, twenty yeomen, two and two, 115 +In hosen black, and jerkins blue, +With falcons broider'd on each breast, +Attended on their lord's behest. +Each, chosen for an archer good, +Knew hunting-craft by lake or wood; 120 +Each one a six-foot bow could bend, +And far a cloth-yard shaft could send; +Each held a boar-spear tough and strong, +And at their belts their quivers rung. +Their dusty palfreys, and array, 125 +Show'd they had march'd a weary way. + + +IX. + +'Tis meet that I should tell you now, +How fairly arm'd, and order'd how, + The soldiers of the guard, +With musket, pike, and morion, 130 +To welcome noble Marmion, + Stood in the Castle-yard; +Minstrels and trumpeters were there, +The gunner held his linstock yare, + For welcome-shot prepared: 135 +Enter'd the train, and such a clang, +As then through all his turrets rang, + Old Norham never heard. + + +X. + +The guards their morrice-pikes advanced, + The trumpets flourish'd brave, 140 +The cannon from the ramparts glanced, + And thundering welcome gave. +A blithe salute, in martial sort, + The minstrels well might sound, +For, as Lord Marmion cross'd the court, 145 + He scatter'd angels round. +'Welcome to Norham, Marmion! + Stout heart, and open hand! +Well dost thou brook thy gallant roan, + Thou flower of English land!' 150 + + +XI. + +Two pursuivants, whom tabarts deck, +With silver scutcheon round their neck, + Stood on the steps of stone, +By which you reach the donjon gate, +And there, with herald pomp and state, 155 + They hail'd Lord Marmion: +They hail'd him Lord of Fontenaye, +Of Lutterward, and Scrivelbaye, + Of Tamworth tower and town; +And he, their courtesy to requite, 160 +Gave them a chain of twelve marks' weight, + All as he lighted down. +'Now, largesse, largesse, Lord Marmion, + Knight of the crest of gold! +A blazon'd shield, in battle won, 165 +Ne'er guarded heart so bold.' + + +XII. + +They marshall'd him to the Castle-hall, + Where the guests stood all aside, +And loudly nourish'd the trumpet-call, + And the heralds loudly cried, 170 +--'Room, lordings, room for Lord Marmion, + With the crest and helm of gold! +Full well we know the trophies won + In the lists at Cottiswold: +There, vainly Ralph de Wilton strove 175 + 'Gainst Marmion's force to stand; +To him he lost his lady-love, + And to the King his land. +Ourselves beheld the listed field, + A sight both sad and fair; 180 +We saw Lord Marmion pierce his shield, + And saw his saddle bare; +We saw the victor win the crest, + He wears with worthy pride; +And on the gibbet-tree, reversed, 185 + His foeman's scutcheon tied. +Place, nobles, for the Falcon-Knight! + Room, room, ye gentles gay, +For him who conquer'd in the right, + Marmion of Fontenaye!' 190 + + +XIII. + +Then stepp'd, to meet that noble Lord, + Sir Hugh the Heron bold, +Baron of Twisell, and of Ford, + And Captain of the Hold. +He led Lord Marmion to the deas, 195 + Raised o'er the pavement high, +And placed him in the upper place- + They feasted full and high; +The whiles a Northern harper rude +Chanted a rhyme of deadly feud, 200 + 'How the fierce Thirwalls, and Ridleys all, + Stout Willimondswick, + And Hardriding Dick, + And Hughie of Hawdon, and Will o' the Wall, + Have set on Sir Albany Featherstonhaugh, 205 +And taken his life at the Deadman's-shaw.' + Scantly Lord Marmion's ear could brook + The harper's barbarous lay; + Yet much he praised the pains he took, + And well those pains did pay 210 +For lady's suit, and minstrel's strain, +By knight should ne'er be heard in vain, + + +XIV. + +'Now, good Lord Marmion,' Heron says, + 'Of your fair courtesy, +I pray you bide some little space 215 + In this poor tower with me. +Here may you keep your arms from rust, + May breathe your war-horse well; +Seldom hath pass'd a week but giust + Or feat of arms befell: 220 +The Scots can rein a mettled steed; + And love to couch a spear:-- +Saint George! a stirring life they lead, + That have such neighbours near. +Then stay with us a little space, 225 + Our northern wars to learn; +I pray you, for your lady's grace!'-- + Lord Marmion's brow grew stern. + + +XV. + +The Captain mark'd his alter'd look, + And gave a squire the sign; 230 +A mighty wassell-bowl he took, + And crown'd it high with wine. +'Now pledge me here, Lord Marmion: + But first I pray thee fair, +Where hast thou left that page of thine, 235 + That used to serve thy cup of wine, + Whose beauty was so rare? +When last in Raby towers we met, + The boy I closely eyed, +And often mark'd his cheeks were wet, 240 + With tears he fain would hide: +His was no rugged horse-boy's hand, +To burnish shield or sharpen brand, + Or saddle battle-steed; +But meeter seem'd for lady fair, 245 +To fan her cheek, or curl her hair, +Or through embroidery, rich and rare, + The slender silk to lead: +His skin was fair, his ringlets gold, + His bosom--when he sigh'd, 250 +The russet doublet's rugged fold + Could scarce repel its pride! +Say, hast thou given that lovely youth + To serve in lady's bower? +Or was the gentle page, in sooth, 255 + A gentle paramour?' + + +XVI. + +Lord Marmion ill could brook such jest; + He roll'd his kindling eye, +With pain his rising wrath suppress'd, + Yet made a calm reply: 260 +'That boy thou thought'st so goodly fair, + He might not brook the northern air. +More of his fate if thou wouldst learn, + I left him sick in Lindisfarn: +Enough of him.--But, Heron, say, 265 +Why does thy lovely lady gay +Disdain to grace the hall to-day? +Or has that dame, so fair and sage, +Gone on some pious pilgrimage?'-- +He spoke in covert scorn, for fame 270 +Whisper'd light tales of Heron's dame. + + +XVII. + +Unmark'd, at least unreck'd, the taunt, + Careless the Knight replied, +'No bird, whose feathers gaily flaunt, + Delights in cage to bide: 275 +Norham is grim and grated close, +Hemm'd in by battlement and fosse, + And many a darksome tower; +And better loves my lady bright +To sit in liberty and light, 280 + In fair Queen Margaret's bower. +We hold our greyhound in our hand, + Our falcon on our glove; +But where shall we find leash or band, + For dame that loves to rove? 285 +Let the wild falcon soar her swing, +She'll stoop when she has tired her wing.'-- + + +XVIII. + +'Nay, if with Royal James's bride +The lovely Lady Heron bide, +Behold me here a messenger, 290 +Your tender greetings prompt to bear; +For, to the Scottish court address'd, +I journey at our King's behest, +And pray you, of your grace, provide +For me, and mine, a trusty guide. 295 +I have not ridden in Scotland since +James back'd the cause of that mock prince, +Warbeck, that Flemish counterfeit, +Who on the gibbet paid the cheat. +Then did I march with Surrey's power, 300 +What time we razed old Ayton tower.'-- + + +XIX. + +'For such-like need, my lord, I trow, +Norham can find you guides enow; +For here be some have prick'd as far, +On Scottish ground, as to Dunbar; 305 +Have drunk the monks of St. Bothan's ale, +And driven the beeves of Lauderdale; +Harried the wives of Greenlaw's goods, +And given them light to set their hoods.'-- + + +XX. + +'Now, in good sooth,' Lord Marmion cried, 310 +'Were I in warlike wise to ride, +A better guard I would not lack, +Than your stout forayers at my back; +But as in form of peace I go, +A friendly messenger, to know, 315 +Why through all Scotland, near and far, +Their King is mustering troops for war, +The sight of plundering Border spears +Might justify suspicious fears, +And deadly feud, or thirst of spoil, 320 +Break out in some unseemly broil: +A herald were my fitting guide; +Or friar, sworn in peace to bide; +Or pardoner, or travelling priest, +Or strolling pilgrim, at the least.' 325 + + +XXI. + +The Captain mused a little space, +And pass'd his hand across his face. +--'Fain would I find the guide you want, +But ill may spare a pursuivant, +The only men that safe can ride 330 +Mine errands on the Scottish side: +And though a bishop built this fort, +Few holy brethren here resort; +Even our good chaplain, as I ween, +Since our last siege, we have not seen: 335 +The mass he might not sing or say, +Upon one stinted meal a-day; +So, safe he sat in Durham aisle, +And pray'd for our success the while. +Our Norham vicar, woe betide, 340 +Is all too well in case to ride; +The priest of Shoreswood--he could rein +The wildest war-horse in your train; +But then, no spearman in the hall +Will sooner swear, or stab, or brawl. 345 +Friar John of Tillmouth were the man: +A blithesome brother at the can, +A welcome guest in hall and bower, +He knows each castle, town, and tower, +In which the wine and ale is good, 350 +'Twixt Newcastle and Holy-Rood. +But that good man, as ill befalls, +Hath seldom left our castle walls, +Since, on the vigil of St. Bede, +In evil hour, he cross'd the Tweed, 355 +To teach Dame Alison her creed. +Old Bughtrig found him with his wife; +And John, an enemy to strife, +Sans frock and hood, fled for his life. +The jealous churl hath deeply swore, 360 +That, if again he venture o'er, +He shall shrieve penitent no more. +Little he loves such risks, I know; +Yet, in your guard, perchance will go.' + + +XXII. + +Young Selby, at the fair hall-board, 365 +Carved to his uncle and that lord, +And reverently took up the word. +'Kind uncle, woe were we each one, +If harm should hap to brother John. +He is a man of mirthful speech, 370 +Can many a game and gambol teach; +Full well at tables can he play, +And sweep at bowls the stake away. +None can a lustier carol bawl, +The needfullest among us all, 375 +When time hangs heavy in the hall, +And snow comes thick at Christmas tide, +And we can neither hunt, nor ride +A foray on the Scottish side. +The vow'd revenge of Bughtrig rude, 380 +May end in worse than loss of hood. +Let Friar John, in safety, still +In chimney-corner snore his fill, +Roast hissing crabs, or flagons swill: +Last night, to Norham there came one, 385 +Will better guide Lord Marmion.'-- +'Nephew,' quoth Heron, 'by my fay, +Well hast thou spoke; say forth thy say,'-- + + +XXIII + +'Here is a holy Palmer come, +From Salem first, and last from Rome; 390 +One, that hath kiss'd the blessed tomb, +And visited each holy shrine, +In Araby and Palestine; +On hills of Armenie hath been, +Where Noah's ark may yet be seen; 395 +By that Red Sea, too, hath he trod, +Which parted at the Prophet's rod; +In Sinai's wilderness he saw +The Mount, where Israel heard the law, +'Mid thunder-dint and flashing levin, 400 +And shadows, mists, and darkness, given. +He shows Saint James's cockle-shell, +Of fair Montserrat, too, can tell; + And of that Grot where Olives nod, +Where, darling of each heart and eye, 405 +From all the youth of Sicily, + Saint Rosalie retired to God. + + +XXIV. + +'To stout Saint George of Norwich merry, +Saint Thomas, too, of Canterbury, +Cuthbert of Durham and Saint Bede, 410 +For his sins' pardon hath he pray'd. +He knows the passes of the North, +And seeks far shrines beyond the Forth; +Little he eats, and long will wake, +And drinks but of the stream or lake. 415 +This were a guide o'er moor and dale; +But, when our John hath quaff'd his ale, +As little as the wind that blows, +And warms itself against his nose, +Kens he, or cares, which way he goes.'-- 420 + + +XXV. + +'Gramercy!' quoth Lord Marmion, +'Full loth were I, that Friar John, +That venerable man, for me, +Were placed in fear or jeopardy. +If this same Palmer will me lead 425 + From hence to Holy-Rood, +Like his good saint, I'll pay his meed, +Instead of cockle-shell, or bead, + With angels fair and good. +I love such holy ramblers; still 430 +They know to charm a weary hill, + With song, romance, or lay: +Some jovial tale, or glee, or jest, +Some lying legend, at the least, + They bring to cheer the way.'-- 435 + + +XXVI. + +'Ah! noble sir,' young Selby said, +And finger on his lip he laid, +'This man knows much, perchance e'en more +Than he could learn by holy lore. +Still to himself he's muttering, 440 +And shrinks as at some unseen thing. +Last night we listen'd at his cell; +Strange sounds we heard, and, sooth to tell, +He murmur'd on till morn, howe'er +No living mortal could be near. 445 +Sometimes I thought I heard it plain, +As other voices spoke again. +I cannot tell--I like it not-- +Friar John hath told us it is wrote, +No conscience clear, and void of wrong, 450 +Can rest awake, and pray so long. +Himself still sleeps before his beads +Have mark'd ten aves, and two creeds.'-- + + +XXVII. + +--'Let pass,' quoth Marmion; 'by my fay, +This man shall guide me on my way, 455 +Although the great arch-fiend and he +Had sworn themselves of company. +So please you, gentle youth, to call +This Palmer to the Castle-hall.' +The summon'd Palmer came in place; 460 +His sable cowl o'erhung his face; +In his black mantle was he clad, +With Peter's keys, in cloth of red, + On his broad shoulders wrought; +The scallop shell his cap did deck; 465 +The crucifix around his neck + Was from Loretto brought; +His sandals were with travel tore, +Staff, budget, bottle, scrip, he wore; +The faded palm-branch in his hand 470 +Show'd pilgrim from the Holy Land. + + +XXVIII. + +When as the Palmer came in hall, +Nor lord, nor knight, was there more tall, +Or had a statelier step withal, + Or look'd more high and keen; 475 +For no saluting did he wait, +But strode across the hall of state, +And fronted Marmion where he sate, + As he his peer had been. +But his gaunt frame was worn with toil; 480 +His cheek was sunk, alas the while! +And when he struggled at a smile, + His eye look 'd haggard wild: +Poor wretch! the mother that him bare, +If she had been in presence there, 485 +In his wan face, and sun-burn'd hair, + She had not known her child. +Danger, long travel, want, or woe, +Soon change the form that best we know-- +For deadly fear can time outgo, 490 + And blanch at once the hair; +Hard toil can roughen form and face, +And want can quench the eye's bright grace, +Nor does old age a wrinkle trace + More deeply than despair. 495 +Happy whom none of these befall, +But this poor Palmer knew them all. + + +XXIX. + +Lord Marmion then his boon did ask; +The Palmer took on him the task, +So he would march with morning tide, 500 +To Scottish court to be his guide. +'But I have solemn vows to pay, +And may not linger by the way, + To fair St. Andrews bound, +Within the ocean-cave to pray, 505 +Where good Saint Rule his holy lay, +From midnight to the dawn of day, + Sung to the billows' sound; +Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well, +Whose spring can frenzied dreams dispel, 510 + And the crazed brain restore: +Saint Mary grant, that cave or spring +Could back to peace my bosom bring, + Or bid it throb no more!' + + +XXX. + +And now the midnight draught of sleep, 515 +Where wine and spices richly steep, +In massive bowl of silver deep, + The page presents on knee. +Lord Marmion drank a fair good rest, +The Captain pledged his noble guest, 520 +The cup went through among the rest, + Who drain'd it merrily; +Alone the Palmer pass'd it by, +Though Selby press'd him courteously. +This was a sign the feast was o'er; 525 +It hush'd the merry wassel roar, + The minstrels ceased to sound. +Soon in the castle nought was heard, +But the slow footstep of the guard, + Pacing his sober round. 530 + + +XXXI. + +With early dawn Lord Marmion rose: +And first the chapel doors unclose; +Then, after morning rites were done, +(A hasty mass from Friar John,) +And knight and squire had broke their fast, 535 +On rich substantial repast, +Lord Marmion's bugles blew to horse: +Then came the stirrup-cup in course: +Between the Baron and his host, +No point of courtesy was lost; 540 +High thanks were by Lord Marmion paid, +Solemn excuse the Captain made, +Till, filing from the gate, had pass'd +That noble train, their Lord the last. +Then loudly rung the trumpet call; 545 +Thunder'd the cannon from the wall, + And shook the Scottish shore; +Around the castle eddied slow, +Volumes of smoke as white as snow, + And hid its turrets hoar; 550 +Till they roli'd forth upon the air, +And met the river breezes there, +Which gave again the prospect fair. + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO SECOND. + +TO THE REV JOHN MARRIOTT, A. M. + +Ashestiel, Ettrick Forest. + +The scenes are desert now, and bare +Where flourish'd once a forest fair, +When these waste glens with copse were lined, +And peopled with the hart and hind. +Yon Thorn--perchance whose prickly spears 5 +Have fenced him for three hundred years, +While fell around his green compeers-- +Yon lonely Thorn, would he could tell +The changes of his parent dell, +Since he, so grey and stubborn now, 10 +Waved in each breeze a sapling bough; +Would he could tell how deep the shade +A thousand mingled branches made; +How broad the shadows of the oak, +How clung the rowan to the rock, 15 +And through the foliage show'd his head, +With narrow leaves and berries red; +What pines on every mountain sprung, +O'er every dell what birches hung, +In every breeze what aspens shook, 20 +What alders shaded every brook! + + 'Here, in my shade,' methinks he'd say, +'The mighty stag at noon-tide lay: +The wolf I've seen, a fiercer game, +(The neighbouring dingle bears his name,) 25 +With lurching step around me prowl, +And stop, against the moon to howl; +The mountain-boar, on battle set, +His tusks upon my stem would whet; +While doe, and roe, and red-deer good, 30 +Have bounded by, through gay green-wood. +Then oft, from Newark's riven tower, +Sallied a Scottish monarch's power: +A thousand vassals muster'd round, +With horse, and hawk, and horn, and hound; 35 +And I might see the youth intent, +Guard every pass with crossbow bent; +And through the brake the rangers stalk, +And falc'ners hold the ready hawk, +And foresters, in green-wood trim, 40 +Lead in the leash the gazehounds grim, +Attentive, as the bratchet's bay +From the dark covert drove the prey, +To slip them as he broke away. +The startled quarry bounds amain, 45 +As fast the gallant greyhounds strain; +Whistles the arrow from the bow, +Answers the harquebuss below; +While all the rocking hills reply, +To hoof-clang, hound, and hunters' cry, 50 +And bugles ringing lightsomely.' + + Of such proud huntings, many tales +Yet linger in our lonely dales, +Up pathless Ettrick and on Yarrow, +Where erst the outlaw drew his arrow. 55 +But not more blithe that silvan court, +Than we have been at humbler sport; +Though small our pomp, and mean our game, +Our mirth, dear Marriott, was the same. +Remember'st thou my greyhounds true? 60 +O'er holt or hill there never flew, +From slip or leash there never sprang, +More fleet of foot, or sure of fang. +Nor dull, between each merry chase, +Pass'd by the intermitted space; 65 +For we had fair resource in store, +In Classic and in Gothic lore: +We mark'd each memorable scene, +And held poetic talk between; +Nor hill, nor brook, we paced along, 70 +But had its legend or its song. +All silent now--for now are still +Thy bowers, untenanted Bowhill! +No longer, from thy mountains dun, +The yeoman hears the well-known gun, 75 +And while his honest heart glows warm, +At thought of his paternal farm, +Round to his mates a brimmer fills, +And drinks, 'The Chieftain of the Hills!' +No fairy forms, in Yarrow's bowers, 80 +Trip o'er the walks, or tend the flowers, +Fair as the elves whom Janet saw +By moonlight dance on Carterhaugh; +No youthful Baron's left to grace +The Forest-Sheriff's lonely chase, 85 +And ape, in manly step and tone, +The majesty of Oberon: +And she is gone, whose lovely face +Is but her least and lowest grace; +Though if to Sylphid Queen 'twere given, 90 +To show our earth the charms of Heaven, +She could not glide along the air, +With form more light, or face more fair. +No more the widow's deafen'd ear +Grows quick that lady's step to hear: 95 +At noontide she expects her not, +Nor busies her to trim the cot; +Pensive she turns her humming wheel, +Or pensive cooks her orphans' meal, +Yet blesses, ere she deals their bread, 100 +The gentle hand by which they're fed. + + From Yair,--which hills so closely bind, +Scarce can the Tweed his passage find, +Though much he fret, and chafe, and toil, +Till all his eddying currents boil,-- 105 +Her long descended lord is gone, +And left us by the stream alone. +And much I miss those sportive boys, +Companions of my mountain joys, +Just at the age 'twixt boy and youth, 110 +When thought is speech, and speech is truth. +Close to my side, with what delight +They press'd to hear of Wallace wight, +When, pointing to his airy mound, +I call'd his ramparts holy ground! 115 +Kindled their brows to hear me speak; +And I have smiled, to feel my cheek, +Despite the difference of our years, +Return again the glow of theirs. +Ah, happy boys! such feelings pure, 120 +They will not, cannot long endure; +Condemn'd to stem the world's rude tide, +You may not linger by the side; +For Fate shall thrust you from the shore, +And passion ply the sail and oar. 125 +Yet cherish the remembrance still, +Of the lone mountain, and the rill; +For trust, dear boys, the time will come, +When fiercer transport shall be dumb, +And you will think right frequently, 130 +But, well I hope, without a sigh, +On the free hours that we have spent, +Together, on the brown hill's bent. + + When, musing on companions gone, +We doubly feel ourselves alone, 135 +Something, my friend, we yet may gain, +There is a pleasure in this pain: +It soothes the love of lonely rest, +Deep in each gentler heart impress'd. +'Tis silent amid worldly toils, 140 +And stifled soon by mental broils; +But, in a bosom thus prepared, +Its still small voice is often heard, +Whispering a mingled sentiment, +'Twixt resignation and content. 145 +Oft in my mind such thoughts awake, +By lone Saint Mary's silent lake; +Thou know'st it well,--nor fen, nor sedge, +Pollute the pure lake's crystal edge; +Abrupt and sheer, the mountains sink 150 +At once upon the level brink; +And just a trace of silver sand +Marks where the water meets the land. +Far in the mirror, bright and blue, +Each hill's huge outline you may view; 155 +Shaggy with heath, but lonely bare, +Nor tree, nor bush, nor brake, is there, +Save where, of land, yon slender line +Bears thwart the lake the scatter'd pine. +Yet even this nakedness has power, 160 +And aids the feeling of the hour: +Nor thicket, dell, nor copse you spy, +Where living thing conceal'd might lie; +Nor point, retiring, hides a dell, +Where swain, or woodman lone, might dwell; 165 +There's nothing left to fancy's guess, +You see that all is loneliness: +And silence aids--though the steep hills +Send to the lake a thousand rills; +In summer tide, so soft they weep, 170 +The sound but lulls the ear asleep; +Your horse's hoof-tread sounds too rude, +So stilly is the solitude. + + Nought living meets the eye or ear, +But well I ween the dead are near; 175 +For though, in feudal strife, a foe +Hath laid Our Lady's chapel low, +Yet still, beneath the hallow'd soil, +The peasant rests him from his toil, +And, dying, bids his bones be laid, 180 +Where erst his simple fathers pray'd. + + If age had tamed the passions' strife, +And fate had cut my ties to life, +Here have I thought, 'twere sweet to dwell, +And rear again the chaplain's cell, 185 +Like that same peaceful hermitage, +Where Milton long'd to spend his age. +'Twere sweet to mark the setting day, +On Bourhope's lonely top decay; +And, as it faint and feeble died 190 +On the broad lake, and mountain's side, +To say, 'Thus pleasures fade away; +Youth, talents, beauty thus decay, +And leave us dark, forlorn, and grey;' +Then gaze on Dryhope's ruin'd tower, 195 +And think on Yarrow's faded Flower: +And when that mountain-sound I heard, +Which bids us be for storm prepared, +The distant rustling of his wings, +As up his force the Tempest brings, 200 +'Twere sweet, ere yet his terrors rave, +To sit upon the Wizard's grave; +That Wizard Priest's, whose bones are thrust, +From company of holy dust; +On which no sunbeam ever shines-- 205 +(So superstition's creed divines)-- +Thence view the lake, with sullen roar, +Heave her broad billows to the shore; +And mark the wild-swans mount the gale, +Spread wide through mist their snowy sail, 210 +And ever stoop again, to lave +Their bosoms on the surging wave; +Then, when against the driving hail +No longer might my plaid avail, +Back to my lonely home retire, 215 +And light my lamp, and trim my fire; +There ponder o'er some mystic lay, +Till the wild tale had all its sway, +And, in the bittern's distant shriek, +I heard unearthly voices speak, 220 +And thought the Wizard Priest was come, +To claim again his ancient home! +And bade my busy fancy range, +To frame him fitting shape and strange, +Till from the task my brow I clear'd, 225 +And smiled to think that I had fear'd. + + But chief, 'twere sweet to think such life, +(Though but escape from fortune's strife,) +Something most matchless good and wise, +A great and grateful sacrifice; 230 +And deem each hour, to musing given, +A step upon the road to heaven. + + Yet him, whose heart is ill at ease, +Such peaceful solitudes displease; +He loves to drown his bosom's jar 235 +Amid the elemental war: +And my black Palmer's choice had been +Some ruder and more savage scene, +Like that which frowns round dark Loch-skene. +There eagles scream from isle to shore; 240 +Down all the rocks the torrents roar; +O'er the black waves incessant driven, +Dark mists infect the summer heaven; +Through the rude barriers of the lake, +Away its hurrying waters break, 245 +Faster and whiter dash and curl, +Till down yon dark abyss they hurl. +Rises the fog-smoke white as snow, +Thunders the viewless stream below, +Diving, as if condemn'd to lave 250 +Some demon's subterranean cave, +Who, prison'd by enchanter's spell, +Shakes the dark rock with groan and yell. +And well that Palmer's form and mien +Had suited with the stormy scene, 255 +Just on the edge, straining his ken +To view the bottom of the den, +Where, deep deep down, and far within, +Toils with the rocks the roaring linn; +Then, issuing forth one foamy wave, 260 +And wheeling round the Giant's Grave, +White as the snowy charger's tail, +Drives down the pass of Moffatdale. + + Marriott, thy harp, on Isis strung, +To many a Border theme has rung: 265 +Then list to me, and thou shalt know +Of this mysterious Man of Woe. + + +CANTO SECOND. + +THE CONVENT. + +1. + +THE breeze, which swept away the smoke + Round Norham Castle roll'd, +When all the loud artillery spoke, +With lightning-flash, and thunder-stroke, +As Marmion left the Hold,-- 5 +It curl'd not Tweed alone, that breeze, +For, far upon Northumbrian seas, + It freshly blew, and strong, +Where, from high Whitby's cloister'd pile, +Bound to Saint Cuthbert's Holy Isle, 10 + It bore a bark along. +Upon the gale she stoop'd her side, +And bounded o'er the swelling tide, + As she were dancing home; +The merry seamen laugh'd, to see 15 +Their gallant ship so lustily +Furrow the green sea-foam. +Much joy'd they in their honour'd freight; +For, on the deck, in chair of state, +The Abbess of Saint Hilda placed, 20 +With five fair nuns, the galley graced. + + +II. + +'Twas sweet, to see these holy maids, +Like birds escaped to green-wood shades, + Their first flight from the cage, +How timid, and how curious too, 25 +For all to them was strange and new, +And all the common sights they view, + Their wonderment engage. +One eyed the shrouds and swelling sail, + With many a benedicite; 30 +One at the rippling surge grew pale, + And would for terror pray; +Then shriek'd, because the seadog, nigh, +His round black head, and sparkling eye, + Rear'd o'er the foaming spray; 35 +And one would still adjust her veil, +Disorder'd by the summer gale, +Perchance lest some more worldly eye +Her dedicated charms might spy; +Perchance, because such action graced 40 +Her fair-turn'd arm and slender waist. +Light was each simple bosom there, +Save two, who ill might pleasure share,-- +The Abbess, and the Novice Clare. + + +III. + +The Abbess was of noble blood, 45 +But early took the veil and hood, +Ere upon life she cast a look, +Or knew the world that she forsook. +Fair too she was, and kind had been +As she was fair, but ne'er had seen 50 +For her a timid lover sigh, +Nor knew the influence of her eye. +Love, to her ear, was but a name, +Combined with vanity and shame; +Her hopes, her fears, her joys, were all 55 +Bounded within the cloister wall: +The deadliest sin her mind could reach +Was of monastic rule the breach; +And her ambition's highest aim +To emulate Saint Hilda's fame. 60 +For this she gave her ample dower, +To raise the convent's eastern tower; +For this, with carving rare and quaint, +She deck'd the chapel of the saint, +And gave the relic-shrine of cost, 65 +With ivory and gems emboss'd. +The poor her Convent's bounty blest, +The pilgrim in its halls found rest. + + +IV. + +Black was her garb, her rigid rule +Reform'd on Benedictine school; 70 +Her cheek was pale, her form was spare: +Vigils, and penitence austere, +Had early quench'd the light of youth, +But gentle was the dame, in sooth; +Though, vain of her religious sway, 75 +She loved to see her maids obey, +Yet nothing stern was she in cell, +And the nuns loved their Abbess well. +Sad was this voyage to the dame; +Summon'd to Lindisfame, she came, 80 +There, with Saint Cuthbert's Abbot old, +And Tynemouth's Prioress, to hold +A chapter of Saint Benedict, +For inquisition stern and strict, +On two apostates from the faith, 85 +And, if need were, to doom to death. + + +V. + +Nought say I here of Sister Clare, +Save this, that she was young and fair; +As yet a novice unprofess'd, +Lovely and gentle, but distress'd. 90 +She was betroth'd to one now dead, +Or worse, who had dishonour'd fled. +Her kinsmen bade her give her hand +To one, who loved her for her land: +Herself, almost broken-hearted now, 95 +Was bent to take the vestal vow, +And shroud, within Saint Hilda's gloom, +Her blasted hopes and wither'd bloom. + + +VI. + +She sate upon the galley's prow, +And seem'd to mark the waves below; 100 +Nay, seem'd, so fix'd her look and eye, +To count them as they glided by. +She saw them not--'twas seeming all-- +Far other scene her thoughts recall,-- +A sun-scorch'd desert, waste and bare, 105 +Nor waves, nor breezes, murmur'd there; +There saw she, where some careless hand +O'er a dead corpse had heap'd the sand, +To hide it till the jackals come, +To tear it from the scanty tomb.-- 110 +See what a woful look was given, +As she raised up her eyes to heaven! + + +VII. + +Lovely, and gentle, and distress'd-- +These charms might tame the fiercest breast: +Harpers have sung, and poets told, 115 +That he, in fury uncontroll'd, +The shaggy monarch of the wood, +Before a virgin, fair and good, +Hath pacified his savage mood. +But passions in the human frame, 120 +Oft put the lion's rage to shame: +And jealousy, by dark intrigue, +With sordid avarice in league, +Had practised with their bowl and knife, +Against the mourner's harmless life. 125 +This crime was charged 'gainst those who lay +Prison'd in Cuthbert's islet grey. + + +VIII. + +And now the vessel skirts the strand +Of mountainous Northumberland; +Towns, towers, and halls, successive rise, 130 +And catch the nuns' delighted eyes. +Monk-Wearmouth soon behind them lay, +And Tynemouth's priory and bay; +They mark'd, amid her trees, the hall +Of lofty Seaton-Delaval; 135 +They saw the Blythe and Wansbeck floods +Rush to the sea through sounding woods; +They pass'd the tower of Widderington, +Mother of many a valiant son; +At Coquet-isle their beads they tell 140 +To the good Saint who own'd the cell; +Then did the Alne attention claim, +And Warkworth, proud of Percy's name; +And next, they cross'd themselves, to hear +The whitening breakers sound so near, 145 +There, boiling through the rocks, they roar, +On Dunstanborough's cavern'd shore; +Thy tower, proud Bamborough, mark'd they there, +King Ida's castle, huge and square, +From its tall rock look grimly down, 150 +And on the swelling ocean frown; +Then from the coast they bore away, +And reach'd the Holy Island's bay. + + +IX. + +The tide did now its flood-mark gain, +And girdled in the Saint's domain: 155 +For, with the flow and ebb, its style +Varies from continent to isle; +Dry-shod, o'er sands, twice every day, +The pilgrims to the shrine find way; +Twice every day, the waves efface 160 +Of staves and sandall'd feet the trace. +As to the port the galley flew, +Higher and higher rose to view +The Castle with its battled walls, +The ancient Monastery's halls, 165 +A solemn, huge, and dark-red pile, +Placed on the margin of the isle. + + +X. + +In Saxon strength that Abbey frown'd, +With massive arches broad and round, + That rose alternate, row and row, 170 + On ponderous columns, short and low, + Built ere the art was known, + By pointed aisle, and shafted stalk, + The arcades of an alley'd walk + To emulate in stone. 175 +On the deep walls, the heathen Dane +Had pour'd his impious rage in vain; +And needful was such strength to these, +Exposed to the tempestuous seas, +Scourged by the winds' eternal sway, 180 +Open to rovers fierce as they, +Which could twelve hundred years withstand +Winds, waves, and northern pirates' hand. +Not but that portions of the pile, +Rebuilded in a later style, 185 +Show'd where the spoiler's hand had been; +Not but the wasting sea-breeze keen +Had worn the pillar's carving quaint, +And moulder'd in his niche the saint, +And rounded, with consuming power, 190 +The pointed angles of each tower; +Yet still entire the Abbey stood, +Like veteran, worn, but unsubdued. + + +XI. + +Soon as they near'd his turrets strong, +The maidens raised Saint Hilda's song, 195 +And with the sea-wave and the wind, +Their voices, sweetly shrill, combined, + And made harmonious close; +Then, answering from the sandy shore, +Half-drown'd amid the breakers' roar, 200 + According chorus rose: +Down to the haven of the Isle, +The monks and nuns in order file, + From Cuthbert's cloisters grim; +Banner, and cross, and relics there, 205 +To meet Saint Hilda's maids, they bare; +And, as they caught the sounds on air, + They echoed back the hymn. +The islanders, in joyous mood, +Rush'd emulously through the flood, 210 + To hale the bark to land; +Conspicuous by her veil and hood, +Signing the cross, the Abbess stood, + And bless'd them with her hand. + + +XII. + +Suppose we now the welcome said, 215 +Suppose the Convent banquet made: + All through the holy dome, +Through cloister, aisle, and gallery, +Wherever vestal maid might pry, +No risk to meet unhallow'd eye, 220 + The stranger sisters roam: +Till fell the evening damp with dew, +And the sharp sea-breeze coldly blew, +For there, even summer night is chill. +Then, having stray'd and gazed their fill, 225 + They closed around the fire; +And all, in turn, essay'd to paint +The rival merits of their saint, + A theme that ne'er can tire +A holy maid; for, be it known, 230 +That their saint's honour is their own. + + +XIII. + +Then Whitby's nuns exulting told, +How to their house three Barons bold + Must menial service do; +While horns blow out a note of shame, 235 +And monks cry 'Fye upon your name! +In wrath, for loss of silvan game, + Saint Hilda's priest ye slew.'-- +'This, on Ascension-day, each year, +While labouring on our harbour-pier, 240 +Must Herbert, Bruce, and Percy hear.'-- +They told how in their convent-cell +A Saxon princess once did dwell, + The lovely Edelfled; +And how, of thousand snakes, each one 245 +Was changed into a coil of stone, + When holy Hilda pray'd; +Themselves, within their holy bound, +Their stony folds had often found. +They told, how sea-fowls' pinions fail, 250 +As over Whitby's towers they sail, +And, sinking down, with flutterings faint, +They do their homage to the saint. + + +XIV. + +Nor did Saint Cuthbert's daughters fail, +To vie with these in holy tale; 255 +His body's resting-place, of old, +How oft their patron changed, they told; +How, when the rude Dane burn'd their pile, +The monks fled forth from Holy Isle; +O'er northern mountain, marsh, and moor, 260 +From sea to sea, from shore to shore, +Seven years Saint Cuthbert's corpse they bore. + They rested them in fair Melrose; + But though, alive, he loved it well, + Not there his relics might repose; 265 + For, wondrous tale to tell! + In his stone-coffin forth he rides, + A ponderous bark for river tides, + Yet light as gossamer it glides, + Downward to Tilmouth cell. 270 +Nor long was his abiding there, +Far southward did the saint repair; +Chester-le-Street, and Rippon, saw +His holy corpse, ere Wardilaw + Hail'd him with joy and fear; 275 +And, after many wanderings past, +He chose his lordly seat at last, +Where his cathedral, huge and vast, + Looks down upon the Wear; +There, deep in Durham's Gothic shade, 280 +His relics are in secret laid; + But none may know the place, +Save of his holiest servants three, +Deep sworn to solemn secrecy, + Who share that wondrous grace. 285 + + +XV. + +Who may his miracles declare! +Even Scotland's dauntless king, and heir, + (Although with them they led +Galwegians, wild as ocean's gale, +And Lodon's knights, all sheathed in mail, 290 +And the bold men of Teviotdale,) + Before his standard fled. +'Twas he, to vindicate his reign, +Edged Alfred's falchion on the Dane, +And turn'd the Conqueror back again, 295 +When, with his Norman bowyer band, +He came to waste Northumberland. + + +XVI. + +But fain Saint Hilda's nuns would learn +If, on a rock, by Lindisfarne, +Saint Cuthbert sits, and toils to frame 300 +The sea-born beads that bear his name: +Such tales had Whitby's fishers told, +And said they might his shape behold, + And hear his anvil sound; +A deaden'd clang,--a huge dim form, 305 +Seen but, and heard, when gathering storm + And night were closing round. +But this, as tale of idle fame, +The nuns of Lindisfarne disclaim. + + +XVII. + +While round the fire such legends go, 310 +Far different was the scene of woe, +Where, in a secret aisle beneath, +Council was held of life and death. + It was more dark and lone that vault, + Than the worst dungeon cell: 315 + Old Colwulf built it, for his fault, + In penitence to dwell, +When he, for cowl and beads, laid down +The Saxon battle-axe and crown. +This den, which, chilling every sense 320 + Of feeling, hearing, sight, +Was call'd the Vault of Penitence, + Excluding air and light, +Was, by the prelate Sexhelm, made +A place of burial for such dead, 325 +As, having died in mortal sin, +Might not be laid the church within. +'Twas now a place of punishment; +Whence if so loud a shriek were sent, + As reach'd the upper air, 330 +The hearers bless'd themselves, and said, +The spirits of the sinful dead + Bemoan'd their torments there. + + +XVIII. + +But though, in the monastic pile, +Did of this penitential aisle 335 + Some vague tradition go, +Few only, save the Abbot, knew +Where the place lay; and still more few +Were those, who had from him the clew + To that dread vault to go. 340 +Victim and executioner +Were blindfold when transported there. +In low dark rounds the arches hung, +From the rude rock the side-walls sprung; +The grave-stones, rudely sculptured o'er, 345 +Half sunk in earth, by time half wore, +Were all the pavement of the floor; +The mildew-drops fell one by one, +With tinkling plash, upon the stone. +A cresset, in an iron chain, 350 +Which served to light this drear domain, +With damp and darkness seem'd to strive, +As if it scarce might keep alive; +And yet it dimly served to show +The awful conclave met below. 355 + + +XIX. + +There, met to doom in secrecy, +Were placed the heads of convents three: +All servants of Saint Benedict, +The statutes of whose order strict + On iron table lay; 360 +In long black dress, on seats of stone, +Behind were these three judges shown + By the pale cresset's ray: +The Abbess of Saint Hilda's, there, +Sat for a space with visage bare, 365 +Until, to hide her bosom's swell, +And tear-drops that for pity fell, + She closely drew her veil: +Yon shrouded figure, as I guess, +By her proud mien and flowing dress, 370 +Is Tynemouth's haughty Prioress, + And she with awe looks pale: +And he, that Ancient Man, whose sight +Has long been quench'd by age's night, +Upon whose wrinkled brow alone, 375 +Nor ruth, nor mercy's trace, is shown, + Whose look is hard and stern,-- +Saint Cuthbert's Abbot is his style; +For sanctity call'd, through the isle, +The Saint of Lindisfarne. 380 + + +XX. + +Before them stood a guilty pair; +But, though an equal fate they share, +Yet one alone deserves our care. +Her sex a page's dress belied; +The cloak and doublet, loosely tied, 385 +Obscured her charms, but could not hide. + Her cap down o'er her face she drew; + And, on her doublet breast, +She tried to hide the badge of blue, + Lord Marmion's falcon crest. 390 +But, at the Prioress' command, +A Monk undid the silken band + That tied her tresses fair, +And raised the bonnet from her head, +And down her slender form they spread, 395 + In ringlets rich and rare. +Constance de Beverley they know, +Sister profess'd of Fontevraud, +Whom the Church number'd with the dead, +For broken vows, and convent fled. 400 + + +XXI. + +When thus her face was given to view, +(Although so pallid was her hue, +It did a ghastly contrast bear +To those bright ringlets glistering fair), +Her look composed, and steady eye, 405 +Bespoke a matchless constancy; +And there she stood so calm and pale, +That, bur her breathing did not fail, +And motion slight of eye and head, +And of her bosom, warranted 410 +That neither sense nor pulse she lacks, +You might have thought a form of wax, +Wrought to the very life, was there; +So still she was, so pale, so fair. + + +XXII. + +Her comrade was a sordid soul, 415 + Such as does murder for a meed; +Who, but of fear, knows no control, +Because his conscience, sear'd and foul, + Feels not the import of his deed; +One, whose brute-feeling ne'er aspires 420 +Beyond his own more brute desires. +Such tools the Tempter ever needs, +To do the savagest of deeds; +For them no vision'd terrors daunt, +Their nights no fancied spectres haunt, 425 +One fear with them, of all most base, +The fear of death,--alone finds place. +This wretch was clad in frock and cowl, +And 'shamed not loud to moan and howl, +His body on the floor to dash, 430 +And crouch, like hound beneath the lash; +While his mute partner, standing near, +Waited her doom without a tear. + + +XXIII. + +Yet well the luckless wretch might shriek, +Well might her paleness terror speak! 435 +For there were seen in that dark wall, +Two niches, narrow, deep, and tall;-- +Who enters at such grisly door, +Shall ne'er, I ween, find exit more. +In each a slender meal was laid, 440 +Of roots, of water, and of bread: +By each, in Benedictine dress, +Two haggard monks stood motionless; +Who, holding high a blazing torch, +Show'd the grim entrance of the porch: 445 +Reflecting back the smoky beam, +The dark-red walls and arches gleam. +Hewn stones and cement were display'd, +And building tools in order laid. + + +XXIV. + +These executioners were chose, 450 +As men who were with mankind foes, +And with despite and envy fired, +Into the cloister had retired; + Or who, in desperate doubt of grace, + Strove, by deep penance, to efface 455 + Of some foul crime the stain; + For, as the vassals of her will, + Such men the Church selected still, + As either joy'd in doing ill, + Or thought more grace to gain, 460 +If, in her cause, they wrestled down +Feelings their nature strove to own. +By strange device were they brought there, +They knew not how, and knew not where. + + +XXV. + +And now that blind old Abbot rose, 465 + To speak the Chapter's doom, +On those the wall was to enclose, + Alive, within the tomb; +But stopp'd, because that woful Maid, +Gathering her powers, to speak essay'd. 470 +Twice she essay'd, and twice in vain; +Her accents might no utterance gain; +Nought but imperfect murmurs slip +From her convulsed and quivering lip; + Twixt each attempt all was so still, 475 + You seem'd to hear a distant rill-- + 'Twas ocean's swells and falls; + For though this vault of sin and fear + Was to the sounding surge so near, + A tempest there you scarce could hear, 480 + So massive were the walls. + + +XXVI. + +At length, an effort sent apart +The blood that curdled to her heart, + And light came to her eye, +And colour dawn'd upon her cheek, 485 +A hectic and a flutter'd streak, +Like that left on the Cheviot peak, + By Autumn's stormy sky; +And when her silence broke at length, +Still as she spoke she gather'd strength, 490 + And arm'd herself to bear. +It was a fearful sight to see +Such high resolve and constancy, + In form so soft and fair. + + +XXVII. + +'I speak not to implore your grace, 495 +Well know I, for one minute's space + Successless might I sue: +Nor do I speak your prayers to gain; +For if a death of lingering pain, +To cleanse my sins, be penance vain, 500 + Vain are your masses too.-- +I listen'd to a traitor's tale, +I left the convent and the veil; +For three long years I bow'd my pride, +A horse-boy in his train to ride; 505 +And well my folly's meed he gave, +Who forfeited, to be his slave, +All here, and all beyond the grave.-- +He saw young Clara's face more fair, +He knew her of broad lands the heir, 510 +Forgot his vows, his faith forswore, +And Constance was beloved no more.-- + 'Tis an old tale, and often told; + But did my fate and wish agree, + Ne'er had been read, in story old, 515 + Of maiden true betray'd for gold, + That loved, or was avenged, like me! + + +XXVIII. + +'The King approved his favourite's aim; +In vain a rival barr'd his claim, + Whose fate with Clare's was plight, 520 +For he attaints that rival's fame +With treason's charge--and on they came, + In mortal lists to fight. + Their oaths are said, + Their prayers are pray'd, 525 + Their lances in the rest are laid, + They meet in mortal shock; +And hark! the throng, with thundering cry, +Shout "Marmion, Marmion I to the sky, + De Wilton to the block!" 530 +Say ye, who preach Heaven shall decide +When in the lists two champions ride, + Say, was Heaven's justice here? +When, loyal in his love and faith, +Wilton found overthrow or death, 535 + Beneath a traitor's spear? +How false the charge, how true he fell, +This guilty packet best can tell.'-- +Then drew a packet from her breast, +Paused, gather'd voice, and spoke the rest. 540 + + +XXIX. + +'Still was false Marmion's bridal staid; +To Whitby's convent fled the maid, + The hated match to shun. +"Ho! shifts she thus?" King Henry cried, +"Sir Marmion, she shall be thy bride, 545 + If she were sworn a nun." +One way remain'd--the King's command +Sent Marmion to the Scottish land! +I linger'd here, and rescue plann'd + For Clara and for me: 550 +This caitiff Monk, for gold, did swear, +He would to Whitby's shrine repair, +And, by his drugs, my rival fair + A saint in heaven should be. +But ill the dastard kept his oath, 555 +Whose cowardice has undone us both. + + +XXX. + +'And now my tongue the secret tells, +Not that remorse my bosom swells, +But to assure my soul that none +Shall ever wed with Marmion. 560 +Had fortune my last hope betray'd, +This packet, to the King convey'd, +Had given him to the headsman's stroke, +Although my heart that instant broke.-- +Now, men of death, work forth your will, 565 +For I can suffer, and be still; +And come he slow, or come he fast, +It is but Death who comes at last. + + +XXXI. + +'Yet dread me, from my living tomb, +Ye vassal slaves of bloody Rome! 570 +If Marmion's late remorse should wake, +Full soon such vengeance will he take, +That you shall wish the fiery Dane +Had rather been your guest again. +Behind, a darker hour ascends! 575 +The altars quake, the crosier bends, +The ire of a despotic King +Rides forth upon destruction's wing; +Then shall these vaults, so strong and deep, +Burst open to the sea-winds' sweep; 580 +Some traveller then shall find my bones +Whitening amid disjointed stones, +And, ignorant of priests' cruelty, +Marvel such relics here should be.' + + +XXXII. + +Fix'd was her look, and stern her air: 585 +Back from her shoulders stream'd her hair; +The locks, that wont her brow to shade, +Stared up erectly from her head; +Her figure seem'd to rise more high; +Her voice, despair's wild energy 590 +Had given a tone of prophecy. +Appall'd the astonish'd conclave sate; +With stupid eyes, the men of fate +Gazed on the light inspired form, +And listen'd for the avenging storm; 595 +The judges felt the victim's dread; +No hand was moved, no word was said, +Till thus the Abbot's doom was given, +Raising his sightless balls to heaven:-- +'Sister, let thy sorrows cease; 600 +Sinful brother, part in peace!' + From that dire dungeon, place of doom, + Of execution too, and tomb, + Paced forth the judges three; + Sorrow it were, and shame, to tell 605 + The butcher-work that there befell, + When they had glided from the cell + Of sin and misery. + + +XXXIII. + +An hundred winding steps convey +That conclave to the upper day; 610 +But, ere they breathed the fresher air, +They heard the shriekings of despair, + And many a stifled groan: +With speed their upward way they take, +(Such speed as age and fear can make,) 615 +And cross'd themselves for terror's sake, + As hurrying, tottering on, +Even in the vesper's heavenly tone, +They seem'd to hear a dying groan, +And bade the passing knell to toll 620 +For welfare of a parting soul. +Slow o'er the midnight wave it swung, +Northumbrian rocks in answer rung; +To Warkworth cell the echoes roll'd, +His beads the wakeful hermit told, 625 +The Bamborough peasant raised his head, +But slept ere half a prayer he said; +So far was heard the mighty knell, +The stag sprung up on Cheviot Fell, +Spread his broad nostril to the wind, 630 +Listed before, aside, behind, +Then couch'd him down beside the hind, +And quaked among the mountain fern, +To hear that sound, so dull and stern. + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO THIRD. + +TO WILLIAM ERSKINE, ESQ. + +Ashestiel, Ettrick Forest. + +Like April morning clouds, that pass, +With varying shadow, o'er the grass, +And imitate, on field and furrow, +Life's chequer'd scene of joy and sorrow; +Like streamlet of the mountain north, 5 +Now in a torrent racing forth, +Now winding slow its silver train, +And almost slumbering on the plain; +Like breezes of the autumn day, +Whose voice inconstant dies away, 10 +And ever swells again as fast, +When the ear deems its murmur past; +Thus various, my romantic theme +Flits, winds, or sinks, a morning dream. +Yet pleased, our eye pursues the trace 15 +Of Light and Shade's inconstant race; +Pleased, views the rivulet afar, +Weaving its maze irregular; +And pleased, we listen as the breeze +Heaves its wild sigh through Autumn trees; 20 +Then, wild as cloud, or stream, or gale, +Flow on, flow unconfined, my Tale! + +Need I to thee, dear Erskine, tell +I love the license all too well, +In sounds now lowly, and now strong, 25 +To raise the desultory song? +Oft, when 'mid such capricious chime, +Some transient fit of lofty rhyme +To thy kind judgment seem'd excuse +For many an error of the muse, 30 +Oft hast thou said, 'If, still misspent, +Thine hours to poetry are lent, +Go, and to tame thy wandering course, +Quaff from the fountain at the source; +Approach those masters, o'er whose tomb 35 +Immortal laurels ever bloom: +Instructive of the feebler bard, +Still from the grave their voice is heard; +From them, and from the paths they show'd, +Choose honour'd guide and practised road; 40 +Nor ramble on through brake and maze, +With harpers rude of barbarous days. + + 'Or deem'st thou not our later time +Yields topic meet for classic rhyme? +Hast thou no elegiac verse 45 +For Brunswick's venerable hearse? +What! not a line, a tear, a sigh, +When valour bleeds for liberty?-- +Oh, hero of that glorious time, +When, with unrivall'd light sublime,-- 50 +Though martial Austria, and though all +The might of Russia, and the Gaul, +Though banded Europe stood her foes-- +The star of Brandenburgh arose! +Thou couldst not live to see her beam 55 +For ever quench'd in Jena's stream. +Lamented Chief!--it was not given +To thee to change the doom of Heaven, +And crush that dragon in its birth, +Predestined scourge of guilty earth. 60 +Lamented Chief!--not thine the power, +To save in that presumptuous hour, +When Prussia hurried to the field, +And snatch'd the spear, but left the shield! +Valour and skill 'twas thine to try, 65 +And, tried in vain, 'twas thine to die. +Ill had it seem'd thy silver hair +The last, the bitterest pang to share, +For princedoms reft, and scutcheons riven, +And birthrights to usurpers given; 70 +Thy land's, thy children's wrongs to feel, +And witness woes thou could'st not heal! +On thee relenting Heaven bestows +For honour'd life an honour'd close; +And when revolves, in time's sure change, 75 +The hour of Germany's revenge, +When, breathing fury for her sake, +Some new Arminius shall awake, +Her champion, ere he strike, shall come +To whet his sword on BRUNSWICK'S tomb, 80 + + 'Or of the Red-Cross hero teach +Dauntless in dungeon as on breach: +Alike to him the sea, the shore, +The brand, the bridle, or the oar: +Alike to him the war that calls 85 +Its votaries to the shatter'd walls, +Which the grim Turk, besmear'd with blood, +Against the Invincible made good; +Or that, whose thundering voice could wake +The silence of the polar lake, 90 +When stubborn Russ, and metal'd Swede, +On the warp'd wave their death-game play'd; +Or that, where Vengeance and Affright +Howl'd round the father of the fight, +Who snatch'd, on Alexandria's sand, 95 +The conqueror's wreath with dying hand. + + 'Or, if to touch such chord be thine, +Restore the ancient tragic line, +And emulate the notes that rung +From the wild harp, which silent hung 100 +By silver Avon's holy shore, +Till twice an hundred years roll'd o'er; +When she, the bold Enchantress, came, +With fearless hand and heart on flame! +From the pale willow snatch'd the treasure, 105 +And swept it with a kindred measure, +Till Avon's swans, while rung the grove +With Montfort's hate and Basil's love, +Awakening at the inspired strain, +Deem'd their own Shakspeare lived again.' 110 + + Thy friendship thus thy judgment wronging, +With praises not to me belonging, +In task more meet for mightiest powers, +Wouldst thou engage my thriftless hours. +But say, my Erskine, hast thou weigh'd 115 +That secret power by all obey'd, +Which warps not less the passive mind, +Its source conceal'd or undefined; +Whether an impulse, that has birth +Soon as the infant wakes on earth, 120 +One with our feelings and our powers, +And rather part of us than ours; +Or whether fitlier term'd the sway +Of habit, form'd in early day? +Howe'er derived, its force confest 125 +Rules with despotic sway the breast, +And drags us on by viewless chain, +While taste and reason plead in vain. +Look east, and ask the Belgian why, +Beneath Batavia's sultry sky, 130 +He seeks not eager to inhale +The freshness of the mountain gale, +Content to rear his whiten'd wall +Beside the dank and dull canal? +He'll say, from youth he loved to see 135 +The white sail gliding by the tree. +Or see yon weatherbeaten hind, +Whose sluggish herds before him wind, +Whose tatter'd plaid and rugged cheek +His northern clime and kindred speak; 140 +Through England's laughing meads he goes, +And England's wealth around him flows; +Ask, if it would content him well, +At ease in those gay plains to dwell, +Where hedge-rows spread a verdant screen, 145 +And spires and forests intervene, +And the neat cottage peeps between? +No! not for these will he exchange +His dark Lochaber's boundless range; +Not for fair Devon's meads forsake 150 +Bennevis grey, and Carry's lake. + + Thus while I ape the measure wild +Of tales that charm'd me yet a child, +Rude though they be, still with the chime +Return the thoughts of early time; 155 +And feelings, roused in life's first day, +Glow in the line, and prompt the lay. +Then rise those crags, that mountain tower +Which charm'd my fancy's wakening hour. +Though no broad river swept along, 160 +To claim, perchance, heroic song; +Though sigh'd no groves in summer gale, +To prompt of love a softer tale; +Though scarce a puny streamlet's speed +Claim'd homage from a shepherd's reed; 165 +Yet was poetic impulse given, +By the green hill and clear blue heaven. +It was a barren scene, and wild, +Where naked cliff's were rudely piled; +But ever and anon between 170 +Lay velvet tufts of loveliest green; +And well the lonely infant knew +Recesses where the wall-flower grew, +And honey-suckle loved to crawl +Up the low crag and ruin'd wall. 175 +I deem'd such nooks the sweetest shade +The sun in all its round survey'd; +And still I thought that shatter'd tower +The mightiest work of human power; +And marvell'd as the aged hind 180 +With some strange tale bewitch'd my mind, +Of forayers, who, with headlong force, +Down from that strength had spurr'd their horse, +Their southern rapine to renew, +Far in the distant Cheviots blue, 185 +And, home returning, fill'd the hall +With revel, wassel-rout, and brawl. +Methought that still with trump and clang, +The gateway's broken arches rang; +Methought grim features, seam'd with scars, 190 +Glared through the window's rusty bars, +And ever, by the winter hearth, +Old tales I heard of woe or mirth, +Of lovers' slights, of ladies' charms, +Of witches' spells, of warriors' arms; 195 +Of patriot battles, won of old +By Wallace wight and Bruce the bold; +Of later fields of feud and fight, +When, pouring from their Highland height, +The Scottish clans, in headlong sway, 200 +Had swept the scarlet ranks away. +While stretch'd at length upon the floor, +Again I fought each combat o'er, +Pebbles and shells, in order laid, +The mimic ranks of war display'd; 205 +And onward still the Scottish Lion bore, +And still the scattered Southron fled before. + + Still, with vain fondness, could I trace, +Anew, each kind familiar face, +That brighten'd at our evening fire! 210 +From the thatch'd mansion's grey-hair'd Sire, +Wise without learning, plain and good, +And sprung of Scotland's gentler blood; +Whose eye, in age, quick, clear, and keen, +Show'd what in youth its glance had been; 215 +Whose doom discording neighbours sought, +Content with equity unbought; +To him the venerable Priest, +Our frequent and familiar guest, +Whose life and manners well could paint 220 +Alike the student and the saint; +Alas! whose speech too oft I broke +With gambol rude and timeless joke: +For I was wayward, bold, and wild, +A self-will'd imp, a grandame's child; 225 +But half a plague, and half a jest, +Was still endured, beloved, caress'd. + + From me, thus nurtured, dost thou ask +The classic poet's well-conn'd task? +Nay, Erskine, nay--On the wild hill 230 +Let the wild heath-bell flourish still; +Cherish the tulip, prune the vine, +But freely let the woodbine twine, +And leave untrimm'd the eglantine: +Nay, my friend, nay--Since oft thy praise 235 +Hath given fresh vigour to my lays; +Since oft thy judgment could refine +My flatten'd thought, or cumbrous line; +Still kind, as is thy wont, attend, +And in the minstrel spare the friend. 240 +Though wild as cloud, as stream, as gale, +Flow forth, flow unrestrain'd, my Tale! + + +CANTO THIRD. + +THE HOSTEL, OR INN. + + +I. + +The livelong day Lord Marmion rode: +The mountain path the Palmer show'd +By glen and streamlet winded still, +Where stunted birches hid the rill. +They might not choose the lowland road, 5 +For the Merse forayers were abroad, +Who, fired with hate and thirst of prey, +Had scarcely fail'd to bar their way. +Oft on the trampling band, from crown +Of some tall cliff, the deer look'd down; 10 +On wing of jet, from his repose +In the deep heath, the black-cock rose; +Sprung from the gorse the timid roe, +Nor waited for the bending bow; +And when the stony path began, 15 +By which the naked peak they wan, +Up flew the snowy ptarmigan. +The noon had long been pass'd before +They gain'd the height of Lammermoor; +Thence winding down the northern way, 20 +Before them, at the close of day, +Old Gifford's towers and hamlet lay. + + +II. + +No summons calls them to the tower, +To spend the hospitable hour. +To Scotland's camp the Lord was gone; 25 +His cautious dame, in bower alone, +Dreaded her castle to unclose, +So late, to unknown friends or foes. + On through the hamlet as they paced, + Before a porch, whose front was graced 30 + With bush and flagon trimly placed, + Lord Marmion drew his rein: + The village inn seem'd large, though rude; + Its cheerful fire and hearty food + Might well relieve his train. 35 +Down from their seats the horsemen sprung, +With jingling spurs the court-yard rung; +They bind their horses to the stall, +For forage, food, and firing call, +And various clamour fills the hall: 40 +Weighing the labour with the cost, +Toils everywhere the bustling host. + + +III + +Soon, by the chimney's merry blaze, +Through the rude hostel might you gaze; +Might see, where, in dark nook aloof, 45 +The rafters of the sooty roof + Bore wealth of winter cheer; +Of sea-fowl dried, and solands store, +And gammons of the tusky boar, + And savoury haunch of deer. 50 +The chimney arch projected wide; +Above, around it, and beside, + Were tools for housewives' hand; +Nor wanted, in that martial day, +The implements of Scottish fray, 55 + The buckler, lance, and brand. +Beneath its shade, the place of state, +On oaken settle Marmion sate, +And view'd around the blazing hearth. +His followers mix in noisy mirth; 60 +Whom with brown ale, in jolly tide, +From ancient vessels ranged aside, +Full actively their host supplied. + + +IV. + +Theirs was the glee of martial breast, +And laughter theirs at little jest; 65 +And oft Lord Marmion deign'd to aid, +And mingle in the mirth they made; +For though, with men of high degree, +The proudest of the proud was he, +Yet, train'd in camps, he knew the art 70 +To win the soldier's hardy heart. +They love a captain to obey, +Boisterous as March, yet fresh as May; +With open hand, and brow as free, +Lover of wine and minstrelsy; 75 +Ever the first to scale a tower, +As venturous in a lady's bower:-- +Such buxom chief shall lead his host +From India's fires to Zembla's frost. + + +V. + +Resting upon his pilgrim staff, 80 + Right opposite the Palmer stood; +His thin dark visage seen but half, + Half hidden by his hood. +Still fix'd on Marmion was his look, +Which he, who ill such gaze could brook, 85 + Strove by a frown to quell; +But not for that, though more than once +Full met their stern encountering glance, +The Palmer's visage fell. + + +VI. + +By fits less frequent from the crowd 90 +Was heard the burst of laughter loud; +For still, as squire and archer stared +On that dark face and matted beard, + Their glee and game declined. +All gazed at length in silence drear, 95 +Unbroke, save when in comrade's ear +Some yeoman, wondering in his fear, + Thus whispered forth his mind:-- +'Saint Mary! saw'st thou e'er such sight? +How pale his cheek, his eye how bright, 100 +Whene'er the firebrand's fickle light + Glances beneath his cowl! +Full on our Lord he sets his eye; +For his best palfrey, would not I + Endure that sullen scowl.' 105 + + +VII. + +But Marmion, as to chase the awe +Which thus had quell'd their hearts, who saw +The ever-varying fire-light show +That figure stern and face of woe, + Now call'd upon a squire:-- 110 +'Fitz-Eustace, know'st thou not some lay, +To speed the lingering night away? + We slumber by the fire.'-- + + +VIII. + +'So please you,' thus the youth rejoin'd, +'Our choicest minstrel's left behind. 115 +Ill may we hope to please your ear, +Accustom'd Constant's strains to hear. +The harp full deftly can he strike, +And wake the lover's lute alike; +To dear Saint Valentine, no thrush 120 +Sings livelier from a spring-tide bush, +No nightingale her love-lorn tune +More sweetly warbles to the moon. +Woe to the cause, whate'er it be, +Detains from us his melody, 125 +Lavish'd on rocks, and billows stern, +Or duller monks of Lindisfarne. +Now must I venture as I may, +To sing his favourite roundelay.' + + +IX. + +A mellow voice Fitz-Eustace had, 130 +The air he chose was wild and sad; +Such have I heard, in Scottish land, +Rise from the busy harvest band, +When falls before the mountaineer, +On Lowland plains, the ripen'd ear. 135 +Now one shrill voice the notes prolong, +Now a wild chorus swells the song: +Oft have I listen'd, and stood still, +As it came soften'd up the hill, +And deem'd it the lament of men 140 +Who languish'd for their native glen; +And thought how sad would be such sound, +On Susquehanna's swampy ground, +Kentucky's wood-encumber'd brake, +Or wild Ontario's boundless lake, 145 +Where heart-sick exiles, in the strain, +Recall'd fair Scotland's hills again! + + +X. + +Song + +Where shall the lover rest, + Whom the fates sever +From his true maiden's breast, 150 + Parted for ever? +Where, through groves deep and high, + Sounds the far billow, +Where early violets die, + Under the willow. 155 + +CHORUS. +Eleu loro, &c. Soft shall be his pillow. + +There, through the summer day, + Cool streams are laving; +There, while the tempests sway, + Scarce are boughs waving; 160 +There, thy rest shalt thou take, + Parted for ever, +Never again to wake, + Never, O never! + +CHORUS. +Eleu loro, &c. Never, O never! 165 + + +XI. + +Where shall the traitor rest, + He, the deceiver, +Who could win maiden's breast, + Ruin, and leave her? +In the lost battle, 170 + Borne down by the flying, +Where mingles war's rattle + With groans of the dying. + +CHORUS. +Eleu loro, &c. There shall he be lying. + +Her wing shall the eagle flap 175 + O'er the false-hearted; +His warm blood the wolf shall lap, + Ere life be parted. +Shame and dishonour sit + By his grave ever; 180 +Blessing shall hallow it,-- +Never, O never. + +CHORUS. +Eleu loro, &c. Never, O never! + + +XII. + +It ceased, the melancholy sound; +And silence sunk on all around. 185 +The air was sad; but sadder still + It fell on Marmion's ear, +And plain'd as if disgrace and ill, + And shameful death, were near. +He drew his mantle past his face, 190 + Between it and the band, +And rested with his head a space, +Reclining on his hand. +His thoughts I scan not; but I ween, +That, could their import have been seen, 195 +The meanest groom in all the hall, +That e'er tied courser to a stall, +Would scarce have wished to be their prey, +For Lutterward and Fontenaye. + + +XIII. + +High minds, of native pride and force, 200 +Most deeply feel thy pangs, Remorse! +Fear, for their scourge, mean villains have, +Thou art the torturer of the brave! +Yet fatal strength they boast to steel +Their minds to bear the wounds they feel, 205 +Even while they writhe beneath the smart +Of civil conflict in the heart. +For soon Lord Marmion raised his head, +And, smiling, to Fitz-Eustace said,- +'Is it not strange, that, as ye sung, 210 +Seem'd in mine ear a death-peal rung, +Such as in nunneries they toll +For some departing sister's soul? + Say, what may this portend?'-- +Then first the Palmer silence broke, 215 +(The livelong day he had not spoke) + 'The death of a dear friend.' + + +XIV. + +Marmion, whose steady heart and eye +Ne'er changed in worst extremity; +Marmion, whose soul could scantly brook, 220 +Even from his King, a haughty look; +Whose accents of command controll'd, +In camps, the boldest of the bold-- +Thought, look, and utterance fail'd him now, +Fall'n was his glance, and flush'd his brow: 225 + For either in the tone, +Or something in the Palmer's look, +So full upon his conscience strook, + That answer he found none. +Thus oft it haps, that when within 230 +They shrink at sense of secret sin, + A feather daunts the brave; +A fool's wild speech confounds the wise, +And proudest princes vail their eyes + Before their meanest slave. 235 + + +XV. + +Well might he falter!--By his aid +Was Constance Beverley betray'd. +Not that he augur'd of the doom, +Which on the living closed the tomb: +But, tired to hear the desperate maid 240 +Threaten by turns, beseech, upbraid; +And wroth, because, in wild despair, +She practised on the life of Clare; +Its fugitive the Church he gave, +Though not a victim, but a slave; 245 +And deem'd restraint in convent strange +Would hide her wrongs, and her revenge, +Himself, proud Henry's favourite peer, +Held Romish thunders idle fear, +Secure his pardon he might hold, 250 +For some slight mulct of penance-gold. +Thus judging, he gave secret way, +When the stern priests surprised their prey. +His train but deem'd the favourite page +Was left behind, to spare his age; 255 +Or other if they deem'd, none dared +To mutter what he thought and heard: +Woe to the vassal, who durst pry +Into Lord Marmion's privacy! + + +XVI. + +His conscience slept--he deem'd her well, 260 +And safe secured in yonder cell; +But, waken'd by her favourite lay, +And that strange Palmer's boding say, +That fell so ominous and drear, +Full on the object of his fear, 265 +To aid remorse's venom'd throes, +Dark tales of convent-vengeance rose; +And Constance, late betray'd and scorn'd, +All lovely on his soul return'd; +Lovely as when, at treacherous call, 270 +She left her convent's peaceful wall, +Crimson'd with shame, with terror mute, +Dreading alike escape, pursuit, +Till love, victorious o'er alarms, +Hid fears and blushes in his arms. 275 + +'Alas!' he thought, 'how changed that mien! +How changed these timid looks have been, +Since years of guilt, and of disguise, +Have steel'd her brow, and arm'd her eyes! +No more of virgin terror speaks 280 +The blood that mantles in her cheeks; +Fierce, and unfeminine, are there, +Frenzy for joy, for grief despair; +And I the cause--for whom were given +Her peace on earth, her hopes in heaven!-- 285 +Would,' thought he, as the picture grows, +'I on its stalk had left the rose! +Oh, why should man's success remove +The very charms that wake his love!-- +Her convent's peaceful solitude 290 +Is now a prison harsh and rude; +And, pent within the narrow cell, +How will her spirit chafe and swell! +How brook the stern monastic laws! +The penance how--and I the cause!-- 295 +Vigil, and scourge--perchance even worse!'-- +And twice he rose to cry, 'To horse!' +And twice his Sovereign's mandate came, +Like damp upon a kindling flame; +And twice he thought, 'Gave I not charge 300 +She should be safe, though not at large? +They durst not, for their island, shred +One golden ringlet from her head.' + + +XVIII. + +While thus in Marmion's bosom strove +Repentance and reviving love, 305 +Like whirlwinds, whose contending sway +I've seen Loch Vennachar obey, +Their Host the Palmer's speech had heard, +And, talkative, took up the word: + 'Ay, reverend Pilgrim, you, who stray 310 +From Scotland's simple land away, + To visit realms afar, +Full often learn the art to know +Of future weal, or future woe, + By word, or sign, or star; 315 +Yet might a knight his fortune hear, +If, knight-like, he despises fear, +Not far from hence;--if fathers old +Aright our hamlet legend told.'-- +These broken words the menials move, +(For marvels still the vulgar love,) 320 +And, Marmion giving license cold, +His tale the host thus gladly told:-- + + +XIX. + +The Host's Tale + +'A Clerk could tell what years have flown +Since Alexander fill'd our throne, 325 +(Third monarch of that warlike name,) +And eke the time when here he came +To seek Sir Hugo, then our lord: +A braver never drew a sword; +A wiser never, at the hour 330 +Of midnight, spoke the word of power: +The same, whom ancient records call +The founder of the Goblin-Hall. +I would, Sir Knight, your longer stay +Gave you that cavern to survey. 335 +Of lofty roof, and ample size, +Beneath the castle deep it lies: +To hew the living rock profound, +The floor to pave, the arch to round, +There never toil'd a mortal arm, 340 +It all was wrought by word and charm; +And I have heard my grandsire say, +That the wild clamour and affray +Of those dread artisans of hell, +Who labour'd under Hugo's spell, 345 +Sounded as loud as ocean's war, +Among the caverns of Dunbar. + + +XX. + +'The King Lord Gifford's castle sought, +Deep labouring with uncertain thought; +Even then he mustered all his host, 350 +To meet upon the western coast; +For Norse and Danish galleys plied +Their oars within the Frith of Clyde. +There floated Haco's banner trim, +Above Norweyan warriors grim, 355 +Savage of heart, and large of limb; +Threatening both continent and isle, +Bute, Arran, Cunninghame, and Kyle. +Lord Gifford, deep beneath the ground, +Heard Alexander's bugle sound, 360 +And tarried not his garb to change, +But, in his wizard habit strange, +Came forth,--a quaint and fearful sight; +His mantle lined with fox-skins white; +His high and wrinkled forehead bore 365 +A pointed cap, such as of yore +Clerks say that Pharaoh's Magi wore: +His shoes were mark'd with cross and spell, +Upon his breast a pentacle; +His zone, of virgin parchment thin, 370 +Or, as some tell, of dead man's skin, +Bore many a planetary sign, +Combust, and retrograde, and trine; +And in his hand he held prepared, +A naked sword without a guard. 375 + + +XXI. + +'Dire dealings with the fiendish race +Had mark'd strange lines upon his face; +Vigil and fast had worn him grim, +His eyesight dazzled seem'd and dim, +As one unused to upper day; 380 +Even his own menials with dismay +Beheld, Sir Knight, the grisly Sire, +In his unwonted wild attire; +Unwonted, for traditions run, +He seldom thus beheld the sun.-- 385 +"I know," he said,--his voice was hoarse, +And broken seem'd its hollow force,-- +"I know the cause, although untold, +Why the King seeks his vassal's hold: +Vainly from me my liege would know 390 +His kingdom's future weal or woe; +But yet, if strong his arm and heart, +His courage may do more than art. + + +XXII. + +'"Of middle air the demons proud, +Who ride upon the racking cloud, 395 +Can read, in fix'd or wandering star, +The issue of events afar; +But still their sullen aid withhold, +Save when by mightier force controll'd. +Such late I summon'd to my hall; 400 +And though so potent was the call, +That scarce the deepest nook of hell +I deem'd a refuge from the spell, +Yet, obstinate in silence still, +The haughty demon mocks my skill. 405 +But thou,--who little know'st thy might, +As born upon that blessed night +When yawning graves, and dying groan, +Proclaim'd hell's empire overthrown,-- +With untaught valour shalt compel 410 +Response denied to magic spell."-- +"Gramercy," quoth our Monarch free, +"Place him but front to front with me, +And, by this good and honour'd brand, +The gift of Coeur-de-Lion's hand, 415 +Soothly I swear, that, tide what tide, +The demon shall a buffet bide."-- +His bearing bold the wizard view'd, +And thus, well pleased, his speech renew'd:-- +"There spoke the blood of Malcolm!--mark: 420 +Forth pacing hence, at midnight dark, +The rampart seek, whose circling crown +Crests the ascent of yonder down: +A southern entrance shalt thou find; +There halt, and there thy bugle wind, 425 +And trust thine elfin foe to see, +In guise of thy worst enemy: +Couch then thy lance, and spur thy steed-- +Upon him! and Saint George to speed! +If he go down, thou soon shalt know 430 +Whate'er these airy sprites can show:-- +If thy heart fail thee in the strife, +I am no warrant for thy life." + + +XXIII. + +'Soon as the midnight bell did ring, +Alone, and arm'd, forth rode the King 435 +To that old camp's deserted round: +Sir Knight, you well might mark the mound, +Left hand the town,--the Pictish race, +The trench, long since, in blood did trace; +The moor around is brown and bare, 440 +The space within is green and fair. +The spot our village children know, +For there the earliest wild-flowers grow; +But woe betide the wandering wight, +That treads its circle in the night! 445 +The breadth across, a bowshot clear, +Gives ample space for full career; +Opposed to the four points of heaven, +By four deep gaps are entrance given. +The southernmost our Monarch past, 450 +Halted, and blew a gallant blast; +And on the north, within the ring, +Appeared the form of England's King, +Who then a thousand leagues afar, +In Palestine waged holy war: 455 +Yet arms like England's did he wield, +Alike the leopards in the shield, +Alike his Syrian courser's frame, +The rider's length of limb the same: +Long afterwards did Scotland know, 460 +Fell Edward was her deadliest foe. + + +XXIV. + +'The vision made our Monarch start, +But soon he mann'd his noble heart, +And in the first career they ran, +The Elfin Knight fell, horse and man; 465 +Yet did a splinter of his lance +Through Alexander's visor glance, +And razed the skin--a puny wound. +The King, light leaping to the ground, +With naked blade his phantom foe 470 +Compell'd the future war to show. +Of Largs he saw the glorious plain, +Where still gigantic bones remain, + Memorial of the Danish war; +Himself he saw, amid the field, 475 +On high his brandish'd war-axe wield, + And strike proud Haco from his car, +While all around the shadowy Kings +Denmark's grim ravens cower'd their wings. +'Tis said, that, in that awful night, 480 +Remoter visions met his sight, +Foreshowing future conquest far, +When our sons' sons wage northern war; +A royal city, tower and spire, +Redden'd the midnight sky with fire, 485 +And shouting crews her navy bore, +Triumphant, to the victor shore. +Such signs may learned clerks explain, +They pass the wit of simple swain. + + +XXV. + +'The joyful King turn'd home again, 490 +Headed his host, and quell'd the Dane; +But yearly, when return'd the night +Of his strange combat with the sprite, + His wound must bleed and smart; +Lord Gifford then would gibing say, 495 +"Bold as ye were, my liege, ye pay + The penance of your start." +Long since, beneath Dunfermline's nave, +King Alexander fills his grave, + Our Lady give him rest! 500 +Yet still the knightly spear and shield +The Elfin Warrior doth wield, + Upon the brown hill's breast; +And many a knight hath proved his chance, +In the charm'd ring to break a lance, 505 + But all have foully sped; +Save two, as legends tell, and they +Were Wallace wight, and Gilbert Hay.-- +Gentles, my tale is said.' + + +XXVI. + +The quaighs were deep, the liquor strong, 510 +And on the tale the yeoman-throng +Had made a comment sage and long, + But Marmion gave a sign: +And, with their lord, the squires retire; +The rest around the hostel fire, 515 + Their drowsy limbs recline: +For pillow, underneath each head, +The quiver and the targe were laid. +Deep slumbering on the hostel floor, +Oppress'd with toil and ale, they snore: 520 +The dying flame, in fitful change, +Threw on the group its shadows strange. + + +XXVII. + +Apart, and nestling in the hay +Of a waste loft, Fitz-Eustace lay; +Scarce, by the pale moonlight, were seen 525 +The foldings of his mantle green: +Lightly he dreamt, as youth will dream, +Of sport by thicket, or by stream, +Of hawk or hound, of ring or glove, +Or, lighter yet, of lady's love. 530 +A cautious tread his slumber broke, +And, close beside him, when he woke, +In moonbeam half, and half in gloom, +Stood a tall form, with nodding plume; +But, ere his dagger Eustace drew, 535 +His master Marmion's voice he knew. + + +XXVIII. + +--'Fitz-Eustace! rise,--I cannot rest; +Yon churl's wild legend haunts my breast, +And graver thoughts have chafed my mood: +The air must cool my feverish blood; 540 +And fain would I ride forth, to see +The scene of elfin chivalry. +Arise, and saddle me my steed; +And, gentle Eustace, take good heed +Thou dost not rouse these drowsy slaves; 545 +I would not, that the prating knaves +Had cause for saying, o'er their ale, +That I could credit such a tale.'-- +Then softly down the steps they slid, +Eustace the stable door undid, 550 +And, darkling, Marmion's steed array'd, +While, whispering, thus the Baron said:-- + + +XXIX. + +'Did'st never, good my youth, hear tell, + That on the hour when I was born, +Saint George, who graced my sire's chapelle, 555 +Down from his steed of marble fell, + A weary wight forlorn? +The flattering chaplains all agree, +The champion left his steed to me. +I would, the omen's truth to show, 560 +That I could meet this Elfin Foe! +Blithe would I battle, for the right +To ask one question at the sprite:- +Vain thought! for elves, if elves there be, +An empty race, by fount or sea, 565 +To dashing waters dance and sing, +Or round the green oak wheel their ring.' +Thus speaking, he his steed bestrode, +And from the hostel slowly rode. + + +XXX. + +Fitz-Eustace follow'd him abroad, 570 +And mark'd him pace the village road, + And listen'd to his horse's tramp, + Till, by the lessening sound, + He judged that of the Pictish camp + Lord Marmion sought the round. 575 +Wonder it seem'd, in the squire's eyes, +That one, so wary held, and wise,--- +Of whom 'twas said, he scarce received +For gospel, what the Church believed,-- + Should, stirr'd by idle tale, 580 +Ride forth in silence of the night, +As hoping half to meet a sprite, + Array'd in plate and mail. +For little did Fitz-Eustace know, +That passions, in contending flow, 585 + Unfix the strongest mind; +Wearied from doubt to doubt to flee, +We welcome fond credulity, + Guide confident, though blind. + + +XXXI. + +Little for this Fitz-Eustace cared, 590 +But, patient, waited till he heard, +At distance, prick'd to utmost speed, +The foot-tramp of a flying steed, + Come town-ward rushing on; +First, dead, as if on turf it trode, 595 +Then, clattering on the village road,-- +In other pace than forth he yode, + Return'd Lord Marmion. +Down hastily he sprung from selle, +And, in his haste, wellnigh he fell; 600 +To the squire's hand the rein he threw, +And spoke no word as he withdrew: +But yet the moonlight did betray, +The falcon-crest was soil'd with clay; +And plainly might Fitz-Eustace see, 605 +By stains upon the charger's knee, +And his left side, that on the moor +He had not kept his footing sure. +Long musing on these wondrous signs, +At length to rest the squire reclines, 610 +Broken and short; for still, between, +Would dreams of terror intervene: +Eustace did ne'er so blithely mark +The first notes of the morning lark. + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FOURTH. + +TO JAMES SKENE, ESQ. + +Ashestiel, Ettrick Forest. + +An ancient Minstrel sagely said, +'Where is the life which late we led?' +That motley clown in Arden wood, +Whom humorous Jacques with envy view'd, +Not even that clown could amplify, 5 +On this trite text, so long as I. +Eleven years we now may tell, +Since we have known each other well; +Since, riding side by side, our hand +First drew the voluntary brand; 10 +And sure, through many a varied scene,, +Unkindness never came between. +Away these winged years have flown, +To join the mass of ages gone; +And though deep mark'd, like all below, 15 +With chequer'd shades of joy and woe; +Though thou o'er realms and seas hast ranged, +Mark'd cities lost, and empires changed, +While here, at home, my narrower ken +Somewhat of manners saw, and men; 20 +Though varying wishes, hopes, and fears, +Fever'd the progress of these years, +Vet now, days, weeks, and months, but seem +The recollection of a dream, +So still we glide down to the sea 25 +Of fathomless eternity. + + Even now it scarcely seems a day, +Since first I tuned this idle lay; +A task so often' thrown aside, +When leisure graver cares denied, 30 +That now, November's dreary gale, +Whose voice inspired my opening tale, +That same November gale once more +Whirls the dry leaves on Yarrow shore. +Their vex'd boughs streaming to the sky, 35 +Once more our naked birches sigh, +And Blackhouse heights, and Ettrick Pen, +Have donn'd their wintry shrouds again: +And mountain dark, and flooded mead, +Bid us forsake the banks of Tweed. 40 +Earlier than wont along the sky, +Mix'd with the rack, the snow mists fly; +The shepherd who, in summer sun, +Had something of our envy won, +As thou with pencil, I with pen, 45 +The features traced of hill and glen;-- +He who, outstretch'd the livelong day, +At ease among the heath-flowers lay, +View'd the light clouds with vacant look, +Or slumber'd o'er his tatter'd book, 50 +Or idly busied him to guide +His angle o'er the lessen'd tide;-- +At midnight now, the snowy plain +Finds sterner labour for the swain. + + When red hath set the beamless sun, 55 +Through heavy vapours dark and dun; +When the tired ploughman, dry and warm, +Hears, half asleep, the rising storm +Hurling the hail, and sleeted rain, +Against the casement's tinkling pane; 60 +The sounds that drive wild deer, and fox, +To shelter in the brake and rocks, +Are warnings which the shepherd ask +To dismal and to dangerous task. +Oft he looks forth, and hopes, in vain, 65 +The blast may sink in mellowing rain; +Till, dark above, and white below, +Decided drives the flaky snow, +And forth the hardy swain must go. +Long, with dejected look and whine, 70 +To leave the hearth his dogs repine; +Whistling and cheering them to aid, +Around his back he wreathes the plaid: +His flock he gathers, and he guides, +To open downs, and mountain-sides, 75 +Where fiercest though the tempest blow, +Least deeply lies the drift below. +The blast, that whistles o'er the fells, +Stiffens his locks to icicles; +Oft he looks back, while streaming far, 80 +His cottage window seems a star,-- +Loses its feeble gleam,--and then +Turns patient to the blast again, +And, facing to the tempest's sweep, +Drives through the gloom his lagging sheep. 85 +If fails his heart, if his limbs fail, +Benumbing death is in the gale; +His paths, his landmarks, all unknown, +Close to the hut, no more his own, +Close to the aid he sought in vain, 90 +The morn may find the stiffen'd swain: +The widow sees, at dawning pale, +His orphans raise their feeble wail; +And, close beside him, in the snow, +Poor Yarrow, partner of their woe, 95 +Couches upon his master's breast, +And licks his cheek to break his rest. + + Who envies now the shepherd's lot, +His healthy fare, his rural cot, +His summer couch by greenwood tree, 100 +His rustic kirn's loud revelry, +His native hill-notes, tuned on high, +To Marion of the blithesome eye; +His crook, his scrip, his oaten reed, +And all Arcadia's golden creed? 105 + + Changes not so with us, my Skene, +Of human life the varying scene? +Our youthful summer oft we see +Dance by on wings of game and glee, +While the dark storm reserves its rage, 110 +Against the winter of our age: +As he, the ancient Chief of Troy, +His manhood spent in peace and joy; +But Grecian fires, and loud alarms, +Call'd ancient Priam forth to arms. 115 +Then happy those, since each must drain +His share of pleasure, share of pain,-- +Then happy those, beloved of Heaven, +To whom the mingled cup is given; +Whose lenient sorrows find relief, 120 +Whose joys are chasten'd by their grief. +And such a lot, my Skene, was thine, +When thou, of late, wert doom'd to twine,-- +Just when thy bridal hour was by,-- +The cypress with the myrtle tie. 125 +Just on thy bride her Sire had smiled, +And bless'd the union of his child, +When love must change its joyous cheer, +And wipe affection's filial tear. +Nor did the actions next his end, 130 +Speak more the father than the friend: +Scarce had lamented Forbes paid +The tribute to his Minstrel's shade; +The tale of friendship scarce was told, +Ere the narrator's heart was cold-- 135 +Far may we search before we find +A heart so manly and so kind! +But not around his honour'd urn, +Shall friends alone and kindred mourn; +The thousand eyes his care had dried, 140 +Pour at his name a bitter tide; +And frequent falls the grateful dew, +For benefits the world ne'er knew. +If mortal charity dare claim +The Almighty's attributed name, 145 +Inscribe above his mouldering clay, +'The widow's shield, the orphan's stay.' +Nor, though it wake thy sorrow, deem +My verse intrudes on this sad theme; +for sacred was the pen that wrote, 150 +'Thy father's friend forget thou not:' +And grateful title may I plead, +For many a kindly word and deed, +To bring my tribute to his grave:-- +'Tis little--but 'tis all I have. 155 + + To thee, perchance, this rambling strain +Recalls our summer walks again; +When, doing nought,--and, to speak true, +Not anxious to find aught to do,-- +The wild unbounded hills we ranged, 160 +While oft our talk its topic changed, +And, desultory as our way, +Ranged, unconfined, from grave to gay. +Even when it flagged, as oft will chance, +No effort made to break its trance, 165 +We could right pleasantly pursue +Our sports in social silence too; +Thou gravely labouring to pourtray +The blighted oak's fantastic spray; +I spelling o'er, with much delight, 170 +The legend of that antique knight, +Tirante by name, yclep'd the White. +At either's feet a trusty squire, +Pandour and Camp, with eyes of fire, +Jealous, each other's motions view'd, 175 +And scarce suppress'd their ancient feud. +The laverock whistled from the cloud; +The stream was lively, but not loud; +From the white thorn the May-flower shed +Its dewy fragrance round our head: 180 +Not Ariel lived more merrily +Under the blossom'd bough, than we. + + And blithesome nights, too, have been ours, +When Winter stript the summer's bowers. +Careless we heard, what now I hear, 185 +The wild blast sighing deep and drear, +When fires were bright, and lamps beam'd gay, +And ladies tuned the lovely lay; +And he was held a laggard soul, +Who shunn'd to quaff the sparkling bowl. 190 +Then he, whose absence we deplore, +Who breathes the gales of Devon's shore, +The longer miss'd, bewail'd the more; +And thou, and I, and dear-loved R--, +And one whose name I may not say,-- 195 +For not Mimosa's tender tree +Shrinks sooner from the touch than he,-- +In merry chorus well combined, +With laughter drown'd the whistling wind. +Mirth was within; and care without 200 +Might gnaw her nails to hear our shout. +Not but amid the buxom scene +Some grave discourse might intervene-- +Of the good horse that bore him best, +His shoulder, hoof, and arching crest: 205 +For, like mad Tom's, our chiefest care, +Was horse to ride, and weapon wear. +Such nights we've had; and, though the game +Of manhood be more sober tame, +And though the field-day, or the drill, 210 +Seem less important now--yet still +Such may we hope to share again. +The sprightly thought inspires my strain! +And mark, how, like a horseman true, +Lord Marmion's march I thus renew. 215 + + +CANTO FOURTH. + +THE CAMP. + + +Eustace, I said, did blithely mark +The first notes of the merry lark. +The lark sang shrill, the cock he crew, +And loudly Marmion's bugles blew, +And with their light and lively call, 5 +Brought groom and yeoman to the stall. + Whistling they came, and free of heart, + But soon their mood was changed; + Complaint was heard on every part, + Of something disarranged. 10 +Some clamour'd loud for armour lost; +Some brawl'd and wrangled with the host; +'By Becket's bones,' cried one, 'I fear, +That some false Scot has stolen my spear!'-- +Young Blount, Lord Marmion's second squire, 15 +Found his steed wet with sweat and mire; +Although the rated horse-boy sware, +Last night he dress'd him sleek and fair. +While chafed the impatient squire like thunder, +Old Hubert shouts, in fear and wonder,-- 20 +'Help, gentle Blount! help, comrades all! +Bevis lies dying in his stall: +To Marmion who the plight dare tell, +Of the good steed he loves so well?'-- +Gaping for fear and ruth, they saw 25 +The charger panting on his straw; +Till one, who would seem wisest, cried,-- +'What else but evil could betide, +With that cursed Palmer for our guide? +Better we had through mire and bush 30 +Been lantern-led by Friar Rush.' + + +II. + + Fitz-Eustace, who the cause but guess'd, + Nor wholly understood, + His comrades' clamorous plaints suppress'd; + He knew Lord Marmion's mood. 35 + Him, ere he issued forth, he sought, + And found deep plunged in gloomy thought, + And did his tale display + Simply, as if he knew of nought + To cause such disarray. 40 +Lord Marmion gave attention cold, +Nor marvell'd at the wonders told,-- +Pass'd them as accidents of course, +And bade his clarions sound to horse. + + +III. + +Young Henry Blount, meanwhile, the cost 45 +Had reckon'd with their Scottish host; +And, as the charge he cast and paid, +'Ill thou deservest thy hire,' he said; +'Dost see, thou knave, my horse's plight? +Fairies have ridden him all the night, 50 + And left him in a foam! +I trust, that soon a conjuring band, +With English cross, and blazing brand, +Shall drive the devils from this land, + To their infernal home: 55 +For in this haunted den, I trow, +All night they trampled to and fro.'-- +The laughing host look'd on the hire,-- +'Gramercy, gentle southern squire, +And if thou comest among the rest, 60 +With Scottish broadsword to be blest, +Sharp be the brand, and sure the blow, +And short the pang to undergo.' +Here stay'd their talk,--for Marmion +Gave now the signal to set on. 65 +The Palmer showing forth the way, +They journey'd all the morning day. + + +IV. + +The green-sward way was smooth and good, +Through Humbie's and through Saltoun's wood; +A forest-glade, which, varying still, 70 +Here gave a view of dale and hill, +There narrower closed, till over head +A vaulted screen the branches made. +'A pleasant path,' Fitz-Eustace said; +'Such as where errant-knights might see 75 +Adventures of high chivalry; +Might meet some damsel flying fast, +With hair unbound, and looks aghast; +And smooth and level course were here, +In her defence to break a spear. 80 +Here, too, are twilight nooks and dells; +And oft, in such, the story tells, +The damsel kind, from danger freed, +Did grateful pay her champion's meed.' +He spoke to cheer Lord Marmion's mind; 85 +Perchance to show his lore design'd; + For Eustace much had pored +Upon a huge romantic tome, +In the hall-window of his home, +Imprinted at the antique dome 90 + Of Caxton, or de Worde. +Therefore he spoke,--but spoke in vain, +For Marmion answer'd nought again. + + +V. + +Now sudden, distant trumpets shrill, +In notes prolong'd by wood and hill, 95 + Were heard to echo far; +Each ready archer grasp'd his bow, +But by the flourish soon they know, + They breathed no point of war. +Yet cautious, as in foeman's land, 100 +Lord Marmion's order speeds the band, + Some opener ground to gain; +And scarce a furlong had they rode, +When thinner trees, receding, show'd + A little woodland plain. 105 +Just in that advantageous glade, +The halting troop a line had made, +As forth from the opposing shade + Issued a gallant train. + + +VI. + +First came the trumpets, at whose clang 110 +So late the forest echoes rang; +On prancing steeds they forward press'd, +With scarlet mantle, azure vest; +Each at his trump a banner wore, +Which Scotland's royal scutcheon bore: 115 +Heralds and pursuivants, by name +Bute, Islay, Marchmount, Rothsay, came, +In painted tabards, proudly showing +Gules, Argent, Or, and Azure glowing, + Attendant on a King-at-arms, 120 +Whose hand the armorial truncheon held, +That feudal strife had often quell'd, + When wildest its alarms. + + +VII. + + He was a man of middle age; + In aspect manly, grave, and sage, 125 + As on King's errand come; + But in the glances of his eye, + A penetrating, keen, and sly + Expression found its home; + The flash of that satiric rage, 130 + Which, bursting on the early stage, + Branded the vices of the age, + And broke the keys of Rome. + On milk-white palfrey forth he paced; + His cap of maintenance was graced 135 + With the proud heron-plume. + From his steed's shoulder, loin, and breast, + Silk housings swept the ground, + With Scotland's arms, device, and crest, + Embroider'd round and round. 140 + The double tressure might you see, + First by Achaius borne, + The thistle and the fleur-de-lis, + And gallant unicorn. +So bright the King's armorial coat, 145 +That scarce the dazzled eye could note, +In living colours, blazon'd brave, +The Lion, which his title gave; +A train, which well beseem'd his state, +But all unarm'd, around him wait. 150 + Still is thy name in high account, + And still thy verse has charms, + Sir David Lindesay of the Mount, + Lord Lion King-at-arms! + + +VIII. + +Down from his horse did Marmion spring, 155 +Soon as he saw the Lion-King; +For well the stately Baron knew +To him such courtesy was due, +Whom Royal James himself had crown'd, +And on his temples placed the round 160 + Of Scotland's ancient diadem: +And wet his brow with hallow'd wine, +And on his finger given to shine + The emblematic gem. +Their mutual greetings duly made, 165 +The Lion thus his message said:-- +'Though Scotland's King hath deeply swore +Ne'er to knit faith with Henry more, +And strictly hath forbid resort +From England to his royal court; 170 +Yet, for he knows Lord Marmion's name, +And honours much his warlike fame, +My liege hath deem'd it shame, and lack +Of courtesy, to turn him back; +And, by his order, I, your guide, 175 +Must lodging fit and fair provide, +Till finds King James meet time to see +The flower of English chivalry.' + + +IX. + +Though inly chafed at this delay, +Lord Marmion bears it as he may. 180 +The Palmer, his mysterious guide, +Beholding thus his place supplied, + Sought to take leave in vain: +Strict was the Lion-King's command, +That none, who rode in Marmion's band, 185 + Should sever from the train: +'England has here enow of spies +In Lady Heron's witching eyes;' +To Marchmount thus, apart, he said, +But fair pretext to Marmion made. 190 +The right hand path they now decline, +And trace against the stream the Tyne. + + +X. + +At length up that wild dale they wind, + Where Crichtoun Castle crowns the bank; +For there the Lion's care assign'd 195 + A lodging meet for Marmion's rank. +That Castle rises on the steep + Of the green vale of Tyne: +And far beneath, where slow they creep, +From pool to eddy, dark and deep, 200 +Where alders moist, and willows weep, + You hear her streams repine. +The towers in different ages rose; +Their various architecture shows + The builders' various hands; 205 +A mighty mass, that could oppose, +When deadliest hatred fired its foes, + The vengeful Douglas bands. + + +XI. + +Crichtoun! though now thy miry court + But pens the lazy steer and sheep, 210 + Thy turrets rude, and totter'd Keep, +Have been the minstrel's loved resort. +Oft have I traced, within thy fort, + Of mouldering shields the mystic sense, + Scutcheons of honour, or pretence, 215 +Quarter'd in old armorial sort, + Remains of rude magnificence. +Nor wholly yet had time defaced + Thy lordly gallery fair; +Nor yet the stony cord unbraced, 220 +Whose twisted knots, with roses laced, + Adorn thy ruin'd stair. +Still rises unimpair'd below, +The court-yard's graceful portico; +Above its cornice, row and row 225 + Of fair hewn facets richly show + Their pointed diamond form, + Though there but houseless cattle go, + To shield them from the storm. + And, shuddering, still may we explore, 230 + Where oft whilom were captives pent, + The darkness of thy Massy More; + Or, from thy grass-grown battlement, +May trace, in undulating line, +The sluggish mazes of the Tyne. 235 + + +XII. + +Another aspect Crichtoun show'd, +As through its portal Marmion rode; +But yet 'twas melancholy state +Received him at the outer gate; +For none were in the Castle then, 240 +But women, boys, or aged men. +With eyes scarce dried, the sorrowing dame, +To welcome noble Marmion, came; +Her son, a stripling twelve years old, +Proffer'd the Baron's rein to hold; 245 +For each man that could draw a sword +Had march'd that morning with their lord, +Earl Adam Hepburn,--he who died +On Flodden, by his sovereign's side. +Long may his Lady look in vain! 250 +She ne'er shall see his gallant train, +Come sweeping back through Crichtoun-Dean. +'Twas a brave race, before the name +Of hated Bothwell stain'd their fame. + + +XIII. + +And here two days did Marmion rest, 255 + With every rite that honour claims, +Attended as the King's own guest;-- + Such the command of Royal James, +Who marshall'd then his land's array, +Upon the Borough-moor that lay. 260 +Perchance he would not foeman's eye +Upon his gathering host should pry, +Till full prepared was every band +To march against the English land. +Here while they dwelt, did Lindesay's wit 265 +Oft cheer the Baron's moodier fit; +And, in his turn, he knew to prize +Lord Marmion's powerful mind, and wise,-- +Train'd in the lore of Rome and Greece, +And policies of war and peace. 270 + + +XIV. + +It chanced, as fell the second night, + That on the battlements they walk'd, +And, by the slowly fading light, + Of varying topics talk'd; +And, unaware, the Herald-bard 275 +Said, Marmion might his toil have spared, + In travelling so far; +For that a messenger from heaven +In vain to James had counsel given + Against the English war: 280 +And, closer question'd, thus he told +A tale, which chronicles of old +In Scottish story have enroll'd:- + + +XV. + +Sir David Lindsey's Tale. + +'Of all the palaces so fair, + Built for the royal dwelling, 285 +In Scotland, far beyond compare + Linlithgow is excelling; +And in its park, in jovial June, +How sweet the merry linnet's tune, + How blithe the blackbird's lay! 290 +The wild buck bells from ferny brake, +The coot dives merry on the lake, +The saddest heart might pleasure take + To see all nature gay. +But June is to our Sovereign dear 295 +The heaviest month in all the year: +Too well his cause of grief you know, +June saw his father's overthrow. +Woe to the traitors, who could bring +The princely boy against his King! 300 +Still in his conscience burns the sting. +In offices as strict as Lent, +King James's June is ever spent. + + +XVI. + +'When last this ruthful month was come, +And in Linlithgow's holy dome 305 + The King, as wont, was praying; +While, for his royal father's soul, +The chanters sung, the bells did toll, + The Bishop mass was saying-- +For now the year brought round again 310 +The day the luckless King was slain-- +In Katharine's aisle the monarch knelt, +With sackcloth-shirt, and iron belt, + And eyes with sorrow streaming; +Around him in their stalls of state, 315 +The Thistle's Knight-Companions sate, + Their banners o'er them beaming. +I too was there, and, sooth to tell, +Bedeafen'd with the jangling knell, +Was watching where the sunbeams fell, 320 + Through the stain'd casement gleaming; +But, while I mark'd what next befell, + It seem'd as I were dreaming. +Stepp'd from the crowd a ghostly wight, +In azure gown, with cincture white; 325 +His forehead bald, his head was bare, +Down hung at length his yellow hair.-- +Now, mock me not, when, good my Lord, +I pledge to you my knightly word, +That, when I saw his placid grace, 330 +His simple majesty of face, +His solemn bearing, and his pace + So stately gliding on,-- +Seem'd to me ne'er did limner paint +So just an image of the Saint, 335 +Who propp'd the Virgin in her faint,-- + The loved Apostle John! + + +XVII. + +'He stepp'd before the Monarch's chair, +And stood with rustic plainness there, +And little reverence made; 340 +Nor head, nor body, bow'd nor bent, +But on the desk his arm he leant, + And words like these he said, +In a low voice,--but never tone +So thrill'd through vein, and nerve, and bone:-- +"My mother sent me from afar, 346 +Sir King, to warn thee not to war,-- + Woe waits on thine array; +If war thou wilt, of woman fair, +Her witching wiles and wanton snare, 350 +James Stuart, doubly warn'd, beware: + God keep thee as He may!"-- + The wondering monarch seem'd to seek + For answer, and found none; + And when he raised his head to speak, 355 + The monitor was gone. +The Marshal and myself had cast +To stop him as he outward pass'd; +But, lighter than the whirlwind's blast, + He vanish'd from our eyes, 360 +Like sunbeam on the billow cast, + That glances but, and dies.' + + +XVIII. + + While Lindesay told his marvel strange, + The twilight was so pale, + He mark'd not Marmion's colour change, 365 + While listening to the tale: + But, after a suspended pause, + The Baron spoke:--'Of Nature's laws + So strong I held the force, + That never superhuman cause 370 + Could e'er control their course; +And, three days since, had judged your aim +Was but to make your guest your game. +But I have seen, since past the Tweed, +What much has changed my sceptic creed, 375 +And made me credit aught.'--He staid, +And seem'd to wish his words unsaid: +But, by that strong emotion press'd, +Which prompts us to unload our breast, + Even when discovery's pain, 380 +To Lindesay did at length unfold +The tale his village host had told, + At Gifford, to his train. +Nought of the Palmer says he there, +And nought of Constance, or of Clare; 385 +The thoughts, which broke his sleep, he seems +To mention but as feverish dreams. + + +XIX. + +'In vain,' said he, 'to rest I spread +My burning limbs, and couch'd my head: + Fantastic thoughts return'd; 390 +And, by their wild dominion led, + My heart within me burn'd. +So sore was the delirious goad, +I took my steed, and forth I rode, +And, as the moon shone bright and cold, 395 +Soon reach'd the camp upon the wold. +The southern entrance I pass'd through, +And halted, and my bugle blew. +Methought an answer met my ear,-- +Yet was the blast so low and drear, 400 +So hollow, and so faintly blown, +It might be echo of my own. + + +XX. + +'Thus judging, for a little space +I listen'd, ere I left the place; + But scarce could trust my eyes, 405 +Nor yet can think they serve me true, +When sudden in the ring I view, +In form distinct of shape and hue, + A mounted champion rise.-- +I've fought, Lord-Lion, many a day, 410 +In single fight, and mix'd affray, +And ever, I myself may say, + Have borne me as a knight; +But when this unexpected foe +Seem'd starting from the gulf below,-- 415 +I care not though the truth I show,-- + I trembled with affright; +And as I placed in rest my spear, +My hand so shook for very fear, +I scarce could couch it right. 420 + + +XXI. + +'Why need my tongue the issue tell? +We ran our course,--my charger fell;-- +What could he 'gainst the shock of hell? + I roll'd upon the plain. +High o'er my head, with threatening hand, 425 +The spectre shook his naked brand,-- + Yet did the worst remain: +My dazzled eyes I upward cast,-- +Not opening hell itself could blast + Their sight, like what I saw! 430 +Full on his face the moonbeam strook!-- +A face could never be mistook! +I knew the stern vindictive look, + And held my breath for awe. +I saw the face of one who, fled 435 +To foreign climes, has long been dead,-- + I well believe the last; +For ne'er, from vizor raised, did stare +A human warrior, with a glare + So grimly and so ghast. 440 +Thrice o'er my head he shook the blade; +But when to good Saint George I pray'd, +(The first time e'er I ask'd his aid), + He plunged it in the sheath; +And, on his courser mounting light, 445 +He seem'd to vanish from my sight: +The moonbeam droop'd, and deepest night + Sunk down upon the heath.-- + 'Twere long to tell what cause I have + To know his face, that met me there, 450 + Call'd by his hatred from the grave, + To cumber upper air: +Dead, or alive, good cause had he +To be my mortal enemy.' + + +XXII. + +Marvell'd Sir David of the Mount; 455 +Then, learn'd in story, 'gan recount + Such chance had happ'd of old, +When once, near Norham, there did fight +A spectre fell of fiendish might, +In likeness of a Scottish knight, 460 + With Brian Bulmer bold, +And train'd him nigh to disallow +The aid of his baptismal vow. +'And such a phantom, too, 'tis said, +With Highland broadsword, targe, and plaid 465 + And fingers red with gore, +Is seen in Rothiemurcus glade, +Or where the sable pine-tree shade +Dark Tomantoul, and Auchnaslaid, + Dromouchty, or Glenmore. 470 +And yet, whate'er such legends say, +Of warlike demon, ghost, or lay, + On mountain, moor, or plain, +Spotless in faith, in bosom bold, +True son of chivalry should hold 475 + These midnight terrors vain; +For seldom have such spirits power +To harm, save in the evil hour, +When guilt we meditate within, +Or harbour unrepented sin.'-- 480 +Lord Marmion turn'd him half aside, +And twice to clear his voice he tried, + Then press'd Sir David's hand,-- +But nought, at length, in answer said; +And here their farther converse staid, 485 + Each ordering that his band +Should bowne them with the rising day, +To Scotland's camp to take their way,- + Such was the King's command. + + +XXIII. + +Early they took Dun-Edin's road, 490 +And I could trace each step they trode: +Hill, brook, nor dell, nor rock, nor stone, +Lies on the path to me unknown. +Much might if boast of storied lore; +But, passing such digression o'er, 495 +Suffice it that their route was laid +Across the furzy hills of Braid. +They pass'd the glen and scanty rill, +And climb'd the opposing bank, until +They gain'd the top of Blackford Hill. 500 + + +XXIV. + +Blackford! on whose uncultured breast, + Among the broom, and thorn, and whin, +A truant-boy, I sought the nest, +Or listed, as I lay at rest, + While rose, on breezes thin, 505 +The murmur of the city crowd, +And, from his steeple jangling loud, + Saint Giles's mingling din. +Now, from the summit to the plain, +Waves all the hill with yellow grain; 510 + And o'er the landscape as I look, +Nought do I see unchanged remain, + Save the rude cliffs and chiming brook. +To me they make a heavy moan, +Of early friendships past and gone. 515 + + +XXV. + +But different far the change has been, + Since Marmion, from the crown +Of Blackford, saw that martial scene + Upon the bent so brown: +Thousand pavilions, white as snow, 520 +Spread all the Borough-moor below, + Upland, and dale, and down:-- +A thousand did I say? I ween, +Thousands on thousands there were seen +That chequer'd all the heath between 525 + The streamlet and the town; +In crossing ranks extending far, +Forming a camp irregular; +Oft giving way, where still there stood +Some relics of the old oak wood, 530 +That darkly huge did intervene, +And tamed the glaring white with green: +In these extended lines there lay +A martial kingdom's vast array. + + +XXVI. + +For from Hebudes, dark with rain, 535 +To eastern Lodon's fertile plain, +And from the southern Redswire edge, +To farthest Rosse's rocky ledge: +From west to east, from south to north, +Scotland sent all her warriors forth. 540 +Marmion might hear the mingled hum +Of myriads up the mountain come; +The horses' tramp, and tingling clank, +Where chiefs review'd their vassal rank, + And charger's shrilling neigh; 545 +And see the shifting lines advance, +While frequent flash'd, from shield and lance, + The sun's reflected ray. + + +XXVII. + +Thin curling in the morning air, +The wreaths of failing smoke declare 550 +To embers now the brands decay'd, +Where the night-watch their fires had made. +They saw, slow rolling on the plain, +Full many a baggage-cart and wain, +And dire artillery's clumsy car, 555 +By sluggish oxen tugg'd to war; +And there were Borthwick's Sisters Seven, +And culverins which France had given. +Ill-omen'd gift! the guns remain +The conqueror's spoil on Flodden plain. 560 + + +XXVIII. + +Nor mark'd they less, where in the air +A thousand streamers flaunted fair; + Various in shape, device, and hue, + Green, sanguine, purple, red, and blue, +Broad, narrow, swallow-tail'd, and square, 565 +Scroll, pennon, pensil, bandrol, there + O'er the pavilions flew. +Highest, and midmost, was descried +The royal banner floating wide; + The staff, a pine-tree, strong and straight, 570 +Pitch'd deeply in a massive stone, +Which still in memory is shown, + Yet bent beneath the standard's weight + Whene'er the western wind unroll'd, + With toil, the huge and cumbrous fold, 575 +And gave to view the dazzling field, +Where, in proud Scotland's royal shield, + The ruddy lion ramp'd in gold. + + +XXIX. + +Lord Marmion view'd the landscape bright,-- +He view'd it with a chiefs delight,-- 580 + Until within him burn'd his heart, + And lightning from his eye did part, + As on the battle-day; + Such glance did falcon never dart, + When stooping on his prey. 585 +'Oh! well, Lord-Lion, hast thou said, +Thy King from warfare to dissuade + Were but a vain essay: +For, by St. George, were that host mine, +Not power infernal, nor divine, 590 +Should once to peace my soul incline, +Till I had dimm'd their armour's shine + In glorious battle-fray!' +Answer'd the Bard, of milder mood: +'Fair is the sight,--and yet 'twere good, 595 + That Kings would think withal, +When peace and wealth their land has bless'd, +'Tis better to sit still at rest, + Than rise, perchance to fall.' + + +XXX. + +Still on the spot Lord Marmion stay'd, 600 +For fairer scene he ne'er survey'd. + When sated with the martial show + That peopled all the plain below, + The wandering eye could o'er it go, + And mark the distant city glow 605 + With gloomy splendour red; + For on the smoke-wreaths, huge and slow, + That round her sable turrets flow, + The morning beams were shed, + And tinged them with a lustre proud, 610 + Like that which streaks a thunder-cloud. +Such dusky grandeur clothed the height, +Where the huge Castle holds its state, + And all the steep slope down, +Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky, 615 +Piled deep and massy, close and high, + Mine own romantic town! +But northward far, with purer blaze, +On Ochil mountains fell the rays, +And as each heathy top they kiss'd, 620 +It gleam'd a purple amethyst. +Yonder the shores of Fife you saw; +Here Preston-Bay, and Berwick-Law; + And, broad between them roll'd, +The gallant Frith the eye might note, 625 +Whose islands on its bosom float, + Like emeralds chased in gold. +Fitz-Eustace' heart felt closely pent; +As if to give his rapture vent, +The spur he to his charger lent, 630 + And raised his bridle hand, +And, making demi-volte in air, +Cried, 'Where's the coward that would not dare + To fight for such a land!' +The Lindesay smiled his joy to see; 635 +Nor Marmion's frown repress'd his glee. + + +XXXI. + +Thus while they look'd, a flourish proud, +Where mingled trump, and clarion loud, + And fife, and kettle-drum, +And sackbut deep, and psaltery, 640 +And war-pipe with discordant cry, +And cymbal clattering to the sky, +Making wild music bold and high, + Did up the mountain come; +The whilst the bells, with distant chime, 645 +Merrily toll'd the hour of prime, + And thus the Lindesay spoke: +'Thus clamour still the war-notes when +The King to mass his way has ta'en, +Or to Saint Katharine's of Sienne, 650 + Or Chapel of Saint Rocque. +To you they speak of martial fame; +But me remind of peaceful game, + When blither was their cheer, +Thrilling in Falkland-woods the air, 655 +In signal none his steed should spare, +But strive which foremost might repair + To the downfall of the deer. + + +XXXII. + +'Nor less,' he said,--'when looking forth, +I view yon Empress of the North 660 + Sit on her hilly throne; +Her palace's imperial bowers, +Her castle, proof to hostile powers, +Her stately halls and holy towers-- + Nor less,' he said, 'I moan, 665 +To think what woe mischance may bring, +And how these merry bells may ring +The death-dirge of our gallant King; + Or with the larum call +The burghers forth to watch and ward, 670 +'Gainst southern sack and fires to guard + Dun-Edin's leaguer'd wall.-- +But not for my presaging thought, +Dream conquest sure, or cheaply bought! + Lord Marmion, I say nay: 675 +God is the guider of the field, +He breaks the champion's spear and shield,-- + But thou thyself shalt say, +When joins yon host in deadly stowre, +That England's dames must weep in bower, 680 + Her monks the death-mass sing; +For never saw'st thou such a power + Led on by such a King.'-- +And now, down winding to the plain, +The barriers of the camp they gain, 685 + And there they made a stay.-- +There stays the Minstrel, till he fling +His hand o'er every Border string, +And fit his harp the pomp to sing, +Of Scotland's ancient Court and King, 695 + In the succeeding lay. + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FIFTH. + +TO GEORGE ELLIS, ESQ. + +Edinburgh. + +When dark December glooms the day, +And takes our autumn joys away; +When short and scant the sunbeam throws, +Upon the weary waste of snows, +A cold and profitless regard, 5 +Like patron on a needy bard; +When silvan occupation's done, +And o'er the chimney rests the gun, +And hang, in idle trophy, near, +The game-pouch, fishing-rod, and spear; 10 +When wiry terrier, rough and grim, +And greyhound, with his length of limb, +And pointer, now employ'd no more, +Cumber our parlour's narrow floor; +When in his stall the impatient steed 15 +Is long condemn'd to rest and feed; +When from our snow-encircled home, +Scarce cares the hardiest step to roam +Since path is none, save that to bring +The needful water from the spring; 20 +When wrinkled news-page, thrice conn'd o'er, +Beguiles the dreary hour no more, +And darkling politician, cross'd, +Inveighs against the lingering post, +And answering housewife sore complains 25 +Of carriers' snow-impeded wains; +When such the country cheer, I come, +Well pleased, to seek our city home; +For converse, and for books, to change +The Forest's melancholy range, 30 +And welcome, with renew'd delight, +The busy day and social night. + + Not here need my desponding rhyme +Lament the ravages of time, +As erst by Newark's riven towers, 35 +And Ettrick stripp'd of forest bowers. +True,--Caledonia's Queen is changed, +Since on her dusky summit ranged, +Within its steepy limits pent, +By bulwark, line, and battlement, 40 +And flanking towers, and laky flood, +Guarded and garrison'd she stood, +Denying entrance or resort, +Save at each tall embattled port; +Above whose arch, suspended, hung 45 +Portcullis spiked with iron prong. +That long is gone,--but not so long, +Since, early closed, and opening late, +Jealous revolved the studded gate, +Whose task, from eve to morning tide, 50 +A wicket churlishly supplied. +Stern then, and steel-girt was thy brow, +Dun-Edin! O, how altered now, +When safe amid thy mountain court +Thou sitt'st, like Empress at her sport, 55 +And liberal, unconfined, and free, +Flinging thy white arms to the sea, +For thy dark cloud, with umber'd lower, +That hung o'er cliff, and lake, and tower, +Thou gleam'st against the western ray 60 +Ten thousand lines of brighter day. + + Not she, the Championess of old, +In Spenser's magic tale enroll'd, +She for the charmed spear renown'd, +Which forced each knight to kiss the ground,-- +Not she more changed, when, placed at rest, 66 +What time she was Malbecco's guest, +She gave to flow her maiden vest; +When from the corselet's grasp relieved, +Free to the sight her bosom heaved; 70 +Sweet was her blue eye's modest smile, +Erst hidden by the aventayle; +And down her shoulders graceful roll'd +Her locks profuse, of paly gold. +They who whilom, in midnight fight, 75 +Had marvell'd at her matchless might, +No less her maiden charms approved, +But looking liked, and liking loved. +The sight could jealous pangs beguile, +And charm Malbecco's cares a while; 80 +And he, the wandering Squire of Dames, +Forgot his Columbella's claims, +And passion, erst unknown, could gain +The breast of blunt Sir Satyrane; +Nor durst light Paridel advance, 85 +Bold as he was, a looser glance. +She charm'd, at once, and tamed the heart, +Incomparable Britomane! + + So thou, fair City! disarray'd +Of battled wall, and rampart's aid, 90 +As stately seem'st, but lovelier far +Than in that panoply of war. +Nor deem that from thy fenceless throne +Strength and security are flown; +Still as of yore, Queen of the North! 95 +Still canst thou send thy children forth. +Ne'er readier at alarm-bell's call +Thy burghers rose to man thy wall, +Than now, in danger, shall be thine, +Thy dauntless voluntary line; 100 +For fosse and turret proud to stand, +Their breasts the bulwarks of the land. +Thy thousands, train'd to martial toil, +Full red would stain their native soil, +Ere from thy mural crown there fell 105 +The slightest knosp, or pinnacle. +And if it come,--as come it may, +Dun-Edin! that eventful day,-- +Renown'd for hospitable deed, +That virtue much with Heaven may plead, 110 +In patriarchal times whose care +Descending angels deign'd to share; +That claim may wrestle blessings down +On those who fight for The Good Town, +Destined in every age to be 115 +Refuge of injured royalty; +Since first, when conquering York arose, +To Henry meek she gave repose, +Till late, with wonder, grief, and awe, +Great Bourbon's relics, sad she saw. 120 + + Truce to these thoughts!--for, as they rise, +How gladly I avert mine eyes, +Bodings, or true or false, to change, +For Fiction's fair romantic range, +Or for Tradition's dubious light, 125 +That hovers 'twixt the day and night: +Dazzling alternately and dim +Her wavering lamp I'd rather trim, +Knights, squires, and lovely dames, to see, +Creation of my fantasy, 130 +Than gaze abroad on reeky fen, +And make of mists invading men.-- +Who loves not more the night of June +Than dull December's gloomy noon? +The moonlight than the fog of frost? 135 +But can we say, which cheats the most? + + But who shall teach my harp to gain +A sound of the romantic strain, +Whose Anglo-Norman tones whilere +Could win the royal Henry's ear, 140 +Famed Beauclerk call'd, for that he loved +The minstrel, and his lay approved? +Who shall these lingering notes redeem, +Decaying on Oblivion's stream; +Such notes as from the Breton tongue 145 +Marie translated, Blondel sung?-- +O! born, Time's ravage to repair, +And make the dying Muse thy care; +Who, when his scythe her hoary foe +Was poising for the final blow, 150 +The weapon from his hand could wring, +And break his glass, and shear his wing, +And bid, reviving in his strain, +The gentle poet live again; +Thou, who canst give to lightest lay 155 +An unpedantic moral gay, +Nor less the dullest theme bid flit +On wings of unexpected wit; +In letters as in life approved, +Example honour'd, and beloved,-- 160 +Dear ELLIS! to the bard impart +A lesson of thy magic art, +To win at once the head and heart,-- +At once to charm, instruct, and mend, +My guide, my pattern, and my friend! 165 + + Such minstrel lesson to bestow +Be long thy pleasing task,--but, O! +No more by thy example teach,-- +What few can practise, all can preach,-- +With even patience to endure 170 +Lingering disease, and painful cure, +And boast affliction's pangs subdued +By mild and manly fortitude. +Enough, the lesson has been given: +Forbid the repetition, Heaven! 175 + + Come listen, then! for thou hast known, +And loved the Minstrel's varying tone, +Who, like his Border sires of old, +Waked a wild measure rude and bold, +Till Windsor's oaks, and Ascot plain, 180 +With wonder heard the northern strain. +Come listen! bold in thy applause, +The Bard shall scorn pedantic laws; +And, as the ancient art could stain +Achievements on the storied pane, 185 +Irregularly traced and plann'd, +But yet so glowing and so grand,-- +So shall he strive, in changeful hue, +Field, feast, and combat, to renew, +And loves, and arms, and harpers' glee, 191 +And all the pomp of chivalry. + + +CANTO FIFTH. + +THE COURT. + + +I. + +The train has left the hills of Braid; +The barrier guard have open made +(So Lindesay bade) the palisade, + That closed the tented ground; +Their men the warders backward drew, 5 +And carried pikes as they rode through, + Into its ample bound. +Fast ran the Scottish warriors there, +Upon the Southern band to stare. +And envy with their wonder rose, 10 +To see such well-appointed foes; +Such length of shafts, such mighty bows, +So huge, that many simply thought, +But for a vaunt such weapons wrought; +And little deem'd their force to feel, 15 +Through links of mail, and plates of steel, +When rattling upon Flodden vale, +The cloth-yard arrows flew like hail. + + +II. + +Nor less did Marmion's skilful view +Glance every line and squadron through; 20 +And much he marvell'd one small land +Could marshal forth such various band; + For men-at-arms were here, +Heavily sheathed in mail and plate, +Like iron towers for strength and weight, 25 +On Flemish steeds of bone and height, + With battle-axe and spear. +Young knights and squires, a lighter train, +Practised their chargers on the plain, +By aid of leg, of hand, and rein, 30 + Each warlike feat to show, +To pass, to wheel, the croupe to gain, +And high curvett, that not in vain +The sword sway might descend amain + On foeman's casque below. 35 +He saw the hardy burghers there +March arm'd, on foot, with faces bare, + For vizor they wore none, +Nor waving plume, nor crest of knight; +But burnish'd were their corslets bright, 40 +Their brigantines, and gorgets light, + Like very silver shone. +Long pikes they had for standing fight, + Two-handed swords they wore, +And many wielded mace of weight, 45 + And bucklers bright they bore. + + +III. + +On foot the yeoman too, but dress'd +In his steel-jack, a swarthy vest, + With iron quilted well; +Each at his back (a slender store) 50 +His forty days' provision bore, + As feudal statutes tell. +His arms were halbert, axe, or spear, +A crossbow there, a hagbut here, + A dagger-knife, and brand. 55 +Sober he seem'd, and sad of cheer, +As loath to leave his cottage dear, + And march to foreign strand; +Or musing, who would guide his steer, + To till the fallow land. 60 +Yet deem not in his thoughtful eye +Did aught of dastard terror lie; +More dreadful far his ire, +Than theirs, who, scorning danger's name, +In eager mood to battle came, 65 +Their valour like light straw on name, +A fierce but fading fire. + + +IV. + +Not so the Borderer:--bred to war, +He knew the battle's din afar, + And joy'd to hear it swell. 70 +His peaceful day was slothful ease; +Nor harp, nor pipe, his ear could please, + Like the loud slogan yell. +On active steed, with lance and blade, +The light-arm'd pricker plied his trade,-- 75 + Let nobles fight for fame; +Let vassals follow where they lead, +Burghers, to guard their townships, bleed, + But war's the Borderer's game. +Their gain, their glory, their delight, 80 +To sleep the day, maraud the night, + O'er mountain, moss, and moor; +Joyful to fight they took their way, +Scarce caring who might win the day, + Their booty was secure. 85 +These, as Lord Marmion's train pass'd by, +Look'd on at first with careless eye, +Nor marvell'd aught, well taught to know +The form and force of English bow. +But when they saw the Lord array'd 90 +In splendid arms, and rich brocade, +Each Borderer to his kinsman said,-- + 'Hist, Ringan! seest thou there! +Canst guess which road they'll homeward ride?-- +O! could we but on Border side, 95 +By Eusedale glen, or Liddell's tide, + Beset a prize so fair! +That fangless Lion, too, their guide, +Might chance to lose his glistering hide; +Brown Maudlin, of that doublet pied, 100 +Could make a kirtle rare.' + + +V. + +Next, Marmion marked the Celtic race, +Of different language, form, and face, + A various race of man; +Just then the Chiefs their tribes array'd, 105 +And wild and garish semblance made, +The chequer'd trews, and belted plaid, +And varying notes the war-pipes bray'd, + To every varying clan, +Wild through their red or sable hair 110 +Look'd out their eyes with savage stare, + On Marmion as he pass'd; +Their legs above the knee were bare; +Their frame was sinewy, short, and spare, + And harden'd to the blast; 115 +Of taller race, the chiefs they own +Were by the eagle's plumage known. +The hunted red-deer's undress'd hide +Their hairy buskins well supplied; +The graceful bonnet deck'd their head: 120 +Back from their shoulders hung the plaid; +A broadsword of unwieldy length, +A dagger proved for edge and strength, + A studded targe they wore, +And quivers, bows, and shafts,--but, O! 125 +Short was the shaft, and weak the bow, + To that which England bore. +The Isles-men carried at their backs +The ancient Danish battle-axe. +They raised a wild and wondering cry, 130 +As with his guide rode Marmion by. +Loud were their clamouring tongues, as when +The clanging sea-fowl leave the fen, +And, with their cries discordant mix'd, +Grumbled and yell'd the pipes betwixt. 135 + + +VI. + +Thus through the Scottish camp they pass'd, +And reach'd the City gate at last, +Where all around, a wakeful guard, +Arm'd burghers kept their watch and ward. +Well had they cause of jealous fear, 140 +When lay encamp'd, in field so near, +The Borderer and the Mountaineer. +As through the bustling streets they go, +All was alive with martial show: +At every turn, with dinning clang, 145 +The armourer's anvil clash'd and rang; +Or toil'd the swarthy smith, to wheel +The bar that arms the charger's heel; +Or axe, or falchion, to the side +Of jarring grindstone was applied. 150 +Page, groom, and squire, with hurrying pace +Through street, and lane, and market-place, + Bore lance, or casque, or sword; +While burghers, with important face, + Described each new-come lord, 155 +Discuss'd his lineage, told his name, +His following, and his warlike fame. +The Lion led to lodging meet, +Which high o'erlook'd the crowded street; + There must the Baron rest, 160 +Till past the hour of vesper tide, +And then to Holy-Rood must ride,-- + Such was the King's behest. +Meanwhile the Lion's care assigns +A banquet rich, and costly wines, 165 + To Marmion and his train; +And when the appointed hour succeeds, +The Baron dons his peaceful weeds, +And following Lindesay as he leads, +The palace-halls they gain. 170 + + +VIL + +Old Holy-Rood rung merrily, +That night, with wassell, mirth, and glee: +King James within her princely bower +Feasted the Chiefs of Scotland's power, +Summon'd to spend the parting hour; 175 +For he had charged, that his array +Should southward march by break of day. +Well loved that splendid monarch aye + The banquet and the song, +By day the tourney, and by night 180 +The merry dance, traced fast and light, +The maskers quaint, the pageant bright, + The revel loud and long. +This feast outshone his banquets past; +It was his blithest,--and his last. 185 +The dazzling lamps, from gallery gay, +Cast on the Court a dancing ray; +Here to the harp did minstrels sing; +There ladies touched a softer string; +With long-ear'd cap, and motley vest, 190 +The licensed fool retail'd his jest; +His magic tricks the juggler plied; +At dice and draughts the gallants vied; +While some, in close recess apart, +Courted the ladies of their heart, 195 + Nor courted them in vain; +For often, in the parting hour, +Victorious Love asserts his power + O'er coldness and disdain; +And flinty is her heart, can view 200 +To battle march a lover true-- +Can hear, perchance, his last adieu, + Nor own her share of pain. + + +VIII. + +Through this mix'd crowd of glee and game, +The King to greet Lord Marmion came, 205 + While, reverent, all made room. +An easy task it was, I trow, +King James's manly form to know, +Although, his courtesy to show, +He doff'd, to Marmion bending low, 210 + His broider'd cap and plume. +For royal was his garb and mien, + His cloak, of crimson velvet piled, + Trimm'd with the fur of marten wild; +His vest of changeful satin sheen, 215 + The dazzled eye beguiled; +His gorgeous collar hung adown, +Wrought with the badge of Scotland's crown, +The thistle brave, of old renown: +His trusty blade, Toledo right, 220 +Descended from a baldric bright; +White were his buskins, on the heel +His spurs inlaid of gold and steel; +His bonnet, all of crimson fair, +Was button'd with a ruby rare: 225 +And Marmion deem'd he ne'er had seen +A prince of such a noble mien. + + +IX. + +The Monarch's form was middle size; +For feat of strength, or exercise, + Shaped in proportion fair; 230 +And hazel was his eagle eye, +And auburn of the darkest dye, + His short curl'd beard and hair. +Light was his footstep in the dance, + And firm his stirrup in the lists; 235 +And, oh! he had that merry glance, + That seldom lady's heart resists. +Lightly from fair to fair he flew, +And loved to plead, lament, and sue;-- +Suit lightly won, and short-lived pain, 240 +For monarchs seldom sigh in vain. + I said he joy'd in banquet bower; +But, 'mid his mirth, 'twas often strange, +How suddenly his cheer would change, + His look o'ercast and lower, 245 +If, in a sudden turn, he felt +The pressure of his iron belt, +That bound his breast in penance pain, +In memory of his father slain. +Even so 'twas strange how, evermore, 250 +Soon as the passing pang was o'er, +Forward he rush'd, with double glee, +Into the stream of revelry: +Thus, dim-seen object of affright +Startles the courser in his flight, 255 +And half he halts, half springs aside; +But feels the quickening spur applied, +And, straining on the tighten'd rein, +Scours doubly swift o'er hill and plain. + + +X. + +O'er James's heart, the courtiers say, 260 +Sir Hugh the Heron's wife held sway: + To Scotland's Court she came, +To be a hostage for her lord, +Who Cessford's gallant heart had gored, +And with the King to make accord, 265 + Had sent his lovely dame. +Nor to that lady free alone +Did the gay King allegiance own; + For the fair Queen of France +Sent him a turquois ring and glove, 270 +And charged him, as her knight and love, + For her to break a lance; +And strike three strokes with Scottish brand, +And march three miles on Southron land, +And bid the banners of his band 275 + In English breezes dance. +And thus, for France's Queen he drest +His manly limbs in mailed vest; + And thus admitted English fair + His inmost counsels still to share; 280 + And thus, for both, he madly plann'd + The ruin of himself and land! + And yet, the sooth to tell, + Nor England's fair, nor France's Queen, + Were worth one pearl-drop, bright and sheen, 285 + From Margaret's eyes that fell,-- +His own Queen Margaret, who, in Lithgow's bower, +All lonely sat, and wept the weary hour. + + +XI. + +The Queen sits lone in Lithgow pile, + And weeps the weary day, 290 +The war against her native soil, +Her monarch's risk in battle broil:-- +And in gay Holy-Rood, the while, +Dame Heron rises with a smile + Upon the harp to play. 295 +Fair was her rounded arm, as o'er + The strings her fingers flew; +And as she touch'd and tuned them all, +Ever her bosom's rise and fall + Was plainer given to view; 300 +For, all for heat, was laid aside +Her wimple, and her hood untied. +And first she pitch'd her voice to sing, +Then glanced her dark eye on the King, +And then around the silent ring; 305 +And laugh'd, and blush'd, and oft did say +Her pretty oath, by Yea, and Nay, +She could not, would not, durst not play! +At length, upon the harp, with glee, +Mingled with arch simplicity, 310 +A soft, yet lively, air she rung, +While thus the wily lady sung:-- + + +XII. + +LOCHINVAR. + +Lady Heron's Song + +O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west, +Through all the wide Border his steed was the best; +And save his good broadsword, he weapons had none, 315 +He rode all unarm'd, and he rode all alone. +So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, +There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. + +He staid not for brake, and he stopp'd not for stone, +He swam the Eske river where ford there was none; 320 +But ere he alighted at Netherby gate, +The bride had consented, the gallant came late: +For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war, +Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. + +So boldly he enter'd the Netherby Hall, 325 +Among bride's-men, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all: +Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword, +(For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word,) +'O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, +Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?'-- 330 + +'I long woo'd your daughter, my suit you denied;-- +Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide-- +And now am I come, with this lost love of mine, +To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine. +There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, 335 +That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.' + +The bride kiss'd the goblet: the knight took it up, +He quaff'd off the wine, and he threw down the cup. +She look'd down to blush, and she look'd up to sigh, +With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye. 340 +He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,-- +'Now tread we a measure!' said young Lochinvar. + +So stately his form, and so lovely her face, +That never a hall such a galliard did grace; +While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, 345 +And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; +And the bride-maidens whisper'd, ''Twere better by far, +To have match'd our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.' + +One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, +When they reach'd the hall-door, and the charger stood near; 350 +So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, +So light to the saddle before her he sprung! +'She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur; +They'll have fleet steeds that follow,' quoth young Lochinvar. + +There was mounting 'mong Graemes of the Netherby clan; 355 +Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran: +There was racing and chasing, on Cannobie Lee, +But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see. +So daring in love, and so dauntless in war, +Have ye e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar? 360 + + +XIII. + +The Monarch o'er the siren hung, +And beat the measure as she sung; +And, pressing closer, and more near, +He whisper'd praises in her ear. +In loud applause the courtiers vied; 365 +And ladies wink'd, and spoke aside. + The witching dame to Marmion threw + A glance, where seem'd to reign + The pride that claims applauses due, + And of her royal conquest too, 370 + A real or feign'd disdain: +Familiar was the look, and told, +Marmion and she were friends of old. +The King observed their meeting eyes, +With something like displeased surprise; 375 +For monarchs ill can rivals brook, +Even in a word, or smile, or look. +Straight took he forth the parchment broad, +Which Marmion's high commission show'd: +'Our Borders sack'd by many a raid, 380 +Our peaceful liege-men robb'd,' he said; +'On day of truce our Warden slain, +Stout Barton kill'd, his vessels ta'en-- +Unworthy were we here to reign, +Should these for vengeance cry in vain; 385 +Our full defiance, hate, and scorn, +Our herald has to Henry borne.' + + +XIV. + +He paused, and led where Douglas stood, +And with stern eye the pageant view'd: +I mean that Douglas, sixth of yore, 390 +Who coronet of Angus bore, +And, when his blood and heart were high, +Did the third James in camp defy, +And all his minions led to die + On Lauder's dreary flat: 395 +Princes and favourites long grew tame, +And trembled at the homely name + Of Archibald Bell-the-Cat; +The same who left the dusky vale +Of Hermitage in Liddisdale, 400 + Its dungeons, and its towers, +Where Bothwell's turrets brave the air, +And Bothwell bank is blooming fair, + To fix his princely bowers. +Though now, in age, he had laid down 405 +His armour for the peaceful gown, + And for a staff his brand, +Yet often would flash forth the fire, +That could, in youth, a monarch's ire + And minion's pride withstand; 410 +And even that day, at council board, + Unapt to soothe his sovereign's mood, + Against the war had Angus stood, +And chafed his royal Lord. + + +XV. + + His giant-form, like ruin'd tower, 415 +Though fall'n its muscles' brawny vaunt, +Huge-boned, and tall, and grim, and gaunt, + Seem'd o'er the gaudy scene to lower: +His locks and beard in silver grew; +His eyebrows kept their sable hue. 420 +Near Douglas when the Monarch stood, +His bitter speech he thus pursued :- +'Lord Marmion, since these letters say +That in the North you needs must stay, + While slightest hopes of peace remain, 425 +Uncourteous speech it were, and stern, +To say--Return to Lindisfarne, + Until my herald come again.-- +Then rest you in Tantallon Hold; +Your host shall be the Douglas bold,-- 430 +A chief unlike his sires of old. +He wears their motto on his blade, +Their blazon o'er his towers display'd; +Yet loves his sovereign to oppose, +More than to face his country's foes. 435 +And, I bethink me, by Saint Stephen, + But e'en this morn to me was given +A prize, the first fruits of the war, +Ta'en by a galley from Dunbar, + A bevy of the maids of Heaven. 440 +Under your guard, these holy maids +Shall safe return to cloister shades, +And, while they at Tantallon stay, +Requiem for Cochran's soul may say.' +And, with the slaughter'd favourite's name, 445 +Across the Monarch's brow there came +A cloud of ire, remorse, and shame. + + +XVI. + +In answer nought could Angus speak; +His proud heart swell'd wellnigh to break: +He turn'd aside, and down his cheek 450 + A burning tear there stole. +His hand the Monarch sudden took, +That sight his kind heart could not brook: + 'Now, by the Bruce's soul, +Angus, my hasty speech forgive! 455 +For sure as doth his spirit live, +As he said of the Douglas old, + I well may say of you,-- +That never King did subject hold, +In speech more free, in war more bold, 460 + More tender and more true: +Forgive me, Douglas, once again.'-- +And, while the King his hand did strain, +The old man's tears fell down like rain. +To seize the moment Marmion tried, 465 +And whisper'd to the King aside: +'Oh! let such tears unwonted plead +For respite short from dubious deed! +A child will weep a bramble's smart, +A maid to see her sparrow part, 470 +A stripling for a woman's heart: +But woe awaits a country, when +She sees the tears of bearded men. +Then, oh! what omen, dark and high, +When Douglas wets his manly eye!' 475 + + +XVII. + +Displeased was James, that stranger view'd +And tamper'd with his changing mood. +'Laugh those that can, weep those that may,' +Thus did the fiery Monarch say, +'Southward I march by break of day; 480 +And if within Tantallon strong, +The good Lord Marmion tarries long, +Perchance our meeting next may fall +At Tamworth, in his castle-hall.'-- +The haughty Marmion felt the taunt, 485 +And answer'd, grave, the royal vaunt: +'Much honour'd were my humble home, +If in its halls King James should come; +But Nottingham has archers good, +And Yorkshire men are stem of mood; 490 +Northumbrian prickers wild and rude. +On Derby Hills the paths are steep; +In Ouse and Tyne the fords are deep; +And many a banner will be torn, +And many a knight to earth be borne, 495 +And many a sheaf of arrows spent, +Ere Scotland's King shall cross the Trent: +Yet pause, brave Prince, while yet you may!'-- +The Monarch lightly turn'd away, +And to his nobles loud did call,-- 500 +'Lords, to the dance,--a hall! a hall!' +Himself his cloak and sword flung by, +And led Dame Heron gallantly; +And Minstrels, at the royal order, +Rung out--'Blue Bonnets o'er the Border.' 505 + + +XVIII. + +Leave we these revels now, to tell +What to Saint Hilda's maids befell, +Whose galley, as they sail'd again +To Whitby, by a Scot was ta'en. +Now at Dun-Edin did they bide, 510 +Till James should of their fate decide; + And soon, by his command, +Were gently summon'd to prepare +To journey under Marmion's care, +As escort honour'd, safe, and fair, 515 + Again to English land. +The Abbess told her chaplet o'er, +Nor knew which Saint she should implore; +For, when she thought of Constance, sore + She fear'd Lord Marmion's mood. 520 +And judge what Clara must have felt! +The sword, that hung in Marmion's belt, + Had drunk De Wilton's blood. +Unwittingly, King James had given, + As guard to Whitby's shades, 525 +The man most dreaded under heaven + By these defenceless maids: +Yet what petition could avail, +Or who would listen to the tale +Of woman, prisoner, and nun, 530 +Mid bustle of a war begun? +They deem'd it hopeless to avoid +The convoy of their dangerous guide. + + +XIX. + +Their lodging, so the King assign'd, +To Marmion's, as their guardian, join'd; 535 +And thus it fell, that, passing nigh, +The Palmer caught the Abbess' eye, + Who warn'd him by a scroll, +She had a secret to reveal, +That much concern'd the Church's weal, 540 + And health of sinner's soul; +And, with deep charge of secrecy, + She named a place to meet, +Within an open balcony, +That hung from dizzy pitch, and high, 545 + Above the stately street; +To which, as common to each home, +At night they might in secret come. + + +XX. + +At night, in secret, there they came, +The Palmer and the holy dame. 550 +The moon among the clouds rose high, +And all the city hum was by. +Upon the street, where late before +Did din of war and warriors roar, + You might have heard a pebble fall, 555 +A beetle hum, a cricket sing, +An owlet flap his boding wing + On Giles's steeple tall. +The antique buildings, climbing high, +Whose Gothic frontlets sought the sky, 560 + Were here wrapt deep in shade; +There on their brows the moon-beam broke, +Through the faint wreaths of silvery smoke, + And on the casements play'd. + And other light was none to see, 565 + Save torches gliding far, + Before some chieftain of degree, + Who left the royal revelry + To bowne him for the war.-- +A solemn scene the Abbess chose; 570 +A solemn hour, her secret to disclose. + + +XXI. + +'O, holy Palmer!' she began,-- +'For sure he must be sainted man, +Whose blessed feet have trod the ground +Where the Redeemer's tomb is found,-- 575 +For His dear Church's sake, my tale +Attend, nor deem of light avail, +Though I must speak of worldly love,-- +How vain to those who wed above!-- +De Wilton and Lord Marmion woo'd 580 +Clara de Clare, of Gloster's blood; +(Idle it were of Whitby's dame, +To say of that same blood I came;) +And once, when jealous rage was high, +Lord Marmion said despiteously, 585 +Wilton was traitor in his heart, +And had made league with Martin Swart, +When he came here on Simnel's part; +And only cowardice did restrain +His rebel aid on Stokefield's plain,-- 590 +And down he threw his glove:--the thing +Was tried, as wont, before the King; +Where frankly did De Wilton own, +That Swart in Guelders he had known; +And that between them then there went 595 +Some scroll of courteous compliment. +For this he to his castle sent; +But when his messenger return'd, +Judge how De Wilton's fury burn'd! +For in his packet there were laid 600 +Letters that claim'd disloyal aid, +And proved King Henry's cause betray'd. +His fame, thus blighted, in the field +He strove to clear, by spear and shield;-- +To clear his fame in vain he strove, 605 +For wondrous are His ways above! +Perchance some form was unobserved; +Perchance in prayer, or faith, he swerved; +Else how could guiltless champion quail, +Or how the blessed ordeal fail? 610 + + +XXII. + +'His squire, who now De Wilton saw +As recreant doom'd to suffer law, + Repentant, own'd in vain, +That, while he had the scrolls in care, +A stranger maiden, passing fair, 615 +Had drench'd him with a beverage rare; + His words no faith could gain. +With Clare alone he credence won, +Who, rather than wed Marmion, +Did to Saint Hilda's shrine repair, 620 +To give our house her livings fair, +And die a vestal vot'ress there. +The impulse from the earth was given, +But bent her to the paths of heaven. +A purer heart, a lovelier maid, 625 +Ne'er shelter'd her in Whitby's shade, +No, not since Saxon Edelfled; + Only one trace of earthly strain, + That for her lover's loss + She cherishes a sorrow vain, 630 + And murmurs at the cross.- + And then her heritage;--it goes + Along the banks of Tame; + Deep fields of grain the reaper mows, + In meadows rich the heifer lows, 635 + The falconer and huntsman knows + Its woodlands for the game. +Shame were it to Saint Hilda dear, +And I, her humble vot'ress here, + Should do a deadly sin, 640 +Her temple spoil'd before mine eyes, +If this false Marmion such a prize + By my consent should win; +Yet hath our boisterous monarch sworn, +That Clare shall from our house be torn; 645 +And grievous cause have I to fear, +Such mandate doth Lord Marmion bear. + + +XXIII. + +'Now, prisoner, helpless, and betray'd +To evil power, I claim thine aid, + By every step that thou hast trod 650 +To holy shrine and grotto dim, +By every martyr's tortured limb, +By angel, saint, and seraphim, +And by the Church of God! +For mark:--When Wilton was betray'd, 655 +And with his squire forged letters laid, +She was, alas! that sinful maid, + By whom the deed was done,-- +Oh! shame and horror to be said! + She was a perjured nun! 660 +No clerk in all the land, like her, +Traced quaint and varying character. +Perchance you may a marvel deem, + That Marmion's paramour +(For such vile thing she was) should scheme 665 + Her lover's nuptial hour; +But o'er him thus she hoped to gain, +As privy to his honour's stain, + Illimitable power: +For this she secretly retain'd 670 + Each proof that might the plot reveal, + Instructions with his hand and seal; +And thus Saint Hilda deign'd, + Through sinners' perfidy impure, + Her house's glory to secure, 675 +And Clare's immortal weal. + + +XXIV. + +'Twere long, and needless, here to tell, +How to my hand these papers fell; + With me they must not stay. +Saint Hilda keep her Abbess true! 680 +Who knows what outrage he might do, + While journeying by the way?-- +O, blessed Saint, if e'er again +I venturous leave thy calm domain, +To travel or by land or main, 685 + Deep penance may I pay!-- +Now, saintly Palmer, mark my prayer: +I give this packet to thy care, +For thee to stop they will not dare; +And O! with cautious speed, 690 +To Wolsey's hand the papers 'bring, +That he may show them to the King: + And, for thy well-earn'd meed, +Thou holy man, at Whitby's shrine +A weekly mass shall still be thine, 695 + While priests can sing and read.- +What ail'st thou?--Speak!'--For as he took +The charge, a strong emotion shook + His frame; and, ere reply, +They heard a faint, yet shrilly tone, 700 +Like distant clarion feebly blown, + That on the breeze did die; +And loud the Abbess shriek'd in fear, +'Saint Withold, save us!--What is here! + Look at yon City Cross! 705 +See on its battled tower appear +Phantoms, that scutcheons seem to rear, +And blazon'd banners toss!'-- + + +XXV. + +Dun-Edin's Cross, a pillar'd stone, +Rose on a turret octagon; 710 + (But now is razed that monument, + Whence royal edict rang, + And voice of Scotland's law was sent + In glorious trumpet-clang. +O! be his tomb as lead to lead, 715 +Upon its dull destroyer's head!-- +A minstrel's malison is said.)-- +Then on its battlements they saw +A vision, passing Nature's law, + Strange, wild, and dimly seen; 720 +Figures that seem'd to rise and die, +Gibber and sign, advance and fly, +While nought confirm'd could ear or eye + Discern of sound or mien. +Yet darkly did it seem, as there 725 +Heralds and Pursuivants prepare, +With trumpet sound, and blazon fair, + A summons to proclaim; +But indistinct the pageant proud, +As fancy forms of midnight cloud, 730 +When flings the moon upon her shroud + A wavering tinge of flame; +It flits, expands, and shifts, till loud, +From midmost of the spectre crowd, + This awful summons came:-- 735 + + +XXVI. + +'Prince, prelate, potentate, and peer, + Whose names I now shall call, +Scottish, or foreigner, give ear! +Subjects of him who sent me here, +At his tribunal to appear, 740 + I summon one and all: +I cite you by each deadly sin, +That e'er hath soil'd your hearts within; +I cite you by each brutal lust, +That e'er defiled your earthly dust,-- 745 + By wrath, by pride, by fear, +By each o'er-mastering passion's tone, +By the dark grave, and dying groan! +When forty days are pass'd and gone, +I cite you at your Monarch's throne, 750 + To answer and appear.'-- +Then thundered forth a roll of names:-- +The first was thine, unhappy James! + Then all thy nobles came; +Crawford, Glencairn, Montrose, Argyle, 755 +Ross, Bothwell, Forbes, Lennox, Lyle,- +Why should I tell their separate style? + Each chief of birth and fame, +Of Lowland, Highland, Border, Isle, +Fore-doom'd to Flodden's carnage pile, 760 + Was cited there by name; +And Marmion, Lord of Fontenaye, +Of Lutterward, and Scrivelbaye; +De Wilton, erst of Aberley, +The self-same thundering voice did say.-- 765 + But then another spoke: +'Thy fatal summons I deny, +And thine infernal Lord defy, +Appealing me to Him on high, + Who burst the sinner's yoke.' 770 +At that dread accent, with a scream, +Parted the pageant like a dream, + The summoner was gone. +Prone on her face the Abbess fell, +And fast, and fast, her beads did tell; 775 +Her nuns came, startled by the yell, + And found her there alone. +She mark'd not, at the scene aghast, +What time, or how, the Palmer pass'd. + + +XXVII. + +Shift we the scene.--The camp doth move, 780 + Dun-Edin's streets are empty now, +Save when, for weal of those they love, + To pray the prayer, and vow the vow, +The tottering child, the anxious fair, +The grey-hair'd sire, with pious care, 785 +To chapels and to shrines repair-- +Where is the Palmer now? and where +The Abbess, Marmion, and Clare?-- +Bold Douglas! to Tantallon fair + They journey in thy charge: 790 +Lord Marmion rode on his right hand, +The Palmer still was with the band; +Angus, like Lindesay, did command, + That none should roam at large. +But in that Palmer's altered mien 795 +A wondrous change might now be seen; + Freely he spoke of war, +Of marvels wrought by single hand, +When lifted for a native land; +And still look'd high, as if he plann'd 800 + Some desperate deed afar. +His courser would he feed and stroke, +And, tucking up his sable frocke, +Would first his mettle bold provoke, + Then soothe or quell his pride. 805 +Old Hubert said, that never one +He saw, except Lord Marmion, + A steed so fairly ride. + + +XXVIII. + +Some half-hour's march behind, there came, + By Eustace govern'd fair, 810 +A troop escorting Hilda's Dame, + With all her nuns, and Clare. +No audience had Lord Marmion sought; + Ever he fear'd to aggravate + Clara de Clare's suspicious hate; 815 +And safer 'twas, he thought, + To wait till, from the nuns removed, + The influence of kinsmen loved, +And suit by Henry's self approved, +Her slow consent had wrought. 820 + His was no flickering flame, that dies + Unless when fann'd by looks and sighs, + And lighted oft at lady's eyes; + He long'd to stretch his wide command + O'er luckless Clara's ample land: 825 + Besides, when Wilton with him vied, + Although the pang of humbled pride + The place of jealousy supplied, +Yet conquest, by that meanness won +He almost loath'd to think upon, 830 +Led him, at times, to hate the cause, +Which made him burst through honour's laws. +If e'er he loved, 'twas her alone, +Who died within that vault of stone. + + +XXIX. + +And now, when close at hand they saw 835 +North Berwick's town, and lofty Law, +Fitz-Eustace bade them pause a while, +Before a venerable pile, + Whose turrets view'd, afar, +The lofty Bass, the Lambie Isle, 840 + The ocean's peace or war. +At tolling of a bell, forth came +The convent's venerable Dame, +And pray'd Saint Hilda's Abbess rest +With her, a loved and honour'd guest, 845 +Till Douglas should a bark prepare +To wait her back to Whitby fair. +Glad was the Abbess, you may guess, +And thank'd the Scottish Prioress; +And tedious were to tell, I ween, 850 +The courteous speech that pass'd between. + O'erjoy'd the nuns their palfreys leave; +But when fair Clara did intend, +Like them, from horseback to descend, + Fitz-Eustace said,--'I grieve, 855 +Fair lady, grieve e'en from my heart, +Such gentle company to part;-- + Think not discourtesy, +But lords' commands must be obey'd; +And Marmion and the Douglas said, 860 + That you must wend with me. +Lord Marmion hath a letter broad, +Which to the Scottish Earl he show'd, +Commanding, that, beneath his care, +Without delay, you shall repair 865 +To your good kinsman, Lord Fitz-Clare.' + + +XXX. + +The startled Abbess loud exclaim'd; +But she, at whom the blow was aim'd, +Grew pale as death, and cold as lead,-- +She deem'd she heard her death-doom read. 870 +'Cheer thee, my child!' the Abbess said, +'They dare not tear thee from my hand, +To ride alone with armed band.'-- + 'Nay, holy mother, nay,' +Fitz-Eustace said, 'the lovely Clare 875 +Will be in Lady Angus' care, + In Scotland while we stay; +And, when we move, an easy ride +Will bring us to the English side, +Female attendance to provide 880 + Befitting Gloster's heir; +Nor thinks, nor dreams, my noble lord, +By slightest look, or act, or word, + To harass Lady Clare. +Her faithful guardian he will be, 885 +Nor sue for slightest courtesy + That e'en to stranger falls, +Till he shall place her, safe and free, + Within her kinsman's halls.' +He spoke, and blush'd with earnest grace; 890 +His faith was painted on his face, + And Clare's worst fear relieved. +The Lady Abbess loud exclaim'd +On Henry, and the Douglas blamed, + Entreated, threaten'd, grieved; 895 +To martyr, saint, and prophet pray'd, +Against Lord Marmion inveigh'd, +And call'd the Prioress to aid, +To curse with candle, bell, and book. +Her head the grave Cistertian shook: 900 +'The Douglas, and the King,' she said, +'In their commands will be obey'd; +Grieve not, nor dream that harm can fall +The maiden in Tantallon hall.' + + +XXXI. + +The Abbess, seeing strife was vain, 905 +Assumed her wonted state again,- + For much of state she had,-- +Composed her veil, and raised her head, +And--'Bid,' in solemn voice she said, + 'Thy master, bold and bad, 910 +The records of his house turn o'er, + And, when he shall there written see, + That one of his own ancestry + Drove the monks forth of Coventry, +Bid him his fate explore! 915 + Prancing in pride of earthly trust, + His charger hurl'd him to the dust, + And, by a base plebeian thrust, +He died his band before. + God judge 'twixt Marmion and me; 920 + He is a Chief of high degree, +And I a poor recluse; + Yet oft, in holy writ, we see + Even such weak minister as me +May the oppressor bruise: 925 + For thus, inspired, did Judith slay + The mighty in his sin, + And Jael thus, and Deborah'-- + Here hasty Blount broke in: +'Fitz-Eustace, we must march our band; 930 +Saint Anton' fire thee! wilt thou stand +All day, with bonnet in thy hand, + To hear the Lady preach? +By this good light! if thus we stay, +Lord Marmion, for our fond delay, 935 + Will sharper sermon teach. +Come, don thy cap, and mount thy horse; +The Dame must patience take perforce.'-- + + +XXXII. + +'Submit we then to force,' said Clare, +'But let this barbarous lord despair 940 + His purposed aim to win; +Let him take living, land, and life; +But to be Marmion's wedded wife + In me were deadly sin: +And if it be the King's decree, 945 +That I must find no sanctuary, +In that inviolable dome, +Where even a homicide might come, + And safely rest his head, +Though at its open portals stood, 950 +Thirsting to pour forth blood for blood, + The kinsmen of the dead; +Yet one asylum is my own + Against the dreaded hour; +A low, a silent, and a lone, 955 + Where kings have little power. +One victim is before me there.-- +Mother, your blessing, and in prayer +Remember your unhappy Clare!' +Loud weeps the Abbess, and bestows 960 + Kind blessings many a one: +Weeping and wailing loud arose, +Round patient Clare, the clamorous woes + Of every simple nun. +His eyes the gentle Eustace dried, 965 +And scarce rude Blount the sight could bide. + Then took the squire her rein, +And gently led away her steed, +And, by each courteous word and deed, + To cheer her strove in vain. 970 + + +XXXIII. + +But scant three miles the band had rode, + When o'er a height they pass'd, +And, sudden, close before them show'd + His towers, Tantallon vast; +Broad, massive, high, and stretching far, 975 +And held impregnable in war. +On a projecting rock they rose, +And round three sides the ocean flows, +The fourth did battled walls enclose, + And double mound and fosse. 980 +By narrow drawbridge, outworks strong, +Through studded gates, an entrance long, + To the main court they cross. +It was a wide and stately square: +Around were lodgings, fit and fair, 985 + And towers of various form, +Which on the court projected far, +And broke its lines quadrangular. +Here was square keep, there turret high, +Or pinnacle that sought the sky, 990 +Whence oft the Warder could descry + The gathering ocean-storm. + + +XXXIV. + +Here did they rest.--The princely care +Of Douglas, why should I declare, +Or say they met reception fair? 995 + Or why the tidings say, +Which, varying, to Tantallon came, +By hurrying posts, or fleeter fame, + With every varying day? +And, first, they heard King James had won 1000 + Etall, and Wark, and Ford; and then, + That Norham Castle strong was ta'en. +At that sore marvell'd Marmion;-- +And Douglas hoped his Monarch's hand +Would soon subdue Northumberland: 1005 + But whisper'd news there came, +That, while his host inactive lay, +And melted by degrees away, +King James was dallying off the day + With Heron's wily dame.-- 1010 +Such acts to chronicles I yield; + Go seek them there, and see: +Mine is a tale of Flodden Field, + And not a history.-- +At length they heard the Scottish host 1015 +On that high ridge had made their post, + Which frowns o'er Millfield Plain; +And that brave Surrey many a band +Had gather'd in the Southern land, +And march'd into Northumberland, 1020 + And camp at Wooler ta'en. +Marmion, like charger in the stall, +That hears, without, the trumpet-call, + Began to chafe, and swear:-- +'A sorry thing to hide my head 1025 +In castle, like a fearful maid, + When such a field is near! +Needs must I see this battle-day: +Death to my fame if such a fray +Were fought, and Marmion away! 1030 +The Douglas, too, I wot not why, +Hath 'bated of his courtesy: +No longer in his halls I'll stay.' +Then bade his band they should array +For march against the dawning day. 1035 + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO SIXTH. + +TO RICHARD HEBER, ESQ. + +Mertoun-House, Christmas. + +Heap on more wood!--the wind is chill; +But let it whistle as it will, +We'll keep our Christmas merry still. +Each age has deem'd the new-born year +The fittest time for festal cheer: 5 +Even, heathen yet, the savage Dane +At Iol more deep the mead did drain; +High on the beach his galleys drew, +And feasted all his pirate crew; +Then in his low and pine-built hall, 10 +Where shields and axes deck'd the wall, +They gorged upon the half-dress'd steer; +Caroused in seas of sable beer; +While round, in brutal jest, were thrown +The half-gnaw'd rib, and marrow-bone, 15 +Or listen'd all, in grim delight, +While scalds yell'd out the joys of fight. +Then forth, in frenzy, would they hie, +While wildly-loose their red locks fly, +And dancing round the blazing pile, 20 +They make such barbarous mirth the while, +As best might to the mind recall +The boisterous joys of Odin's hall. + + And well our Christian sires of old +Loved when the year its course had roll'd, 25 +And brought blithe Christmas back again, +With all his hospitable train. +Domestic and religious rite +Gave honour to the holy night; +On Christmas eve the bells were rung; 30 +On Christmas eve the mass was sung: +That only night in all the year, +Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear. +The damsel donn'd her kirtle sheen; +The hall was dress'd with holly green; 35 +Forth to the wood did merry-men go, +To gather in the mistletoe. +Then open'd wide the Baron's hall +To vassal, tenant, serf, and all; +Power laid his rod of rule aside, 40 +And Ceremony doff'd his pride. +The heir, with roses in his shoes, +That night might village partner choose; +The Lord, underogating, share +The vulgar game of 'post and pair.' 45 +All hail'd, with uncontroll'd delight, +And general voice, the happy night, +That to the cottage, as the crown, +Brought tidings of salvation down. + + The fire, with well-dried logs supplied, 50 +Went roaring up the chimney wide: +The huge hall-table's oaken face, +Scrubb'd till it shone, the day to grace, +Bore then upon its massive board +No mark to part the squire and lord. 55 +Then was brought in the lusty brawn, +By old blue-coated serving-man; +Then the grim boar's head frown'd on high, +Crested with bays and rosemary. +Well can the green-garb'd ranger tell, 60 +How, when, and where, the monster fell; +What dogs before his death he tore, +And all the baiting of the boar. +The wassel round, in good brown bowls, +Garnish'd with ribbons, blithely trowls. 65 +There the huge sirloin reek'd; hard by +Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie: +Nor fail'd old Scotland to produce, +At such high tide, her savoury goose. +Then came the merry maskers in, 70 +And carols roar'd with blithesome din; +If unmelodious was the song, +It was a hearty note, and strong. +Who lists may in their mumming see +Traces of ancient mystery; 75 +White shirts supplied the masquerade, +And smutted cheeks the visors made; +But, O! what maskers, richly dight, +Can boast of bosoms half so light! +England was merry England, when 80 +Old Christmas brought his sports again. +'Twas Christmas broach'd the mightiest ale; +'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale; +A Christmas gambol oft could cheer +The poor man's heart through half the year. 85 + + Still linger, in our northern clime, +Some remnants of the good old time; +And still, within our valleys here, +We hold the kindred title dear, +Even when, perchance, its far-fetch'd claim 90 +To Southron ear sounds empty name; +For course of blood, our proverbs deem, +Is warmer than the mountain-stream. +And thus, my Christmas still I hold +Where my great-grandsire came of old, 95 +With amber beard, and flaxen hair, +And reverend apostolic air-- +The feast and holy-tide to share, +And mix sobriety with wine, +And honest mirth with thoughts divine: 100 +Small thought was his, in after time +E'er to be hitch'd into a rhyme. +The simple sire could only boast, +That he was loyal to his cost; +The banish'd race of kings revered, 105 +And lost his land,--but kept his beard. + +In these dear halls, where welcome kind +Is with fair liberty combined; +Where cordial friendship gives the hand, +And flies constraint the magic wand 110 +Of the fair dame that rules the land. +Little we heed the tempest drear, +While music, mirth, and social cheer, +Speed on their wings the passing year. +And Mertoun's halls are fair e'en now, 115 +When not a leaf is on the bough. +Tweed loves them well, and turns again, +As loth to leave the sweet domain, +And holds his mirror to her face, +And clips her with a close embrace:-- 120 +Gladly as he, we seek the dome, +And as reluctant turn us home. + +How just that, at this time of glee, +My thoughts should, Heber, turn to thee! +For many a merry hour we've known, 125 +And heard the chimes of midnight's tone. +Cease, then, my friend! a moment cease, +And leave these classic tomes in peace! +Of Roman and of Grecian lore, +Sure mortal brain can hold no more. 130 +These ancients, as Noll Bluff might say, +'Were pretty fellows in their day;' +But time and tide o'er all prevail-- +On Christmas eve a Christmas tale-- +Of wonder and of war--'Profane! 135 +What! leave the lofty Latian strain, +Her stately prose, her verse's charms, +To hear the clash of rusty arms: +In Fairy Land or Limbo lost, +To jostle conjurer and ghost, 140 +Goblin and witch!'--Nay, Heber dear, +Before you touch my charter, hear; +Though Leyden aids, alas! no more, +My cause with many-languaged lore, +This may I say:--in realms of death 145 +Ulysses meets Alcides' WRAITH; +Aeneas, upon Thracia's shore, +The ghost of murder'd Polydore; +For omens, we in Livy cross, +At every turn, locutus Bos. 150 +As grave and duly speaks that ox, +As if he told the price of stocks; +Or held, in Rome republican, +The place of Common-councilman. + + All nations have their omens drear, 155 +Their legends wild of woe and fear. +To Cambria look--the peasant see, +Bethink him of Glendowerdy, +And shun 'the Spirit's Blasted Tree.' +The Highlander, whose red claymore 160 +The battle turn'd on Maida's shore, +Will, on a Friday morn, look pale, +If ask'd to tell a fairy tale: +He fears the vengeful Elfin King, +Who leaves that day his grassy ring: 165 +Invisible to human ken, +He walks among the sons of men. + + Did'st e'er, dear Heber, pass along +Beneath the towers of Franchemont, +Which, like an eagle's nest in air, 170 +Hang o'er the stream and hamlet fair? +Deep in their vaults, the peasants say, +A mighty treasure buried lay, +Amass'd through rapine and through wrong +By the last Lord of Franchemont. 175 +The iron chest is bolted hard, +A Huntsman sits, its constant guard; +Around his neck his horn is hung, +His hanger in his belt is slung; +Before his feet his blood-hounds lie: 180 +An 'twere not for his gloomy eye, +Whose withering glance no heart can brook, +As true a huntsman doth he look, +As bugle e'er in brake did sound, +Or ever hollow'd to a hound. 185 +To chase the fiend, and win the prize, +In that same dungeon ever tries +An aged Necromantic Priest; +It is an hundred years at least, +Since 'twixt them first the strife begun, 190 +And neither yet has lost nor won. +And oft the Conjurer's words will make +The stubborn Demon groan and quake; +And oft the bands of iron break, +Or bursts one lock, that still amain, 195 +Fast as 'tis open'd, shuts again. +That magic strife within the tomb +May last until the day of doom, +Unless the Adept shall learn to tell +The very word that clench'd the spell, 200 +When Franch'mont lock'd the treasure cell. +An hundred years are pass'd and gone, +And scarce three letters has he won. + + Such general superstition may +Excuse for old Pitscottie say; 205 +Whose gossip history has given +My song the messenger from Heaven, +That warn'd, in Lithgow, Scotland's King, +Nor less the infernal summoning; +May pass the Monk of Durham's tale, 210 +Whose Demon fought in Gothic mail; +May pardon plead for Fordun grave, +Who told of Gifford's Goblin-Cave. +But why such instances to you, +Who, in an instant, can renew 215 +Your treasured hoards of various lore, +And furnish twenty thousand more? +Hoards, not like theirs whose volumes rest +Like treasures in the Franch'mont chest, +While gripple owners still refuse 220 +To others what they cannot use; +Give them the priest's whole century, +They shall not spell you letters three; +Their pleasure in the books the same +The magpie takes in pilfer'd gem. 225 +Thy volumes, open as thy heart, +Delight, amusement, science, art, +To every ear and eye impart; +Yet who, of all who thus employ them, +Can like the owner's self enjoy them?-- 230 +But, hark! I hear the distant drum! +The day of Flodden Field is come.-- +Adieu, dear Heber! life and health, +And store of literary wealth. + + +CANTO SIXTH. + +THE BATTLE. + + +While great events were on the gale, +And each hour brought a varying tale, +And the demeanour, changed and cold, +Of Douglas, fretted Marmion bold, +And, like the impatient steed of war, 5 +He snuff'd the battle from afar; +And hopes were none, that back again +Herald should come from Terouenne, +Where England's King in leaguer lay, +Before decisive battle-day; 10 +Whilst these things were, the mournful Clare +Did in the Dame's devotions share: +For the good Countess ceaseless pray'd +To Heaven and Saints, her sons to aid. +And, with short interval, did pass 15 +From prayer to book, from book to mass, +And all in high Baronial pride,-- +A life both dull and dignified;-- +Yet as Lord Marmion nothing press'd +Upon her intervals of rest, 20 +Dejected Clara well could bear +The formal state, the lengthen'd prayer, +Though dearest to her wounded heart +The hours that she might spend apart. + + +II. + +I said, Tantallon's dizzy steep 25 +Hung o'er the margin of the deep. +Many a rude tower and rampart there +Repell'd the insult of the air, +Which, when the tempest vex'd the sky, +Half breeze, half spray, came whistling by. 30 +Above the rest, a turret square +Did o'er its Gothic entrance bear, +Of sculpture rude, a stony shield; +The Bloody Heart was in the Field, +And in the chief three mullets stood, 35 +The cognizance of Douglas blood. +The turret held a narrow stair, +Which, mounted, gave you access where +A parapet's embattled row +Did seaward round the castle go. 40 +Sometimes in dizzy steps descending, +Sometimes in narrow circuit bending, +Sometimes in platform broad extending, +Its varying circle did combine +Bulwark, and bartisan, and line, 45 +And bastion, tower, and vantage-coign: +Above the booming ocean leant +The far-projecting battlement; +The billows burst, in ceaseless flow, +Upon the precipice below. 50 +Where'er Tantallon faced the land, +Gate-works, and walls, were strongly mann'd; +No need upon the sea-girt side; +The steepy rock, and frantic tide, +Approach of human step denied; 55 +And thus these lines, and ramparts rude, +Were left in deepest solitude. + + +III. + +And, for they were so lonely, Clare +Would to these battlements repair, +And muse upon her sorrows there, 60 + And list the sea-bird's cry; +Or slow, like noontide ghost, would glide +Along the dark-grey bulwarks' side, +And ever on the heaving tide + Look down with weary eye. 65 +Oft did the cliff, and swelling main, +Recall the thoughts of Whitby's fane,-- +A home she ne'er might see again; + For she had laid adown, +So Douglas bade, the hood and veil, 70 +And frontlet of the cloister pale, + And Benedictine gown: +It were unseemly sight, he said, +A novice out of convent shade.-- +Now her bright locks, with sunny glow, 75 +Again adorn'd her brow of snow; +Her mantle rich, whose borders, round, +A deep and fretted broidery bound, +In golden foldings sought the ground; +Of holy ornament, alone 80 +Remain'd a cross with ruby stone; + And often did she look +On that which in her hand she bore, +With velvet bound, and broider'd o'er, + Her breviary book. 85 +In such a place, so lone, so grim, +At dawning pale, or twilight dim, + It fearful would have been +To meet a form so richly dress'd, +With book in hand, and cross on breast, 90 + And such a woeful mien. +Fitz-Eustace, loitering with his bow, +To practise on the gull and crow, +Saw her, at distance, gliding slow, + And did by Mary swear,-- 95 +Some love-lorn Fay she might have been, +Or, in Romance, some spell-bound Queen; +For ne'er, in work-day world, was seen +A form so witching fair. + + +IV. + +Once walking thus, at evening tide, 100 +It chanced a gliding sail she spied, +And, sighing, thought--'The Abbess, there, +Perchance, does to her home repair; +Her peaceful rule, where Duty, free, +Walks hand in hand with Charity; 105 +Where oft Devotion's tranced glow +Can such a glimpse of heaven bestow, +That the enraptured sisters see +High vision, and deep mystery; +The very form of Hilda fair, 110 +Hovering upon the sunny air, +And smiling on her votaries' prayer. +O! wherefore, to my duller eye, +Did still the Saint her form deny! +Was it, that, sear'd by sinful scorn, 115 +My heart could neither melt nor burn? +Or lie my warm affections low, +With him, that taught them first to glow? +Yet, gentle Abbess, well I knew, +To pay thy kindness grateful due, 120 +And well could brook the mild command, +That ruled thy simple maiden band. +How different now! condemn'd to bide +My doom from this dark tyrant's pride.-- +But Marmion has to learn, ere long, 125 +That constant mind, and hate of wrong, +Descended to a feeble girl, +From Red De Clare, stout Gloster's Earl: +Of such a stem, a sapling weak, +He ne'er shall bend, although he break. 130 + + +V. + +'But see!--what makes this armour here?'-- + For in her path there lay +Targe, corslet, helm;--she view'd them near.-- +'The breast-plate pierced!--Ay, much I fear, +Weak fence wert thou 'gainst foeman's spear, 135 +That hath made fatal entrance here, + As these dark blood-gouts say.-- +Thus Wilton!--Oh! not corslet's ward, +Not truth, as diamond pure and hard, +Could be thy manly bosom's guard, 140 + On yon disastrous day!'-- +She raised her eyes in mournful mood,-- +WILTON himself before her stood! +It might have seem'd his passing ghost, +For every youthful grace was lost; 145 +And joy unwonted, and surprise, +Gave their strange wildness to his eyes.-- +Expect not, noble dames and lords, +That I can tell such scene in words: +What skilful limner e'er would choose 150 +To paint the rainbow's varying hues, +Unless to mortal it were given +To dip his brush in dyes of heaven? +Far less can my weak line declare + Each changing passion's shade; 155 +Brightening to rapture from despair, +Sorrow, surprise, and pity there, +And joy, with her angelic air, +And hope, that paints the future fair, + Their varying hues display'd: 160 +Each o'er its rival's ground extending, +Alternate conquering, shifting, blending, +Till all, fatigued, the conflict yield, +And mighty Love retains the field, +Shortly I tell what then he said, 165 +By many a tender word delay'd, +And modest blush, and bursting sigh, +And question kind, and fond reply:-- + + +VI. + +De Wilton's History. + +'Forget we that disastrous day, +When senseless in the lists I lay. 170 + Thence dragg'd,--but how I cannot know, + For sense and recollection fled,- + I found me on a pallet low, + Within my ancient beadsman's shed. +Austin,--remember'st thou, my Clare, 175 +How thou didst blush, when the old man, +When first our infant love began, + Said we would make a matchless pair?-- +Menials, and friends, and kinsmen fled +From the degraded traitor's bed,-- 180 +He only held my burning head, +And tended me for many a day, +While wounds and fever held their sway. +But far more needful was his care, +When sense return'd to wake despair; 185 + For I did tear the closing wound, + And dash me frantic on the ground, +If e'er I heard the name of Clare. +At length, to calmer reason brought, +Much by his kind attendance wrought, 190 + With him I left my native strand, +And, in a Palmer's weeds array'd +My hated name and form to shade, + I journey'd many a land; +No more a lord of rank and birth, 195 +But mingled with the dregs of earth. + Oft Austin for my reason fear'd, +When I would sit, and deeply brood +On dark revenge, and deeds of blood, + Or wild mad schemes uprear'd. 200 +My friend at length fell sick, and said, + God would remove him soon: +And, while upon his dying bed, +He begg'd of me a boon-- +If e'er my deadliest enemy 205 +Beneath my brand should conquer'd lie, +Even then my mercy should awake, +And spare his life for Austin's sake. + + +VII. + +'Still restless as a second Cain, +To Scotland next my route was ta'en, 210 + Full well the paths I knew. +Fame of my fate made various sound, +That death in pilgrimage I found, +That I had perish'd of my wound,-- + None cared which tale was true: 215 +And living eye could never guess +De Wilton in his Palmer's dress; +For now that sable slough is shed, +And trimm'd my shaggy beard and head, +I scarcely know me in the glass. 220 +A chance most wondrous did provide, +That I should be that Baron's guide-- + I will not name his name!-- +Vengeance to God alone belongs; +But, when I think on all my wrongs, 225 + My blood is liquid flame! +And ne'er the time shall I forget, +When in a Scottish hostel set, + Dark looks we did exchange: +What were his thoughts I cannot tell; 230 +But in my bosom muster'd Hell +Its plans of dark revenge. + + +VIII. + +'A word of vulgar augury, +That broke from me, I scarce knew why, + Brought on a village tale; 235 +Which wrought upon his moody sprite, +And sent him armed forth by night. +I borrow'd steed and mail, +And weapons, from his sleeping band; + And, passing from a postern door, 240 +We met, and 'counter'd, hand to hand,-- + He fell on Gifford-moor. +For the death-stroke my brand I drew, +(O then my helmed head he knew, + The Palmer's cowl was gone,) 245 +Then had three inches of my blade +The heavy debt of vengeance paid,-- +My hand the thought of Austin staid; + I left him there alone.-- +O good old man! even from the grave, 250 +Thy spirit could thy master save: +If I had slain my foeman, ne'er +Had Whitby's Abbess, in her fear, +Given to my hand this packet dear, +Of power to clear my injured fame, 255 +And vindicate De Wilton's name.-- +Perchance you heard the Abbess tell +Of the strange pageantry of Hell, + That broke our secret speech-- +It rose from the infernal shade, 260 +Or featly was some juggle play'd, + A tale of peace to teach. +Appeal to Heaven I judged was best, +When my name came among the rest. + + +IX. + +'Now here, within Tantallon Hold, 265 +To Douglas late my tale I told, +To whom my house was known of old. +Won by my proofs, his falchion bright +This eve anew shall dub me knight. +These were the arms that once did turn 270 +The tide of fight on Otterburne, +And Harry Hotspur forced to yield, +When the Dead Douglas won the field. +These Angus gave--his armourer's care, +Ere morn, shall every breach repair; 275 +For nought, he said, was in his halls, +But ancient armour on the walls, +And aged chargers in the stalls, +And women, priests, and grey-hair'd men; +The rest were all in Twisel glen. 280 +And now I watch my armour here, +By law of arms, till midnight's near; +Then, once again a belted knight, +Seek Surrey's camp with dawn of light. + + +X. + +'There soon again we meet, my Clare! 285 +This Baron means to guide thee there: +Douglas reveres his King's command, +Else would he take thee from his band. +And there thy kinsman, Surrey, too, +Will give De Wilton justice due. 290 +Now meeter far for martial broil, +Firmer my limbs, and strung by toil, +Once more'--'O Wilton! must we then +Risk new-found happiness again, + Trust fate of arms once more? 295 +And is there not an humble glen, + Where we, content and poor, +Might build a cottage in the shade, +A shepherd thou, and I to aid + Thy task on dale and moor?-- 300 +That reddening brow!--too well I know, +Not even thy Clare can peace bestow, + While falsehood stains thy name: +Go then to fight! Clare bids thee go! +Clare can a warrior's feelings know, 305 + And weep a warrior's shame; +Can Red Earl Gilbert's spirit feel, +Buckle the spurs upon thy heel, +And belt thee with thy brand of steel, + And send thee forth to fame!' 310 + + +XI. + +That night, upon the rocks and bay, +The midnight moon-beam slumbering lay, +And pour'd its silver light, and pure, +Through loop-hole, and through embrazure, + Upon Tantallon tower and hall; 315 +But chief where arched windows wide +Illuminate the chapel's pride, + The sober glances fall. +Much was there need; though seam'd with scars, +Two veterans of the Douglas' wars, 320 + Though two grey priests were there, +And each a blazing torch held high, +You could not by their blaze descry + The chapel's carving fair. +Amid that dim and smoky light, 325 +Chequering the silvery moon-shine bright, + A bishop by the altar stood, + A noble lord of Douglas blood, +With mitre sheen, and rocquet white. +Yet show'd his meek and thoughtful eye 330 +But little pride of prelacy; +More pleased that, in a barbarous age, +He gave rude Scotland Virgil's page, +Than that beneath his rule he held +The bishopric of fair Dunkeld. 335 +Beside him ancient Angus stood, +Doff'd his furr'd gown, and sable hood: +O'er his huge form and visage pale, +He wore a cap and shirt of mail; +And lean'd his large and wrinkled hand 340 +Upon the huge and sweeping brand +Which wont of yore, in battle fray, +His foeman's limbs to shred away, +As wood-knife lops the sapling spray. + He seem'd as, from the tombs around 345 + Rising at judgment-day, + Some giant Douglas may be found + In all his old array; +So pale his face, so huge his limb, +So old his arms, his look so grim. 350 + + +XII. + +Then at the altar Wilton kneels, +And Clare the spurs bound on his heels; +And think what next he must have felt, +At buckling of the falchion belt! + And judge how Clara changed her hue, 355 +While fastening to her lover's side +A friend, which, though in danger tried, + He once had found untrue! +Then Douglas struck him with his blade: +'Saint Michael and Saint Andrew aid, 360 + I dub thee knight. +Arise, Sir Ralph, De Wilton's heir! +For King, for Church, for Lady fair, + See that thou fight.'-- +And Bishop Gawain, as he rose, 365 +Said--'Wilton! grieve not for thy woes, + Disgrace, and trouble; +For He, who honour best bestows, + May give thee double.'-- +De Wilton sobb'd, for sob he must-- 370 +'Where'er I meet a Douglas, trust + That Douglas is my brother!' +'Nay, nay,' old Angus said, 'not so; +To Surrey's camp thou now must go, + Thy wrongs no longer smother. 375 +I have two sons in yonder field; +And, if thou meet'st them under shield, +Upon them bravely--do thy worst; +And foul fall him that blenches first!' + + +XIII. + +Not far advanced was morning day, 380 +When Marmion did his troop array +To Surrey's camp to ride; +He had safe-conduct for his band, +Beneath the royal seal and hand, + And Douglas gave a guide: 385 +The ancient Earl, with stately grace, +Would Clara on her palfrey place, +And whisper'd in an under tone, +'Let the hawk stoop, his prey is flown.'-- +The train from out the castle drew, 390 +But Marmion stopp'd to bid adieu:- + 'Though something I might plain,' he said, +'Of cold respect to stranger guest, +Sent hither by your King's behest, + While in Tantallon's towers I staid; 395 +Part we in friendship from your land, +And, noble Earl, receive my hand.'-- +But Douglas round him drew his cloak, +Folded his arms, and thus he spoke:-- +'My manors, halls, and bowers, shall still 400 +Be open, at my Sovereign's will, +To each one whom he lists, howe'er +Unmeet to be the owner's peer. +My castles are my King's alone, +From turret to foundation-stone-- 405 +The hand of Douglas is his own; +And never shall in friendly grasp +The hand of such as Marmion clasp.'-- + + +XIV. + +Burn'd Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, +And shook his very frame for ire, 410 + And--'This to me!' he said, +'An 'twere not for thy hoary beard, +Such hand as Marmion's had not spared +'To cleave the Douglas' head! +And, first, I tell thee, haughty Peer, 415 +He, who does England's message here, +Although the meanest in her state, +May well, proud Angus, be thy mate: +And, Douglas, more I tell thee here, + Even in thy pitch of pride, 420 +Here in thy hold, thy vassals near, +(Nay, never look upon your lord, +And lay your hands upon your sword,) + I tell thee, thou'rt defied! +And if thou said'st, I am not peer 425 +To any lord in Scotland here, +Lowland or Highland, far or near, + Lord Angus, thou hast lied!'-- +On the Earl's cheek the flush of rage +O'ercame the ashen hue of age: 430 +Fierce he broke forth,--'And darest thou then +To beard the lion in his den, + The Douglas in his hall? +And hopest thou hence unscathed to go?-- +No, by Saint Bride of Bothwell, no! 435 +Up drawbridge, grooms--what, Warder, ho! + Let the portcullis fall.'-- +Lord Marmion turn'd,--well was his need, +And dash'd the rowels in his steed, +Like arrow through the archway sprung, 440 +The ponderous grate behind him rung: +To pass there was such scanty room, +The bars, descending, razed his plume. + + +XV. + +The steed along the drawbridge flies, +Just as it trembled on the rise; 445 +Nor lighter does the swallow skim +Along the smooth lake's level brim: +And when Lord Marmion reach'd his band, +He halts, and turns with clenched hand, +And shout of loud defiance pours, 450 +And shook his gauntlet at the towers. +'Horse! horse!' the Douglas cried, 'and chase!' +But soon he rein'd his fury's pace: +'A royal messenger he came, +Though most unworthy of the name.-- 455 +A letter forged! Saint Jude to speed! +Did ever knight so foul a deed! +At first in heart it liked me ill, +When the King praised his clerkly skill. +Thanks to Saint Bothan, son of mine, 460 +Save Gawain, ne'er could pen a line: +So swore I, and I swear it still, +Let my boy-bishop fret his fill.-- +Saint Mary mend my fiery mood! +Old age ne'er cools the Douglas blood, 465 +I thought to slay him where he stood. +'Tis pity of him too,' he cried; +'Bold can he speak, and fairly ride, +I warrant him a warrior tried.' +With this his mandate he recalls, 470 +And slowly seeks his castle halls. + + +XVI. + +The day in Marmion's journey wore; +Yet, e'er his passion's gust was o'er, +They cross'd the heights of Stanrig-moor. +His troop more closely there he scann'd, 475 +And miss'd the Palmer from the band.-- +'Palmer or not,' young Blount did say, +' He parted at the peep of day; +Good sooth, it was in strange array.'-- +'In what array?' said Marmion, quick. 480 +'My Lord, I ill can spell the trick; +But all night long, with clink and bang, +Close to my couch did hammers clang; +At dawn the falling drawbridge rang, +And from a loop-hole while I peep, 485 +Old Bell-the-Cat came from the Keep, +Wrapp'd in a gown of sables fair, +As fearful of the morning air; +Beneath, when that was blown aside, +A rusty shirt of mail I spied, 490 +By Archibald won in bloody work, +Against the Saracen and Turk: +Last night it hung not in the hall; +I thought some marvel would befall. +And next I saw them saddled lead 495 +Old Cheviot forth, the Earl's best steed; +A matchless horse, though something old, +Prompt to his paces, cool and bold. +I heard the Sheriff Sholto say, +The Earl did much the Master pray 500 +To use him on the battle-day; +But he preferr'd'--'Nay, Henry, cease! +Thou sworn horse-courser, hold thy peace.-- +Eustace, thou bear'st a brain--I pray, +What did Blount see at break of day?' 505 + + +XVII. + +'In brief, my lord, we both descried +(For then I stood by Henry's side) +The Palmer mount, and outwards ride, + Upon the Earl's own favourite steed: +All sheathed he was in armour bright, 510 +And much resembled that same knight, +Subdued by you in Cotswold fight: + Lord Angus wish'd him speed.'-- +The instant that Fitz-Eustace spoke, +A sudden light on Marmion broke;-- 515 +'Ah! dastard fool, to reason lost!' +He mutter'd; 'Twas nor fay nor ghost +I met upon the moonlight wold, +But living man of earthly mould.-- + O dotage blind and gross! 520 +Had I but fought as wont, one thrust +Had laid De Wilton in the dust, + My path no more to cross.-- +How stand we now?--he told his tale +To Douglas; and with some avail; 525 + 'Twas therefore gloom'd his rugged brow.-- +Will Surrey dare to entertain, +'Gainst Marmion, charge disproved and vain? +Small risk of that, I trow. +Yet Clare's sharp questions must I shun; 330 +Must separate Constance from the Nun-- +O, what a tangled web we weave, +When first we practise to deceive! +A Palmer too!--no wonder why +I felt rebuked beneath his eye: 535 +I might have known there was but one, +Whose look could quell Lord Marmion.' + + +XVIII. + +Stung with these thoughts, he urged to speed +His troop, and reach'd, at eve, the Tweed, +Where Lennel's convent closed their march; 540 +(There now is left but one frail arch, + Yet mourn thou not its cells; +Our time a fair exchange has made; +Hard by, in hospitable shade, + A reverend pilgrim dwells, 545 +Well worth the whole Bernardine brood, +That e'er wore sandal, frock, or hood.) +Yet did Saint Bernard's Abbot there +Give Marmion entertainment fair, +And lodging for his train and Clare. 550 +Next morn the Baron climb'd the tower, +To view afar the Scottish power, + Encamp'd on Flodden edge: +The white pavilions made a show, +Like remnants of the winter snow, 555 + Along the dusky ridge. +Long Marmion look'd:--at length his eye +Unusual movement might descry +Amid the shifting lines: +The Scottish host drawn out appears, 560 +For, flashing on the hedge of spears, + The eastern sunbeam shines. +Their front now deepening, now extending; +Their flank inclining, wheeling, bending, +Now drawing back, and now descending, 565 +The skilful Marmion well could know, +They watch'd the motions of some foe, +Who traversed on the plain below. + + +XIX. + +Even so it was. From Flodden ridge + The Scots beheld the English host 570 + Leave Barmore-wood, their evening post, + And heedful watch'd them as they cross'd +The Till by Twisel Bridge. + High sight it is, and haughty, while + They dive into the deep defile; 575 + Beneath the cavern'd cliff they fall, + Beneath the castle's airy wall. +By rock, by oak, by hawthorn-tree, + Troop after troop are disappearing; + Troop after troop their banners rearing, 580 +Upon the eastern bank you see. +Still pouring down the rocky den, + Where flows the sullen Till, +And rising from the dim-wood glen, +Standards on standards, men on men, 585 + In slow succession still, +And, sweeping o'er the Gothic arch, +And pressing on, in ceaseless march, + To gain the opposing hill. +That morn, to many a trumpet clang, 590 +Twisel! thy rock's deep echo rang; +And many a chief of birth and rank, +Saint Helen! at thy fountain drank. +Thy hawthorn glade, which now we see +In spring-tide bloom so lavishly, 595 +Had then from many an axe its doom, +To give the marching columns room. + + +XX. + +And why stands Scotland idly now, +Dark Flodden! on thy airy brow, +Since England gains the pass the while, 600 +And struggles through the deep defile? +What checks the fiery soul of James? +Why sits that champion of the dames + Inactive on his steed, +And sees, between him and his land, 605 +Between him and Tweed's southern strand, + His host Lord Surrey lead? +What 'vails the vain knight-errant's brand?-- +O, Douglas, for thy leading wand! + Fierce Randolph, for thy speed! 610 +O for one hour of Wallace wight, +Or well-skill'd Bruce, to rule the fight, +And cry--'Saint Andrew and our right!' +Another sight had seen that morn, +From Fate's dark book a leaf been torn, 615 +And Flodden had been Bannockbourne!-- +The precious hour has pass'd in vain, +And England's host has gain'd the plain; +Wheeling their march, and circling still, +Around the base of Flodden hill. 620 + + +XXI. + +Ere yet the bands met Marmion's eye, +Fitz-Eustace shouted loud and high, +'Hark! hark! my lord, an English drum! +And see ascending squadrons come + Between Tweed's river and the hill, 625 +Foot, horse, and cannon:--hap what hap, +My basnet to a prentice cap, + Lord Surrey's o'er the Till!-- +Yet more! yet more!--how far array'd +They file from out the hawthorn shade, 630 + And sweep so gallant by! +With all their banners bravely spread, + And all their armour flashing high, +Saint George might waken from the dead, +To see fair England's standards fly.'-- 635 +'Stint in thy prate,' quoth Blount, 'thou'dst best, +And listen to our lord's behest.'-- +With kindling brow Lord Marmion said,-- +'This instant be our band array'd; +The river must be quickly cross'd, 640 +That we may join Lord Surrey's host. +If fight King James,--as well I trust, +That fight he will, and fight he must,-- +The Lady Clare behind our lines +Shall tarry, while the battle joins.' 645 + + +XXII. + +Himself he swift on horseback threw, +Scarce to the Abbot bade adieu; +Far less would listen to his prayer, +To leave behind the helpless Clare. +Down to the Tweed his band he drew, 650 +And mutter'd as the flood they view, +'The pheasant in the falcon's claw, +He scarce will yield to please a daw: +Lord Angus may the Abbot awe, + So Clare shall bide with me.' 655 +Then on that dangerous ford, and deep, +Where to the Tweed Leat's eddies creep, + He ventured desperately: +And not a moment will he bide, +Till squire, or groom, before him ride; 660 +Headmost of all he stems the tide, + And stems it gallantly. +Eustace held Clare upon her horse, + Old Hubert led her rein, +Stoutly they braved the current's course, 665 +And, though far downward driven per force, + The southern bank they gain; +Behind them, straggling, came to shore, + As best they might, the train: +Each o'er his head his yew-bow bore, 670 +A caution not in vain; +Deep need that day that every string, +By wet unharm'd, should sharply ring. +A moment then Lord Marmion staid, +And breathed his steed, his men array'd, 675 + Then forward moved his band, +Until, Lord Surrey's rear-guard won, +He halted by a Cross of Stone, +That, on a hillock standing lone, +Did all the field command. 680 + + +XXIII. + +Hence might they see the full array +Of either host, for deadly fray; +Their marshall'd lines stretch'd east and west, + And fronted north and south, +And distant salutation pass'd 685 + From the loud cannon mouth; +Not in the close successive rattle, +That breathes the voice of modern battle, + But slow and far between.-- +The hillock gain'd, Lord Marmion staid: 690 +'Here, by this Cross,' he gently said, + 'You well may view the scene. +Here shalt thou tarry, lovely Clare: +O! think of Marmion in thy prayer!-- +Thou wilt not?--well, no less my care 695 +Shall, watchful, for thy weal prepare.-- +You, Blount and Eustace, are her guard, + With ten pick'd archers of my train; +With England if the day go hard, + To Berwick speed amain.-- 700 +But if we conquer, cruel maid, +My spoils shall at your feet be laid, + When here we meet again.' +He waited not for answer there, +And would not mark the maid's despair, 705 + Nor heed the discontented look +From either squire; but spurr'd amain, +And, dashing through the battle-plain, +His way to Surrey took. + + +XXIV. + +'--The good Lord Marmion, by my life! 710 + Welcome to danger's hour!-- +Short greeting serves in time of strife :- + Thus have I ranged my power: +Myself will rule this central host, + Stout Stanley fronts their right, 715 +My sons command the vaward post, + With Brian Tunstall, stainless knight; + Lord Dacre, with his horsemen light, + Shall be in rear-ward of the fight, +And succour those that need it most. 720 + Now, gallant Marmion, well I know, + Would gladly to the vanguard go; +Edmund, the Admiral, Tunstall there, +With thee their charge will blithely share; +There fight thine own retainers too, 725 +Beneath De Burg, thy steward true.'-- +'Thanks, noble Surrey!' Marmion said, +Nor farther greeting there he paid; +But, parting like a thunderbolt, +First in the vanguard made a halt, 730 + Where such a shout there rose +Of 'Marmion! Marmion!' that the cry, +Up Flodden mountain shrilling high, +Startled the Scottish foes. + + +XXV. + +Blount and Fitz-Eustace rested still 735 +With Lady Clare upon the hill; +On which, (for far the day was spent,) +The western sunbeams now were bent. +The cry they heard, its meaning knew, +Could plain their distant comrades view: 740 +Sadly to Blount did Eustace say, +'Unworthy office here to stay! +No hope of gilded spurs to-day.-- +But see! look up--on Flodden bent +The Scottish foe has fired his tent.' 745 + And sudden, as he spoke, +From the sharp ridges of the hill, +All downward to the banks of Till, + Was wreathed in sable smoke. +Volumed and fast, and rolling far, 750 +The cloud enveloped Scotland's war, + As down the hill they broke; +Nor martial shout, nor minstrel tone, +Announced their march; their tread alone, +At times one warning trumpet blown, 755 + At times a stifled hum, +Told England, from his mountain-throne + King James did rushing come.-- +Scarce could they hear, or see their foes, + Until at weapon-point they close.-- 760 +They close, in clouds of smoke and dust, +With sword-sway, and with lance's thrust; + And such a yell was there, +Of sudden and portentous birth, +As if men fought upon the earth, 765 + And fiends in upper air; +Oh, life and death were in the shout, +Recoil and rally, charge and rout, + And triumph and despair. +Long look'd the anxious squires; their eye 770 +Could in the darkness nought descry. + + +XXVI. + +At length the freshening western blast +Aside the shroud of battle cast; +And, first, the ridge of mingled spears +Above the brightening cloud appears; 775 +And in the smoke the pennons flew, +As in the storm the white sea-mew. +Then mark'd they, dashing broad and far, +The broken billows of the war, +And plumed crests of chieftains brave, 780 +Floating like foam upon the wave; + But nought distinct they see: +Wide raged the battle on the plain; +Spears shook, and falchions flash'd amain; +Fell England's arrow-flight like rain; 785 +Crests rose, and stoop'd, and rose again, + Wild and disorderly. +Amid the scene of tumult, high +They saw Lord Marmion's falcon fly: +And stainless Tunstall's banner white, 790 +And Edmund Howard's lion bright, +Still bear them bravely in the fight; + Although against them come, +Of gallant Gordons many a one, +And many a stubborn Badenoch-man, 795 +And many a rugged Border clan, + With Huntly, and with Home. + + +XXVII. + +Far on the left, unseen the while, +Stanley broke Lennox and Argyle; +Though there the western mountaineer 800 +Rush'd with bare bosom on the spear, +And flung the feeble targe aside, +And with both hands the broadsword plied. +'Twas vain:--But Fortune, on the right, +With fickle smile, cheer'd Scotland's fight. 805 +Then fell that spotless banner white, + The Howard's lion fell; +Yet still Lord Marmion's falcon flew +With wavering flight, while fiercer grew + Around the battle-yell. 810 +The Border slogan rent the sky! +A Home! a Gordon! was the cry: + Loud were the clanging blows; +Advanced,--forced back,--now low, now high, + The pennon sunk and rose; 815 +As bends the bark's mast in the gale, +When rent are rigging, shrouds, and sail, + It waver'd 'mid the foes. +No longer Blount the view could bear: +'By Heaven, and all its saints! I swear 820 + I will not see it lost! +Fitz-Eustace, you with Lady Clare +May bid your beads, and patter prayer,-- + I gallop to the host.' +And to the fray he rode amain, 825 +Follow'd by all the archer train. +The fiery youth, with desperate charge, +Made, for a space, an opening large,-- + The rescued banner rose,-- +But darkly closed the war around, 830 +Like pine-tree rooted from the ground, + It sank among the foes. +Then Eustace mounted too:--yet staid, +As loath to leave the helpless maid, + When, fast as shaft can fly, 835 +Blood-shot his eyes, his nostrils spread, +The loose rein dangling from his head, +Housing and saddle bloody red, + Lord Marmion's steed rush'd by; +And Eustace, maddening at the sight, 840 + A look and sign to Clara cast, + To mark he would return in haste, +Then plunged into the fight. + + +XXVIII. + +Ask me not what the maiden feels, + Left in that dreadful hour alone: 845 +Perchance her reason stoops, or reels; + Perchance a courage, not her own, +Braces her mind to desperate tone.-- +The scatter'd van of England wheels;-- +She only said, as loud in air 850 + The tumult roar'd, 'Is Wilton there?'-- + They fly, or, madden'd by despair, +Fight but to die,--'Is Wilton there?'-- +With that, straight up the hill there rode + Two horsemen drench'd with gore, 855 +And in their arms, a helpless load, + A wounded knight they bore. +His hand still strain'd the broken brand; +His arms were smear'd with blood and sand: +Dragg'd from among the horses' feet, 860 +With dinted shield, and helmet beat, +The falcon-crest and plumage gone, +Can that be haughty Marmion! . . . +Young Blount his armour did unlace, +And gazing on his ghastly face, 865 + Said--'By Saint George, he's gone! +That spear-wound has our master sped, +And see the deep cut on his head! + Good-night to Marmion.'-- +'Unnurtured Blount! thy brawling cease: 870 +He opes his eyes,' said Eustace; 'peace!' + + +XXIX. + +When, doff'd his casque, he felt free air, +Around 'gan Marmion wildly stare:-- +'Where's Harry Blount? Fitz-Eustace where? +Linger ye here, ye hearts of hare! 875 +Redeem my pennon,--charge again! +Cry-"Marmion to the rescue!"--Vain! +Last of my race, on battle-plain +That shout shall ne'er be heard again!-- +Yet my last thought is England's--fly, 880 + To Dacre bear my signet-ring: + Tell him his squadrons up to bring.-- +Fitz-Eustace, to Lord Surrey hie; + Tunstall lies dead upon the field, + His life-blood stains the spotless shield: 885 + Edmund is down;--my life is reft; + The Admiral alone is left. + Let Stanley charge with spur of fire,-- + With Chester charge, and Lancashire, + Full upon Scotland's central host, 890 + Or victory and England's lost.-- + Must I bid twice?--hence, varlets! fly! + Leave Marmion here alone--to die.' + They parted, and alone he lay; + Clare drew her from the sight away, 895 +Till pain wrung forth a lowly moan, +And half he murmur'd,--'Is there none, + Of all my halls have nurst, +Page, squire, or groom, one cup to bring +Of blessed water from the spring, 900 + To slake my dying thirst!' + + +XXX. + +O, Woman! in our hours of ease, +Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, +And variable as the shade +By the light quivering aspen made; 905 +When pain and anguish wring the brow, +A ministering angel thou!-- +Scarce were the piteous accents said, +When, with the Baron's casque, the maid + To the nigh streamlet ran: 910 +Forgot were hatred, wrongs, and fears; +The plaintive voice alone she hears, + Sees but the dying man. +She stoop'd her by the runnel's side, + But in abhorrence backward drew; 915 +For, oozing from the mountain's side, +Where raged the war, a dark-red tide + Was curdling in the streamlet blue. +Where shall she turn!--behold her mark + A little fountain cell, 920 +Where water, clear as diamond-spark, + In a stone basin fell. +Above, some half-worn letters say, +Drink . weary . pilgrim . drink . and . pray . + for . the . kind . soul . of . Sybil .Grey . +925 + Who . built . this . cross . and . well . +She fill'd the helm, and back she hied, +And with surprise and joy espied + A Monk supporting Marmion's head; +A pious man, whom duty brought 930 +To dubious verge of battle fought, + To shrieve the dying, bless the dead. + + +XXXI. + +Deep drank Lord Marmion of the wave, +And, as she stoop'd his brow to lave-- +'Is it the hand of Clare,' he said, 935 +'Or injured Constance, bathes my head?' + Then, as remembrance rose,-- +'Speak not to me of shrift or prayer! + I must redress her woes. +Short space, few words, are mine to spare 940 +Forgive and listen, gentle Clare!'-- + 'Alas!' she said, 'the while,-- +O, think of your immortal weal! +In vain for Constance is your zeal; + She--died at Holy Isle.'-- 945 +Lord Marmion started from the ground, +As light as if he felt no wound; +Though in the action burst the tide, +In torrents, from his wounded side. +'Then it was truth,'--he said--'I knew 950 +That the dark presage must be true.-- +I would the Fiend, to whom belongs +The vengeance due to all her wrongs, + Would spare me but a day! +For wasting fire, and dying groan, 955 +And priests slain on the altar stone, +Might bribe him for delay. +It may not be!--this dizzy trance-- +Curse on yon base marauder's lance, +And doubly cursed my failing brand! 960 +A sinful heart makes feeble hand.' +Then, fainting, down on earth he sunk, +Supported by the trembling Monk. + + +XXXII. + +With fruitless labour, Clara bound, +And strove to stanch the gushing wound: 965 +The Monk, with unavailing cares, +Exhausted all the Church's prayers. +Ever, he said, that, close and near, +A lady's voice was in his ear, +And that the priest he could not hear; 970 + For that she ever sung, +'In the lost battle, borne down by the flying, +Where mingles war's rattle with groans of the dying!' + So the notes rung;-- +'Avoid thee, Fiend!--with cruel hand, 975 +Shake not the dying sinner's sand!-- +O, look, my son, upon yon sign +Of the Redeemer's grace divine; + O, think on faith and bliss! +By many a death-bed I have been, 980 +And many a sinner's parting seen, + But never aught like this.'-- +The war, that for a space did fail, +Now trebly thundering swell'd the gale, + And--STANLEY! was the cry;-- 985 +A light on Marmion's visage spread, + And fired his glazing eye: +With dying hand, above his head, +He shook the fragment of his blade, + And shouted 'Victory!-- 990 +Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!' +Were the last words of Marmion. + + +XXXIII. + +By this, though deep the evening fell, +Still rose the battle's deadly swell, +For still the Scots, around their King, 995 +Unbroken, fought in desperate ring. +Where's now their victor vaward wing, + Where Huntly, and where Home?-- +O, for a blast of that dread horn, +On Fontarabian echoes borne, 1000 + That to King Charles did come, +When Rowland brave, and Olivier, +And every paladin and peer, + On Roncesvalles died! +Such blasts might warn them, not in vain, 1005 +To quit the plunder of the slain, +And turn the doubtful day again, + While yet on Flodden side, +Afar, the Royal Standard flies, +And round it toils, and bleeds, and dies, 1010 + Our Caledonian pride! +In vain the wish--for far away, +While spoil and havoc mark their way, +Near Sybil's Cross the plunderers stray.-- +'O Lady,' cried the Monk, 'away!' 1015 + And placed her on her steed, +And led her to the chapel fair, + Of Tilmouth upon Tweed. +There all the night they spent in prayer, +And at the dawn of morning, there 1020 +She met her kinsman, Lord Fitz-Clare. + + +XXXIV. + +But as they left the dark'ning heath, +More desperate grew the strife of death, +The English shafts in volleys hail'd, +In headlong charge their horse assail'd; 1025 +Front, flank, and rear, the squadrons sweep +To break the Scottish circle deep, + That fought around their King. +But yet, though thick the shafts as snow, +Though charging knights like whirlwinds go, 1030 +Though bill-men ply the ghastly blow, + Unbroken was the ring; +The stubborn spear-men still made good +Their dark impenetrable wood, +Each stepping where his comrade stood, 1035 + The instant that he fell. +No thought was there of dastard flight; +Link'd in the serried phalanx tight, +Groom fought like noble, squire like knight, + As fearlessly and well; 1040 +Till utter darkness closed her wing +O'er their thin host and wounded King. +Then skilful Surrey's sage commands +Led back from strife his shatter'd bands; + And from the charge they drew, 1045 +As mountain-waves, from wasted lands, + Sweep back to ocean blue. +Then did their loss his foemen know; +Their King, their Lords, their mightiest low, +They melted from the field, as snow, 1050 +When streams are swoln and south winds blow + Dissolves in silent dew. +Tweed's echoes heard the ceaseless plash, + While many a broken band, +Disorder'd, through her currents dash, 1055 + To gain the Scottish land; +To town and tower, to down and dale, +To tell red Flodden's dismal tale, +And raise the universal wail. +Tradition, legend, tune, and song, 1060 +Shall many an age that wail prolong: +Still from the sire the son shall hear +Of the stern strife, and carnage drear, + Of Flodden's fatal field, +Where shiver'd was fair Scotland's spear, +And broken was her shield! + + +XXXV. + +Day dawns upon the mountain's side:-- +There, Scotland! lay thy bravest pride, +Chiefs, knights, and nobles, many a one: +The sad survivors all are gone.-- 1072 +View not that corpse mistrustfully, +Defaced and mangled though it be; +Nor to yon Border castle high, +Look northward with upbraiding eye; + Nor cherish hope in vain, 1075 +That, journeying far on foreign strand, +The Royal Pilgrim to his land + May yet return again. +He saw the wreck his rashness wrought; +Reckless of life, he desperate fought, 1080 + And fell on Flodden plain: +And well in death his trusty brand, +Firm clench'd within his manly hand, + Beseem'd the monarch slain. +But, O! how changed since yon blithe night! 1085 +Gladly I turn me from the sight, + Unto my tale again. + + +XXXVI. + +Short is my tale:--Fitz-Eustace' care +A pierced and mangled body bare +To moated Lichfield's lofty pile; 1090 +And there, beneath the southern aisle, +A tomb, with Gothic sculpture fair, +Did long Lord Marmion's image bear, +(Now vainly for its site you look; +'Twas levell'd, when fanatic Brook 1095 +The fair cathedral storm'd and took; +But, thanks to Heaven, and good Saint Chad, +A guerdon meet the spoiler had!) +There erst was martial Marmion found, +His feet upon a couchant hound, 1100 + His hands to Heaven upraised; +And all around, on scutcheon rich, +And tablet carved, and fretted niche, + His arms and feats were blazed. +And yet, though all was carved so fair, 1105 +And priest for Marmion breathed the prayer, +The last Lord Marmion lay not there. +From Ettrick woods, a peasant swain +Follow'd his lord to Flodden plain,-- +One of those flowers, whom plaintive lay 1110 +In Scotland mourns as 'wede away': +Sore wounded, Sybil's Cross he spied, +And dragg'd him to its foot, and died, +Close by the noble Marmion's side. +The spoilers stripp'd and gash'd the slain, 1115 +And thus their corpses were mista'en; +And thus, in the proud Baron's tomb, +The lowly woodsman took the room. + + +XXXVII. + +Less easy task it were, to show +Lord Marmion's nameless grave, and low. 1120 + They dug his grave e'en where he lay, + But every mark is gone; + Time's wasting hand has done away + The simple Cross of Sybil Grey, + And broke her font of stone: 1123 +But yet from out the little hill +Oozes the slender springlet still, +Oft halts the stranger there, +For thence may best his curious eye +The memorable field descry; 1130 + And shepherd boys repair +To seek the water-flag and rush, +And rest them by the hazel bush, + And plait their garlands fair; +Nor dream they sit upon the grave, 1135 +That holds the bones of Marmion brave.-- +When thou shalt find the little hill, +With thy heart commune, and be still. +If ever, in temptation strong, +Thou left'st the right path for the wrong; 1140 +If every devious step, thus trod, +Still led thee farther from the road; +Dread thou to speak presumptuous doom +On noble Marmion's lowly tomb; +But say, 'He died a gallant knight, 1145 +With sword in hand, for England's right.' + + +XXXVIII. + +I do not rhyme to that dull elf, +Who cannot image to himself, +That all through Flodden's dismal night, +Wilton was foremost in the fight; 1150 +That, when brave Surrey's steed was slain, +'Twas Wilton mounted him again; +'Twas Wilton's brand that deepest hew'd, +Amid the spearmen's stubborn wood: +Unnamed by Hollinshed or Hall, 1155 +He was the living soul of all; +That, after fight, his faith made plain, +He won his rank and lands again; +And charged his old paternal shield +With bearings won on Flodden Field. 1160 +Nor sing I to that simple maid, +To whom it must in terms be said, +That King and kinsmen did agree, +To bless fair Clara's constancy; +Who cannot, unless I relate, 1165 +Paint to her mind the bridal's state; +That Wolsey's voice the blessing spoke, +More, Sands, and Denny, pass'd the joke: +That bluff King Hal the curtain drew, +And Catherine's hand the stocking threw; 1170 +And afterwards, for many a day, +That it was held enough to say, +In blessing to a wedded pair, +'Love they like Wilton and like Clare!' + + + + +L'Envoy. + + +TO THE READER. + +Why then a final note prolong, +Or lengthen out a closing song, +Unless to bid the gentles speed, +Who long have listed to my rede? +To Statesmen grave, if such may deign 5 +To read the Minstrel's idle strain, +Sound head, clean hand, and piercing wit, +And patriotic heart--as PITT! +A garland for the hero's crest, +And twined by her he loves the best; 10 +To every lovely lady bright, +What can I wish but faithful knight? +To every faithful lover too, +What can I wish but lady true? +And knowledge to the studious sage; 15 +And pillow to the head of age. +To thee, dear school-boy, whom my lay +Has cheated of thy hour of play, +Light task, and merry holiday! +To all, to each, a fair good-night, 20 +And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light! + +NOTES + +by + +Thomas Bayne +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FIRST. +With regard to the Introductions generally, Lockhart writes, in Life +of Scott, ii. 150:--'Though the author himself does not allude to, +and had perhaps forgotten the circumstance, when writing the +Introductory Essay of 1830--they were announced, by an advertisement +early in 1807, as "Six Epistles from Ettrick Forest," to be +published in a separate volume, similar to that of the Ballads and +Lyrical Pieces; and perhaps it might have been better that this +first plan had been adhered to. But however that may be, are there +any pages, among all he ever wrote, that one would be more sorry he +should not have written? They are among the most delicious +portraitures that genius ever painted of itself--buoyant, virtuous, +happy genius--exulting in its own energies, yet possessed and +mastered by a clear, calm, modest mind, and happy only in diffusing +happiness around it. + +'With what gratification those Epistles were read by the friends to +whom they were addressed it is superfluous to show. He had, in fact, +painted them almost as fully as himself; and who might not have been +proud to find a place in such a gallery? The tastes and habits of +six of those men, in whose intercourse Scott found the greatest +pleasure when his fame was approaching its meridian splendour, are +thus preserved for posterity; and when I reflect with what avidity +we catch at the least hint which seems to afford us a glimpse of the +intimate circle of any great poet of former ages, I cannot but +believe that posterity would have held this record precious, even +had the individuals been in themselves far less remarkable than a +Rose, an Ellis, a Heber, a Skene, a Marriott, and an Erskine.' + +William Stewart Rose (1775-1843), to whom Scott addresses the +Introduction to Canto First, was a well-known man of letters in his +time. He addressed to Hallam, in 1819, a work in two vols., entitled +'Letters from the North of Italy,' and escaped a prohibitory order +from the Emperor of Austria by ingeniously changing his title to 'A +Treatise upon Sour Krout,' &c. His other original works are, +'Apology addressed to the Travellers' Club; or, Anecdotes of +Monkeys'; 'Thoughts and Recollections by one of the Last Century'; +and 'Epistle to the Hon. J. Hookham Frere in Malta.' His +translations are these:--'Amadis of Gaul: a Poem in three Books, +freely translated from the French version of Nicholas de Herberay' +(1803); 'Partenopex de Blois, a Romance in four Cantos, from the +French of M. Le Grand' (1807); 'Court and Parliament of Beasts, +translated from the Animali Parlanti of Giambatista Casti' (1819); +and 'Orlando Furioso, translated into English Verse' (1825-1831). +The closing lines of this Introduction refer to Rose's 'Amadis' and +'Partenopex.' + +Ashestiel, whence the Introduction to the First Canto is dated, is +on the Tweed, about six miles above Abbotsford. 'The valley there is +narrow,' says Lockhart, 'and the aspect in every direction is that +of perfect pastoral repose.' This was Scott's home from 1804 to +l812, when he removed to Abbotsford. + +-------------------- + +lines 1-52. This notable winter piece is the best modern +contribution to that series of poetical descriptions by Scottish +writers which includes Dunbar's 'Meditatioun in Winter,' Gavin +Douglas's Scottish winter scene in the Prologue to his Virgil's +Aeneid VII, Hamilton of Bangour's Ode III, and, of course, Thomson's +'Winter' in 'The Seasons.' The details of the piece are given with +admirable skill, and the local place-names are used with +characteristic effect. The note of regret over winter's ravages, +common to all early Scottish poets, is skilfully struck and +preserved, and thus the contrast designed between the wintry +landscape and 'my Country's wintry state' is rendered sharper and +more decisive. + +line 3. steepy linn. Steepy is Elizabethan = steep, precipitous. +Linn (Gael. linne = pool; A.S. hlinna = brook) is variously used for +'pool under a waterfall,' 'cascade,' 'precipice,' and 'ravine.' The +reference here is to the ravine close by Ashestiel, mentioned in +Lockhart's description of the surroundings:--'On one side, close +under the windows, is a deep ravine clothed with venerable trees, +down which a mountain rivulet is heard, more than seen, in its +progress to the Tweed.' + +line 16. our forest hills. Selkirkshire is poetically called +'Ettrick Forest'; hence the description of the soldiers from that +district killed at Flodden as 'the flowers of the forest.' + +line 22. Cp. Hamilton of Bangour's allusion (Ode III. 43) to the +appearance of winter on these heights;-- + + 'Cast up thy eyes, how bleak and bare + He wanders on the tops of Yare!' + +line 37. imps (Gr. emphutos, Swed. ympa). See 'Faery Queene,' Book +I. (Clarendon Press), note to Introd. The word means (1) a graft; +(2) a scion of a noble house; (3) a little demon; (4) a mischievous +child. The context implies that the last is the sense in which the +word is used here. Cp. Beattie's 'Minstrel,' i. 17:-- + + 'Nor cared to mingle in the clamorous fray + Of squabbling imps,' + +line 50. round. Strictly speaking, a round is a circular dance in +which the performers hold each other by the hands. The term, +however, is fairly applicable to the frolicsome gambols of a group +of lambs in a spring meadow. Certain rounds became famous enough to +be individualised, as e.g. Sellenger's or St. Leger's round, +mentioned in the May-day song, 'Come Lasses and Lads.' Cp. Macbeth, +iv. 1; Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 2; and see note on Comus, line +144, in 'English Poems of Milton,' vol. i. (Clarendon Press). + +line 53. Lockhart, in a foot-note to his edition of 'Marmion,' +quotes from the 'Monthly Review' of May, 1808: 'The "chance and +change" of nature--the vicissitudes which are observable in the +moral as well as the physical part of the creation--have given +occasion to more exquisite poetry than any other general subject.... +The Ai, ai, tai Malaki of Moschus is worked up again to some +advantage in the following passage-- "To mute," &c.' + +lines 61, 62. The inversion of reference in these lines is an +illustration of the rhetorical figure 'chiasmus.' Cp. the +arrangement of the demonstrative pronouns in these sentences from +'Kenilworth':--'Your eyes contradict your tongue. That speaks of a +protector, willing and able to watch over you; but these tell me you +are ruined.' + +line 64. Cp. closing lines of Wordsworth's 'Ode on Intimations of +Immortality' (finished in 1806):-- + + 'To me the meanest flower that blows can give + Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.' + +lines 65-8. Nelson fell at Trafalgar, Oct. 21, 1805; Pitt died Jan. +23, 1806. + +line 72. Gadite wave. The epithet is derived from Gades, the Roman +name of the modern Cadiz. + +line 73. Levin = lightning. See Canto I, line 400. Spenser uses the +phrase 'piercing levin' in the July eclogue of the 'Shepheards +Calendar,' and in 'Faery Queene,' III. v. 48. The word still +occasionally occurs in poetry. Cp. Longfellow, 'Golden Legend,' v., +near end:-- + + 'See! from its summit the lurid levin + Flashes downward without warning! ' + +line 76. fated = charged with determination of fate. Cp. All's Well +that Ends Well, i. I. 221-- + + 'The fated sky + Gives us free scope.' + +line 82. Hafnia, is Copenhagen. The three victories are, the battle +of the Nile, 1798; the battle of the Baltic, 1801; and Trafalgar, +1805. + +lines 84-86. Pitt (1759-1806) became First Lord of the Treasury and +Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1783, and from 1785 onwards the facts +of his career are a constituent part of national history. He faced +with success difficulties like bread riots, mutinies in the fleet in +1797, disturbances by the 'United Irishmen,' and the alarming +threats of Napoleon. In 1800 the Union of Ireland with Great Britain +gave Irishmen new motives for living, and in 1803 national +patriotism, stirred and guided by Pitt, was manifested in the +enrolment of over three hundred thousand volunteers prepared to +withstand the vaunted 'Army of England.' In spite of his +distinguished position and eminent services, Pitt died L40,000 in +debt, and his responsibilities were promptly met by a vote of the +House of Commons. + +lines 97-108. These picturesque lines, with their varied and +suggestive metaphors, were interpolated on the blank page of the MS. +The reference in the expression 'tottering throne' in line 104 is to +the threatened insanity of George III. + +lines 109-125. Pitt's patriotism was consistent and thorough. The +anxious, troubled expression his face, betrayed in his latest +appearances in the House of Commons, Wilberforce spoke of as 'his +Austerlitz look,' and there seems little doubt that the burden of +his public cares hastened his end. This gives point to the +comparison of his fate with that of Aeneas's pilot Palinurus (Aeneid +v. 833). + +lines 127-141. Charles James Fox (1749-1806) was second son of the +first Lord Holland, whose indulgence tended to spoil a youth of +unusual ability and precocity. Extravagant habits, contracted at an +early age, were not easily thrown off afterwards, but they did not +interfere with Fox's efficiency as a statesman. His rivalry with +Pitt dates from 1783. Their tombs are near each other in Westminster +Abbey. + +line 146. Cp. in Gray's 'Elegy':-- + + 'Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault + The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.' + +line 153. Jeffrey, in his criticism of 'Marmion' in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' found fault with the tribute to Fox, and cavilled in +particular at the expression 'Fox a Briton died.' He argued that +Scott praised only the action of Fox in breaking off the +negotiations for peace with Napoleon, while insinuating that the +previous part of his career was unpatriotic. Only a special pleader +could put such an unworthy interpretation on the words. + +lines 155-65. By the result of the battle of Austerlitz (December, +1805) Napoleon seemed advancing towards general victory. Prussia +hastily patched up a dishonourable peace on terms inconsistent with +very binding pledges, and the Russian minister at Paris compromised +his country by yielding to humiliating proposals on the part of +France. All this changed Fox's view of the position, and he broke +off the negotiations for peace which had been begun in accordance +with a policy he had long advocated. + +line 161. There is a probable reference here to Nelson's action at +the battle of the Baltic. He disregarded the signal for cessation of +fighting given by Sir Hyde Parker, and ordered his own signal to be +nailed to the mast. + +line 176. Thessaly was noted for witchcraft. The scene of Virgil's +eighth Eclogue is laid in Thessaly as appropriate to the +introduction of such machinery as enchantments, love-spells, &c. Cp. +Horace, Epode v. 21, and Ode I. xxvii. 21:-- + + 'Quae saga, quis te solvere Thessalis + Magus venenis, quis poterit deus?' + +In his 'Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft,' Letter III., Scott, +obviously basing his information on Horace, writes thus:--'The +classic mythology presented numerous points in which it readily +coalesced with that of the Germans, Danes, and Northmen of a later +period. They recognised the power of Erictho, Canidia, and other +sorceresses, whose spells could perplex the course of the elements, +intercept the influence of the sun, and prevent his beneficial +operation upon the fruits of the earth; call down the moon from her +appointed sphere, and disturb the original and destined course of +nature by their words and charms, and the power of the evil spirits +whom they evoked.' + +line 181. Lees is properly pl. of lee (Fr.lie = dregs), the sediment +or coarser parts of a liquid which settle at the bottom, but it has +come to be used as a collective word without reference to a singular +form. For phrase, cp. Macbeth, ii. 3. 96:-- + + 'The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees + Is left this vault to brag of.' + +line 185. Cp. Byron's 'Age of Bronze':-- + + 'But where are they--the rivals!--a few feet + Of sullen earth divide each winding-sheet.' + +line 199. hearse, from Old Fr. herce = harrow, portcullis. In early +English the word is used in the sense of 'harrow' and also of +'triangle,' in reference to the shape of the harrow. By-and-by it +came to be used variously for 'bier,' 'funeral carriage,' ornamental +canopy with lighted candles over the coffins of notable people +during the funeral ceremony, the permanent framework over a tomb, +and even the tomb itself. Cp. Spenser's Shep. Cal., November +Eclogue:-- + + 'Dido, my deare, alas! is dead, + Dead, and lyeth wrapt in lead. + O heavie herse!' + +The gloss to this is, 'Herse is the solemne obsequie in funeralles.' +Cp. also Ben Jonson's 'Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke':-- + + 'Underneath this sable herse + Lies the subject of all verse.' + +line 203. The 'Border Minstrel' is an appropriate designation of the +author of 'Contributions to the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border' +and the 'Lay of the Last Minstrel.' In the preface to the latter +work, written in 1830, Scott refers to the two great statesmen as +having 'smiled on the adventurous minstrel.' This is the only +existing evidence of Fox's appreciation. Pitt's praise of the Lay +his niece, Lady Hester Stanhope, reported to W. S. Rose, who very +naturally passed it on to Scott himself. The Right Hon. William +Dundas, in a letter to Scott, mentions a conversation he had had +with Pitt at his table, in 1805, and says that Pitt both expressed +his desire to advance Scott's professional interests and quoted from +the Lay the lines describing the embarrassment of the harper when +asked to play. 'This,' said he, 'is a sort of thing which I might +have expected in painting, but could never have fancied capable of +being given in poetry.'--Lockhart's Life of Scott, ii. 34. + +line 204. Gothic. This refers to both subject and style, neither +being classical. + +line 220. Lockhart quotes from Rogers's 'Pleasures of Memory':-- + + 'If but a beam of sober reason play, + Lo! Fancy's fairy frostwork melts away.' + +lines 233-48. In these lines the poet indicates the sphere in which +he had previously worked with independence and success. Like Virgil +when proceeding to write the AEneid, he is doubtful whether his +devotion to legendary and pastoral themes is sufficient warrant for +attempting heroic verse. The reference to the tales of shepherds in +the closing lines of the passage recalls the advice given (about +1880) to his students by Prof. Shairp, when lecturing from the +Poetry Chair at Oxford. 'To become steeped,' he said, 'in the true +atmosphere of romantic poetry they should proceed to the Borders and +learn their legends, under the twofold guidance of Scott's "Border +Minstrelsy" and an intelligent local shepherd.' + +line 256. steely weeds = steel armour. 'Steely' in Elizabethan times +was used both literally and figuratively. Shakespeare, 3 Henry VI. +ii. 3. 16, has 'The steely point of Clifford's lance,' and Fisher in +his 'Seuen Psalmes' has 'tough and stely hertes.' For a modern +literal example, see Crabbe's 'Parish Register':-- + + 'Steel through opposing plates the magnet draws, + And STEELY atoms calls from dust and straws.' + +WEEDS in the sense of dress is confined, in modern English, to +widows' robes. In Elizabethan times it had a general reference, as +e.g. Spenser's 'lowly Shephards weeds' in the Introduction to 'Faery +Queene.' Cp. below, Canto V. line 168, VI. line 192. + +line 258. The Champion is Launcelot, the most famous of King +Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. See Tennyson's 'Idylls of the +King,' especially 'Lancelot and Elaine,' and William Morris's +'Defence of Guenevere.' + +line 263. Dame Ganore is Guenevere, Arthur's Queen. + +lines 258-262. Scott annotates these lines as follows:-- + +'The Romance of the Morte Arthur contains a sort of abridgment of +the most celebrated adventures of the Round Table; and, being +written in comparatively modern language, gives the general reader +an excellent idea of what romances of chivalry actually were. It has +also the merit of being written in pure old English; and many of the +wild adventures which it contains are told with a simplicity +bordering upon the sublime. Several of these are referred to in the +text; and I would have illustrated them by more full extracts, but +as this curious work is about to be republished, I confine myself to +the tale of the Chapel Perilous, and of the quest of Sir Launcelot +after the Sangreal. + +'"Right so Sir Lanncelot departed, and when he came to the Chapell +Perilous, he alighted downe, and tied his horse to a little gate. +And as soon as he was within the churchyard, he saw, on the front of +the chapell, many faire rich shields turned upside downe; and many +of the shields Sir Launcelot had seene knights have before; with +that he saw stand by him thirtie great knights, more, by a yard, +than any man that ever he had seene, and all those grinned and +gnashed at Sir Launcelot; and when he saw their countenance, hee +dread them sore, and so put his shield afore him, and tooke his +sword in his hand ready to doe battaile; and they were all armed in +black harneis, ready, with their shields and swords drawen. And when +Sir Launcelot would have gone through them, they scattered on every +side of him, and gave him the way; and therewith he waxed all bold, +and entered into the chapell, and then hee saw no light but a dimme +lampe burning, and then was he ware of a corps covered with a cloath +of silke; then Sir Launcelot stooped downe, and cut a piece of that +cloath away, and then it fared under him as the earth had quaked a +little, whereof he was afeard, and then hee saw a faire sword lye by +the dead knight, and that he gat in his hand, and hied him out of +the chappell. As soon as he was in the chappell-yerd, all the +knights spoke to him with a grimly voice, and said, 'Knight, Sir +Launcelot, lay that sword from thee, or else thou shalt die.'-- +'Whether I live or die,' said Sir Launcelot, 'with no great words +get yee it againe, therefore fight for it and ye list.' Therewith he +passed through them; and beyond the chappell-yerd, there met him a +faire damosell, and said, 'Sir Launcelot, leave that sword behind +thee, or thou wilt die for it.'--'I will not leave it,' said Sir +Launcelot, 'for no threats.'--'No?' said she; 'and ye did leave that +sword, Queen Guenever should ye never see.'--'Then were I a foole +and I would leave this sword,' said Sir Launcelot. 'Now, gentle +knight,' said the damosell, 'I require thee to kisse me once.'-- +'Nay,' said Sir Launcelot, 'that God forbid!'--'Well, sir,' said +she, 'and thou hadest kissed me thy life dayes had been done; but +now, alas!' said she, 'I have lost all my labour; for I ordeined +this chappell for thy sake, and for Sir Gawaine: and once I had Sir +Gawaine within it; and at that time he fought with that knight which +there lieth dead in yonder chappell, Sir Gilbert the bastard, and at +that time hee smote off Sir Gilbert the bastard's left hand. And so, +Sir Launcelot, now I tell thee, that I have loved thee this seaven +yeare; but there may no woman have thy love but Queene Guenever; but +sithen I may not rejoyice thee to have thy body alive, I had kept no +more joy in this world but to have had thy dead body; and I would +have balmed it and served, and so have kept it in my life daies, and +daily I should have clipped thee, and kissed thee, in the despite of +Queen Guenever.'--'Yee say well,' said Sir Launcelot; 'Jesus +preserve me from your subtill craft." And therewith he took his +horse, and departed from her."' + +Sir Thomas Malory's 'Morte D'Arthure' was first printed by Caxton in +4to., 1485. A new issue of this belongs to 1634. The republication +referred to by Scott is probably the edition published in 1816, in +two vols. l8mo. The Roxburghe Club made a sumptuous reprint in 1819, +and Thomas Wright, in 1858, edited the work in three handy 8vo. +vols. from the text of 1634. This edition is furnished with a very +useful introduction and notes. + +lines 267-70. 'One day when Arthur was holding a high feast with his +Knights of the Round Table, the Sangreal, or vessel out of which the +last passover was eaten, (a precious relic, which had long remained +concealed from human eyes, because of the sins of the land,) +suddenly appeared to him and all his chivalry. The consequence of +this vision was, that all the knights took on them a solemn vow to +seek the Sangreal. But, alas! it could only be revealed to a knight +at once accomplished in earthly chivalry, and pure and guiltless of +evil conversation. All Sir Launcelot's noble accomplishments were +therefore rendered vain by his guilty intrigue with Queen Guenever, +or Ganore; and in this holy quest he encountered only such +disgraceful disasters as that which follows:-- + +'But Sir Launcelot rode overthwart and endlong in a wild forest, and +held no path, but as wild adventure led him; and at the last, he +came unto a stone crosse, which departed two wayes, in wast land; +and, by the crosse, was a stone that was of marble; but it was so +dark, that Sir Launcelot might not well know what it was. Then Sir +Launcelot looked by him, and saw an old chappell, and there he wend +to have found people. And so Sir Launcelot tied his horse to a tree, +and there he put off his shield, and hung it upon a tree, and then +hee went unto the chappell doore, and found it wasted and broken. +And within he found a faire altar, full richly arrayed with cloth of +silk, and there stood a faire candlestick, which beare six great +candles, and the candlesticke was of silver. And when Sir Launcelot +saw this light, hee had a great will for to enter into the chappell, +but he could find no place where hee might enter. Then was he +passing heavie and dismaied. Then he returned, and came again to his +horse, and tooke off his saddle and his bridle, and let him pasture, +and unlaced his helme, and ungirded his sword, and laid him downe to +sleepe upon his shield, before the crosse. + +'And so hee fell on sleepe; and, halfe waking and halfe sleeping, +hee saw come by him two palfreys, both faire and white, the which +beare a litter, therein lying a sicke knight. And when he was nigh +the crosse, he there abode still. All this Sir Launcelot saw and +beheld, for hee slept not verily, and hee heard him say, "O sweete +Lord, when shall this sorrow leave me, and when shall the holy +vessell come by me, where through I shall be blessed, for I have +endured thus long for little trespasse!" And thus a great while +complained the knight, and allwaies Sir Launcelot heard it. With +that Sir Launcelot saw the candlesticke, with the fire tapers, come +before the crosse; but he could see no body that brought it. Also +there came a table of silver, and the holy vessel of the Sancgreall, +the which Sir Launcelot had seen before that time in King Petchour's +house. And therewithall the sicke knight set him upright, and held +up both his hands, and said, "Faire sweete Lord, which is here +within the holy vessell, take heed to mee, that I may bee hole of +this great malady!" And therewith upon his hands, and upon his +knees, he went so nigh, that he touched the holy vessell, and kissed +it: And anon he was hole, and then he said, "Lord God, I thank +thee, for I am healed of this malady." Soo when the holy vessell had +been there a great while, it went into the chappell againe, with the +candlesticke and the light, so that Sir Launcelot wist not where it +became, for he was overtaken with sinne, that he had no power to +arise against the holy vessell, wherefore afterward many men said of +him shame. But he tooke repentance afterward. Then the sicke knight +dressed him upright, and kissed the crosse. Then anon his squire +brought him his armes, and asked his lord how he did. "Certainly," +said hee, I thanke God right heartily, for through the holy vessell +I am healed: But I have right great mervaile of this sleeping +knight, which hath had neither grace nor power to awake during the +time that this holy vessell hath beene here present."--"I dare it +right well say," said the squire, "that this same knight is defouled +with some manner of deadly sinne, whereof he has never confessed."-- +"By my faith," said the knight, "whatsoeer he be, he is unhappie; +for, as I deeme, hee is of the fellowship of the Round Table, the +which is entered into the quest of the Sancgreall."--"Sir," said the +squire, "here I have brought you all your armes, save your helme and +your sword; and, therefore, by mine assent, now may ye take this +knight's helme and his sword;' and so he did. And when he was cleane +armed, he took Sir Launcelot's horse, for he was better than his +owne, and so they departed from the crosse. + +'Then anon Sir Launcelot awaked, and set himselfe upright, and he +thought him what hee had there seene, and whether it were dreames or +not; right so he heard a voice that said, "Sir Launcelot, more hardy +than is the stone, and more bitter than is the wood, and more naked +and bare than is the liefe of the fig-tree, therefore go thou from +hence, and withdraw thee from this holy place;" and when Sir +Launcelot heard this, he was passing heavy, and wist not what to +doe. And so he departed sore weeping, and cursed the time that he +was borne; for then he deemed never to have had more worship; for +the words went unto his heart, till that he knew wherefore that hee +was so called.'--SCOTT. + +line 273. Arthur is the hero of the 'Faery Queene.' In his +explanatory letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, Spenser says, 'I chose the +historye of King Arthure, as most fitte for the excellency of his +person, being made famous by many mens former workes, and also +furthest from the daunger of envy, and suspicion of present time.' + +line 274. Milton is said to have meditated in his youth the +composition of an epic poem on Arthur and the Round Table. In +'Paradise Lost' ix. 26, he states that the subject of that poem +pleased him 'long choosing and beginning late,' and references both +in 'Paradise Lost' and 'Paradise Regained' prove his familiarity +with the Arthurian legend. Cp. Par. Lost, i. 580, and Par. Reg. ii. +358. + +line 275. Scott quotes from Dryden's 'Essay on Satire,' prefixed to +the translation of Juvenal, regarding his projected Epic. 'Of two +subjects,' says Dryden, 'I was doubtful whether I should choose that +of King Arthur conquering the Saxons, which, being further distant +in time, gives the greater scope to my invention; or that of Edward +the Black Prince, in subduing Spain, and restoring it to the lawful +prince, though a great tyrant, Pedro the Cruel....I might perhaps +have done as well as some of my predecessors, or at least chalked +out a way for others to amend my errors in a like design; but being +encouraged only with fair words by King Charles II, my little salary +ill paid, and no prospect of a future subsistence, I was then +discouraged in the beginning of my attempt; and now age has +overtaken me, and want, a more insufferable evil, through the change +of the times, has wholly disabled me.' + +lines 281-3. Dryden's dramas, certain of his translations, and +various minor pieces adapted to the prevalent taste of his time, are +unworthy of his genius. Pope's reflections on the poet forgetful of +the dignity of his office, with the allusion to Dryden as an +illustration ('Satires and Epistles,' v. 209), may be compared with +this passage;-- + + 'I scarce can think him such a worthless thing, + Unless he praise some monster of a king; + Or virtue, or religion turn to sport, + To please a lewd, or unbelieving court. + Unhappy Dryden! In all Charles's days, + Roscommon only boasts unspotted bays.' + +line 283. Cp. Gray's 'Progress of Poesy,' 103-- + + 'Behold, where Dryden's less presumptuous car + Wide o'er the fields of glory bear + Two coursers of ethereal race, + With necks in thunder cloth'd, and long-resounding pace'; + +and Pope's 'Satires and Epistles,' v. 267-- + + 'Dryden taught to join + The varying verse, the full-resounding line, + The long majestic march, and energy divine.' + +line 286. To break a lance is to enter the lists, to try one's +strength. The concussion of two powerful knights would suffice to +shiver the lances. Hence comes the figurative use. Cp. I Henry VI. +iii. 2,-- + + 'What will you do, good greybeard? break a lance, + And run a tilt at death within a chair?' + +lines 288-309. The Genius of Chivalry is to be resuscitated from the +deep slumber under which baneful spells have long effectually held +him. The appropriateness of this is apparent when the true meaning +of Chivalry is considered. Scott opens his 'Essay on Chivalry' +thus:--'The primitive sense of this well-known word, derived from +the French Chevalier, signifies merely cavalry, or a body of +soldiers serving on horseback; and it has been used in that general +acceptation by the best of our poets, ancient and modern, from +Milton to Thomas Campbell.' See Par. Lost, i. 307, and Battle of +Hohenlinden. + +line 294. To spur forward his horse on an expedition of adventures, +like Spenser's Red Cross Knight. For the accoutrements and the +duties of a knight see Scott's 'Essay on Chivalry' (Miscellaneous +Works, vol. vi.). Cp. 'Faery Queene,' Book I, and (especially for +the personified abstractions from line 300 onwards) Montgomerie's +allegory, 'The Cherrie and the Slae.' + +line 312. Ytene's oaks. 'The New Forest in Hampshire, anciently so +called.'--SCOTT. Gundimore, the residence of W. S. Rose, was in this +neighbourhood, and in an unpublished piece entitled 'Gundimore,' +Rose thus alludes to a visit of Scott's:-- + + 'Here Walter Scott has woo'd the northern muse; + Here he with me has joy'd to walk or cruise; + And hence has prick'd through Yten's holt, where we + Have called to mind how under greenwood tree, + Pierced by the partner of his "woodland craft," + King Rufus fell by Tyrrell's random shaft.' + +line 314. 'The "History of Bevis of Hampton" is abridged by my +friend Mr. George Ellis, with that liveliness which extracts +amusement even out of the most rude and unpromising of our old tales +of chivalry. Ascapart, a most important personage in the romance, is +thus described in an extract:-- + + "This geaunt was mighty and strong, + And full thirty foot was long. + He was bristled like a sow; + A foot he had between each brow; + His lips were great, and hung aside; + His eyen were hollow, his mouth was wide; + Lothly he was to look on than, + And liker a devil than a man. + His staff was a young oak, + Hard and heavy was his stroke." + Specimens of Metrical Romances, vol. ii. p. 136. + +'I am happy to say, that the memory of Sir Bevis is still fragrant +in his town of Southampton; the gate of which is sentinelled by the +effigies of that doughty knight errant and his gigantic associate.'- +-SCOTT. + +CANTO FIRST. +The Introduction is written on a basis of regular four-beat +couplets, each line being technically an iambic tetrameter; lines +96, 205, and 283 are Alexandrines, or iambic hexameters, each +serving to give emphasis and resonance (like the ninth of the +Spenserian stanza) to the passage which it closes. Intensity of +expression is given by the triplet which closes the passage ending +with line 125. The metrical basis of the movement in the Canto is +likewise iambic tetrameter, but the trimeter or three-beat line is +freely introduced, and the poet allows himself great scope in his +arrangement. + +Stanza I. line 1. 'The ruinous castle of Norham (anciently called +Ubbanford) is situated on the southern bank of the Tweed, about six +miles above Berwick, and where that river is still the boundary +between England and Scotland. The extent of its ruins, as well as +its historical importance, shows it to have been a place of +magnificence, as well as strength. Edward I resided there when he +was created umpire of the dispute concerning the Scottish +succession. It was repeatedly taken and retaken during the wars +between England and Scotland; and, indeed, scarce any happened, in +which it had not a principal share. Norham Castle is situated on a +steep bank, which overhangs the river. The repeated sieges which the +castle had sustained, rendered frequent repairs necessary. In 1164, +it was almost rebuilt by Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, who added a +huge keep, or donjon; notwithstanding which, King Henry II, in 1174, +took the castle from the bishop, and committed the keeping of it to +William de Neville. After this period it seems to have been chiefly +garrisoned by the King, and considered as a royal fortress. The +Greys of Chillinghame Castle were frequently the castellans, or +captains of the garrison: Yet, as the castle was situated in the +patrimony of St. Cuthbert, the property was in the see of Durham +till the Reformation. After that period, it passed through various +hands. At the union of the crowns, it was in the possession of Sir +Robert Carey, (afterwards Earl of Monmouth,) for his own life, and +that of two of his sons. After King James's accession, Carey sold +Norham Castle to George Home, Earl of Dunbar, for L6000. See his +curious Memoirs, published by Mr. Constable of Edinburgh. + +'According to Mr. Pinkerton, there is, in the British Museum. Cal. +B. 6. 216, a curious memoir of the Dacres on the state of Norham +Castle in 1522, not long after the battle of Flodden. The inner +ward, or keep, is represented as impregnable:--"The provisions are +three great vats of salt eels, forty-four kine, three hogsheads of +salted salmon, forty quarters of grain, besides many cows and four +hundred sheep, lying under the castle-wall nightly; but a number of +the arrows wanted feathers, and a good Fletcher [i.e. maker of +arrows] was required."--History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 201, note. + +'The ruins of the castle are at present considerable, as well as +picturesque. They consist of a large shattered tower, with many +vaults, and fragments of other edifices, enclosed within an outward +wall of great circuit.'--SCOTT. + +line 4. battled = embattled, furnished with battlements. See Introd. +to Canto V. line 90, and cp. Tennyson's 'Dream of Fair Women,' line +220:-- + + 'The valleys of grape-loaded vines that glow + Beneath the BATTLED TOWER.' + + the donjon keep. 'It is perhaps unnecessary to remind my readers, +that the donjon, in its proper signification, means the strongest +part of a feudal castle; a high square tower, with walls of +tremendous thickness, situated in the centre of the other buildings, +from which, however, it was usually detached. Here, in case of the +outward defences being gained, the garrison retreated to make their +last stand. The donjon contained the great hall, and principal rooms +of state for solemn occasions, and also the prison of the fortress; +from which last circumstance we derive the modern and restricted use +of the word dungeon. Ducange (voce DUNJO) conjectures plausibly, +that the name is derived from these keeps being usually built upon a +hill, which in Celtic is called DUN. Borlase supposes the word came +from the darkness of the apartments in these towers, which were +thence figuratively called Dungeons; thus deriving the ancient word +from the modern application of it.'--SCOTT. + +line 6. flanking walls, walls protecting it on the sides. Cp. the +use of FLANKED in Dryden's 'Annus Mirabilis' xxvi;-- + + 'By the rich scent we found our perfumed prey, + Which, FLANKED with rocks, did close in covert lie.' + +Stanza II. line 14. St. George's banner. St. George's red cross on a +white field was the emblem on the English national standard. Saint +George is the legendary patron saint who slew the dragon. + +Stanza III. line 29. Horncliff-hill is one of the numerous hillocks +to the east of Norham. There is a village of the same name. + + A plump of spears. Scott writes, 'This word applies to flight of +water-fowl; but is applied by analogy to a body of horse:-- + + "There is a knight of the North Country, + Which leads a lusty PLUMP of spears." + Flodden Field' + +line 33. mettled, same as metalled (mettle being a variant of +metall, spirited, ardent. So 'mettled hound' in 'Jock o' Hazeldean.' +Cp. Julius Caesar, iv. 2. 23:-- + + 'But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, + Make gallant show and promise of their METTLE.' + +'Metal' in the same sense is frequent in Shakespeare. See Meas. for +Meas. i. I; Julius Caesar, i. 2; Hamlet, iii 2. + +line 35. palisade (Fr. paliser, to enclose with pales), a firm row +of stakes presenting a sharp point to an advancing party. + +line 38. hasted, Elizabethanism = hastened. Cp. Merch. of Venice, +ii. 2. 104--'Let it be so hasted that supper be ready at the +farthest by five of the clock.' + +line 42. sewer, taster; squire, knight's attendant; seneschal, +steward. See 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' vi. 6, and note on Par. +Lost, ix. 38, in Clarendon Press Milton:-- + + 'Then marshalled feast + Served up in hall with sewers, and seneschals.' + +Stanza IV. line 43. Malvoisie = Malmsey, from Malvasia, now Napoli +di Malvasia, in the Morea. + +line 55. portcullis, a strong timber framework within the gateway of +a castle, let down in grooves and having iron spikes at the bottom. + +Stanzas V and VI. Marmion, strenuous in arms and prudent in counsel, +has a kinship in spirit and achievement with the Homeric heroes. +Compare him also with the typical knight in Chaucer's Prologue and +the Red Cross Knight at the opening of the 'Faerie Queene.' Scott +annotates 'Milan steel' and the legend thus:-- + +'The artists of Milan were famous in the middle ages for their skill +in armoury, as appears from the following passage, in which +Froissart gives an account of the preparations made by Henry, Earl +of Hereford, afterwards Henry IV, and Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, Earl +Marischal, for their proposed combat in the lists at Coventry:-- +"These two lords made ample provisions of all things necessary for +the combat; and the Earl of Derby sent off messengers to Lombardy, +to have armour from Sir Galeas, Duke of Milan. The Duke complied +with joy, and gave the knight, called Sir Francis, who had brought +the message, the choice of all his armour for the Earl of Derby. +When he had selected what he wished for in plated and mail armour, +the Lord of Milan, out of his abundant love for the Earl, ordered +four of the best armourers in Milan to accompany the knight to +England, that the Earl of Derby might be more completely armed."-- +JOHNES' Froissart, vol. iv. p.597. + +'The crest and motto of Marmion are borrowed from the following +story:-- + +Sir David de Lindsay, first Earl of Cranford, was, among other +gentlemen of quality, attended, during a visit to London in 1390, by +Sir William Dalzell, who was, according to my authority, Bower, not +only excelling in wisdom, but also of a lively wit. Chancing to be +at the Court, he there saw Sir Piers Conrtenay, an English knight, +famous for skill in tilting, and for the beauty of his person, +parading the palace, arrayed in a new mantle, bearing for device an +embroidered falcon, with this rhyme,-- + + "I bear a falcon, fairest of night, + Whoso pinches at her, his death is dight1 + In graith2." +----------------------------------------------------- + 1prepared. 2armour. +----------------------------------------------------- +'The Scottish knight, being a wag, appeared next day in a dress +exactly similar to that of Courtenay, but bearing a magpie instead +of the falcon, with a motto ingeniously contrived to rhyme to the +vaunting inscription of Sir Piers:-- + + "I bear a pie picking at a piece, + Whoso picks at her, I shall pick at his nese3, + In faith." +----------------------------------------------------- + 3nose +----------------------------------------------------- +'This affront could only be expiated by a just with sharp lances. In +the course, Dalzell left his helmet unlaced, so that it gave way at +the touch of his antagonist's lance, and he thus avoided the shock +of the encounter. This happened twice:--in the third encounter, the +handsome Courtenay lost two of his front teeth. As the Englishman +complained bitterly of Dalzell's fraud in not fastening his helmet, +the Scottishman agreed to run six courses more, each champion +staking in the hand of the King two hundred pounds, to be forfeited, +if, on entering the lists, any unequal advantage should be detected. +This being agreed to, the wily Scot demanded that Sir Piers, in +addition to the loss of his teeth, should consent to the extinction +of one of his eyes, he himself having lost an eye in the fight of +Otterburn. As Courtenay demurred to this equalisation of optical +powers, Dalzell demanded the forfeit; which, after much altercation, +the King appointed to be paid to him, saying, he surpassed the +English both in wit and valour. This must appear to the reader a +singular specimen of the humour of that time. I suspect the Jockey +Club would have given a different decision from Henry IV.' + +lines 85-6. 'The arms of Marmion would be Vairee, a fesse gules--a +simple bearing, testifying to the antiquity of the race. The badge +was An ape passant argent, ringed and chained with gold. The +Marmions were the hereditary champions of England. The office +passed to the Dymokes, through marriage, in the reign of Edward +III.'--'Notes and Queries,' 7th S. III. 37. + +Stanza VII. line 95. 'The principal distinction between the +independent esquire (terming him such who was attached to no +knight's service) and the knight was the spurs, which the esquire +might wear of silver, but by no means gilded.'--Scott's 'Essay on +Chivalry,' p.64. + +With the squire's 'courteous precepts' compare those of Chaucer's +squire in the Prologue,-- + + 'He cowde songes make and wel endite, + Juste and eek daunce, and wel purtreye and write. + . . . + Curteys he was, lowely, and servysable, + And carf byforn his fader at the table.' + +Stanza VIII. line 108. Him listed is an Early English form. Cp. +Chaucer's Prologue, 583,-- + + 'Or lyve as scarsly as HYM LIST desire.' + +In Elizabethan English, which retains many impersonal forms, LIST is +mainly used as a personal verb, as in Much Ado, iii. 4,-- + + 'I am not such a fool to think what I LIST,' + +and in John iii. 8, 'The wind bloweth where it listeth.' Even then, +however, it was sometimes used impersonally, as in Surrey's +translation of AEneid ii. 1064,-- + + 'By sliding seas ME LISTED them to lede.' + +line 116. Hosen = hose, tight trousers reaching to the knees. The +form hosen is archaic, though it lingered provincially in Scotland +till modern times. For a standard use of the word, see in A. V., +Daniel iii. 21, 'Then these men were bound in their coats, their +hosen, and their hats, and their other garments.' + +line 121. The English archers under the Tudors were famous. +Holinshed specially mentions that at the battle of Blackheath, in +1496, Dartford bridge was defended by archers 'whose arrows were in +length a full cloth yard.' + +Stanza IX. line 130. morion (Sp. morra, the crown of the head), a +kind of helmet without a visor, frequently surmounted with a crest, +introduced into England about the beginning of the sixteenth +century. + +line 134. linstock (lont, a match, and stok, a stick), 'a gunner's +forked staff to hold a match of lint dipped in saltpetre.' + + yare, ready; common as a nautical term. Cp. Tempest, i. I. 6, +'Cheerly, my hearts! Yare, yare!' and see note to Clarendon Press +edition of the play. + +Stanza X. line 146. The angel was a gold coin struck in France in +1340, and introduced into England by Edward IV, 1465. It varied in +value from 6s. 8d, to 10s. The last struck in England were in the +reign of Charles I. The name was due to the fact that on one side of +the coin was a representation of the Archangel Michael and the +dragon (Rev. xii. 7). Used again, St. xxv. below. + +line 149. brook (A. S. brucan, to use, eat, enjoy, bear, discharge, +fulfil), to use, handle, manage. Cp. Chaucer, 'Nonnes Prestes Tale,' +line 479,-- + + 'So mote I BROUKEN wel min eyen twey,' + +and 'Lady of the Lake,' I. xxviii-- + + 'Whose stalwart arm might BROOK to wield + A blade like this in battle-field. ' + +For other meaning of the word see xiii. and xvi. below. + +Stanza XI. line 151. Pursuivants, attendants on the heralds, their +TABARD being a sleeveless coat. Chaucer applies the name to the +loose frock of the ploughman (Prologue, 541). See Clarendon Press +ed. of Chaucer's Prologue, &c. + +line 152. scutcheon = escutcheon, shield. + +line 156. 'Lord Marmion, the principal character of the present +romance, is entirely a fictitious personage. In earlier times, +indeed, the family of Marmion, Lords of Fontenay, in Normandy, was +highly distinguished. Robert de Marmion, Lord of Fontenay, a +distinguished follower of the Conqueror, obtained a grant of the +castle and town of Tamworth, and also of the manor of Scrivelby, in +Lincolnshire. One, or both, of these noble possessions was held by +the honourable service of being the royal champion, as the ancestors +of Marmion had formerly been to the Dukes of Normandy. But after the +castle and demesne of Tamworth had passed through four successive +barons from Robert, the family became extinct in the person of +Philip de Marmion, who died in 20th Edward I without issue male. He +was succeeded in his castle of Tamworth by Alexander de Freville, +who married Mazera, his grand-daughter. Baldwin de Freville, +Alexander's descendant, in the reign of Richard I, by the supposed +tenure of his castle of Tamworth, claimed the office of royal +champion, and to do the service appertaining; namely, on the day of +coronation, to ride, completely armed, upon a barbed horse, into +Westminster Hall, and there to challenge the combat against any who +would gainsay the King's title. But this office was adjudged to Sir +John Dymoke, to whom the manor of Scrivelby had descended by another +of the co-heiresses of Robert de Marmion; and it remains in that +family, whose representative is Hereditary Champion of England at +the present day. The family and possessions of Freville have merged +in the Earls of Ferrars. I have not, therefore, created a new +family, but only revived the titles of an old one in an imaginary +personage.'--SCOTT. + +'The last occasion on which the Champion officiated was at the +coronation of George IV.'--'Notes and Queries,' 7th S. III, 236. + +line 161. mark, a weight for gold and silver, differing in amount in +different countries. The English coin so called was worth 13s. 4d. +sterling. + +line 163. 'This was the cry with which heralds and pursuivants were +wont to acknowledge the bounty received from the knights. Stewart of +Lorn distinguishes a ballad, in which he satirises the narrowness of +James V and his courtiers by the ironical burden-- + + "Lerges, lerges, lerges, hay, + Lerges of this new year day. + First lerges of the King, my chief, + Quhilk come als quiet as a theif, + And in my hand slid schillingis tway1, + To put his lergnes to the preif2, + For lerges of this new-yeir day." + + 1two 2proof + +'The heralds, like the minstrels, were a race allowed to have great +claims upon the liberality of the knights, of whose feats they kept +a record, and proclaimed them aloud, as in the text, upon suitable +occasions. + +'At Berwick, Norham, and other Border fortresses of importance, +pursuivants usually resided, whose inviolable character rendered +them the only persons that could, with perfect assurance of safety, +be sent on necessary embassies into Scotland. This is alluded to in +Stanza xxi. p. 25.'--SCOTT. + +line 165. Blazon'd shield, a shield with a coat of arms painted on +it, especially with bearings quartered in commemoration of victory +in battle. See below V. xv, VI. xxxviii, and cp. Tennyson, 'The +Lady of Shalott,' Part 3:-- + + 'And from his blazon'd baldric slung + A mighty silver bugle hung.' + +line 174. The Cotswold downs, Gloucestershire, were famous as a +hunting-ground. Cp. Merry Wives of Windsor, I. i. 92, 'How does your +fallow greyhound, sir? I heard say he was outrun on Cotsall.' + +line 185. The reversed shield, hung on the gallows, indicated the +degraded knight. + +Stanza XIII. line 192. Scott writes:--'Were accuracy of any +consequence in a fictitious narrative, this castellan's name ought +to have been William; for William Heron of Ford was husband to the +famous Lady Ford, whose syren charms are said to have cost our James +IV so dear. Moreover, the said William Heron was, at the time +supposed, a prisoner in Scotland, being surrendered by Henry VIII, +on account of his share in the slaughter of Sir Robert Ker of +Cessford. His wife, represented in the text as residing at the Court +of Scotland, was, in fact, living in her own castle at Ford.--See +Sir RICHARD HERON'S curious Genealogy of the Heron Family.' + +Ford Castle is about a mile to the north-east of Flodden Hill. It +was repaired in 1761 in accordance with the style of the original +architecture. Latterly the owner, the Countess of Waterford, +utilizing the natural beauty of the property, has enhanced its value +and its interest by improvements exhibiting not only exquisite taste +but a true philanthropic spirit. It was at Ford Castle that James IV +spent the night preceding the battle of Flodden. + +line 195. Deas, dais, or chief seat on the platform at the upper end +of the hall. + +line 200. Scott mentions in a note that his friend, R. Surtees, of +Mainsforth, had taken down this ballad from the lips of an old +woman, who said it used 'to be sung at the merry-makings.' He +likewise gave it a place in the 'Border Minstrelsy.' These things +being so, it is unpleasant to learn from Lockhart that 'the ballad +here quoted was the production of Mr. R. Surtees, and palmed off by +him upon Scott as a genuine relic of antiquity. 'The title of the +ballad in the 'Border Minstrelsy' is 'The Death of +Featherstonhaugh.' + +line 203. 'Hardriding Dick is not an epithet referring to +horsemanship, but means Richard Ridley of Hardriding.'--SCOTT. The +families named all belonged to the north and north-east of +Northumberland. Scott adds (from Surtees), 'A feud did certainly +exist between the Ridleys and Featherstons, productive of such +consequences as the ballad narrates.' In regard to the 'Northern +harper,' see Prof. Minto's 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' p. 121. + +Stanza XV. line 231. wassail-bowl. 'Wassell' or 'wassail' (A. S. +waes hael) was first the wish of health, then it came to denote +festivity (especially at Christmas). As an adj. it is compounded not +only with bowl, but with cup, candle, &c. Cp. Comus, line 179:-- + + 'I should be loth + To meet the rudeness and swill'd insolence + Of such late WASSAILERS.' + +Cp. also note on 'gossip's bowl' of Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. I. +47, in Clarendon Press edition, and Prof. Minto's 'Lay of the Last +Minstrel,' p. 174. + +line 232. Cp. Iliad i. 470, and ix. 175, and Chapman's translation, +'The youths CROWNED cups of wine.' + +line 238. Raby Castle, in the county of Durham, the property of the +Duke of Cleveland. + +line 254. As a page in a lady's chamber. 'Bower' is often contrasted +with 'hall,' as in 'Jock o' Hazeldean':-- + + 'They socht her baith by bower an' ha'.' + +Cp. below, 281. + +Stanza XVI. line 264. For Lindisfarn, or Holy Island, see note to +Canto II. St. i. + +Stanza XVII. line 284. leash, the cord by which the greyhound is +restrained till the moment when he is slipt in pursuit of the game. +Cp. Coriolanus, i. 6. 38:-- + + 'Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash.' + +Stanza XVIII. line 289. bide, abide. Cp. above, 215. + +line 294. pray you = I pray you. Cp. 'Prithee,' so common in +Elizabethan drama. + +line 298. Scott annotates as follows:- + +'The story of Perkin Warbeck, or Richard, Duke of York, is well +known. In 1496, he was received honourably in Scotland; and James +IV, after conferring upon him in marriage his own relation, the Lady +Catharine Gordon, made war on England in behalf of his pretensions. +To retaliate an invasion of England, Surrey advanced into +Berwickshire at the head of considerable forces, but retreated, +after taking the inconsiderable fortress of Ayton. Ford, in his +Dramatic Chronicle of Perkin Warbeck, makes the most of this +inroad:-- + + "SURREY. + + "Are all our braving enemies shrunk back, + Hid in the fogges of their distemper'd climate, + Not daring to behold our colours wave + In spight of this infected ayre? Can they + Looke on the strength of Cundrestine defac't; + The glorie of Heydonhall devasted: that + Of Edington cast downe; the pile of Fulden + Orethrowne: And this, the strongest of their forts, + Old Ayton Castle, yeelded and demolished, + And yet not peepe abroad? The Scots are bold, + Hardie in battayle, but it seems the cause + They undertake considered, appeares + Unjoynted in the frame on't".'--SCOTT. + +line 301. Ayton is on the Eye, a little above Eyemouth, in +Berwickshire. + +Stanza XIX. line 305. 'The garrisons of the English castles of Wark, +Norham, and Berwick were, as may be easily supposed, very +troublesome neighbours to Scotland. Sir Richard Maitland of +Ledington wrote a poem, called "The Blind Baron's Comfort," when his +barony of Blythe, in Lauderdale, was HARRIED by Rowland Foster, the +English captain of Wark, with his company, to the number of 300 men. +They spoiled the poetical knight of 5000 sheep, 200 nolt, 30 horses +and mares; the whole furniture of his house of Blythe, worth 100 +pounds Scots (L8. 6s. 8d.), and every thing else that was portable. +"This spoil was committed the 16th day of May, 1570, (and the said +Sir Richard was threescore and fourteen years of age, and grown +blind,) in time of peace; when nane of that country LIPPENED +[expected] such a thing."--"The Blind Baron's Comfort" consists in a +string of puns on the word BLYTHE, the name of the lands thus +despoiled. Like John Littlewit, he had "a conceit left him in his +misery--a miserable conceit." + +'The last line of the text contains a phrase, by which the Borderers +jocularly intimated the burning a house. When the Maxwells, in 1685, +burned the castle of Lochwood, they said they did so to give the +Lady Johnstone "light to set her hood." Nor was the phrase +inapplicable; for, in a letter, to which I have mislaid the +reference, the Earl of Northumberland writes to the King and +Council, that he dressed himself at midnight, at Warkworth, by the +blaze of the neighbouring villages burned by the Scottish +marauders.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XXI. line 332. Bp. Pudsey, in 1154, restored the castle and +added the donjon. See Jemingham's 'Norham Castle,' v. 87. + +line 341. too well in case, in too good condition, too stout. For a +somewhat similar meaning of case, see Tempest, iii. 2. 25:-- + + 'I am in case to justle a constable.' + +line 342. Scott here refers to Holinshed's account of Welsh, the +vicar of St. Thomas of Exeter, a leader among the Cornish insurgents +in 1549:-- + +'"This man," says Holinshed, "had many good things in him. He was of +no great stature, but well set, and mightilie compact. He was a very +good wrestler; shot well, both in the long-bow, and also in the +cross-bow; he handled his hand-gun and peece very well; he was a +very good woodman, and a hardie, and such a one as would not give +his head for the polling, or his beard for the washing. He was a +companion in any exercise of activitie, and of a courteous and +gentle behaviour. He descended of a good honest parentage, being +borne at Peneverin, in Cornwall; and yet, in this rebellion, an +arch-captain, and a principal doer."--Vol. iv. p. 958, 4to edition. +This model of clerical talents had the misfortune to be hanged upon +the steeple of his own church.'--SCOTT. + +'The reader,' Lockhart adds, 'needs hardly to be reminded of +Ivanhoe.' + +line 349. Cp. Chaucer's friar in Prologue, line 240:-- + + 'He knew wel the tavernes in every toun,' &c. + +The character and adventures of Friar John owe something both to the +'Canterbury Tales' and to a remarkable poem, probably Dunbar's, +entitled 'The Friars of Berwick.' + +line 354. St. Bede's day in the Calendar is May 27. See below, line +410. + +Stanza XXII. line 372. tables, backgammon. + +line 387. fay = faith, word of honour. See below 454, and cp. +Hamlet, ii. 2. 271, 'By my fay, I cannot reason.' + +Stanza XXIII. line 402. St. James or Santiago of Spain. Cp. 'Piers +the Plowman,' i. 48 (with Prof. Skeat's note), Chaucer's Prologue, +465, and Southey's 'Pilgrim to Compostella,' valuable both for its +poetic beauty and its ample notes. In regard to the cockleshell, +Southey gives some important information in extracts from 'Anales de +Galicia,' and he says-- + + 'For the scallop shows in a coat of arms + That of the bearer's line. + Some one, in former days, hath been + To Santiago's shrine.' + +line 403. Montserrat, a mountain, with a Benedictine abbey on it, in +Catalonia. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood cherish a myth to +the effect that the fantastic peaks and gorges of the mountain were +formed at the Crucifixion. + +lines 404-7. Scott annotates as follows:-- + +'Sante Rosalie was of Palermo, and born of a very noble family, and, +when very young, abhorred so much the vanities of this world, and +avoided the converse of mankind, resolving to dedicate herself +wholly to God Almighty, that she, by divine inspiration, forsook her +father's house, and never was more heard of, till her body was found +in that cleft of a rock, on that almost inaccessible mountain, where +now the chapel is built; and they affirm she was carried up there by +the hands of angels; for that place was not formerly so accessible +(as now it is) in the days of the Saint; and even now it is a very +bad, and steepy, and break-neck way. In this frightful place, this +holy woman lived a great many years, feeding only on what she found +growing on that barren mountain, and creeping into a narrow and +dreadful cleft in a rock, which was always dropping wet, and was her +place of retirement, as well as prayer; having worn out even the +rock with her knees, in a certain place, which is now open'd on +purpose to show it to those who come here. This chapel is very +richly adorn'd; and on the spot where the saint's dead body was +discover'd, which is just beneath the hole in the rock, which is +open'd on purpose, as I said, there is a very fine statue of marble, +representing her in a lying posture, railed in all about with fine +iron and brass work; and the altar, on which they say mass, is built +just over it.'--Voyage to Sicily and Malta, by Mr. John Dryden, (son +to the poet,) p. 107. + +Stanza XXIV. line 408. The national motto is 'St. George for Merrie +England.' The records of various central and eastern English towns +tell of a very ancient custom of 'carrying the dragon in procession, +in great jollity, on Midsummer Eve.' See Brand's 'Popular +Antiquities,' i. 321. In reference to the 'Birth of St George' and +his deeds, see Percy's 'Reliques.' + +line 409. Becket (1119-70), Archbishop of Canterbury. See +'Canterbury Tales' and Aubrey de Vere's 'St. Thomas of Canterbury: +a dramatic poem.' + +line 410. For Cuthbert, see below, II. xiv. 257. Bede (673-735), a +monk of Jarrow on Tyne; called the Venerable Bede; author of an +important 'Ecclesiastical History' and an English translation of St. +John's Gospel. + +lines 419-20. Lord Jeffrey's sense of humour was not adequate to the +appreciation of these two lines, which he specialised for +condemnation. + +Stanza. XXV. line 421. Gramercy, from Fr. grand merci, sometimes +used as an emphatic exclamation, although fundamentally implying the +thanks of the speaker. + +line 430 still = always. Cp., inter alia, 440 and 452 below. See +'STILL vexed Bermoothes,' Tempest, i. 2. 229, and cp. Hamlet, ii. 2. +42,-- + + 'Thou STILL hast been the father of good news.' + +Stanza XXVI. line 452. Scott quotes from Rabelais the passage in +which the monk suggests to Gargantua that in order to induce sleep +they might together try the repetition of the seven penitential +psalms. 'The conceit pleased Gargantua very well; and, beginning the +first of these psalms, as soon as they came to Beati quorum they +fell asleep, both the one and the other.' Cp. Chaucer's Monk and the +character of Accidia in 'Piers the Plowman,' Passus V. + +line 453. ave, an address to the Virgin Mary, beginning 'Ave Maria'; +creed, a profession of faith, beginning with Credo. It has been +objected to this line that the creed is not an essential part of the +rosary, and that ten aves and one paternoster would have been more +accurate. It should, however, be noticed that both Friar John and +young Selby know more of other matters than the details of religious +devotion. + +Stanza XXVII. line 459. 'A PALMER, opposed to a PILGRIM, was one who +made it his sole business to visit different holy shrines; +travelling incessantly, and subsisting by charity: whereas the +Pilgrim retired to his usual home and occupations, when he had paid +his devotions at the particular spot which was the object of his +pilgrimage. The Palmers seem to have been the Quaestionarii of the +ancient Scottish canons 1242 and 1296. There is in the Bannatyne MS. +a burlesque account of two such persons, entitled, "Simmy and his +Brother." Their accoutrements are thus ludicrously described (I +discard the ancient spelling):-- + + "Syne shaped them up, to loup on leas, + Two tabards of the tartan; + They counted nought what their clouts were + When sew'd them on, in certain. + Syne clampit up St. Peter's keys, + Made of an old red gartane; + St. James's shells, on t'other side, shews + As pretty as a partane + Toe, + On Symmye and his brother."'--SCOTT. + +With this account of the Palmer, cp. 'Piers the Plowman,' v. 523:-- + + 'He bare a burdoun ybounde . with a brode liste, + In a withewyndes wise . ywounden aboute. + A bolle and a bagge . he bare by his syde; + An hundredth of ampulles . on his hatt seten, + Signes of Synay . and shelles of Galice; + And many a cruche on his cloke . and keyes of Rome, + And the vernicle bifore . for men shulde knowe, + And se bi his signes . whom he soughte hadde.' + +In connexion with this, Prof. Skeat draws attention to the romance +of Sir Isumbras and to Chaucer's Prol. line 13. + +line 467. Loretto, in Ancona, Italy, is the site of a sanctuary of +the Virgin, entitled Santa Casa, Holy House, which enjoys the +reputation of having been the Virgin's residence in Nazareth, and +the scene of the Annunciation, &c. + +Stanza XXVIII. line 483. haggard wild is a twofold adj. in the +Elizabethan fashion, like 'bitter sweet,' 'childish foolish,' and +other familiar examples. + +line 490. Science appears to support this theory. See various +examples in Sir Erasmus Wilson's little work, 'Healthy Skin.' Many +of the cases are within the writer's own knowledge, and all the +others are historical or otherwise well authenticated. He mentions +Sir T. More the night before his execution; two cases reported by +Borellus; three by Daniel Turner; one by Dr. Cassan; and in a note +he recalls John Libeny, a would-be assassin of the Emperor of +Austria, 'whose hair turned snow-white in the forty-eight hours +preceding his execution.' See 'Notes and Queries,' 6th S. vols. vi. +to ix., and 7th S. ii. Not only fear but sorrow is said to cause the +hair to turn white very suddenly. Byron makes his Prisoner of +Chillon say that his white hairs have not come to him + + 'In a single night, + As men's have grown from sudden fears.' + +Stanza XXIX. line 506. 'St. Regulus (Scottice, St. Rule), a monk of +Patrae, in Achaia, warned by a vision, is said, A. D. 370, to have +sailed westward, until he landed at St. Andrews, in Scotland, where +he founded a chapel and tower. The latter is still standing; and, +though we may doubt the precise date of its foundation, is certainly +one of the most ancient edifices in Scotland. A cave, nearly +fronting the ruinous castle of the Archbishops of St. Andrews, bears +the name of this religion person. It is difficult of access; and the +rock in which it is hewed is washed by the German Ocean. It is +nearly round, about ten feet in diameter, and the same in height. On +one side is a sort of stone altar; on the other an aperture into an +inner den, where the miserable ascetic, who inhabited this dwelling, +probably slept. At full tide, egress and regress are hardly +practicable. As Regulus first colonised the metropolitan see of +Scotland, and converted the inhabitants in the vicinity, he has some +reason to complain that the ancient name of Killrule (Cella Reguli) +should have been superseded, even in favour of the tutelar saint of +Scotland. The reason of the change was, that St. Rule is said to +have brought to Scotland the relics of Saint Andrew.'--SCOTT. + +line 509. 'St. Fillan was a Scottish saint of some reputation. +Although Popery is, with us, matter of abomination, yet the common +people still retain some of the superstitions connected with it. +There are in Perthshire several wells and springs dedicated to St. +Fillan, which are still places of pilgrimage and offerings, even +among the Protestants. They are held powerful in cases of madness; +and, in some of very late occurrence, lunatics have been left all +night bound to the holy stone, in confidence that the saint would +cure and unloose them before morning. [See various notes to the +Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.]'--SCOTT. + +line 513. Cp. Macbeth, v. 3. 40:-- + + 'Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased?' + +and Lear, iii. 4. 12:-- + + 'The tempest in my mind + Doth from my senses take all feeling else + Save what beats there.' + +Stanza XXX. line 515. With 'midnight draught,' cp. Macbeth's +'drink,' ii. 1. 31, and the 'posset,' ii. 2. 6. See notes to these +passages in Clarendon Press Macbeth. + +Stanza XXXI. line 534. 'In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile +the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was +common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, +abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity +of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the +audience.'--Note to 'The Abbot,' new edition. + +line 538. Stirrup-cup, or stirrup-glass, is a parting-glass of +liquor given to a guest when on horseback and ready to go. + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO SECOND. + +The Rev. John Marriott, A. M., to whom this introductory poem is +dedicated, was tutor to George Henry, Lord Scott, son of Charles, +Earl of Dalkeith, afterwards fourth Duke of Buccleuch and sixth of +Queensberry. Lord Scott died early, in 1808. Marriott, while still +at Oxford, proved himself a capable poet, and Scott shewed his +appreciation of him by including two of his ballads at the close of +the 'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.' The concluding lines of +this Introduction refer to Marriott's ballads. + +line 2. 'Ettrick Forest, now a range of mountainous sheep-walks, was +anciently reserved for the pleasure of the royal chase. Since it was +disparked, the wood has been, by degrees, almost totally destroyed, +although, wherever protected from the sheep, copses soon arise +without any planting. When the King hunted there, he often summoned +the array of the country to meet and assist his sport. Thus, in +1528, James V "made proclamation to all lords, barons, gentlemen, +landward-men, and freeholders, that they should compear at +Edinburgh, with a month's victuals, to pass with the King where he +pleased, to danton the thieves of Tiviotdale, Annandale, Liddisdale, +and other parts of that country; and also warned all gentlemen that +had good dogs to bring them, that he might hunt in the said country +as he pleased: The whilk the Earl of Argyle, the Earl of Huntley, +the Earl of Athole, and so all the rest of the gentlemen of the +Highland, did, and brought their hounds with them in like manner, to +hunt with the King, as he pleased. + +'"The second day of June the King past out of Edinburgh to the +hunting, with many of the nobles and gentlemen of Scotland with him, +to the number of twelve thousand men; and then past to Meggitland, +and hounded and hawked all the country and bounds; that is to say, +Crammat, Pappert-law, St. Mary-laws, Carlavirick, Chapel, +Ewindoores, and Langhope. I heard say, he slew, in these bounds, +eighteen score of harts." -PITSCOTTIE'S History of Scotland, folio +edition, p. 143. + +'These huntings had, of course, a military character, and attendance +upon them was part of the duty of a vassal. The act for abolishing +ward or military tenures in Scotland, enumerates the services of +hunting, hosting, watching and warding, as those which were in +future to be illegal.'--SCOTT. + +lines 5-11. Cp. Wordsworth's 'Thorn':-- + + 'There is a Thorn--it looks so old, + In truth, you'd find it hard to say + How it could ever have been young, + It looks so old and grey.' + +There is a special suggestion of antiquity in the wrinkled, lichen- +covered thorn of a wintry landscape, and thus it is a fitting object +to stir and sustain the poet's tendency to note 'chance and change' +and to lament the loss of the days that are no more. The exceeding +appropriateness of this in a narrative poem dealing with departed +habits and customs must be quite apparent. The thorn grows to a very +great age, and many an unpretentious Scottish homestead receives a +pathetic grace and dignity from the presence of its ancestral thorn- +tree. + +line 15. The rowan is the mountain ash. One of the most tender and +haunting of Scottish songs is Lady Nairne's 'Oh, Rowan tree!'-- + + 'How fair wert thou in summer time, wi' a' thy clusters white, + How rich and gay thy autumn dress, wi' berries red and +bright.' + +line 27. There are some notable allusions in the poets to the +moonlight baying of dogs and wolves. Cp. Julius Caesar, iv. 3. 27:-- + + 'I had rather be a dog and bay the moon.' + +See also Shield's great English song, 'The Wolf':-- + + 'While the wolf, in nightly prowl, + Bays the moon with hideous howl!' + +One of the best lines in English verse on the wolf--both skilfully +onomatopoeic and suggestively picturesque--is Campbell's, line 66 of +'Pleasures of Hope':-- + + 'The wolf's long howl from Oonalaska's shore.' + +line 30. Cp. the movement of this line with line 3 in 'Sang of the +Outlaw Murray':-- + + 'There's hart and hynd, and dae and rae.' + +line 31. 'Grene wode' is a phrase of the 'Robyn Hode Ballads.' Cp.:- +- + + 'She set her on a gode palfray, + To GRENE WODE anon rode she.' + +line 32. The ruins of Newark Castle are above the confluence of the +Ettrick and the Yarrow, on the latter river, and a few miles from +Selkirk. Close by is Bowhill, mentioned below, 73. See Prof. Minto's +'Lay of the Last Minstrel' (Clarendon Press), pp. 122-3. In the days +of the 'last minstrel' it was appropriate to describe this 'riven' +relic as 'Newark's stately tower.' + +line 33. James II built Newark as a fortress. + +line 41. The gazehound or greyhound hunts by sight, not scent. The +Encyclopedic Dictionary quotes Tickell 'On Hunting':-- + + 'See'st thou the GAZEHOUND! how with glance severe + From the close herd he marks the destined deer.' + +line 42. 'Bratchet, slowhound.'--SCOTT. The older spelling is +brachet (from BRACH or BRACHE), as:-- + + 'BRACHETES bayed that best, as bidden the maystarez.' + Sir Gaw. and the Green Knyght, +1603. + +In contrast with the gazehound the brachet hunts by scent. + +line 44. Cp. Julius Caesar, iii. I. 273, 'Let slip the dogs of war.' + +line 48. Harquebuss, arquebus, or hagbut, a heavy musket. Cp. below, +V. 54. + +line 49. Cp. Dryden's 'Alexander's Feast,' 'The vocal hills reply.' + +line 54. Yarrow stream is the ideal scene of Border romance. See the +Border Minstrelsy, and cp. the works of Hamilton of Bangour, John +Leyden, Wordsworth's Yarrow poems, the poems of the Ettrick +Shepherd, Prof. Veitch, and Principal Shairp. John Logan's 'Braes of +Yarrow' also deserves special mention, and many singers of Scottish +song know Scott Riddell's 'Dowie Dens o' Yarrow.' + +line 61. Holt, an Anglo-Saxon word for wood or grove, has been a +favourite with poet's since Chaucer's employment of it (Prol. 6):-- + + 'Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breethe + Enspired hath in every HOLTE and heethe + The tendre croppes.' + +See Dr. Morris's Glossary to Chaucer's Prologue, &c. (Clarendon +Press). + +line 68. Cp. Wordsworth's two Matthew poems, 'The Two April +Mornings' and 'The Fountain'; also Matthew Arnold's 'Thyrsis'-- + + 'Too rare, too rare grow now my visits here! + But once I knew each field, each flower, each stick; + And with the country-folk acquaintance made + By barn in threshing-time, by new-built rick, + Here, too, our shepherd-pipes we first assay'd.' + +line 82. Janet in the ballad of 'The Young Tamlane' in the Border +Minstrelsy. The dissertation Scott prefixed to this ballad is most +interesting and valuable. + +line 84. See above, note on Rev. J. Marriott. + +line 85. Scott was sheriff-substitute of Selkirkshire. As the law +requires residence within the limits of the sheriffdom, Scott dwelt +at Ashestiel at least four months of every year. Prof. Veitch, in +his descriptive poem 'The Tweed,' writes warmly on Ashestiel, as +Scott's residence in his happiest time:-- + + 'Sweet Ashestiel! that peers 'mid woody braes, + And lists the ripple of Glenkinnon's rill-- + Fair girdled by Tweed's ampler gleaming wave-- + His well loved home of early happy days, + Ere noon of Fame, and ere dark Ruin's eve, + When life lay unrevealed, with hopeful thrill + Of all that might be in the reach of powers + Whose very flow was a continued joy-- + Strong-rushing as the dawn, and fresh and fair + In outcome as that morning of the world, + Which gilded all his kindled fancy's dream!' + +line 88. Harriet, Countess of Dalkeith, afterwards Duchess of +Buccleuch. A suggestion of hers led to the composition of the 'Lay +of the Last Minstrel.' See Prof. Minto's Introduction to Clarendon +Press edition of the poem, p. 8. + +lines 90-93. 'These lines were not in the original MS.'--LOCKHART. + +line 106. 'The late Alexander Pringle, Esq., of Whytbank--whose +beautiful seat of the Yair stands on the Tweed, about two miles +below Ashestiel.'--LOCKHART. + +line 108. 'The sons of Mr. Pringle of Whytbank.'--LOCKHART. + +line 113. Cp. VI. 611, below. + +line 115. 'There is, on a high mountainous ridge above the farm of +Ashestiel, a fosse called Wallace's Trench.'--SCOTT. + +line 124. Cp. Gray's 'Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,' +especially lines 6l-2:-- + + 'These shall the fury Passions tear, + The vultures of the mind.' + +lines 126-33. Cp. Wordsworth variously, particularly in the Matthew +poems, the Ode on Intimations of Immortality, and Tintern Abbey, +especially in its last twenty-five lines:-- + + 'Therefore let the moon + Shine on thee in thy solitary walk,' &c. + +line 143. Cp. I Kings xix. 12. + +lines 147-73. 'This beautiful sheet of water forms the reservoir +from which the Yarrow takes its source. It is connected with a +smaller lake, called the Loch of the Lowes, and surrounded by +mountains. In the winter, it is still frequented by flights of wild +swans; hence my friend Mr. Wordsworth's lines:-- + + "The swan on sweet St. Mary's lake + Floats double, swan and shadow." + +Near the lower extremity of the lake are the ruins of Dryhope tower, +the birth-place of Mary Scott, daughter of Philip Scott of Dryhope, +and famous by the traditional name of the Flower of Yarrow. She was +married to Walter Scott of Harden, no less renowned for his +depredations than his bride for her beauty. Her romantic appellation +was, in latter days, with equal justice, conferred on Miss Mary +Lilias Scott, the last of the elder branch of the Harden family. The +author well remembers the talent and spirit of the latter Flower of +Yarrow, though age had then injured the charms which procured her +the name. The words usually sung to the air of "Tweedside," +beginning "What beauties does Flora disclose," were composed in her +honour.'--SCOTT. + +Quoting from memory, Scott gives 'sweet' for STILL in Wordsworth's +lines. Mr. Aubrey de Vere, in 'Essays Chiefly on Poetry,' ii. 277, +reports an interview with Wordsworth, in which the poet, referring +to St. Mary's Lake, says: 'The scene when I saw it, with its still +and dim lake, under the dusky hills, was one of utter loneliness; +there was one swan, and one only, stemming the water, and the +pathetic loneliness of the region gave importance to the one +companion of that swan--its own white image in the water.' For a +criticism, deeply sympathetic and appreciative, of Scott's +description of St. Mary's Loch in calm, see Prof. Veitch's 'Feeling +for Nature in Scottish Poetry,' ii. 196. The scene remains very much +what it was in Scott's time, 'notwithstanding that the hand of the +Philistine,' says Prof. Veitch, 'has set along the north shore of +St. Mary's, as far as his power extended, a strip of planting.' + +line 177. 'The chapel of St. Mary of the Lowes {de lacubus} was +situated on the eastern side of the lake, to which it gives name. It +was injured by the clan of Scott, in a feud with the Cranstouns; but +continued to be a place of worship during the seventeenth century. +The vestiges of the building can now scarcely be traced; but the +burial-ground is still used as a cemetery. A funeral, in a spot so +very retired, has an uncommonly striking effect. The vestiges of the +chaplain's house are yet visible. Being in a high situation, it +commanded a full view of the lake, with the opposite mountain of +Bourhope, belonging, with the lake itself, to Lord Napier. On the +left hand is the tower of Dryhope, mentioned in a preceding note.'-- +SCOTT. + +line 187. See 'Il Penseroso,' line 167. + +line 197. Cp. Thomson's 'Winter,' line 66:-- + + 'Along the woods, along the moorish fens, + Sighs the sad genius of the coming storm; + And up among the loose disjointed cliffs, + And fractured mountains wild, the brawling brook + And cave, presageful, send a hollow moan, + Resounding long in listening fancy's ear.' + +line 204. 'At one corner of the burial-ground of the demolished +chapel, but without its precincts, is a small mound, called Binrams +Corse, where tradition deposits the remains of a necromantic priest, +the former tenant of the chaplainry. His story much resembles that +of Ambrosio in "The Monk," and has been made the theme of a ballad +by my friend Mr. James Hogg, more poetically designed the Ettrick +Shepherd. To his volume, entitled "The Mountain Bard," which +contains this, and many other legendary stories and ballads of great +merit, I refer the curious reader.'--SCOTT. + +line 239. 'Loch-skene is a mountain lake, of considerable size, at +the head of the Moffat-water. The character of the scenery is +uncommonly savage; and the earn, or Scottish eagle, has, for many +ages, built its nest yearly upon an islet in the lake. Loch-skene +discharges itself into a brook, which, after a short and precipitate +course, falls from a cataract of immense height and gloomy grandeur, +called, from its appearance, the "Grey Mare's Tail." The "Giant's +Grave," afterwards mentioned, is a sort of trench, which bears that +name, a little way from the foot of the cataract. It has the +appearance of a battery designed to command the pass.'--SCOTT. + +Cp. 'Loch Skene,' a descriptive and meditative poem by Thomas Tod +Stoddart, well known as poet and angler on the Borders during the +third quarter of the nineteenth century:-- + + 'Like a pillar of Parian stone, + That in some old temple shone, + Or a slender shaft of living star, + Gleams that foam-fall from afar; + But the column is melted down below + Into a gulf of seething snow, + And the stream steals away from its whirl of hoar, + As bright and as lovely as before.' + + +CANTO SECOND. + +lines 1-6. The earlier editions have a period at the end of line 5, +and neither Scott himself nor Lockhart changed that punctuation. +But, undoubtedly, the first sentence ends with line 11, 'roll'd' in +the second line being a part, and not a finite verb. Mr. Rolfe is +the first to punctuate the passage thus. + +line 9. 'The Abbey of Whitby, in the Archdeaconry of Cleaveland, on +the coast of Yorkshire, was founded A. D. 657, in consequence of a +vow of Oswy, King of Northumberland. It contained both monks and +nuns of the Benedictine order; but, contrary to what was usual in +such establishments, the abbess was superior to the abbot. The +monastery was afterwards mined by the Danes, and rebuilded by +William Percy, in the reign of the Conqueror. There were no nuns +there in Henry the Eighth's time, nor long before it. The ruins of +Whitby Abbey are very magnificent.'--SCOTT. + +line 10. 'Lindisfarne, an isle on the coast of Northumberland, was +called Holy Island, from the sanctity of its ancient monastery, and +from its having been the episcopal seat of the see of Durham during +the early ages of British Christianity. A succession of holy men +held that office: but their merits were swallowed up in the +superior fame of St. Cuthbert, who was sixth bishop of Durham, and +who bestowed the name of his "patrimony" upon the extensive property +of the see. The ruins of the monastery upon Holy Island betoken +great antiquity. The arches are, in general, strictly Saxon, and the +pillars which support them, short, strong, and massy. In some +places, however, there are pointed windows, which indicate that the +building has been repaired at a period long subsequent to the +original foundation. The exterior ornaments of the building, being +of a light sandy stone, have been wasted, as described in the text. +Lindisfarne is not properly an island, but rather, as the Venerable +Bede has termed it, a semi-isle; for, although surrounded by the sea +at full tide, the ebb leaves the sands dry between it and the +opposite coast of Northumberland, from which it is about three miles +distant.'--SCOTT. + +The monastery, of which the present ruins remain, was built, between +1093 and 1120, by Benedictine monks under the direction of William +Carileph, Bishop of Durham. There were sixteen bishops in Holy +Island between St. Aidan (635 A. D.) and Eardulph (875 A. D.). The +Christians were dispersed after the violent inroad of the Danes in +868, and for two centuries Lindisfarne suffered apparent relapse. +Lindisfarne (Gael. farne, a retreat) signifies 'a place of retreat +by the brook Lindis.' The name Holy Island was given by Carileph's +monks, to commemorate, they said, 'the sacred blood which had been +shed by the Danes.' See Raine's 'History of North Durham,' F. R. +Wilson's 'Churches of Lindisfarne,' and Mr. Keeling's 'Lindisfarne, +or Holy Island: its History and Associations.' + +line 17. Cp. Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner':-- + + 'The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, + The farrow followed free.' + +line 20. For Saint Hilda, see below, note on line 244. + +Stanza II. line 33. sea-dog, the seal. + +line 36. still. Cp. above, I. 430. + +line 44. A Novice is one under probation for a term extending to at +least a year, and it may extend to two or three years, after which +vows are either taken or declined. + +Stanza IV. line 70. Benedictine school. St. Benedict founded his +order--sometimes, because of their dark garb, called Black Friars-- +in the beginning of the sixth century. Benedict of Aniana, in the +eighth century, reformed the discipline of the order. + +line 74. Cp. Chaucer's Prioress in the Prologue:-- + + 'And sikerly sche was of gret disport, + And ful plesaunt, and amyable of port.' + +Stanza V. line 90. Cp. Spenser's Una, 'Faery Queene,' I. iv:-- + + 'A lovely Ladie rode him faire beside. + * * * + As one that inly mournd, so was she sad, + And heavie sat upon her palfrey slow.' + +Stanza VI. With this 'brown study,' cp. Wordsworth's 'Reverie of +Poor Susan.' + +Stanza. VII. line 114. Reference to the lion of 'Faery Queene,' I. +iii:-- + + 'Forsaken Truth long seekes her love, + And makes the Lyon mylde.' + +line 124. bowl and knife. Poisoning and stabbing. + +Stanza VIII. Monk-Wearmouth. A monastery, founded here in 674 A. D., +was destroyed by the Danes in the ninth century, and restored after +the Norman Conquest. For Tynemouth, see below, 371, Seaton-Delaval, +the seat of the Delavals, who by marriage came into possession of +Ford Castle. Widderington. It was a 'squyar off Northombarlonde, +Ric. Wytharynton,' that showed notable valour and persistent +endurance at Chevy Chase:-- + + 'For Wetharryngton my harte was wo, + That ever he slayne shulde be; + For when both his leggis wear hewyne in te, + He knyled and fought on hys kne.' + +Butler, fully appreciating this doughty champion, uses him in a +descriptive illustration, 'Hudibras,' I. iii. 95:-- + + 'As Widdrington, in doleful dumps, + Is said to fight upon his stumps.' + +Widderington Castle, with the exception of one tower, was destroyed +by fire. Warkworth Castle is about a mile from the mouth of the +Alne, and is the seat of the Duke of Northumberland. Bamborough, the +finest specimen of a feudal castle in the north of England, is said +to have been founded by King Ida about the middle of the sixth +century. Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, purchased the Bamborough +estates between 1709 and 1720, and left them for charitable +purposes. This charity maintains, inter alia, a national school in +the village of Bamborough, and an officer to fire a cannon from the +dangerous rocks every fifteen minutes in foggy weather, besides +providing for the education of thirty girls within the castle walls. + +Stanza IX. line 164. battled. See above, I. 4. + +Stanza X. line 173. Pointed or Gothic architecture came in towards +the end of the twelfth century. + +Stanza XII. line 215. Suppose we = Let us suppose. This is an +Elizabethanism. Cp. Macbeth, i. I. 10:-- + + 'Hover through the fog and filthy air,' + +where hover = hover we. + +Stanza XIII. line 234. Scott quotes from 'A True Account,' +circulated at Whitby, concerning the consequences of a boar-hunt on +Eskdale-side, belonging to the Abbot of Whitby. The boar, being hard +pressed, made for a hermitage and died just within the door. Coming +up, the three leaders--William de Bruce, Lord of Uglebarnby, Ralph +de Percy, Lord of Smeaton, and a freeholder named Allatson--in their +disappointment and wrath set upon the hermit, whom they fatally +wounded. When the abbot afterwards came to the dying hermit, and +told him his assailants would suffer extreme penalty for their +ruthless conduct, the hermit asked the gentlemen to be sent for, and +said he would pardon them on certain conditions. 'The gentlemen +being present bade him save their lives.--Then said the hermit, "You +and yours shall hold your lands of the Abbot of Whitby, and his +successors, in this manner: That, upon Ascension-day, you, or some +of you, shall come to the wood of the Stray-heads, which is in +Eskdale-side, the same day at sun-rising, and there shall the +abbot's officer blow his horn, to the intent that you may know where +to find him; and he shall deliver unto you, William de Bruce, ten +stakes, eleven strout stowers, and eleven yethers, to be cut by you, +or some of you, with a knife of one penny price: and you, Ralph de +Percy, shall take twenty-one of each sort, to be cut in the same +manner; and you, Allatson, shall take nine of each sort, to be cut +as aforesaid, and to be taken on your backs and carried to the town +of Whitby, and to be there before nine of the clock the same day +before mentioned. At the same hour of nine of the clock, if it be +full sea, your labour and service shall cease; and if low water, +each of you shall set your stakes to the brim, each stake one yard +from the other, and so yether them on each side with your yethers; +and so stake on each side with your strout stowers, that they may +stand three tides, without removing by the force thereof. Each of +you shall do, make, and execute the said service, at that very hour, +every year, except it be fall sea at that hour; but when it shall so +fall out, this service shall cease. You shall faithfully do this, in +remembrance that you did most cruelly slay me; and that you may the +better call to God for mercy, repent unfeignedly of your sins, and +do good works. The officer of Eskdale-side shall blow, Out on you! +Out on you! Out on you! for this heinous crime. If you, or your +successors, shall refuse this service, so long as it shall not be +full sea at the aforesaid hour, you or yours shall forfeit your +lands to the Abbot of Whitby, or his successors. This I entreat, and +earnestly beg, that you may have lives and goods preserved for this +service: and I request of you to promise, by your parts in Heaven, +that it shall be done by you and your successors, as is aforesaid +requested; and I will confirm it by the faith of an honest man."-- +Then the hermit said, "My soul longeth for the Lord: and I do as +freely forgive these men my death, as Christ forgave the thieves on +the cross." And, in the presence of the abbot and the rest, he said +moreover these words: "In manus tuos, Domine, commendo spiritum +meum, a vinculis enim mortis redemisti me, Domine veritatis, Amen."- +-So he yielded up the ghost the eighth day of December, anno Domini +1159, whose soul God have mercy upon. Amen. + +'"This service," it is added, "still continues to be performed with +the prescribed ceremonies, though not by the proprietors in person. +Part of the lands charged therewith are now held by a gentleman of +the name of Herbert."'--SCOTT. + +line 244. Edelfled 'was the daughter of King Oswy, who, in gratitude +to Heaven for the great victory which he won in 655, against Penda, +the pagan King of Mercia, dedicated Edelfleda, then but a year old, +to the service of God, in the monastery of Whitby, of which St. +Hilda was then abbess. She afterwards adorned the place of her +education with great magnificence.'--SCOTT. + +line 251. 'These two miracles are much insisted on by all ancient +writers who have occasion to mention either Whitby or St. Hilda. The +relics of the snakes, which infested the precincts of the convent, +and were at the abbess's prayer not only beheaded but petrified, are +still found about the rocks, and are termed by Protestant +fossilists, Ammonitae. + +'The other miracle is thus mentioned by Camden: "It is also +ascribed to the power of her sanctity, that these wild geese, which, +in the winter, fly in great flocks to the lakes and rivers unfrozen +in the southern parts, to the great amazement of every one, fall +down suddenly upon the ground, when they are in their flight over +certain 'neighbouring fields hereabouts: a relation I should not +have made, if I had not received it from several credible men. But +those who are less inclined to heed superstition, attribute it to +some occult quality in the ground, and to somewhat of antipathy +between it and the geese, such as they say is betwixt wolves and +scyllaroots: for that such hidden tendencies and aversions, as we +call sympathies and antipathies, are implanted in many things by +provident Nature for the preservation of them, is a thing so +evident, that everybody grants it." Mr. Chariton, in his History of +Whitby, points out the true origin of the fable, from the number of +sea-gulls that, when flying from a storm, often alight near Whitby; +and from the woodcocks, and other birds of passage, who do the same +upon their arrival on shore, after a long flight.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XIV. line 257. 'St. Cuthbert was, in the choice of his +sepulchre, one of the most mutable and unreasonable saints in the +Calendar. He died A. D. 688, in a hermitage upon the Farne Islands, +having resigned the bishopric of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, about +two years before. {1} His body was brought to Lindisfarne, where it +remained until a descent of the Danes, about 793, when the monastery +was nearly destroyed. The monks fled to Scotland, with what they +deemed their chief treasure, the relics of St. Cuthbert. The Saint +was, however, a most capricious fellow-traveller; which was the more +intolerable, as, like Sinbad's Old Man of the Sea, he journeyed upon +the shoulders of his companions. They paraded him through Scotland +for several years, and came as far west as Whithorn, in Galloway, +whence they attempted to sail for Ireland, but were driven back by +tempests. He at length made a halt at Norham; from thence he went to +Melrose, where he remained stationary for a short time, and then +caused himself to be launched upon the Tweed in a stone coffin, +which landed him at Tilmouth, in Northumberland. This boat is finely +shaped, ten feet long, three feet and a half in diameter, and only +four inches thick; so that, with very little assistance, it might +certainly have swam: it still lies, or at least did so a few years +ago, in two pieces, beside the ruined chapel at Tilmouth. From +Tilmouth, Cuthbert wandered into Yorkshire; and at length made a +long stay at Chester-le-street, to which the bishop's see was +transferred. At length, the Danes continuing to infest the country, +the monks removed to Rippon for a season; and it was in return from +thence to Chester-le-street, that, passing through a forest called +Dunholme, the Saint and his carriage became immovable at a place +named Wardlaw, or Wardilaw. Here the Saint chose his place of +residence; and all who have seen Durham must admit, that, if +difficult in his choice, he evinced taste in at last fixing it. It +is said, that the Northumbrian Catholics still keep secret the +precise spot of the Saint's sepulture, which is only intrusted to +three persons at a time. When one dies the survivors associate to +them, in his room, a person judged fit to be the depositary of so +valuable a secret.'--SCOTT. + +'The resting-place of the remains of this Saint is not now matter of +uncertainty. So recently as 17th May, 1827,--1139 years after his +death--their discovery and disinterment were effected. Under a blue +stone, in the middle of the shrine of St. Cuthbert, at the eastern +extremity of the choir of Durham Cathedral, there was then found a +walled grave, containing the coffins of the Saint. The first, or +outer one, was ascertained to be that of 1541, the second of 1041; +the third, or inner one, answering in every particular to the +description of that of 698, was found to contain, not indeed, as had +been averred then, and even until 1539, the incorruptible body, but +the entire skeleton of the Saint; the bottom of the grave being +perfectly dry, free from offensive smell, and without the slightest +symptom that a human body had ever undergone decomposition within +its walls. The skeleton was found swathed in five silk robes of +emblematical embroidery, the ornamental parts laid with gold leaf, +and these again covered with a robe of linen. Beside the skeleton +were also deposited several gold and silver insignia, and other +relics of the Saint. + +'(The Roman Catholics now allow that the coffin was that of St. +Cuthbert.) + +'The bones of the Saint were again restored to the grave in a new +coffin, amid the fragments of the former ones. Those portions of the +inner coffin which could be preserved, including one of its rings, +with the silver altar, golden cross, stole, comb, two maniples, +bracelets, girdle, gold wire of the skeleton, and fragments of the +five silk robes, and seme of the rings of the outer coffin made in +1541, were deposited in the library of the Dean and Chapter, where +they are now preserved.'--LOCKHART. + +For ample details regarding St. Cuthbert, see 'St. Cuthbert,' by +James Raine, M. A. (4to, Durham, 1828). + +line 263. For 'fair Melrose' see opening of Canto II, 'Lay of the +Last Minstrel,' and Prof. Minto's note in the Clarendon Press +edition. + +Stanza XV. line 292. 'Every one has heard, that when David I, with +his son Henry, invaded Northumberland in 1136, the English host +marched against them under the holy banner of St. Cuthbert; to the +efficacy of which was imputed the great victory which they obtained +in the bloody battle of Northallerton, or Cuton-moor. The conquerors +were at least as much indebted to the jealousy and intractability of +the different tribes who composed David's army; among whom, as +mentioned in the text, were the Galwegians, the Britons of Strath- +Clyde, the men of Teviotdale and Lothian, with many Norman and +German warriors, who asserted the cause of the Empress Maud. See +Chalmers's "Caledonia," vol. i. p. 622; a most laborious, curious, +and interesting publication, from which considerable defects of +style and manner ought not to turn aside the Scottish antiquary. + +'Cuthbert, we have seen, had no great reason, to spare the Danes, +when opportunity offered. Accordingly, I find in Simeon of Durham, +that the Saint appeared in a vision to Alfred, when lurking in the +marches of Glastonbury, and promised him assistance and victory over +his heathen enemies; a consolation which, as was reasonable, Alfred, +after the battle of Ashendown, rewarded, by a royal offering at the +shrine of the Saint. As to William the Conqueror, the terror spread +before his army, when he marched to punish the revolt of the +Northumbrians, in 1096, had forced the monks to fly once more to +Holy Island with the body of the Saint. It was, however, replaced +before William left the north; and, to balance accounts, the +Conqueror having intimated an indiscreet curiosity to view the +Saint's body, he was, while in the act of commanding the shrine to +be opened, seized with heat and sickness, accompanied with such a +panic terror, that, notwithstanding there was a sumptuous dinner +prepared for him, he fled without eating a morsel (which the monkish +historian seems to have thought no small part both of the miracle +and the penance,) and never drew his bridle till he got to the river +Tees.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XVI. line 300. 'Although we do not learn that Cuthbert was, +during his life, such an artificer as Dunstan, his brother in +sanctity, yet, since his death, he has acquired the reputation of +forging those Entrochi which are found among the rocks of Holy +Island, and pass there by the name of St. Cuthbert's Beads. While at +this task, he is supposed to sit during the night upon a certain +rock, and use another as his anvil. This story was perhaps credited +in former days; at least the Saint's legend contains some not more +probable.'--SCOTT. + +See in Mr. Aubrey de Vere's 'Legends of the Saxon Saints' a fine +poem entitled 'How Saint Cuthbert kept his Pentecost at Carlisle.' +The 'beads' are there referred to thus:-- + + 'And many an age, when slept that Saint in death, + Passing his isle by night the sailor heard + Saint Cuthbert's hammer clinking on the rock.' + +The recognised name of these shells is still 'St. Cuthbert's beads." + +Stanza XVII. line 316. 'Ceolwolf, or Colwulf, King of +Northumberland, flourished in the eighth century. He was a man of +some learning; for the venerable Bede dedicates to him his +"Ecclesiastical History." He abdicated the throne about 738, and +retired to Holy Island, where he died in the odour of sanctity. +Saint as Colwulf was, however, I fear the foundation of the penance- +vault does not correspond with his character; for it is recorded +among his memorabilia, that, finding the air of the island raw and +cold, he indulged the monks, whose rule had hitherto confined them +to milk or water, with the comfortable privilege of using wine or +ale. If any rigid antiquary insists on this objection, he is welcome +to suppose the penance-vault was intended by the founder for the +more genial purposes of a cellar. + +'These penitential vaults were the Geissel-gewolbe of German +convents. In the earlier and more rigid times of monastic +discipline, they were sometimes used as a cemetery for the lay +benefactor of the convent, whose unsanctified corpses were then +seldom permitted to pollute the choir. They also served as places of +meeting for the chapter, when measures of uncommon severity were to +be adopted. But their most frequent use, as implied by the name, +was as places for performing penances, or undergoing punishment.'-- +SCOTT. + +Stanza XVIII. line 350. 'Antique chandelier.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XIX. line 371. 'That there was an ancient priory at Tynemouth +is certain. Its ruins are situated on a high rocky point; and, +doubtless, many a vow was made to the shrine by the distressed +mariners, who drove towards the iron-bound coast of Northumberland +in stormy weather. It was anciently a nunnery; for Virca, abbess of +Tynemouth, presented St. Cuthbert (yet alive) with a rare winding- +sheet, in emulation of a holy lady called Tuda, who had sent him a +coffin: but, as in the case of Whitby, and of Holy Island, the +introduction of nuns at Tynemouth, in the reign of Henry VIII, is an +anachronism. The nunnery of Holy Island is altogether fictitious. +Indeed, St. Cuthbert was unlikely to permit such an establishment; +for, notwithstanding his accepting the mortuary gifts above +mentioned, and his carrying on a visiting acquaintance with the +abbess of Coldingham, he certainly hated the whole female sex; and, +in revenge of a slippery trick played to him by an Irish princess, +he, after death, inflicted severe penances on such as presumed to +approach within a certain distance of his shrine.'--SCOTT. + +line 376. ruth (A. S. hreow, pity) in Early and Middle English was +used both for 'disaster' and 'pity.' These two shades of meaning are +illustrated by Spenser in F. Q., Bk. ii. I. Introd. to Canto where +Falsehood beguiles the Red Cross Knight, and 'workes him woefull +ruth,' and in F. Q. I. v. 9: + + 'Great RUTH in all the gazers hearts did grow.' + +Milton (Lycidas, 163) favours the poetical employment of the word, +which modern poets continue to use. Cp. Wordsworth, 'Ode for a +General Thanksgiving':-- + + 'Assaulting without RUTH + The citadels of truth;' + +and Tennyson's 'Geraint and Enid,' II. 102:-- + + 'RUTH began to work + Against his anger in him, while he watch'd + The being he lov'd best in all the world.' + +Stanza XX. line 385. doublet, a close-fitting jacket, introduced +from France in the fourteenth century, and fashionable in all ranks +till the time of Charles II. Cp. As You Like It, ii. 4. 6:--'Doublet +and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat.' + +line 398. Fontevraud, on the Loire, 8 miles from Saumur, had one of +the richest abbeys in France. It was a retreat for penitents of both +sexes, and presided over by an abbess. 'The old monastic buildings +and courtyards, surrounded by walls, and covering from 40 to 50 +acres, now form one of the larger prisons of France, in which about +2000 men and boys are confined, and kept at industrial occupations.' +See Chambers's 'Encyclopaedia,' s. v., and Chambers's Edinburgh +Journal, 2d. S, I. 104. + +Stanza XXI. line 408. but = except that. Cp. Tempest, i. 2. 414:-- + + 'And, but he's something stain'd + With grief that's beauty's canker, thou might'st call him + A goodly person.' + +line 414. Byron, writing to Murray on 3 Feb., 1816, expresses his +belief that he has unwittingly imitated this passage in 'Parisina.' +'I had,' he says, 'completed the story on the passage from Gibbon, +which indeed leads to a like scene naturally, without a thought of +the kind; but it comes upon me not very comfortably.' Byron is quite +right in his assertion that, if he had taken this striking +description of Constance as a model for his Parisina, he would have +been attempting 'to imitate that which is inimitable.' See +'Parisina,' st. xiv:-- + + 'She stood, I said, all pale and still, + The living cause of Hugo's ill.' + +Stanza XXII. line 415. a sordid soul, &c. For such a character in +the drama see Lightborn in Marlowe's Edward II, and those trusty +agents in Richard III, whose avowed hardness of heart drew from +Gloucester the appreciative remark:-- + + 'Your eyes drop millstones, when fools' eyes drop tears.' + Richard III, i. 3. 353. + +Stanza XXIII. line 438. grisly, grim, horrible; still an effective +poetic word. It is, e.g., very expressive in Tennyson's 'Princess,' +sect. vi, where Ida sees + + 'The haggard father's face and reverend beard + Of GRISLY twine, all dabbled with the blood,' &c. + +See below, III. 382. + +Stanza XXV. line 468. 'It is well known, that the religious, who +broke their vows of chastity, were subjected to the same penalty as +the Roman vestals in a similar case. A small niche, sufficient to +enclose their bodies, was made in the massive wall of the convent; a +slender pittance of food and water was deposited in it, and the +awful words, VADE IN PACE, were the signal for immuring the +criminal. It is not likely that, in latter times, this punishment +was often resorted to; but among the ruins of the abbey of +Coldingham, were some years ago discovered the remains of a female +skeleton, which, from the shape of the niche, and position of the +figure, seemed to be that of an immured nun.'--SCOTT. + +Lockhart adds:--'The Edinburgh Reviewer, on st. xxxii, POST, +suggests that the proper reading of the sentence is VADE IN PACEM-- +not PART IN PEACE, but GO INTO PEACE, or eternal rest, a pretty +intelligible mittimus to another world.' + +Stanza XXVII. line 506. my = 'of me,' retains the old genitive force +as in Elizabethan English. Cp. Julius Caesar, i. I. 55:-- + + 'In HIS way + That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood.' + +line 516. The very old fancy of a forsaken lover's revenge has been +powerfully utilized in D. G. Rossetti's fascinating ballad, 'Sister +Helen':-- + + 'Pale, pale her cheeks, that in pride did glow, + Sister Helen, + 'Neath the bridal-wreath three days ago.' + + 'One morn for pride and three days for woe, + Little brother!' + +Stanza XXVIII. line 520. plight, woven, united, as in Spenser F. Q., +II. vi. 7:-- + + 'Fresh flowerets dight + About her necke, or rings of rushes PLIGHT.' + +lines 524-40. The reference in these lines is to what was known as +the appeal to the judgment of God. On this subject, Scott at the +close of the second head in his 'Essay on Chivalry,' says, 'In the +appeal to this awful criterion, the combatants, whether personally +concerned, or appearing as champions, were understood, in martial +law, to take on themselves the full risk of all consequences. And, +as the defendant, or his champion, in case of being overcome, was +subjected to the punishment proper to the crime of which he was +accused, so the appellant, if vanquished, was, whether a principal +or substitute, condemned to the same doom to which his success would +have exposed the accused. Whichever combatant was vanquished he was +liable to the penalty of degradation; and, if he survived the +combat, the disgrace to which he was subjected was worse than death. +His spurs were cut off close to his heels, with a cook's cleaver; +his arms were baffled and reversed by the common hangman; his belt +was cut to pieces, and his sword broken. Even his horse shared his +disgrace, the animal's tail being cut off, close by the rump, and +thrown on a dunghill. The death-bell tolled, and the funeral service +was said for a knight thus degraded as for one dead to knightly +honour. And if he fell in the appeal to the judgment of God, the +same dishonour was done to his senseless corpse. If alive, he was +only rescued from death to be confined in the cloister. Such at +least were the strict roles of Chivalry, though the courtesy of the +victor, or the clemency of the prince, might remit them in +favourable cases.' + +For illustration of forms observed at such contests, see Richard II, +i. 3. + +line 524. Each knight declared on oath that he 'had his quarrel +just.' The fall of an unworthy knight is referred to below, VI. 961. + +Stanza XXIX. line 545. This illustrates Henry's impulsive and +imperious character, and is not, necessarily, a premonition of his +final attitude towards Roman Catholicism. + +line 555. dastard (Icel. doestr = exhausted, breathless; O. Dut. +dasaert = a fool) is very appropriately used here, after the +description above, St. xxii, to designate the poltroon that quails +only before death. Cp. Pope's Iliad, II. 427:-- + + 'And die the dastard first, who dreads to die.' + +Stanza XXX. line 568. Cp. Julius Caesar, ii. 2. 35:-- + + 'It seems to me most strange that men should fear; + Seeing that death, a necessary end, + Will come when it will come.' + +Stanza XXXI. line 573. the fiery Dane. See note on line 10 above. +Passing northwards after destroying York and Tynemouth, the Danes in +875 burned the monastery on Lindisfarne. The bishop and monks, with +their relics and the body of St. Cuthbert, fled over the Kylve +hills. See Raine, &c. + +line 576. the crosier bends. Crosier (O. Fr. croiser; Fr. croix = +cross) is used both for the staff of an archbishop with a cross on +the top, and for the staff of a bishop or an abbot, terminating in a +carved or ornamented curve or crook. The word is used here +metaphorically for Papal power, as Bacon uses it, speaking of Anselm +and Becket, 'who with their CROSIERS did almost try it with the +king's sword.' Constance's prophecy refers to Henry VIII's +victorious collision with the Pope. + +Stanza XXXII. lines 585-91. It is impossible not to connect this +striking picture with that of Virgil's Sibyl (Aeneid, VI. 45):-- + + 'Ventum erat ad limen, cum virgo, 'poscere fata + Tempus,' ait; 'deus, ecce, deus.' Cui talia fanti + Ante fores subito non voltus, non color unus, + Non comptae mansere comae; sed pectus anhelum, + Et rabie fera corda tument; maiorque videri + Nec mortale sonans, adflata est numine quando + Iam propiore dei.' + +line 588. Stared, stood up stiffly. Cp. Julius Caesar, iv. 3. 280, +and Tempest, i. 2. 213, 'with hair UPSTARING.' + +line 600. See above, line 468, and note. + +Stanza XXXIII. line 616. for terror's sake = because of terror. Cp. +'For fashion's sake,' As You Like It, iii. 2. 55. + +line 620. The custom of ringing the PASSING bell grew out of the +belief that a church bell, rung when the soul was passing from the +body, terrified the devils that were waiting to attack it at the +moment of its escape. 'The tolling of the passing bell was retained +at the Reformation; and the people were instructed that its use was +to admonish the living, and excite them to pray for the dying. But +by the beginning of the l8th century the passing bell in the proper +sense of the term had almost ceased to be heard. 'A mourning bell is +still rung during funeral services as a mark of respect. See s. v. +'Bell,' Chambers's Encyclopaedia. Cp. Byron's 'Parisina,' St. xv. + + 'The convent bells are ringing, + But mournfully and slow; + In the grey square turret swinging + With a deep sound to and fro.' + +In criticising 'Marmion,' in the Edinburgh Review, Lord Jeffrey says +that the sound of the knell rung for Constance 'is described with +great force and solemnity;' while a writer in the Scots Magazine of +1808 considers that 'the whole of this trial and doom presents a +high-wrought scene of horror, which, at the close, rises almost to +too great a pitch.' + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO THIRD. + +'William Erskine, Esq. advocate, sheriff-depute of the Orkneys, +became a Judge of the Court of Session by the title of Lord +Kinnedder, and died in Edinburgh in August, 1823. He had been from +early youth the most intimate of the Poet's friends, and his chief +confidant and adviser as to all literary matters. See a notice of +his life and character by the late Mr. Hay Donaldson, to which Sir +Walter Scott contributed several paragraphs.'--LOCKHART. + +There are frequent references to Erskine throughout Lockhart's Life +of Scott. The critics of the time were of his opinion that Scott as +a poet was not giving his powers their proper direction. Jeffrey +considered Marmion 'a misapplication in some degree of extraordinary +talents.' Fortunately, Scott decided for himself in the matter, and +the self-criticism of this Introduction is characterised not only by +good humour and poetic beauty but by discrimination and strong +common-sense. + +line 14. a morning dream. This may simply be a poetic way of saying +that his method is unsystematic, but Horace's account of the vision +he saw when he was once tempted to write Greek verses is +irresistibly suggested by the expression:-- + + 'Vetuit me tali voce Quirinus + Post mediam noctem visus, cum somnia vera: + "In silvam non ligna feras insanius, ac si + Magnas Graecorum malis implere catervas?' + Sat. I. x. 32. + +line 24. all too well. This use of 'all too' is a development of the +Elizabethan expression 'all-to' = ALTOGETHER, QUITE, as 'all to +topple,' Pericles, iii. 2. 17; 'all to ruffled,' Comus, 380. In this +usage the original force of TO as a verbal prefix is lost sight of. +Chaucer has 'The pot to breaketh' in Prologue to Chanon Yeomanes +Tale. See note in Clarendon Press Milton, i. 290. + +line 26. Desultory song may naturally command a very wide class of +those intelligent readers, for whom the Earl of Iddesleigh, in +'lectures and Essays,' puts forward a courageous plea in his +informing and genial address on the uses of Desultory Reading. + +line 28. The reading of the first edition is 'loftier,' which +conveys an estimate of his own achievements more characteristic of +Scott than the bare assertion of his ability to 'build the lofty +rhyme' which is implied in the line as it stands. Perhaps the +expression just quoted from 'Lycidas' may have led to the reading of +all subsequent editions. + +line 46. The Duke of Brunswick commanded the Prussian forces at +Jena, 14 Oct., 1806, and was mortally wounded. He was 72. For +'hearse,' cp. above, Introd. to I. 199. + +line 54. The reigning house of Prussia comes from the Electors of +Brandenburg. In 1415 Frederick VI. of Hohenzollern and Nuremberg +became Frederick the First, Elector of Brandenburg. The Duchy of +Prussia fell under the sway of the Elector John Sigismund (1608-19), +and from that time to the present there has been a very remarkable +development of government and power. See Carlyle's 'Frederick the +Great,' and Mr. Baring-Gould's 'Germany' in the series 'Stories of +the Nations.' + +lines 57-60. The Duke of Brunswick was defeated at Valmy in 1792, +and so failed to crush the dragon of the French Revolution in its +birth, as in all likelihood he would have done had he been +victorious on the occasion. + +line 64. Prussia, without an ally, took the field instead of acting +on the defensive. + +line 67. seem'd = beseemed, befitted; as in Spenser's May eclogue, +'Nought seemeth sike strife,' i.e. such strife is not befitting or +seemly. + +line 69. Various German princes lost their dominions after Napoleon +conquered Prussia. + +line 78. By defeating Varus, A. D. 9, Arminius saved Germany from +Roman conquest. See the first two books of the Annals of Tacitus, at +the close of which this tribute is paid to the hero: 'liberator +haud dubie Germaniae et qui non primordia populi Romani, sicut alii +reges ducesque, sed florentissimum imperium lacessierit, proeliis +ambiguus, bello non victus.' + +lines 46-80. This undoubtedly vigorous and well-sustained tribute is +not without its special purpose. The Princess Caroline was daughter +of the Duke of Brunswick, and Scott was one of those who believed in +her, in spite of that 'careless levity' which he did not fail to +note in her demeanour when presented at her Court at Blackheath in +1806. This passage on the Duke of Brunswick had been read by the +Princess before the appearance of 'Marmion.' Lockhart (Life of +Scott, ii. 117) says: 'He seems to have communicated fragments of +the poem very freely during the whole of its progress. As early as +the 22nd February, 1807, I find Mrs. Hayman acknowledging, in the +name of the Princess of Wales, the receipt of a copy of the +Introduction to Canto III, in which occurs the tribute to her Royal +Highness's heroic father, mortally wounded the year before at Jena-- +a tribute so grateful to her feelings that she herself shortly after +sent the poet an elegant silver vase as a memorial of her +thankfulness.' + +line 81. The Red-Cross hero is Sir Sidney Smith, the famous admiral, +who belonged to the Order of Knights Templars. The eight-pointed +Templar's cross which he wore throughout his career is said to have +belonged to Richard Coeur-de-Lion. In early life, with consent of +the Government, Smith distinguished himself with the Swedes in their +war with Russia. He was frequently entrusted with the duty of +alarming the French coast, and once was captured and imprisoned, in +the Temple at Paris, for two years. His escape was effected by a +daring stratagem on the part of the French Royalist party. He and +his sailors helped the Turks to retain St. Jean d'Acre against +Napoleon, till then the 'Invincible,' who retired baffled after a +vain siege of sixty days (May, 1799). Had Acre been won, said +Napoleon afterwards, 'I would have reached Constantinople and the +Indies--I would have changed the face of the world.' See Scott's +'Life of Napoleon,' chap. xiii. + +line 91. For metal'd see above, Introd. to I. 308. + +line 92. For warped = 'frozen,' cp. As You Like It, ii. 7. 187, +where, addressing the bitter sky, the singer says:-- + + 'Though thou the waters warp, + Thy sting is not so sharp, + As friends remember'd not.' + +line 94. The reference is to Sir Ralph Abercromby, who commanded the +expedition to Egypt, 1800-1, and fell at the battle of Alexandria. +Sir Sidney Smith was wounded in the same battle, and had to go home. + +lines 100-10. Scott pays compliment to his friend Joanna Baillie +(1764-1851), with chivalrous courtesy asserting that she is the +first worthy successor of Shakespeare. 'Count Basil' and 'De +Montfort' are the two most remarkable of her 'Plays of the +Passions,' of which she published three volumes. 'De Montfort' was +played in London, Kemble enacting the hero. Several of Miss +Baillie's Scottish songs are among standard national lyrics. + +line 100. Cp. opening of 'Lady of the Lake.' + +lines 115-28. Lockhart notes the resemblance between this passage +and Pope's 'Essay on Man,' II. 133-148. + +line 134. Cp. Goldsmith's 'Traveller,' 293:-- + + 'The slow canal, the yellow-blossom'd vale, + The willow-tufted bank, the gliding sail.' + +Batavia is the capital of the Dutch East Indies, with canals, +architecture, &c., after the home model. + +line 137. hind, from Early Eng. hyne, servant (A. S. hina) is quite +distinct from hind, a female stag. Gavin Douglas, translating Tyrii +coloni of Aen. I. 12, makes them 'hynis of Tyre.' Shakespeare (Merry +Wives, iii. 5. 94) uses the word as servant, 'A couple of Ford's +knaves, his HINDS, were called forth.' The modern usage implies a +farm-bailiff or simply a farm-servant. + +line 149. Lochaber is a large district in the south of +Invernesshire, having Ben Nevis and other Grampian heights within +its compass. It is a classic name in Scottish literature owing to +Allan Ramsay's plaintive lyric, 'Lochaber no more.' + +line 153. For early influences, see Lockhart's Life, vol. i. + +line 178. 'Smailholm Tower, in Berwickshire, the scene of the +author's infancy, is situated about two miles from Dryburgh Abbey.'- +-LOCKHART. + +line 180. The aged hind was 'Auld Sandy Ormiston,' the cow-herd on +Sandyknows, Scott's grandfather's farm. 'If the child saw him in the +morning,' says Lockhart, 'he could not be satisfied unless the old +man would set him astride on his shoulder, and take him to keep him +company as he lay watching his charge.' + +line 183. strength, stronghold. Cp. Par. Lost, vii. 141:-- + + 'This inaccessible high strength... + He trusted to have seiz'd.' + +line 194. slights, as pointed out by Mr. Rolfe, was 'sleights' in +the original, and, as lovers' stratagems are manifestly referred to, +this is the preferable reading. But both spellings occur in this +sense. + +line 201. The Highlanders displayed such valour at Killiecrankie +(1689), and Prestonpans (1745). + +line 207. 'See notes on the Eve of St. John, in the Border +Minstrelsy, vol. iv; and the author's Introduction to the +Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 101.'--LOCKHART. + +line 211. 'Robert Scott of Sandyknows, the grandfather of the +Poet.'--LOCKHART. + +line 216. doom, judgment or decision. 'Discording,' in the sense of +disagreeing, is still in common use in Scotland both as an adj. and +a participle. 'They discorded' indicates that two disputants +approached without quite reaching a serious quarrel. In a note to +the second edition of the poem Scott states that the couplet +beginning 'whose doom' is 'unconsciously borrowed from a passage in +Dryden's beautiful epistle to John Driden of Chesterton.' Dryden's +lines are:-- + + 'Just, good, and wise, contending neighbours come, + From your award to wait their final doom.' + +line 221. 'Mr. John Martin, minister of Mertoun, in which parish +Smailholm Tower is situated.'--LOCKHART. With the tribute to the +clergyman's worth, cp. Walton's eulogy on George Herbert, 'Thus he +lived, and thus he died, like a saint,' &c. + +line 225. For imp, cp. above Introd. to I. 37. A 'grandame's child' +is almost certainly spoiled. Shakespeare (King John, ii. i. 161) +utilizes the fact:-- + + 'It grandam will + Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig.' + + +CANTO THIRD. + +Stanza I. Mr. Guthrie Wright, advocate, prosaically objected to the +indirect route chosen by the poet for his troopers. Scott gave the +true poetic answer, that it pleased him to take them by the road +chosen. He is careful, however, to assign (11.6-8) an adequate +reason for his preference. + +line 16. wan, won, gained; still used in Scotland. Cp. Principal +Shairp's 'Bush Aboon Traquair':-- + + 'And then they WAN a rest, + The lownest an' the best, + I' Traquair kirkyard when a' was dune.' + +line 19. Lammermoor. 'See notes to the Bride of Lammermoor, Waverley +Novels, vols. xiii. and xiv.'--LOCKHART. + +line 22. 'The village of Gifford lies about four miles from +Haddington; close to it is Yester House, the seat of the Marquis of +Tweeddale, and a little farther up the stream, which descends from +the hills of Lammermoor, are the remains of the old castle of the +family.'--LOCKHART. + +Many hold that Gifford and not Gifford-gate, at the outskirts of +Haddington, was the birthplace of John Knox. + +Stanza II. line 31. An ivy-bush or garland was a tavern sign, and +the flagon is an appropriate accompaniment. Chaucer's Sompnour +(Prol. 666) suggested the tavern sign by his head-gear:-- + + 'A garland hadde he set upon his heed, + As gret as it were for an ALE-STAKE.' + +See note in Clarendon Press ed., and cp. Epilogue of As You Like It +(and note) in same series:--'If it be true that good wine needs no +bush,' &c. + +line 33. 'The accommodations of a Scottish hostelrie, or inn, in the +sixteenth century, may be collected from Dunbar's admirable tale of +"The Friars of Berwick." Simon Lawder, "the gay ostlier," seems to +have lived very comfortably; and his wife decorated her person with +a scarlet kirtle, and a belt of silk and silver, and rings upon her +fingers; and feasted her paramour with rabbits, capons, partridges, +and Bourdeaux wine. At least, if the Scottish inns were not good, it +was not from want of encouragement from the legislature; who, so +early as the reign of James I, not only enacted, that in all +boroughs and fairs there be hostellaries, having stables and +chambers, and provision for man and horse, but by another statute, +ordained that no man, travelling on horse or foot, should presume to +lodge anywhere except in these hostellaries; and that no person, +save innkeepers, should receive such travellers, under the penalty +of forty shillings, for exercising such hospitality. But, in spite +of these provident enactments, the Scottish hostels are but +indifferent, and strangers continue to find reception in the houses +of individuals.'--SCOTT. + +It is important to supplement this note by saying that the most +competent judges still doubt whether Dunbar wrote 'The Friars of +Berwick.' It is printed among his doubtful works. + +Stanza III. Such a kitchen as that described was common in Scotland +till recent times, and relics of a similar interior exist in remote +parts still. The wide chimney, projecting well into the floor, +formed a capacious tunnel to the roof, and numerous sitters could be +accommodated with comfort in front and around the fire. Smoke and +soot from the wood and peat fuel were abundant, and the 'winter +cheer,'--hams, venison, &c.--hung from the uncovered rafters, were +well begrimed before coming to the table. + +line 48. The solan goose frequents Scottish haunts in summer. There +are thousands of them on Ailsa Craig, in the Frith of Clyde, and on +the Bass Rock, in the Frith of Forth, opposite Tantallon. + +line 49. gammon (O. Fr. gambon, Lat. gamba, 'joint of a leg'), the +buttock or thigh of a hog salted and dried; the lower end of a +flitch. + +Stanza IV. line 73. 'The winds of March' (Winter's Tale, iv. 3. +120), are a prominent feature of the month. The FRESHNESS of May has +fascinated the poets since it was told by Chaucer (Knightes' Tale, +175) how Emelie arose one fine morning in early summer:-- + + 'Emilie, that fairer was to scene + Than is the lilie on hire stalke grene, + And fresscher than the May with floures newe.' + +line 76. Cp. 'Jock o' Hazeldean':-- + + 'His step is first in peaceful ha', + His sword in battle keen.' + +line 78. buxom (A. S. bocsum, flexible, obedient, from BUGAN, to +bend) here means lively, fresh, brisk. Cp. Henry V, iii. 6. 27:-- + + 'Bardolph, a soldier firm and sound of heart, + And of BUXOM valour. + +Stanza VII. line 112. Cp. Spenser's Epithalamium:-- + + 'Yet never day so long but late would passe, + Ring ye the bels to make it weare away.' + +A familiar instance of 'speed' as a trans. verb is in Pope's +Odyssey, XV. 83:--'Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.' + +Stanza VIII. line 120. St. Valentine's day is Feb. 14, when birds +pair and lovers (till at any rate recent times) exchange artistic +tokens of affection. The latter observance is sadly degenerated. See +Professor Skeat's note to 'Parlement of Foules,' line 309, in +Chaucer's Minor Poems (Clarendon Press). + +line 122. The myth of Philomela has been a favourite with English +sentimental poets. The Elizabethan Barnefield writes the typical +lyric on the theme. These lines contain the myth :-- + + 'She, poor bird, as all forlorn, + Lean'd her breast against a thorn, + And there sung the dolefullest ditty + That to hear it was great pity.' + +Stanza IX. In days when harvesting was done with the sickle, reapers +from the Highlands and from Ireland came in large numbers to the +Scottish Lowlands and cut the crops. At one time a piper played +characteristic melodies behind the reapers to give them spirit for +their work. Hence comes-- + + 'Wha will gar our shearers shear? + Wha will bind up the brags of weir?' + +in a lyric by Hamilton of Gilbertfield (1665-1751). The reaper's +song is the later representative of this practice. See Wordsworth's +'Solitary Highland Reaper'--immortalized by her suggestive and +memorable singing--and compare the pathetic 'Exile's Song' of Robert +Gilfillan (1798-1850):-- + + 'Oh! here no Sabbath bell + Awakes the Sabbath morn; + Nor song of reapers heard + Among the yellow corn.' + +For references to Susquehanna and the home-longing of the exile, see +Campbell's 'Gertrude of Wyoming,' I. i.-vi. The introduction of +reaping-machines has minimised the music and poetry of the harvest +field. + +Stanzas X, XI. The two pictures in the song are very effectively +contrasted both in spirit and style. The lover's resting-place has +features that recall the house of Morpheus, 'Faery Queene,' I. i. +40-1. Note the recurrence of the traitor's doom in Marmion's +troubled thoughts, in VI. xxxii. The burden 'eleu loro' has been +somewhat uncertainly connected with the Italian ela loro, 'alas! for +them.' + +Stanza XIII. lines 201-7. One of the most striking illustrations of +this is in Shakespeare's delineation of Brutus, who is himself made +to say (Julius Caesar, ii. I. 18):-- + + 'The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins + Remorse from power.' + +For the sentiment of the text cp. the character of Ordonio in +Coleridge's 'Remorse,' the concentrated force of whose dying words +is terrible, while indicative of native nobility:-- + + 'I stood in silence like a slave before her + That I might taste the wormwood and the gall, + And satiate this self-accusing heart + With bitterer agonies than death can give.' + +line 211. 'Among other omens to which faithful credit is given among +the Scottish peasantry, is what is called the "dead-bell," explained +by my friend James Hogg to be that tinkling in the ears which the +country people regard as the secret intelligence of some friend's +decease. He tells a story to the purpose in the "Mountain Bard," p. +26 [pp. 31-2, 3rd edit.].'--SCOTT. + +Cp. Tickell's 'Lucy and Colin,' and this perfect stanza in Mickle's +'Cumnor Hall,' quoted in Introd. to 'Kenilworth':-- + + 'The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, + An aerial voice was heard to call, + And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing + Around the towers of Cumnor Hall.' + +line 217. Cp. Midsummer Night's Dream, v. I. 286: 'The death of a +dear friend would go near to make a man look sad.' + +Stanza XIV. lines 230-5. Cp. the effect of Polonius on the King +(Hamlet, iii. I. 50):-- + + 'How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!' + +Hamlet himself, ib. line 83, says:-- + + 'Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.' + +line 234. For vail = lower, see close of Editor's Preface. + +Stanza XV. line 243. For practised on = plotted against, cp. King +Lear, iii. 2. 57, 'Hast practised on man's life.' + +lines 248-51. See above, II. xxix. + +Stanza XVII. line 286. Cp. Burns's 'Bonnie Doon':-- + + 'And my fause lover staw my rose, + But ah! he left the thorn wi' me.' + +Stanza XVIII. line 307. Loch Vennachar, in the south of Perthshire, +is the most easterly of the three lakes celebrated in the 'Lady of +the Lake.' + +line 321. Cp. 'wonder-wounded hearers,' Hamlet, v. I. 265. + +Stanza XIX. line 324. Clerk is a scholar, as in Chaucer's 'Clerk of +Oxenford,' &c., and the 'learned clerks' of 2 Henry VI, iv. 7. 76. +See below, VI. xv. 459, 'clerkly skill.' + +line 325. Alexander III (1240-1286) came to the throne at the age of +nine, and proved himself a vigorous and large-hearted king. He was +killed by a fall from his horse, near Kinghorn, Fife, where there is +a suitable monument to his memory. The contemporary lament for his +death bewails him as one that 'Scotland led in love and lee.' Sir +Walter Scott (Introductory Remarks to 'Border Minstrelsy') calls him +'the last Scottish king of the pure Celtic race.' + +line 333. 'A vaulted hall under the ancient castle of Gifford, or +Yester (for it bears either name indifferently), the construction of +which has, from a very remote period, been ascribed to magic. The +Statistical Account of the Parish of Garvald and Baro, gives the +following account of the present state of this castle and +apartment:--"Upon a peninsula, formed by the water of Hopes on the +east, and a large rivulet on the west, stands the ancient castle of +Yester. Sir David Dalrymple, in his annals, relates that 'Hugh +Gifford de Yester died in 1267; that in his castle there was a +capacious cavern, formed by magical art, and called in the country +Bo-Hall, i.e. Hobgoblin Hall.' A stair of twenty-four steps led +down to this apartment, which is a large and spacious hall, with an +arched roof; and though it hath stood for so many centuries, and +been exposed to the external air for a period of fifty or sixty +years, it is still as firm and entire as if it had only stood a few +years. From the floor of this hall, another stair of thirty-six +steps leads down to a pit which hath a communication with Hopes- +water. A great part of the walls of this large and ancient castle +are still standing. There is a tradition that the castle of Yester +was the last fortification, in this country, that surrendered to +General Gray, sent into Scotland by Protector Somerset."-- +Statistical Account, vol. xiii. I have only to add, that, in 1737, +the Goblin Hall was tenanted by the Marquis of Tweedale's falconer, +as I learn from a poem by Boyse, entitled "Retirement," written upon +visiting Yester. It is now rendered inaccessible by the fall of the +stair. + +'Sir David Dalrymple's authority for the anecdote is in Fordun, +whose words are:--"A. D. MCCLXVII. Hugo Giffard de Yester moritur; +cujus castrum, vel saltem caveam, et donglonem, arte daemonica +antique relationes ferunt fabrifactas: nam ibidem habetur mirabilis +specus subterraneus, opere mirifico constructus, magno terrarum +spatio protelatus, qui communiter BO-HALL appellatus est." Lib. x. +cap. 21.--Sir David conjectures, that Hugh de Gifford must either +have been a very wise man, or a great oppressor.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XX. line 354. 'In 1263, Haco, King of Norway, came into the +Frith of Clyde with a powerful armament, and made a descent at +Largs, in Ayrshire. Here he was encountered and defeated, on the 2nd +October, by Alexander III. Haco retreated to Orkney, where he died +soon after this disgrace to his arms. There are still existing, near +the place of battle, many barrows, some of which, having been +opened, were found, as usual, to contain bones and urns.'--SCOTT. + +line 358. Ayrshire in early times comprised three divisions, +Cunninghame in the north, Kyle between the Irvine and the Doon, and +Carrick to the south of that stream. Burns, by his song 'There was a +Lad was born in Kyle,' has immortalised the middle division, which +an old proverb had distinguished as productive of men, in +contradistinction to the dairy produce and the stock of the other +two. + +line 362. '"Magicians, as is well known, were very curious in the +choice and form of their vestments. Their caps are oval, or like +pyramids, with lappets on each side, and fur within. Their gowns are +long, and furred with fox-skins, under which they have a linen +garment reaching to the knee. Their girdles are three inches broad, +and have many cabalistical names, with crosses, trines, and circles +inscribed on them. Their shoes should be of new russet leather, with +a cross cut upon them. Their knives are dagger-fashion; and their +swords have neither guard nor scabbard."--See these, and many other +particulars, in the Discourse concerning Devils and Spirits, annexed +to REGINALD SCOTT'S Discovery of Witchcraft, edition 1665.'--SCOTT. + +line 369. Scott quotes thus from Reginald Scott's 'Discovery of +Witchcraft' (1665):-- + +'A pentacle is a piece of fine linen, folded with five corners, +according to the five senses, and suitably inscribed with +characters. This the magician extends towards the spirits which he +invokes, when they are stubborn and rebellious, and refuse to be +conformable unto the ceremonies and rights of magic.' + +line 373. The term 'Combust' is applied to the moon or the planets, +when, through being not more than eight and a half degrees from the +sun, they are invisible in his light. Chaucer, in the 'Astrolabe,' +has 'that he be not retrograd ne COMBUST.' 'Retrograde' is the term +descriptive of the motion of the planets from east to west. This is +the case when the planets are visible on the side opposite to the +sun. See Airy's 'Popular Astronomy,' p. 124. 'Trine' refers to the +appearance of planets 'distant from each other 120 degrees, or the +third part of the zodiac. 'Trine was considered a favourable +conjunction. Cp. note on Par. Lost, X. 659, in Clarendon Press +Milton-- + + 'In sextile, square, and TRINE, and opposite.' + +Stanza XXII. line 407. 'It is a popular article of faith that those +who are born on Christmas or Good Friday have the power of seeing +spirits and even of commanding them. The Spaniards imputed the +haggard and downcast looks of their Philip II to the disagreeable +visions to which this privilege subjected him.'--SCOTT. + +line 408. See St. Matthew xxvii. 50-53. + +line 415. Richard I of England (1189-99) could not himself have +presented the sword, but the line is a spirited example of poetic +licence. + +line 416. Tide what tide is happen what may. Cp. Thomas the Rhymer's +remarkable forecast regarding the family of Haig in Scott's +country;-- + + 'Betide, betide, whate'er betide, + Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside.' + +line 420. Alexander III was the last of his line, which included +three famous Malcolms, viz. Malcolm II, grandfather of the 'gracious +Duncan,' who died in 1033; Malcolm Canmore, who fell at Alnwick in +1093; and Malcolm IV, 'The Maiden,' who was only 34 at his death in +1165. The reference here is probably to Canmore. + +Stanza XXIII. line 438. See Chambers's 'Encyclopaedia,' articles on +'Earth-houses' and 'Picts' Houses.' + +line 445. Legends tell of belated travellers being spell-bound in +such spots. + +line 461. The reference is to Edward I, who went as Prince Edward to +Palestine in 1270, so that the legend at this point embodies an +anachronism, Edward became king in 1274. His shield and banner were +emblazoned with 'three leopards courant of fine gold set on red.' + +Stanza XXIV. line 472. Largs, on the coast of Ayrshire, opposite +Bute. + +line 479. The ravens on the Norse banners were said to flutter their +wings before a victory, and to let them droop in prospect of a +defeat. + +line 487. 'For an account of the expedition to Copenhagen in 1801, +see Southey's "Life of Nelson," chap. vii.'--LOCKHART. There may +possibly be a reference to the bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. + +Stanza XXV. line 497. The slight wound was due to the start +mentioned in line 462. He had been warned against letting his heart +fail him. + +line 503. Scott quotes thus from the essay on 'Fairy Superstitions' +in the 'Border Minstrelsy,' vol. ii., to show 'whence many of the +particulars of the combat between Alexander III and the Goblin +Knight are derived':-- + +'Gervase of Tilbury (Otia Imperial ap. Script, rer. Brunsvic, vol. +i. p. 797), relates the following popular story concerning a fairy +knight: "Osbert, a bold and powerful baron, visited a noble family +in the vicinity of Wandlebury, in the bishopric of Ely. Among other +stories related in the social circle of his friends, who, according +to custom, amused each other by repeating ancient tales and +traditions, he was informed, that if any knight, unattended, entered +an adjacent plain by moonlight, and challenged an adversary to +appear, he would be immediately encountered by a spirit in the form +of a knight. Osbert resolved to make the experiment, and set out, +attended by a single squire, whom he ordered to remain without the +limits of the plain, which was surrounded by an ancient +intrenchment. On repeating the challenge, he was instantly assailed +by an adversary, whom he quickly unhorsed, and seized the reins of +his steed. Daring this operation, his ghostly opponent sprung up, +and darting his spear, like a javelin, at Osbert, wounded him in the +thigh. Osbert returned in triumph with the horse, which he committed +to the care of his servants. The horse was of a sable colour, as +well as his whole accoutrements, and apparently of great beauty and +vigour. He remained with his keeper till cock-crowing, when, with +eyes flashing fire, he reared, spurned the ground, and vanished. On +disarming himself, Osbert perceived that he was wounded, and that +one of his steel boots was full of blood." Gervase adds, that, "as +long as he lived, the scar of his wound opened afresh on the +anniversary of the eve on which he encountered the spirit." Less +fortunate was the gallant Bohemian knight, who travelling by night +with a single companion, "came in sight of a fairy host, arrayed +under displayed banners. Despising the remonstrances of his friend, +the knight pricked forward to break a lance with a champion, who +advanced from the ranks apparently in defiance. His companion beheld +the Bohemian overthrown, horse and man, by his aerial adversary; and +returning to the spot next morning, he found the mangled corpses of +the knight and steed."--Hierarchy of Blessed Angels, p. 554. + +'Besides these instances of Elfin chivalry above quoted, many others +might be alleged in support of employing fairy machinery in this +manner. The forest of Glenmore, in the North Highlands, is believed +to be haunted by a spirit called Lham-dearg, in the array of an +ancient warrior, having a bloody hand, from which he takes his name. +He insists upon those with whom he meets doing battle with him; and +the clergyman, who makes up an account of the district, extant in +the Macfarlane MS., in the Advocates' Library, gravely assures us, +that, in his time, Lham-dearg fought with three brothers whom he met +in his walk, none of whom long survived the ghostly conflict. +Barclay, in his "Euphormion," gives a singular account of an officer +who had ventured, with his servant, rather to intrude upon a haunted +house, in a town in Flanders, than to put up with worse quarters +elsewhere. After taking the usual precautions of providing fires, +lights, and arms, they watched till midnight, when, behold! the +severed arm of a man dropped from the ceiling; this was followed by +the legs, the other arm, the trunk, and the head of the body, all +separately. The members rolled together, united themselves in the +presence of the astonished soldiers, and formed a gigantic warrior, +who defied them both to combat. Their blows, although they +penetrated the body, and amputated the limbs, of their strange +antagonist, had, as the reader may easily believe, little effect on +an enemy who possessed such powers of self-union; nor did his +efforts make more effectual impression upon them. How the combat +terminated I do not exactly remember, and have not the book by me; +but I think the spirit made to the intruders on his mansion the +usual proposal, that they should renounce their redemption; which +being declined, he was obliged to retreat. + +'The most singular tale of this kind is contained in an extract +communicated to me by my friend Mr. Surtees of Mainsforth, in the +Bishopric, who copied it from a MS. note in a copy of Burthogge "On +the Nature of Spirits," 8vo, 1694, which had been the property of +the late Mr. Gill, attorney-general to Egerton, Bishop of Durham. +"It was not," says my obliging correspondent" in Mr. Gill's own +hand, but probably an hundred years older, and was said to be, E +libro Convent. Dunelm. per T. C. extract., whom I believe to have +been Thomas Cradocke, Esq., barrister, who held several offices +under the See of Durham a hundred years ago. Mr. Gill was possessed +of most of his manuscripts." The extract, which, in fact, suggested +the introduction of the tale into the present poem, runs thus:-- + +"Rem miram hujusmodi que nostris temporibus evenit, teste viro +nobili ac fide dignissimo, enarrare haud pigebit. Radulphus Bulmer, +cum e castris, quae tunc temporis prope Norham posita erant, +oblectationis causa, exiisset, ac in ulteriore Tuedae ripa praaedam +cum canibus leporariis insequeretur, forte cum Scoto quodam nobili, +sibi antehac, ut videbatur, familiariter cognito, congressus est; +ac, ut fas erat inter inimicos, flagrante bello, brevissima +interrogationis mora interposita, alterutros invicem incitato cursu +infestis animis petiere. Noster, primo occursu, equo praeacerrimo +hostis impetu labante, in terram eversus pectore et capite laeso, +sanguinem, mortuo similis, evomebat. Quern ut se aegre habentem +comiter allocutus est alter, pollicitusque, modo auxilium non +abnegaret, monitisque obtemperans ab omni rerum sacrarum cogitatione +abstineret, nec Deo, Deiparae Virgini, Sanctove ullo, preces aut +vota efferret vel inter sese conciperet, se brevi eum sanum +validumque restiturum esse. Prae angore oblata conditio accepta est; +ac veterator ille nescio quid obscaeni murmuris insusurrans, +prehensa manu, dicto citius in pedes sanum ut antea sublevavit. +Noster autem, maxima prae rei inaudita novitate formidine perculsus, +MI JESU! exclamat, vel quid simile; ac subito respiciens nec hostem +nec ullum alium conspicit, equum solum gravissimo nuper casu +afflictum, per summam pacem in rivo fluvii pascentem. Ad castra +itaque mirabundus revertens, fidei dubius, rem primo occultavit, +dein, confecto bello, Confessori suo totam asseruit. Delusoria +procul dubio res tota, ac mala veteratoris illius aperitur fraus, +qua hominem Christianum ad vetitum tale auxilium pelliceret. Nomen +utcunque illius (nobilis alias ac clari) reticendum duco, cum haud +dubium sit quin Diabolus, Deo permittente, formam quam libuerit, +immo angeli lucis, sacro oculo Dei teste, posse assumere." + +'The MS. chronicle, from which Mr. Cradocke took this curious +extract, cannot now be found in the Chapter Library of Durham, or, +at least, has hitherto escaped the researches of my friendly +correspondent. + +'Lindesay is made to allude to this adventure of Ralph Bulmer, as a +well-known story, in the 4th Canto, Stanza xxii. p. 103. + +'The northern champions of old were accustomed peculiarly to search +for, and delight in, encounters with such military spectres. See a +whole chapter on the subject in BARTHOLINUS De Causis contemptae +Mortis a Danis, p. 253.' + +line 508. Sir Gilbert Hay, as a faithful adherent of Bruce, was +created Lord High Constable of Scotland. See note in 'Lord of the +Isles,' II. xiii. How 'the Haies had their beginning of nobilitie' +is told in Holinshed's 'Scottish Chronicle,' I. 308. + +Stanza XXVI. line 510. Quaigh, 'a wooden cup, composed of staves +hooped together.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XXVIII. line 551. Darkling, adv. (not adj. as in Keats's +'darkling way' in 'Eve of St. Agnes'), really means 'in the dark.' +Cp. 'Lady of the Lake,' IV. (Alice Brand):-- + + 'For darkling was the battle tried'; + +and see Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 2. 86; King Lear, i. 4. 237. +Lord Tennyson, like Keats, uses the word as an adj. in 'In +Memoriam,' xcix:-- + + 'Who tremblest through thy darkling red.' + +Cp. below, V. Introd. 23, 'darkling politician.' For scholarly +discussion of the term, see Notes and Queries, VII iii. 191. + +Stanza XXX. lines 585-9. Iago understands the 'contending flow' of +passions when in a glow of self-satisfied feeling he exclaims; + + 'Work on, + My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught.' + Othello, iv. I. 44. + +Stanza XXXI. line 597. 'Yode, used by old poets for WENT.'--SCOTT. +It is a variant of 'yod' or 'yede,' from A. S. eode, I went. Cp. +Lat. eo, I go. See Clarendon Press 'Specimens of Early English,' II. +71:-- + + 'Thair scrippes, quer thai rade or YODE, + Tham failed neuer o drinc ne fode.' + +Spenser writes, 'Faerie Queene,' II. vii. 2:-- + + 'So, long he YODE, yet no adventure found.' + +line 599. Selle, saddle. Cp. 'Faerie Queene,' II. v. 4:-- + + On his horse necke before the quilted SELL.' + + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FOURTH. + +'James Skene, Esq., of Rubislaw, Aberdeenshire, was Cornet in the +Royal Edinburgh Light Horse Volunteers; and Sir Walter Scott was +Quartermaster of the same corps.'--LOCKHART. + +For Skene's account of the origin of this regiment, due in large +measure to 'Scott's ardour,' see 'Life of Scott,' i. 258. + +line 2. See Taming of the Shrew, i. 4. 135, and 2 Henry IV, v. 3. +143, where a line of an old song is quoted:-- + + 'Where is the life that late I led?' + +line 3. See As you Like It, ii. 7. 12. + +line 7. Scott made the acquaintance of Skene, recently returned from +a lengthened stay in Saxony, about the end of 1796, and profited +much by his friend's German knowledge and his German books. In later +days he utilized suggestions of Skene's in 'Ivanhoe' and 'Quentin +Durward.' See 'Life of Scott,' PASSIM, and specially i. 257, and iv. +342. + +line 37. Blackhouse, a farm 'situated on the Douglas-burn, then +tenanted by a remarkable family, to which I have already made +allusion--that of William Laidlaw.'--'Life,' i. 328. Ettrick Pen is +a hill in the south of Selkirkshire. + +line 46. 'Various illustrations of the Poetry and Novels of Sir +Walter Scott, from designs by Mr. Skene, have since been +published.'--LOCKHART. + +line 48. Probably the first reference in poetry to the Scottish +heather is, says Prof. Veitch ('Feeling for Nature,' ii. 52), in +Thomson's 'Spring,' where the bees are represented as daring + + 'The purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows.' + +lines 55-97. With this striking typical winter piece, cp. in +Thomson's 'Winter,' the vivid and pathetic picture beginning:-- + + 'In his own loose-revolving fields, the swain + Disastered stands.' + +See also Burns's 'Winter Night,' which by these lines may have +suggested Scott's 'beamless sun':-- + + 'When Phoebus gies a short-liv'd glow'r + Far south the lift; + Dim-dark'ning thro' the flaky show'r, + Or whirling drift.' + +The 'tired ploughman,' too, may owe something to this farther line +of Burns:-- + + 'Poor labour sweet in sleep was lock'd'; + +while the animals seeking shelter may well follow this inimitable +and touching description:-- + + 'List'ning the doors an' winnocks rattle, + I thought me on the ourie cattle, + Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle + O' winter war, + And thro' the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle + Beneath a scaur.' + +line 91. 'I cannot help here mentioning that, on the night on which +these lines were written, suggested as they were by a sudden fall of +snow, beginning after sunset, an unfortunate man perished exactly in +the manner here described, and his body was next morning found close +to his own house. The accident happened within five miles of the +farm of Ashestiel.'--SCOTT. + +line 101. 'The Scottish Harvest-home.'--SCOTT. Perhaps the name +'kirn' is due to the fact that a churnful of cream is a feature of +the night's entertainment. In Chambers's Burns, iii. 151, Robert +Ainslie gives an account of a kirn at Ellisland in 1790. + +line 102. Cp. the 'wood-notes wild' with which Milton credits +Shakespeare, 'L'Allegro,' 131. + +lines 104-5. The ideal pastoral life of the Golden Age. + +line 132. 'Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Baronet; unequalled, +perhaps, in the degree of individual affection entertained for him +by his friends, as well as in the general respect and esteem of +Scotland at large. His "Life of Beattie," whom he befriended and +patronised in life, as well as celebrated after his decease, was not +long published, before the benevolent and affectionate biographer +was called to follow the subject of his narrative. This melancholy +event very shortly succeeded the marriage of the friend, to whom +this introduction is addressed, with one of Sir William's +daughters.'--SCOTT. + +line 133. 'The Minstrel' is Beattie's chief poem; it is one of the +few poems in well-written Spenserian stanza. + +line 147. Ps. lxviii. 5. + +line 151. Prov. xxvii. 10. + +line 155. For account of Sir W. Forbes, see his autobiographical +'Memoirs of a Banking House'; Chambers's 'Eminent Scotsmen'; and +'Dictionary of National Biography.' + +line 163. Cp. Pope, 'Essay on Man,' IV. 380, and Boileau, 'L'Art +Poetique, 'Chant I:-- + + 'Heureux qui, dans ses vers, sait d'une voix legere + Passer du grave au doux, du plaisant an severe.' + +line 172. 'Tirante el Blanco,' a Spanish romance by Johann Martorell +(1480), praised in 'Don Quixote.' + +line 174. 'Camp was a favourite dog of the Poet's, a bull terrier of +extraordinary sagacity. He is introduced in Raeburn's portrait of +Sir Walter Scott, now at Dalkeith Palace.'--LOCKHART. + +line 181. Cp. Tempest, v. i. 93. + +line 191. 'Colin Mackenzie, Esq., of Portmore. See "Border +Minstrelsy," iv. 351.'--LOCKHART. Mackenzie had been Scott's friend +from boyhood, and he received his copy of 'Marmion' at Lympstone, +where he was, owing to feeble health, as mentioned in the text. He +was a son-in-law of Sir William Forbes, and in acknowledging receipt +of the poem he said, 'I must thank you for the elegant and delicate +allusion in which you express your friendship for myself--Forbes-- +and, above all, that sweet memorial of his late excellent father.'-- +'Life of Scott,' ii. 152. + +line 194. 'Sir William Rae of St. Catherine's, Bart., subsequently +Lord Advocate of Scotland, was a distinguished member of the +volunteer corps to which Sir Walter Scott belonged; and he, the +Poet, Mr. Skene, Mr. Mackenzie, and a few other friends, had formed +themselves into a little semi-military club, the meetings of which +were held at their family supper tables in rotation.'--LOCKHART. + +line 195. 'The late Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Bart., son of +the author of the "Life of Beattie."'--LOCKHART. + +line 196. The Mimosa pudica, or sensitive plant. See Shelley's poem +on the subject:-- + + 'The Sensitive Plant was the earliest + Upgathered into the bosom of rest; + A sweet child weary of its delight, + The feeblest and yet the favourite, + Cradled within the embrace of night.' + +line 200. Cp. 'L'Allegro,' 31, 'Sport that wrinkled Care derides.' + +line 206. See King Lear, iii. 4. 138, where Edgar, as Poor Tom, says +that he has had 'three suits to his back, six shirts to his body, +horse to ride, and weapon to wear.' + + +CANTO FOURTH. + +line 31. 'ALIAS "Will o' the Wisp." This personage is a strolling +demon or esprit follet, who, once upon a time, got admittance into a +monastery as a scullion, and played the monks many pranks. He was +also a sort of Robin Goodfellow, and Jack o' Lanthern. It is in +allusion to this mischievous demon that Milton's clown speaks,-- + + "She was pinched, and pulled, she said, + And he by FRIAR'S LANTHERN led." + +'"The History of Friar Rush" is of extreme rarity, and, for some +time, even the existence of such a book was doubted, although it is +expressly alluded to by Reginald Scot, in his "Discovery of +Witchcraft." I have perused a copy in the valuable library of my +friend Mr. Heber; and I observe, from Mr. Beloe's "Anecdotes of +Literature," that there is one in the excellent collection of the +Marquis of Stafford.'--SCOTT. + +It may be added, on the authority of Keightley, that Friar Rush +'haunted houses, not fields, and was never the same with Jack-o'- +the-Lanthorn.' See note on Milton's 'L'Allegro,' 104, in Clarendon +Press edition, also Preface to Midsummer Night's Dream in same +series. + +Stanza IV. line 69. Humbie and Saltoun are adjoining parishes in S. +W. of Haddingtonshire. To this day there is a charm in the remote +rural character of the district. There are, about Humble in +particular, wooded glades that might well represent the remains of +the scene witnessed by Marmion and his troopers. East and West +Saltoun are two decayed villages, about five miles S. W. of the +county town. Between them is Saltoun Hall, the seat of the +Fletchers. + +line 91. 'William Caxton, the earliest English printer, was born in +Kent, A. D. 1412, and died 1401. Wynken de Worde was his next +successor in the production of those + + "Rare volumes, dark with tarnished gold," + +which are now the delight of bibliomaniacs.'--LOCKHART. + +Stanza VI. line 119. The four heraldic terms used are for the +colours--red, silver, gold, and blue. + +line 120, The King-at-arms was superintendent of the heralds. + +Stanza VII. line 133. Sir David Lyndsay's exposure of ecclesiastical +abuses in his various satires, especially in his 'Complaynts' and +his Dialog, 'powerfully forwarded the movement that culminated in +the Reformation. It would, however, be a mistake to consider him an +avowed Protestant reformer. He was concerned about the existing +wrongs both of Church and State, and thought of rectifying these +without revolutionary measures. + +line 135. The cap of the Lion King' was of scarlet velvet turned up +with ermine.' + +lines 141-4. The double tressure was an ornamental tracing round the +shield, at a fixed distance from the border. As to the fleur-de-lis +(flower of the lily, emblem of France) Scott quotes Boethius and +Buchanan as saying that it was 'first assumed by Achaius, king of +Scotland, contemporary of Charlemagne, and founder of, the +celebrated League with France.' Historical evidence, however, would +seem to show that 'the lion is first seen on the seal of Alexander +II, and the tressure on that of Alexander III.' This is the heraldic +description of the arms of Scotland: 'Or, a lion rampant gules, +armed and langued azure, within a double tressure flory counterflory +of fleur-de-lis of the second.' The supporters are 'two unicorns +argent maned and unguled, or gorged with open crowns.' The crest is +'a lion sejant affronte gules crowned or,' &c. The adoption of the +thistle as the national Scottish emblem is wrapt in obscurity, +although an early poet attributes it to a suggestion of Venus. + +line 153. Scott mentions Chalmers's edition of Lyndsay's works, +published in 1806. More recent and very satisfactory editions are +those of Dr. David Laing, (1) a library edition in three volumes, +and (2) a popular edition in two. Lyndsay was born about 1490 and +died about 1555. The Mount was his estate, near Cupar-Fife. 'I am +uncertain,' says Scott, 'if I abuse poetic license, by introducing +Sir David Lindesay in the character of Lion-Herald, sixteen years +before he obtained that office. At any rate, I am not the first who +has been guilty of that anachronism; for the author of "Flodden +Field" despatches Dallamount, which can mean nobody but Sir David de +la Mont, to France on the message of defiance from James IV to Henry +VIII. It was often an office imposed on the Lion King-at-arms, to +receive foreign ambassadors; and Lindesay himself did this honour to +Sir Ralph Sadler, in 1539-40. Indeed, the oath of the Lion, in its +first article, bears reference to his frequent employment upon royal +messages and embassies. The office of heralds, in feudal times, +being held of the utmost importance, the inauguration of the Kings- +at-arms, who presided over their colleges, was proportionally +solemn. In fact, it was the mimicry of a royal coronation, except +that the unction was made with wine instead of oil. In Scotland, a +namesake and kinsman of Sir David Lindesay, inaugurated in 1502, +"was crowned by King James with the ancient crown of Scotland, which +was used before the Scottish Kings assumed a close Crown;" and, on +occasion of the same solemnity, dined at the King's table, wearing +the crown. It is probable that the coronation of his predecessor was +not less solemn. So sacred was the herald's office, that, in 1515, +Lord Drummond was by Parliament declared guilty of treason, and his +lands forfeited, because he had struck, with his fist, the Lion +King-at-arms, when he reproved him for his follies. Nor was he +restored, but at the Lion's earnest solicitation.' + +Stanza X. line 194. 'A large ruinous castle on the banks of the +Tyne, about ten miles from Edinburgh. As indicated in the text, it +was built at different times, and with a very differing regard to +splendour and accommodation. The oldest part of the building is a +narrow keep, or tower, such as formed the mansion of a lesser +Scottish baron; but so many additions have been made to it, that +there is now a large courtyard, surrounded by buildings of different +ages. The eastern front of the court is raised above a portico, and +decorated with entablatures, bearing anchors. All the stones of this +front are cut into diamond facets, the angular projections of which +have an uncommonly rich appearance. The inside of this part of the +building appears to have contained a gallery of great length, and +uncommon elegance. Access was given to it by a magnificent stair- +case, now quite destroyed. The soffits are ornamented with twining +cordage and rosettes: and the whole seems to have been far more +splendid than was usual in Scottish castles. The castle belonged +originally to the Chancellor, Sir William Crichton, and probably +owed to him its first enlargement, as well as its being taken by the +Earl of Douglas, who imputed to Crichton's counsels the death of his +predecessor, Earl William, beheaded in Edinburgh Castle, with his +brother, in 1440. It is said to have been totally demolished on that +occasion; but the present state of the ruin shows the contrary. In +1483 it was garrisoned by Lord Crichton, then its proprietor, +against King James III, whose displeasure he had incurred by +seducing his sister Margaret, in revenge, it is said, for the +Monarch having dishonoured his bed. From the Crichton family the +castle passed to that of the Hepburns, Earls Bothwell; and when the +forfeitures of Stewart, the last Earl Bothwell, were divided, the +barony and cattle of Crichton fell to the share of the Earl of +Buccleuch. They were afterwards the property of the Pringles of +Clifton, and are now that of Sir John Callander, Baronet. It were to +be wished the proprietor would take a little pains to preserve those +splendid remains of antiquity, which are at present used as a fold +for sheep, and wintering cattle; although, perhaps, there are very +few ruins in Scotland which display so well the style and beauty of +castle-architecture.'--SCOTT. + +The ruin is now carefully protected, visitors being admitted on +application at Crichtoun Manse adjoining. + +Stanza XI. line 232. 'The castle of Crichton has a dungeon vault, +called the Massy More. The epithet, which is not uncommonly applied +to the prisons of other old castles in Scotland, is of Saracenic +origin. It occurs twice in the "Epistolae Itineriae" of Tollius. +"Carcer subterraneus, sive, ut Mauri appellant, MAZMORRA," p. 147; +and again, "Coguntur omnes Captivi sub noctem in ergastula +subterranea, quae Turcae Algezerani vocant MAZMORRAS," p. 243. The +same word applies to the dungeons of the ancient Moorish castles in +Spain, and serves to show from what nation the Gothic style of +castle building was originally derived.'--SCOTT. + +See further, Sir W. Scott's 'Provincial Antiquities,' vol. i. + +Stanza XII. line 249. 'He was the second Earl of Bothwell, and fell +in the field of Flodden, where, according to an ancient English +poet, he distinguished himself by a furious attempt to retrieve the +day:-- + + "Then on the Scottish part, right proud, + The Earl of Bothwell then out brast, + And stepping forth, with stomach good, + Into the enemies' throng he thrast; + And BOTHWELL! BOTHWELL! cried bold, + To cause his souldiers to ensue, + But there he caught a wellcome cold, + The Englishmen straight down him threw. + Thus Haburn through his hardy heart + His fatal fine in conflict found,"&c. + FLODDEN FIELD, a Poem; edited by H. Weber. Edin. +1808.'--SCOTT. + +line 254. 'Adam was grandfather to James, Earl of Bothwell, too well +known in the history of Queen Mary.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XIII. line 260. The Borough-moor extended from Edinburgh +south to the Braid Hills. + +Stanza XIV. line 280. Scott quotes from Lindsay of Pitscottie the +story of the apparition seen at Linlithgow by James IV, when +undergoing his annual penance for having taken the field against his +father. Some of the younger men about the Court had devised what +they felt might be an impressive warning to the King against going +to war, and their show of supernatural interference was well +managed. Lindsay's narrative proceeds thus:-- + +'The King came to Lithgow, where he happened to be for the time at +the Council, very sad and dolorous, making his devotion to God, to +send him good chance and fortune in his voyage. In this meantime, +there came a man, clad in a blue gown, in at the kirk door, and +belted about him in a roll of linen-cloth; a pair of brotikings1 on +his feet, to the great of his legs; with all other hose and clothes +conform thereto; but he had nothing on his head, but syde2 red +yellow hair behind, and on his haffets3, which wan down to his +shoulders; but his forehead was bald and bare. He seemed to be a man +of two-and-fifty years, with a great pike-staff in his hand, and +came first forward among the lords, crying and speiring4 for the +King, saying, he desired to speak with him. While, at the last, he +came where the King was sitting in the desk, at his prayers, but +when he saw the King, he made him little reverence or salutation, +but leaned down groffling on the desk before him, and said to him in +this manner, as after follows: "Sir King, my mother hath sent me to +you, desiring you not to pass, at this time, where thou art +purposed; for if thou does, thou wilt not fare well in thy journey, +nor none that passeth with thee. Further, she bade thee mell5 with +no woman, nor use their counsel, nor let them touch thy body, nor +thou theirs; for, if thou do it, thou wilt be confounded and brought +to shame." +-------------------------------------------------------- +buskins1 long2 cheeks3 asking4 meddle5 +-------------------------------------------------------- + +'By this man had spoken thir words unto the King's grace, the +evening-song was near done, and the King paused on thir words, +studying to give him an answer; but, in the meantime, before the +King's eyes, and in the presence of all the lords that were about +him for the time, this man vanished away, and could no ways be seen +nor comprehended, but vanished away as he had been a blink of the +sun, or a whip of the whirlwind, and could no more be seen. I heard +say. Sir David Lindesay, Lyon-herauld, and John Inglis the marshal, +who were, at that time, young men, and special servants to the +King's grace, were standing presently beside the King, who thought +to have laid hands on this man, that they might have speired further +tidings at him: But all for nought; they could not touch him; for +he vanished away betwixt them, and was no more seen.' +Buchanan, in more elegant, though not more impressive language, +tells the same story, and quotes the personal information of our Sir +David Lindesay: 'In iis, (i.e. qui propius astiterant) fuit David +Lindesius, Montanus, homo spectatae fidei et probitatis, nec a +literarum studiis alienus, et cujus totius vitae tenor longissime a +mentiendo aberat; a quo nisi ego haec uti tradidi, pro certis +accepissem, ut vulgatam vanis rumoribus fabulam omissurus eram."-- +Lib. xiii. The King's throne, in St. Catherine's aisle, which he had +constructed for himself, with twelve stalls for the Knights +Companions of the Order of the Thistle, is still shown as the place +where the apparition was seen. I know not by what means St. Andrew +got the credit of having been the celebrated monitor of James IV; +for the expression in Lindesay's narrative, "My mother has sent me," +could only be used by St. John, the adopted son of the Virgin Mary. +The whole story is so well attested, that we have only the choice +between a miracle or an imposture. Mr. Pinkerton plausibly argues, +from the caution against incontinence, that the Queen was privy to +the scheme of those who had recourse to this expedient, to deter +King James from his impolitic war.' + +Stanza XV. line 287. 'In Scotland there are about twenty palaces, +castles, and remains, or sites of such, + + "Where SCOTIA'S kings of other years" + +had their royal home. + +'Linlithgow, distinguished by the combined strength and beauty of +its situation, must have been early selected as a royal residence. +David, who bought the title of saint by his liberality to the +Church, refers several of his charters to his town of Linlithgow; +and in that of Holyrood expressly bestows on the new monastery all +the skins of the rams, ewes, and lambs, belonging to his castle of +Linlitcu, which shall die during the year....The convenience +afforded for the sport of falconry, which was so great a favourite +during the feudal ages, was probably one cause of the attachment of +the ancient Scottish monarchs to Linlithgow and its fine lake. The +sport of hunting was also followed with success in the +neighbourhood, from which circumstance it probably arises that the +ancient arms of the city represent a black greyhound bitch tied to a +tree....The situation of Linlithgow Palace is eminently beautiful. +It stands on a promontory of some elevation, which advances almost +into the midst of the lake. The form is that of a square court, +composed of buildings of four storeys high, with towers at the +angles. The fronts with the square, and the windows, are highly +ornamented, and the size of the rooms, as well as the width and +character of the staircases, are upon a magnificent scale. One +banquet-room is ninety-four feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty- +three feet high, with a gallery for music. The King's wardrobe, or +dressing-room, looking to the west, projects over the walls, so as +to have a delicious prospect on three aides, and is one of the most +enviable boudoirs we have ever seen.'--SIR WALTER SCOTT'S Provincial +Antiquities.--Prose Works, vol. vii. p. 382. + +line 288. With 'jovial June' cp. Gavin Douglas's 'joyous moneth tyme +of June,' in prologue to the 13th AEneid, 'ekit to Virgill be +Maphaeus Vegius,' and the description of the month in Lyndsay's +'Dreme,' as:-- + + 'Weill bordourit with dasyis of delyte.' + +line 291. 'I am glad of an opportunity to describe the cry of the +deer by another word than BRAYING, although the latter has been +sanctified by the use of the Scottish metrical translation of the +Psalms. BELL seems to be an abbreviation of bellow. This silvan +sound conveyed great delight to our ancestors, chiefly, I suppose, +from association. A gentle knight in the reign of Henry VIII, Sir +Thomas Wortley, built Wantley Lodge, in Wancliffe Forest, for the +pleasure (as an ancient inscription testifies) of "listening to the +hart's BELL"'--SCOTT. + +line 298. Sauchie-burn, where James III fell, was fought 18 June, +1488., 'James IV,' says Scott, 'after the battle passed to Stirling, +and hearing the monks of the chapel-royal deploring the death of his +father, he was seized with deep remorse, which manifested itself +in severe penances.' See below, note on V. ix. + +line 300. 'When the King saw his own banner displayed against him, +and his son in the faction of his enemies, he lost the little +courage he ever possessed, fled out of the field, fell from his +horse as it started at a woman and water-pitcher, and was slain, it +was not well understood by whom.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XVI. line 312. In the church of St. Michael, adjoining the +palace. + +line 316. The earliest known mention of the thistle as the national +badge is in the inventory of the effects of James III, Thistles were +inscribed on the coins of the next four reigns, and they were +accompanied in the reign of James VI for the first time by the motto +Nemo me impune lacessit. James II of Great Britain formally +inaugurated the Order of the Thistle on 29 May, 1687, but it was not +till the reign of Anne, 31 Dec. 1703, that it became a fully defined +legal institution. The Order is also known as the Order of St. +Andrew.--See CHAMBERS'S Encyclopedia. + +line 318. It was natural and fit that Lyndsay should be present. It +is more than likely that he had a leading hand in the enterprise. As +tutor to the young Prince, it had been a recognised part of his duty +to amuse him by various disguises; and he was likewise the first +Scottish poet with an adequate dramatic sense. + +line 336. See St. John xix. 25-27. + +Stanza XVII. line 350. The special reference here is to the +influence of Lady Heron. See above, I. xvi. 265, and below, V. x. +261. + +Stanza XIX. The skilful descriptive touches of this stanza are +noteworthy. Cp. opening passages of Coleridge's 'Christabel,' +especially the seven lines beginning, 'Is the night chilly and +dark?' + +Stanza XXI. line 440. Grimly is not unknown as a poetical adj. +'Margaret's GRIMLY ghost,' in Beaumont and FIetcher's 'Knight of the +Burning Pestle,' II. i, is a familiar example. See above, p. 194, +line 25, 'GRIMLY voice.' For 'ghast' as an adj., cp. Keats's 'Otho +the Great,' V. v. 11, 'How ghast a train!' + +line. 449. See below, V. xxiv, ''Twere long and needless here to +tell,' and cp. AEneid I. 341:-- + + 'Longa est iniuria, longae + Ambages; sed summa sequar fastigia rerum.' + +Stanza XXII. line 461. See above, III. xxv. 503, and note. + +lines 467-470. Rothiemurchus, near Alvie, co. of Inverness, on +Highland Railway; Tomantoul in co. of Banff, N. E. of Rothiemurchus; +Auchnaslaid in co. of Inverness, near S. W. border of Aberdeen; +Forest of Dromouchty on Inverness border eastward of Loch Ericht; +Glenmore, co-extensive with Caledonian Canal. + +lines 477-480. Cp. the teaching of Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner' and +'Christabel.' In the former these stanzas are specially notable:-- + + 'O happy living things! no tongue + Their beauty might declare: + A spring of love gushed from my heart, + And I blessed them unaware: + Sure my kind saint took pity on me, + And I blessed them unaware. + + The selfsame moment I could pray; + And from my neck so free + The Albatross fell off, and sank + Like lead into the sea.' + +line 487. bowne = prepare. See below, V. xx, 'to bowne him for the +war'; and 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' V. xx, 'bowning back to +Cumberland.' Cp. 'Piers the Plowman,' III. 173 (C Text):-- + + 'And bed hem alle ben BOUN . beggeres and othere, + To wenden with hem to Westemynstre.' + +Stanza XXIII. line 490. Dun-Edin = Edwin's hill-fort, poetic for +Edinburgh. + +line 497. The Braid Hills, S. E. of Edinburgh, recently added to the +recreation grounds of the citizens. + +Stanza XXIV. Blackford Hill has now been acquired by the City of +Edinburgh as a public resort. The view from it, not only of the city +but of the landscape generally, is striking and memorable. + +lines 511-15. Cp. Wordsworth's 'The Fountain--a Conversation':-- + + 'No check, no stay, this Streamlet fears: + How merrily it goes! + 'Twill murmur on a thousand years, + And flow as now it flows. + + And here on this delightful day, + I cannot choose but think + How oft, a vigorous man, I lay + Beside this fountain's brink. + + My eyes are dim with childish tears, + My heart is idly stirred, + For the same sound is in my ears + Which in those days I heard.' + +Stanza XXV. line 521. 'The Borough, or Common Moor of Edinburgh, was +of very great extent, reaching from the southern walls of the city +to the bottom of Braid Hills. It was anciently a forest; and, in +that state, was so great a nuisance, that the inhabitants of +Edinburgh had permission granted to them of building wooden +galleries, projecting over the street, in order to encourage them to +consume the timber; which they seem to have done very effectually. +When James IV mustered the array of the kingdom there, in 1513, the +Borough-moor was, according to Hawthornden, "a field spacious, and +delightful by the shade of many stately and aged oaks." Upon that, +and similar occasions, the royal standard is traditionally said to +have been displayed from the Hare Stane, a high stone, now built +into the wall, on the left hand of the highway leading towards +Braid, not far from the head of Bruntsfield Links. The Hare Stane +probably derives its name from the British word Har, signifying an +army.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XXVI. lines 535-538. The proper names in these lines are +Hebrides; East Lothian; Redswire, part of Carter Fell near Jedburgh; +and co. of Ross. + +Stanza XXVII. line 557. 'Seven culverins so called, cast by one +Borthwick.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XXVIII. line 566. 'Each ensign intimated a different rank.'-- +SCOTT. + +line 567. As illustrating an early mode of English encampment, Scott +quotes from Patten's description of what he saw after Pinkie, 1547:- +- + +'As they had no pavilions, or round houses, of any commendable +compass, so wear there few other tentes with posts, as the used +manner of making is; and of these few also, none of above twenty +foot length, but most far under; for the most part all very +sumptuously beset, (after their fashion,) for the love of France, +with fleur-de-lys, some of blue buckeram, some of black, and some of +some other colours. These white ridges, as I call them, that, as we +stood on Fauxsyde Bray, did make so great muster toward us, which I +did take then to be a number of tentes, when we came, we found it a +linen drapery, of the coarser cambryk in dede, for it was all of +canvas sheets, and wear the tenticles, or rather cabyns and couches +of their soldiers; the which (much after the common building of +their country beside) had they framed of four sticks, about an ell +long a piece, whereof two fastened together at one end aloft, and +the two endes beneath stuck in the ground, an ell asunder, standing +in fashion like the bowes of a sowes yoke; over two such bowes (one, +as it were, at their head, the other at their feet), they stretched +a sheet down on both sides, whereby their cabin became roofed like a +ridge, but skant shut at both ends, and not very close beneath on +the sides, unless their sticks were the shorter, or their wives the +more liberal to lend them larger napery; howbeit, when they had +lined them, and stuff'd them so thick with straw, with the weather +as it was not very cold, when they wear ones couched, they were as +warm as they had been wrapt in horses dung.'--PATTEN'S Account of +Somerset's Expedition. + +line 578. 'The well-known arms of Scotland. If you will believe +Boethius and Buchanan, the double tressure round the shield +(mentioned above, vii. 141), counter fleur-de-lysed, or lingued and +armed azure, was first assumed by Achaias, King of Scotland, +contemporary of Charlemagne, and founder of the celebrated League +with France but later antiquaries make poor Eochy, or Achy, little +better than a sort of King of Brentford, whom old Grig (who has also +swelled into Gregorius Magnus) associated with himself in the +important duty of governing some part of the north-eastern coast of +Scotland.'--SCOTT. + + +Stanza XXIX. lines 595-9. Cp. the 'rash, fruitless war,' &c., of +Thomson's 'Edwin and Eleonora,' i. 1, and Cowper's 'Task,' v. 187:-- + + 'War's a game which, were their subjects wise, + Kings would not play at.' + +Stanza XXX. This description of Edinburgh is one of the passages +mentioned by Mr. Ruskin in 'Modern Painters' as illustrative of +Scott's quick and certain perception of the relations of form and +colour. 'Observe,' he says, 'the only hints at form given throughout +are in the somewhat vague words "ridgy," " massy," "close," and +"high," the whole being still more obscured by modern mystery, in +its most tangible form of smoke. But the COLOURS are all definite; +note the rainbow band of them--gloomy or dusky red, sable (pure +black), amethyst (pure purple), green and gold--a noble chord +throughout; and then, moved doubtless less by the smoky than the +amethystine part of the group, + + "Fitz-Eustace' heart felt closely pent," &c.' + +line 632. In the demi-volte (one of seven artificial equestrian +movements) the horse rises on his hind feet and makes a half-turn. +Cp. below, v. 33. + +Stanza XXXI. line 646. 6 o'clock a.m., the first canonical hour of +prayer. + +lines 650-1. St. Catherine of Siena, a famous female Spanish saint, +and St. Roque of France, patron of those sick of the plague, who +died at Montpelier about 1327. + +line 655. Falkland, in the west of Fife, at base of Lomond Hills, a +favourite residence of the Stuart kings, and well situated for +hunting purposes. The ancient stately palace is now the property of +the Marquis of Bute. + +Stanza XXXII. line 679. stowre, noise and confusion of battle. Cp. +'Faery Queene,' I. ii. 7, 'woeful stowre.' + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FIFTH. + +'GEORGE ELLIS, to whom this Introduction is addressed, is "the well- +known coadjutor of Mr. Canning and Mr. Frere in the "Anti-Jacobin," +and editor of "Specimens of Ancient English Romances," &c. He died +10th April, 1815, aged 70 years; being succeeded in his estates by +his brother, Charles Ellis, Esq., created in 1827 Lord Seaford.'-- +LOCKHART. See 'Life of Scott' and 'Dictionary of National +Biography.' + +line 36. See Introd. to Canto II. + +line 37. 'The Old Town of Edinburgh was secured on the north side by +a lake, now drained, and on the south by a wall, which there was +some attempt to make defensible even so late as 1745. The gates, and +the greater part of the wall, have been pulled down, in the course +of the late extensive and beautiful enlargement of the city. My +ingenious and valued friend, Mr. Thomas Campbell, proposed to +celebrate Edinburgh under the epithet here borrowed. But the "Queen +of the North" has not been so fortunate as to receive from so +eminent a pen the proposed distinction.'--SCOTT. + +line 57. 'Since writing this line, I find I have inadvertently +borrowed it almost verbatim, though with somewhat a different +meaning, from a chorus in "Caractacus":-- + + "Britain heard the descant bold, + She flung her white arms o'er the sea, + Proud in her leafy bosom to enfold + The freight of harmony."'-SCOTT. + +line 58. For = instead of. + +lines 60-1. gleam'st, with trans. force, is an Elizabethanism. Cp. +Shakespeare's Lucrece, line 1378:-- + + 'Dying eyes gleamed forth their ashy lights.' + +line 67. See 'Faerie Queene,' III. iv. + +line 78. "For every one her liked, and every one her loved." +Spenser, as above.'--SCOTT. + +line 106. A knosp is an architectural ornament in form of a bud. + +lines 111-12. See Genesis xviii. + +line 118. 'Henry VI, with his Queen, his heir, and the chiefs of his +family, fled to Scotland after the battle of Towton. In this note a +doubt was formerly expressed whether Henry VI came to Edinburgh, +though his Queen certainly did; Mr. Pinkerton inclining to believe +that he remained at Kirkcudbright. But my noble friend, Lord Napier, +has pointed out to me a grant by Henry, of an annuity of forty marks +to his Lordship's ancestor, John Napier, subscribed by the King +himself, AT EDINBURGH, the 28th day of August, in the thirtyninth +year of his reign, which corresponds to the year of God, 1461. This +grant, Douglas, with his usual neglect of accuracy, dates in 1368. +But this error being corrected from the copy of Macfarlane's MSS., +p. 119, to, removes all scepticism on the subject of Henry VI being +really at Edinburgh. John Napier was son and heir of Sir Alexander +Napier, and about this time was Provost of Edinburgh. The hospitable +reception of the distressed monarch and his family, called forth on +Scotland the encomium of Molinet, a contemporary poet. The English +people, he says,-- + + "Ung nouveau roy creerent, + Par despiteux vouloir, + Le vieil en debouterent, + Et son legitime hoir, + Qui fuytyf alia prendre + D'Ecosse le garand, + De tous siecles le mendre, + Et le plus tollerant." + Recollection des Avantures'--SCOTT. + +line 120. 'In January, 1796, the exiled Count d'Artois, afterwards +Charles X of France, took up his residence in Holyrood, where he +remained until August, 1799. When again driven from his country, by +the revolution of July, 1830, the same unfortunate Prince, with all +the immediate members of his family, sought refuge once more in the +ancient palace of the Stuarts, and remained there until 18th +September, 1833.'--LOCKHART. + +line 140. 'Mr. Ellis, in his valuable Introduction to the "Specimens +of Romance," has proved, by the concurring testimony of La +Ravaillere, Tressan, but especially the Abbe de la Rue, that the +courts of our Anglo-Norman Kings, rather than those of the French +monarch, produced the birth of Romance literature. Marie, soon after +mentioned, compiled from Armorican originals, and translated into +Norman-French, or Romance language, the twelve curious Lays of which +Mr. Ellis has given us a precis in the Appendix to his Introduction. +The story of Blondel, the famous and faithful minstrel of Richard I, +needs no commentary.'--SCOTT. + +line 141. for that = 'because,' a common Elizabethan connective. + +line 165. '"Come then, my friend, my genius, come along, + Oh master of the poet and the song!" + Pope to Bolingbroke.'--LOCKHART. + +Cp. also the famous 'guide, philosopher, and friend,' in 'Essay on +Man,' IV. 390. + +lines 166-175. For a curious and characteristic ballad by Leyden on +Ellis, see 'Life of Scott' i. 368; and for references to his state +of ealth see 'Life,' ii, 17, in one of Scott's letters. + +line 181. 'At Sunning-hill, Mr. Ellis's seat, near Windsor, part of +the first two cantos of Marmion were written.'--LOCKHART. Ascot +Heath is about six miles off. + +CANTO FIFTH. + +Stanza I. line 18. 'This is no poetical exaggeration. In some of the +counties of England, distinguished for archery, shafts of this +extraordinary length were actually used. Thus, at the battle of +Blackheath, between the troops of Henry VII and the Cornish +insurgents, in 1496, the bridge of Dartford was defended by a picked +band of archers from the rebel army, "whose arrows," says Holinshed, +"were in length a full cloth yard." The Scottish, according to +Ascham, had a proverb, that every English archer carried under his +belt twenty-four Scots, in allusion to his bundle of unerring +shafts.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza II. line 32. croupe = (1) the buttocks of the horse, as in +Chaucer's 'Fryars Tale,' line 7141, 'thakketh his horse upon the +croupe'; (2) the place behind the saddle, as here and in 'Young +Lochinvar,' below, 351. + +line 33. 'The most useful AIR, as the Frenchmen term it, IS +TERRITERR, the courbettes, cabrioles, or un pas et un sault, being +fitter for horses of parade and triumph than for soldiers: yet I +cannot deny but a demivolte with courbettes, so that they be not too +high, may be useful in a fight or meslee; for, as Labroue hath it, +in his Book of Horsemanship, Monsieur de Montmorency having a horse +that was excellent in performing the demivolte, did, with his sword, +strike down two adversaries from their horses in a tourney, where +divers of the prime gallants of France did meet; for, taking his +time, when the horse was in the height of his courbette, and +discharging a blow then, his sword fell with such weight and force +upon the two cavaliers, one after another, that he struck them from +their horses to the ground.'--Lord Herbert of Cherbury's Life, p. +48.--SCOTT. + +line 35. 'The Scottish burgesses were, like yeomen, appointed to be +armed with bows and sheaves, sword, buckler, knife, spear, or a good +axe instead of a bow, if worth L100: their armour to be of white or +bright harness. They wore WHITE HATS, i.e. bright steel caps, +without crest or visor. By an act of James IV their weapon-schawings +are appointed to be held four times a year, under the aldermen or +bailiffs.'--SCOTT. + +lines 40-48. Corslet, a light cuirass protecting the front of the +body; brigantine, a jacket quilted with iron (also spelt +'brigandine'); gorget, a metal covering for the throat; mace, a +heavy club, plain or spiked, designed to bruise armour. + +'Bows and quivers were in vain recommended to the peasantry of +Scotland, by repeated statutes; spears and axes seem universally to +have been used instead of them. The defensive armour was the plate- +jack, hauberk, or brigantine; and their missile weapons crossbows +and culverins. All wore swords of excellent temper, according to +Patten; and a voluminous handkerchief round their neck, "not for +cold, but for cutting." The mace also was much used in the Scottish +army! The old poem on the battle of Flodden mentions a band-- + + "Who manfully did meet their foes, + With leaden mauls, and lances long." + +'When the feudal array of the kingdom was called forth, each man was +obliged to appear with forty days' provision. When this was +expended, which took place before the battle of Flodden, the army +melted away of course. Almost all the Scottish forces, except a few +knights, men-at-arms, and the Border-prickers, who formed excellent +light-cavalry, acted upon foot.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza III. line 48. swarthy, because of the dark leather of which +it was constructed. + +line 54. See above, Introd. to II. line 48. + +line 56. Cheer, countenance, as below, line 244. Cp. Chaucer, +'Knightes Tale,' line 55:-- + + 'The eldeste lady of hem alle spak + When sche hadde swowned with a dedly CHERE.' + +Stanza IV. line 73. slogan, the war-cry. Cp. Aytoun's 'Burial March +of Dundee':-- + + 'Sound the fife and cry the slogan.' + +line 96. The Euse and the Liddell flow into the Esk. For some miles +the Liddell is the boundary between England and Scotland. + +line 100. Brown Maudlin, dark or bronzed Magdalene. pied, +variegated, as in Shakespeare's 'daisies pied.' kirtle = short +skirt, and so applied to a gown or a petticoat. + +Stanza V. For unrivalled illustration of what Celtic chiefs and +clansmen were, see 'Waverley' and 'Rob Roy.' + +lines 130-5 Cp. opening of Chapman's Homer's Iliad III.:-- + + 'The Trojans would have frayed + The Greeks with noises, crying out, in coming rudely on + At all parts, like the cranes that fill with harsh confusion + Of brutish clanges all the air. ' + +Stanza VI. lines 143-157. Cp. Dryden's 'Palamon and Arcite,' iii. +1719-1739:-- + + 'The neighing of the generous horse was heard, + For battle by the busy groom prepar'd: + Rustling of harness, rattling of the shield, + Clattering of armour furbish'd for the field,' &c. + +line 157. following = feudal retainers.--SCOTT. To the poet's +explanation Lockhart appends the remark that since Scott thought his +note necessary the word has been 'completely adopted into English, +and especially into Parliamentary parlance.' + +line 166. Scott says:--'In all transactions of great or petty +importance, and among whomsoever taking place, it would seem that a +present of wine was a uniform and indispensable preliminary. It was +not to Sir John Falstaff alone that such an introductory preface was +necessary, however well judged and acceptable on the part of Mr. +Brook; for Sir Ralph Sadler, while on an embassy to Scotland in +1539-40, mentions, with complacency, 'the same night came Rothesay +(the herald so called) to me again, and brought me wine from the +King both white and red.'--Clifford's Edition, p. 39. + +line 168. For weeds see above, I. Introd. 256. + +Stanza VII. line 172. For wassell see above, I. xv. 231; and cp. +'merry wassail' in 'Rokeby,' III. xv. + +line 190. Cp. above, IV. Introd. 3. + +line 200. An Elizabethan omission of relative. + +Stanza VIII. The admirable characterisation, by which in this and +the two following stanzas the King, the Queen, and Lady Heron are +individually delineated and vividly contrasted, deserves special +attention. There is every reason to believe that the delineations, +besides being vivid and impressive, have the additional merit of +historical accuracy. + +line 213. piled = covered with a pile or nap. The Encyclopaedic +Dict., s. v., quotes: 'With that money I would make thee several +cloaks and line them with black crimson, and tawny, three filed +veluet.'--Barry; Ram Alley, III. i. + +line 221. A baldric (remotely from Lat. balteus, a girdle) was an +ornamental belt passing over one shoulder and round the other side, +and having the sword suspended from it. Cp. Pope's Iliad, III. 415:- +- + + 'A radiant BALDRIC, o'er his shoulder tied, + Sustained the sword that glittered at his side.' + +See also the 'wolf-skin baldric' in 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' III. +xvi. + +Stanza IX. line 249. 'Few readers need to be reminded of this belt, +to the weight of which James added certain ounces every year that he +lived. Pitscottie founds his belief that James was not slain in the +battle of Flodden, because the English never had this token of the +iron-belt to show to any Scottishman. The person and character of +James are delineated according to our best historians. His romantic +disposition, which led him highly to relish gaiety, approaching to +license, was, at the same time, tinged with enthusiastic devotion. +These propensities sometimes formed a strange contrast. He was wont, +during his fits of devotion, to assume the dress, and conform to the +rules, of the order of Franciscans; and when he had thus done +penance for some time in Stirling, to plunge again into the tide of +pleasure. Probably, too, with no unusual inconsistency, he sometimes +laughed at the superstitions observances to which he at other times +subjected himself. There is a very singular poem by Dunbar, +seemingly addressed to James IV, on one of these occasions of +monastic seclusion. It is a most daring and profane parody on the +services of the Church of Rome, entitled:-- + + "Dunbar's Dirige to the King, + Byding ewer lang in Striviling. + We that are here, in heaven's glory, + To you that are in Purgatory, + Commend us on our hearty wise; + I mean we folks in Paradise, + In Edinburgh, with all merriness, + To you in Stirling with distress, + Where neither pleasure nor delight is, + For pity this epistle wrytis," &c. + +See the whole in Sibbald's Collection, vol. i. p. 234.'--SCOTT. + +Since Scott's time Dunbar's poems have been edited, with perfect +scholarship and skill, by David Laing (2 vols. post 8vo. 1824), and +by John Small (in l885) for the Scottish Text Society. See Dict. of +Nat. Biog. + +lines 254-9. This perfect description may be compared, for accuracy +of observation and dexterous presentment, with the steed in 'Venus +and Adonis,' the paragon of horses in English verse. Both writers +give ample evidence of direct personal knowledge. + +Stanza X. line 261. 'It has been already noticed [see note to stanza +xiii. of Canto I.] that King James's acquaintance with Lady Heron of +Ford did not commence until he marched into England. Our historians +impute to the King's infatuated passion the delays which led to the +fatal defeat of Flodden. The author of "The Genealogy of the Heron +Family" endeavours, with laudable anxiety, to clear the Lady Ford +from this scandal; that she came and went, however, between the +armies of James and Surrey, is certain. See PINKERTON'S History, and +the authorities he refers to, vol. ii. p. 99. Heron of Ford had +been, in 1511, in some sort accessory to the slaughter of Sir Robert +Kerr of Cessford, Warden of the Middle Marches. It was committed by +his brother the bastard, Lilburn, and Starked, three Borderers. +Lilburn and Heron of Ford were delivered up by Henry to James, and +were imprisoned in the fortress of Fastcastle, where the former +died. Part of the pretence of Lady Ford's negotiations with James +was the liberty of her husband.'--SCOTT. + +line 271. love = beloved. Cp. Burns's 'O my love is like a red red +rose.' + +line 273. '"Also the Queen of France wrote a love-letter to the King +of Scotland, calling him her love, showing him that she had suffered +much rebuke in France for the defending of his honour. She believed +surely that he would recompense her again with some of his kingly +support in her necessity; that is to say, that he would raise her an +army, and come three foot of ground on English ground, for her sake. +To that effect she sent him a ring off her finger, with fourteen +thousand French crowns to pay bis expenses." PITSCOTTIE, p.110.--A +turquois ring--probably this fatal gift--is, with James's sword and +dagger, preserved in the College of Heralds, London.'--SCOTT. + +lines 287-8. The change of movement introduced by this couplet has +the intended effect of arresting the attention and lending pathos to +the description and sentiment. + +Stanza XI. line 302. The wimple was a covering for the neck, said to +have been introduced in the reign of Edward I. See Chaucer's +'Prologue,' 151:-- + + 'Ful semely hire wympel i-pynched was.' + +line 307. Cp. 2 Henry IV, iii. 2. 9, 'By yea and nay, sir.' + +line 308. Cp. refrain of song, ''Twas within a mile o' Edinburgh +Town,' in Johnson's Museum :-- + + 'The lassie blush'd, and frowning cried, "No, no, it will not +do; + I cannot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot, mannot buckle too."' + +Stanza XII. The skilful application of the anapaest for the +production of the brilliant gallop of 'Lochinvar' has been equalled +only by Scott himself in his 'Bonnets o' Bonnie Dundee.' Cp. Lord +Tennyson's 'Northern Farmer' (specially New Style), and Mr. +Browning's 'How they brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix.' 'The +ballad of Lochinvar,' says Scott, 'is in a very slight degree +founded on a ballad called " Katharine Janfarie," which may be found +in the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," vol. ii. Mr. Charles +Gibbon's 'Laird o' Lamington' is based on the same legend. + +line 332. 'See the novel of "Redgauntlet" for a detailed picture of +some of the extraordinary phenomena of the spring-tides in the +Solway Frith.'--LOCKHART. + +line 344. galliard (Sp. gallarda, Fr. gaillarda), a lively dance. +Cp. Henry V, i. 2, 252, 'a nimble galliard,' and note on expression +in Clarendon Press ed. + +line 353. scaur, cliff or river bank. Cp. Blackie's 'Ascent of +Cruachan' in 'Lays of the Highlands and Islands,' p. 98:-- + + 'Scale the SCAUR that gleams so red.' + +Stanza XIII. line 376. Cp. Dryden's 'Aurengzebe':- + + 'Love and a crown no rivalship can bear.' + +line 382. Sir R. Kerr. See above, line 261. + +line 383. Andrew Barton, High Admiral of Scotland, was one of a +family of seamen, to whom James IV granted letters of reprisal +against Portuguese traders for the violent death of their father. +Both the King and the Bartons profited much by their successes. At +length the Earl of Surrey, accusing Andrew Barton of attacking +English as well as Portuguese vessels, sent two powerful men-of-war +against him, and a sharp battle, fought in the Downs, resulted in +Barton's death and the capture of his vessels. See Chambers's +'Eminent Scotsmen,' vol. v. + +line 386. James sent his herald to Henry before Terouenne, calling +upon him to desist from hostilities against Scotland's ally, the +king of France, and sternly reminding him of the various insults to +which Henry's supercilious policy had subjected him. Flodden had +been fought before the messenger returned with his answer. Barclay a +contemporary poet, had written about seven years earlier, in his +'Ship of Fooles':-- + + 'If the Englishe Lion his wisedome and riches + Conjoyne with true love, peace, and fidelitie + With the Scottishe Unicornes might and hardines, + There is no doubt but all whole Christentie + Shall live in peace, wealth, and tranquilitie.' + +But such a desirable consummation was to wait yet a while. + +Stanza XIV. line 398. 'Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus,' says +Scott, 'a man remarkable for strength of body and mind, acquired the +popular name of Bell-the-Cat, upon the following remarkable +occasion:--James the Third, of whom Pitscottie complains that he +delighted more in music, and "policies of building," than in +hunting, hawking, and other noble exercises, was so ill advised as +to make favourites of his architects and musicians, whom the same +historian irreverently terms masons and fiddlers. His nobility, who +did not sympathise in the King's respect for the fine arts, were +extremely incensed at the honours conferred on those persons, +particularly on Cochrane, a mason, who had been created Earl of Mar; +and, seizing the opportunity, when, in 1482, the King had convoked +the whole array of the country to march against the English, they +held a midnight council in the church of Lauder, for the purpose of +forcibly removing these minions from the King's person. When all had +agreed on the propriety of this measure, Lord Gray told the assembly +the apologue of the Mice, who had formed a resolution, that it would +be highly advantageous to their community to tie a bell round the +cat's neck, that they might hear her approach at a distance; but +which public measure unfortunately miscarried, from no mouse being +willing to undertake the task of fastening the bell. "I understand +the moral," said Angus, "and, that what we propose may not lack +execution, I will bell the cat."' + +The rest of the strange scene is thus told by Pitscottie:-- + +'By this was advised and spoken by thir lords foresaid, Cochran, the +Earl of Mar, came from the King to the council, (which council was +holden in the kirk of Lauder for the time,) who was well accompanied +with a band of men of war; to the number of three hundred light +axes, all clad in white livery, and black bends thereon, that they +might be known for Cochran the Earl of Mar's men. Himself was clad +in a riding-pie of black velvet, with a great chain of gold about +his neck, to the value of five hundred crowns, and four blowing +horns, with both the ends of gold and silk, set with a precious +stone, called a berryl, hanging in the midst. This Cochran had his +heumont born before him, overgilt with gold, and so were all the +rest of his horns, and all his pallions were of fine canvas of silk, +and the cords thereof fine twined silk, and the chains upon his +pallions were double overgilt with gold. + +'This Cochran was so proud in his conceit, that he counted no lords +to be marrows to him, therefore he rushed rudely at the kirk-door. +The council inquired who it was that perturbed them at that time. +Sir Robert Douglas, Laird of Lochleven, was keeper of the kirk-door +at that time, who inquired who that was that knocked so rudely; and +Cochran answered, "This is I, the Earl of Mar." The which news +pleased well the lords, because they were ready boun to cause take +him, as is before rehearsed. Then the Earl of Angus past hastily to +the door, and with him Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven, there to +receive in the Earl of Mar, and go many of his complices who were +there, as they thought good. And the Earl of Angus met with the Earl +of Mar, as he came in at the door, and pulled the golden chain from +his craig, and said to him, a tow1 would set him better. Sir Robert +Douglas syne pulled the blowing horn from him in like manner, and +said, "He had been the hunter of mischief over long." This Cochran +asked, "My lords, is it mows2, or earnest?" They answered, and said, +"It is good earnest, and so thou shalt find; for thou and thy +complices have abused our prince this long time; of whom thou shalt +hare no more credence, but shalt have thy reward according to thy +good service, as thou hast deserved in times bypast; right so the +rest of thy followers." +------------------------------------- + 1rope. 2jest. +------------------------------------- +'Notwithstanding, the lords held them quiet till they caused certain +armed men to pass into the King's pallion, and two or three wise men +to pass with them, and give the King fair pleasant words, till they +laid hands on all the King's servants and took them and hanged them +before his eyes over the bridge of Lawder. Incontinent they brought +forth Cochran, and his hands bound with a tow, who desired them to +take one of his own pallion tows and bind his hands, for he thought +shame to have his hands bound with such tow of hemp, like a thief. +The lords answered, he was a traitor, he deserved no better; and, +for despight, they took a hair tether3, and hanged him over the +bridge of Lawder, above the rest of his complices.'--PITSCOTTIE, p. +78, folio edit. +------------------------------------- + 3halter. +------------------------------------- +line 400. Hermitage Castle is on Hermitage water, which falls into +the Liddell. The ruins still exist. + +line 402. Bothwell Castle is on the right bank of the Clyde, a few +miles above Glasgow. While staying there in 1799 Scott began a +ballad entitled 'Bothwell Castle,' which remains a fragment. +Lockhart gave it in the 'Life,' i. 305, ed. 1837. There, as here, he +makes reference to the touching legendary ballad, 'Bothwell bank +thou bloomest fair,' which a traveller before 1605 heard a woman +singing in Palestine. + +line 406. Reference to Cicero's cedant arma togae, a relic of an +attempt at verse. + +line 414. 'Angus was an old man when the war against England was +resolved upon. He earnestly spoke against that measure from its +commencement; and, on the eve of the battle of Flodden, remonstrated +so freely upon the impolicy of fighting, that the King said to him, +with scorn and indignation, "if he was afraid, he might go home." +The Earl burst into tears at this insupportable insult, and retired +accordingly, leaving his sons, George, Master of Angus, and Sir +William of Glenbervie, to command his followers. They were both +slain in the battle, with two hundred gentlemen of the name of +Douglas. The aged Earl, broken-hearted at the calamities of his +house and his country, retired into a religious house, where he died +about a year after the field of Flodden.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XV. lines 415-20. Cp. description of Sir H. Osbaldistone, +'Rob Roy,' chap. vi. + +line 429. 'The ruins of Tantallon Castle occupy a high rock +projecting into the German Ocean, about two miles east of North +Berwick. The building is not seen till a close approach, as there is +rising ground betwixt it and the land. The circuit is of large +extent, fenced upon three sides by the precipice which overhangs the +sea, and on the fourth by a double ditch and very strong outworks. +Tantallon was a principal castle of the Douglas family, and when the +Earl of Angus was banished, in 1527, it continued to hold out +against James V. The King went in person against it, and for its +reduction, borrowed from the Castle of Dunbar, then belonging to the +Duke of Albany, two great cannons, whose names, as Pitscottie +informs us with laudable minuteness, were "Thrawn mouth'd Meg and +her Marrow"; also, "two great botcards, and two moyan, two double +falcons, and four quarter falcons"; for the safe guiding and re- +delivery of which, three lords were laid in pawn at Dunbar. Yet, +notwithstanding all this apparatus, James was forced to raise the +siege, and only afterwards obtained possession of Tantallon by +treaty with the governor, Simon Panango, When the Earl of Angus +returned from banishment, upon the death of James, he again obtained +possession of Tantallon, and it actually afforded refuge to an +English ambassador, under circumstances similar to those described +in the text. This was no other than the celebrated Sir Ralph Sadler, +who resided there for some time under Angus's protection, after the +failure of his negotiation for matching the infant Mary with Edward +VI. He says, that though this place was poorly furnished, it was of +such strength as might warrant him against the malice of his +enemies, and that he now thought himself out of danger. (His State +papers were published in 1810, with certain notes by Scott.) + +'There is a military tradition, that the old Scottish March was +meant to express the words, + + "Ding down Tantallon, + Mak a brig to the Bass." + +'Tantallon was at length "dung down" and ruined by the Covenanters; +its lord, the Marquis of Douglas, being a favourer of the royal +cause. The castle and barony were sold in the beginning of the +eighteenth century to President Dalrymple of North Berwick, by the +then Marquis of Douglas.'--SCOTT. + +In 1888, under the direction of Mr. Walter Dalrymple, son of the +proprietor, certain closed staircases in the ruins were opened, and +various excavations were made, with the purpose of discovering as +fully as possible what the original character of the structure had +been. These operations have added greatly to the interest of the +ruin, which both by position and aspect is one of the most imposing +in the country. + +line 432. 'A very ancient sword, in possession of Lord Douglas, +bears, among a great deal of flourishing, two hands pointing to a +heart which is placed betwixt them, and the date 1329, being the +year in which Bruce charged the Good Lord Douglas to carry his heart +to the Holy Land. The following lines (the first couplet of which is +quoted by Godscroft, as a popular saying in his time) are inscribed +around the emblem:-- + + "So mony guid as of ye Dovglas beinge, + Of ane surname was ne'er in Scotland seine. + + I will ye charge, efter yat I depart, + To holy grawe, and thair bury my hart; + Let it remane ever BOTHE TYME AND HOWR, + To ye last day I sie my Saviour. + + I do protest in tyme of al my ringe, + Ye lyk subject had never ony keing." + +'This curious and valuable relic was nearly lost during the Civil +War of 1745-6, being carried away from Douglas Castle by some of +those in arms for Prince Charles. But great interest having been +made by the Duke of Douglas among the chief partisans of the Stuart, +it was at length restored. It resembles a Highland claymore, of the +usual size, is of an excellent temper, and admirably poised.'-- +SCOTT. + +Stanza XVI. line 461. Scott quotes:-- + + 'O Dowglas! Dowglas + Tender and trew.'--The Houlate. + +line 470. There are two famous sparrows in literature, the one +Lesbia's sparrow, tenderly lamented by Catullus, and the other Jane +Scrope's sparrow, memorialised by Skelton in the ' Boke of Phyllyp +Sparowe.' + +line 475. The tears of such as Douglas are of the kind mentioned in +Cowley's 'Prophet,' line 20:-- + + 'Words that weep, and tears that speak.' + +Stanza XVII. line 501. 'The ancient cry to make room for a dance or +pageant.'--SCOTT. + +Cp. Romeo and Juliet, i. 5. 28: 'A hall! a hall! give room,' &c. + +line 505. The tune is significant of a Scottish invasion of England. +See Scott's appropriate song to the 'ancient air,' 'Monastery,' xxv. +Reference is made in I Henry II, ii. 4. 368, to the head-dress of +the Scottish soldiers, when Falstaff informs Prince Hal that Douglas +is in England, 'and a thousand BLUE-CAPS more.' + +Stanza XIX. line 545. Many of the houses in Old Edinburgh are built +to a great height, so that the common stairs leading up among a +group of them have sometimes been called 'perpendicular streets.' +Pitch, meaning 'height,' is taken from hawking, the height to which +a bird rose depending largely on the pitch given it. + +Stanza XX. line 558. St. Giles's massive steeple is one of the +features of Edinburgh. The ancient church, recently renovated by the +munificence of the late William Chambers, is now one of the most +imposing Presbyterian places of worship in Scotland. + +line 569. For bowne see above, IV. 487. + +line 571. A certain impressiveness is given by the sudden +introduction of this pentameter. + +Stanza XXI. Jeffrey, in reviewing' Marmion, 'fixed on this narrative +of the Abbess as a passage marked by 'flatness and tediousness,' and +could see in it 'no sort of beauty nor elegance of diction.' The +answer to such criticism is that the narrative is direct and +practical, and admirably suited to its purpose. + +line 585. Despiteously, despitefully. 'Despiteous' is used in 'Lay +of the Last Minstrel,' V. xix. Cp. Chaucer's 'Man of Lawe,' 605 +(Clarendon Press ed.):-- + + 'And sey his wyf despitously yslayn.' + +line 587. 'A German general, who commanded the auxiliaries sent by +the Duchess of Burgundy with Lambert Simnel. He was defeated and +killed at Stokefield. The name of this German general is preserved +by that of the field of battle, which is called, after him, Swart- +moor.--There were songs about him long current in England. See +Dissertation prefixed to RITSON'S Ancient Songs, 1792, p. lxi.'-- +SCOTT. + +line 588. Lambert Simnel, the Pretender, made a scullion after his +overthrow by Henry VII. + +line 590. Stokefield (Stoke, near Newark, county Nottingham) was +fought 16 June, 1487. + +line 607. 'It was early necessary for those who felt themselves +obliged to believe in the divine judgment being enunciated in the +trial by duel, to find salvos for the strange and obviously +precarious chances of the combat. Various curious evasive shifts, +used by those who took up an unrighteous quarrel, were supposed +sufficient to convert it into a just one. Thus, in the romance of +"Amys and Amelion," the one brother-in-arms, fighting for the other, +disguised in his armour, swears that HE did not commit the crime of +which the Steward, his antagonist, truly, though maliciously, +accused him whom he represented. Brantome tells a story of an +Italian, who entered the lists upon an unjust quarrel, but, to make +his cause good, fled from his enemy at the first onset. "Turn, +coward!" exclaimed his antagonist. "Thou liest," said the Italian, +"coward am I none; and in this quarrel will I fight to the death, +but my first cause of combat was unjust, and I abandon it." "Je vous +laisse a penser," adds Brantome, "s'il n'y a pas de l'abus la." +Elsewhere he says, very sensibly, upon the confidence which those +who had a righteous cause entertained of victory: "Un autre abus y +avoit-il, que ceux qui avoient un juste subjet de querelle, et qu'on +les faisoit jurer avant entrer au camp, pensoient estre aussitost +vainqueurs, voire s'en assuroient-t-ils du tout, mesmes que leurs +confesseurs, parrains et confidants leurs en respondoient tout-a- +fait, comme si Dieu leur en eust donne une patente; et ne regardant +point a d'autres fautes passes, et que Dieu en garde la punition a +ce coup la pour plus grande, despiteuse, et exemplaire."--Discours +sur le Duels.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XXII. line 612. Recreant, a coward, a disgraced knight. See +'Lady of the Lake,' V. xvi:-- + + 'Let recreant yield who fears to die'; + +and cp. 'caitiff recreant,' Richard II, i. 2. 53. + +line 633. The Tame falls into the Trent above Tamworth. + +Stanza XXIII. line 662. Quaint, neat, pretty, as in Much Ado, iii. +4. 21: 'A fine, quaint, graceful, and excellent fashion.' + +Stanza XXIV. line 704. St. Withold, St. Vitalis. Cp. King Lear, iii. +4. III. Clarendon Press ed., and note. This saint was invoked in +nightmare. + +Stanza XXV. line 717. Malison, curse. + +line 717. 'The Cross of Edinburgh was an ancient and curious +structure. The lower part was an octagonal tower, sixteen feet in +diameter, and about fifteen feet high. At each angle there was a +pillar, and between them an arch, of the Grecian shape. Above these +was a projecting battlement, with a turret at each corner, and +medallions, of rude but curious workmanship, between them. Above +this rose the proper Cross, a column of one stone, upwards of twenty +feet high, surmounted with a unicorn. This pillar is preserved in +the grounds of the property of Drum, near Edinburgh. The Magistrates +of Edinburgh, in 1756, with consent of the Lords of Session, (proh +pudor!) destroyed this curious monument, under a wanton pretext that +it encumbered the street; while, on the one hand, they left an ugly +mass called the Luckenbooths, and, on the other, an awkward, long, +and low guard-house, which were fifty times more encumbrance than +the venerable and inoffensive Cross. + +'From the tower of the Cross, so long as it remained, the heralds +published the acts of Parliament; and its site, marked by radii, +diverging from a stone centre, in the High Street, is still the +place where proclamations are made.'--SCOTT. + +See Fergusson's 'Plainstanes,' Poems, p. 48. The Cross was restored +by Mr. Gladstone in 1885, to commemorate his connexion with +Midlothian as its parliamentary representative. + +line 735. 'This supernatural citation is mentioned by all our +Scottish historians. It was, probably, like the apparition at +Linlithgow, an attempt, by those averse to the war, to impose upon +the superstitious temper of James IV. The following account from +Pitscottie is characteristically minute, and furnishes, besides, +some curious particulars of the equipment of the army of James IV. I +need only add to it, that Plotcock, or Plutock, is no other than +Pluto. The Christians of the middle ages by no means disbelieved in +the existence of the heathen deities; they only considered them as +devils, and Plotcock, so far from implying any thing fabulous, was a +synonyme of the grand enemy of mankind." {2} "Yet all thir +warnings, and uncouth tidings, nor no good counsel, might stop the +King, at this present, from his vain purpose, and wicked enterprize, +but hasted him fast to Edinburgh, and there to make his provision +and famishing, in having forth of his army against the day +appointed, that they should meet in the Barrow-muir of Edinburgh: +That is to say, seven cannons that he had forth of the Castle of +Edinburgh, which were called the Seven Sisters, casten by Robert +Borthwick, the master-gunner, with other small artillery, bullet, +powder, and all manner of order, as the master-gunner could devise. + +'"In this meantime, when they were taking forth their artillery, and +the King being in the Abbey for the time, there was a cry heard at +the Market-cross of Edinburgh at the hour of midnight, proclaiming +as it had been a summons, which was named and called by the +proclaimer thereof, the summons of Plotcock; which desired all men +to compear, both Earl, and Lord, and Baron, and all honest gentlemen +within the town, (every man specified by his own name,) to compear, +within the space of forty days, before his master, where it should +happen him to appoint, and be for the time, under the pain of +disobedience. But whether this summons was proclaimed by vain +persons, night-walkers, or drunken men, for their pastime, or if it +was a spirit, I cannot tell truly: but it was shewn to me, that an +indweller of the town, Mr. Richard Lawson, being evil disposed, +ganging in his gallery-stair foreanent the Cross, hearing this voice +proclaiming this summons, thought marvel what it should be, cried on +his servant to bring him his purse; and when he had brought him it, +he took out a crown, and cast over the stair, saying, 'I appeal from +that summons, judgment, and sentence thereof, and take me all whole +in the mercy of God, and Christ Jesus his son.' Verily, the author +of this, that caused me write the manner of this summons, was a +landed gentleman, who was at that time twenty years of age, and was +in the town the time of the said summons; and thereafter, when the +field was stricken, he swore to me, there was no man that escaped +that was called in this summons, but that one man alone which made +his protestation, and appealed from the said summons: but all the +lave were perished in the field with the king."' + +Stanza XXIX. line 838. 'The convent alluded to is a foundation of +Cistertian nuns, near North Berwick, of which there are still some +remains. It was founded by Duncan, Earl of Fife, in 1216.'--SCOTT. + +line 840. Two rocky islands off North Berwick. + +Stanza XXX. line 899. Nares says: 'In the solemn form of +excommunication used in the Romish Church, the bell was tolled, the +book of offices for the purpose used, and three candles +extinguished, with certain ceremonies.' Cp. 'Lay of the Last +Minstrel,' VI. xxiii. 400, for the observance at a burial service. + +Stanza. XXXI. line 914. 'This relates to the catastrophe of a real +Robert de Marmion, in the reign of King Stephen, whom William of +Newbury describes with some attributes of my fictitious hero: "Homo +bellicosus, ferosia, et astucia, fere nullo suo tempore impar." This +Baron, having expelled the monks from the church of Coventry, was +not long of experiencing the divine judgment, as the same monks, no +doubt, termed his disaster. Having waged a feudal war with the Earl +of Chester, Marmion's horse fell, as he charged in the van of his +troop, against a body of the Earl's followers: the rider's thigh +being broken by the fall, his head was cut off by a common foot- +soldier, ere he could receive any succour. The whole story is told +by William of Newbury.'--SCOTT. + +line 926. The story of Judith and Holofernes is in the Apocrypha. + +line 928. See Judges iv. + +line 931. St. Antony's fire is erysipelas. + +Stanza XXXII. line 947. This line, omitted in early editions, was +supplied by Lockhart from the MS. + +Stanza XXXIII. line 973. Tantallon, owing to its position, presents +itself suddenly to those approaching it from the south. + +line 980. Lockhart annotates thus:-- + +'During the regency (subsequent to the death of James V) the Dowager +Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, became desirous of putting a French +garrison into Tantallon, as she had into Dunbar and Inchkeith, in +order the better to bridle the lords and barons, who inclined to the +reformed faith, and to secure by citadels the sea-coast of the Frith +of Forth. For this purpose, the Regent, to use the phrase of the +time "dealed with" the (then) Earl of Angus for his consent to the +proposed measure. He occupied himself, while she was speaking, in +feeding a falcon which sat upon his wrist, and only replied by +addressing the bird, but leaving the Queen to make the application. +"The devil is in this greedy gled--she will never be fou." But when +the Queen, without appearing to notice this hint, continued to press +her obnoxious request, Angus replied, in the true spirit of a feudal +noble, "Yes, Madam, the castle is yours; God forbid else. But by the +might of God, Madam!" such was his usual oath, "I must be your +Captain and Keeper for you, and I will keep it as well as any you +can place there.'" -SIR WALTER SCOTT'S Provincial Antiquities, vol. +ii. p. 167.--Prose Works, vol. vii. p. 436. + +Stanza XXXIV. line 998. Cp. AEneid, IV. 174:-- + + 'Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum.' + +line 1001. Strongholds in Northumberland, near Flodden. + +line 1017. Opposite Flodden, beyond the Till. + +line 1032. 'bated of, diminished. Cp. Timon of Athens, ii. 2. 208:-- + + ' You do yourselves + Much wrong; you BATE too much of your own merits.' + +INTRODUCTION TO CANTO SIXTH. + +Richard Heber (1773-1833) half-brother of Bishop Heber, was for some +time M. P. for Oxford University. His large inherited fortune +enabled him freely to indulge his love of books, and his, English +library of 105,000 volumes cost him L180,000. He had thousands +besides on the continent. As a cherished friend of Scott's he is +frequently mentioned in the 'Life.' He introduced Leyden to Scott +(Life, i. 333, 1837 ed.). + +'Mertoun House, the seat of Hugh Scott, Esq., of Harden, is +beautifully situated on the Tweed, about two miles below Dryburgh +Abbey.'--LOCKHART. + +line 7. 'The Iol of the heathen Danes (a word still applied to +Christmas in Scotland; was solemnized with great festivity. The +humour of the Danes at table displayed itself in pelting each other +with bones, and Torfaeus tells a long and curious story, in the +History of Hrolfe Kraka, of one Hottus, an inmate of the Court of +Denmark, who was so generally assailed with these missiles, that he +constructed, out of the bones with which he was overwhelmed, a very +respectable intrenchment, against those who continued the raillery. +The dances of the northern warriors round the great fires of pine- +trees, are commemorated by Olaus Magnus, who says, they danced with +such fury, holding each other by the hands, that, if the grasp of +any failed, he was pitched into the fire with the velocity of a +sling. The sufferer, on such occasions, was instantly plucked out, +and obliged to quaff off a certain measure of ale, as a penalty for +"spoiling the king's fire."'-SCOTT. + +line 33. Scott, after explaining that in Roman Catholic countries +mass is never said at night except on Christmas eve, quotes as +illustrative of early celebrations of the festival the names and +descriptions of the allegorical characters in Jonson's 'Christmas +his Masque. 'The personages are Father Christmas himself and his ten +sons and daughters, led in by Cupid. 'Baby-Cake,' the youngest +child, is misprinted 'Baby-Cocke in Scott. + +line 45. Post and pair, a game at cards, is one of the sons of +Father Christmas in Jonson's Masque. He comes in with 'a pair-royal +of aces in his hat; his garment all done over with pairs and purs; +his squire carrying a box, cards, and counters.' + +line 55. The reference is to the ancient salt-cellar, which parted +superiors from inferiors at table. + +line 75. 'It seems certain that the MUMMERS of England, who (in +Northumberland at least) used to go about in disguise to the +neighbouring houses, bearing the then useless ploughshares; and the +GUISARDS of Scotland, not yet in total disuse, present, in some +indistinct degree, a shadow of the old mysteries, which were the +origin of the English drama. In Scotland, (me ipso teste,) we were +wont, during my boyhood, to take the characters of the apostles, at +least of Peter, Paul, and Judas Iscariot; the first had the keys, +the second carried a sword, and the last the bag, in which the dole +of our neighbours' plum-cake was deposited. One played as a +champion, and recited some traditional rhymes; another was:-- + + ...."Alexander, King of Macedon, + Who conquer'd all the world but Scotland alone. + When he came to Scotland his courage grew cold, + To see a little nation courageous and bold." + +These, and many such verses, were repeated, but by rote, and +unconnectedly. There were also, occasionally, I believe, a Saint +George. In all, there was a confused resemblance of the ancient +mysteries, in which the characters of Scripture, the Nine Worthies, +and other popular personages, were usually exhibited. It were much +to be wished that the Chester Mysteries were published from the MS. +in the Museum, with the annotations which a diligent investigator of +popular antiquities might still supply. The late acute and valuable +antiquary, Mr. Ritson, showed me several memoranda towards such a +task, which are probably now dispersed or lost. See, however, his +"Remarks on Shakspeare," 1783, p. 38. + +'Since the first edition of "Marmion" appeared, this subject has +received much elucidation from the learned and extensive labours of +Mr. Douce; and the Chester Mysteries (edited by J. H. Markland, +Esq.) have been printed in a style of great elegance and accuracy +(in 1818) by Bensley and Sons, London, for the Roxburghe Club. +1830.'--SCOTT. + +line 93. The proverb 'Blood is warmer than water' is also common in +the form 'Blood is thicker than water.' + +line 96. 'Mr. Scott of Harden, my kind and affectionate friend, and +distant relation, has the original of a poetical invitation, +addressed from his grandfather to my relative, from which a few +lines in the text are imitated. They are dated, as the epistle in +the text, from Mertoun-house, the seat of the Harden family:-- + + "With amber beard, and flaxen hair, + And reverend apostolic air, + Free of anxiety and care, + Come hither, Christmas-day, and dine; + We'll mix sobriety with wine, + And easy mirth with thoughts divine. + We Christians think it holiday, + On it no sin to feast or play; + Others, in spite, may fast and pray. + No superstition in the use + Our ancestors made of a goose; + Why may not we, as well as they, + Be innocently blithe that day, + On goose or pie, on wine or ale, + And scorn enthusiastic zeal?-- + Pray come, and welcome, or plague rott + Your friend and landlord, Walter Scott. + "Mr. Walter Scott, Lessuden" + +'The venerable old gentleman, to whom the lines are addressed was +the younger brother of William Scott of Raeburn. Being the cadet of +a cadet of the Harden family, he had very little to lose; yet he +contrived to lose the small property he had, by engaging in the +civil wars and intrigues of the house of Stuart. His veneration for +the exiled family was so great, that he swore he would not shave his +beard till they were restored: a mark of attachment, which, I +suppose, had been common during Cromwell's usurpation; for, in +Cowley's "Cutter of Coleman Street," one drunken cavalier upbraids +another, that, when he was not able to afford to pay a barber, he +affected to "wear a beard for the King." I sincerely hope this was +not absolutely the original reason of my ancestor's beard; which, as +appears from a portrait in the possession of Sir Henry Hay +Macdougal, Bart., and another painted for the famous Dr. Pitcairn, +was a beard of a most dignified and venerable appearance.'-- SCOTT. + +line 111. 'See Introduction to the 'Minstrelsy,' vol. iv. p. 59.'-- +LOCKHART. + +lines 117-20. The Tweed winds and loiters around Mertoun and its +grounds as if fascinated by their attractiveness. With line. 120 cp. +'clipped in with the sea,' I Henry IV, iii. I. 45. + +line 126. Cp. 2 Henry IV, iii. 2. 228: 'We have heard the chimes at +midnight, Master Shallow!' + +line 132. Scott quotes from Congreve's 'Old Bachelor,'--'Hannibal +was a pretty fellow, sir--a very pretty fellow in his day,' which is +part of a speech by Noll Bluffe, one of the characters. + +line 139. With 'Limbo lost,' cp. the 'Limbo large and broad' of +'Paradise Lost,' iii. 495. Limbo is the borders of hell, and also +hell itself. + +line 143. 'John Leyden, M. D., who had been of great service to Sir +Walter Scott in the preparation of the 'Border Minstrelsy,' sailed +for India in April, 1803, and died at Java in August, 1811, before +completing his 36th year. + + "Scenes sung by him who sings no more! + His brief and bright career is o'er, + And mute his tuneful strains; + Quench'd is his lamp of varied lore, + That loved the light of song to pour; + A distant and a deadly shore + Has LEYDEN'S cold remains." + Lord of the Isles, Canto IV. + +'See a notice of his life in the Author's Miscellaneous Prose Works, +vol. iv.'--LOCKHART. + +line 146. For the solemn and powerful interview of Hercules and +Ulysses, see close of Odyssey XI. Wraith (Icel. vordhr, guardian) is +here used for SHADE. In Scottish superstition it signifies the +shadow of a person seen before death, as in 'Guy Mannering,' chap. +x: 'she was uncertain if it were the gipsy, or her WRAITH.' The +most notable use of the word and the superstition in recent poetry +is in Rossetti's 'King's Tragedy':-- + + 'And the woman held his eyes with her eyes:-- + "O King; thou art come at last; + But thy WRAITH has haunted the Scottish sea + To my sight for four years past. + "Four years it is since first I met, + 'Twixt the Duchray and the Dhu, + A shape whose feet clung close in a shroud, + And that shape for thine I knew,"' &c. + +line 148. AEneid, III. 19. + +line 159. 'This passage is illustrated by "Ceubren yr Ellyll, or the +Spirit's Blasted Tree," a legendary tale, by the Reverend George +Warrington, who says:-- + +'"The event, on which the tale is founded, is preserved by tradition +in the family of the Vaughans of Hengwyrt; nor is it entirely lost, +even among the common people, who still point out this oak to the +passenger. The enmity between the two Welsh chieftains, Howel Sele, +and Owen Glendwr, was extreme, and marked by vile treachery in the +one, and ferocious cruelty in the other. {3} The story is somewhat +changed and softened, as more favourable to the character of the two +chiefs, and as better answering the purpose of poetry, by admitting +the passion of pity, and a greater degree of sentiment in the +description. Some trace of Howel Sele's mansion was to be seen a few +years ago, and may perhaps be still visible, in the park of Nannau, +now belonging to Sir Robert Vaughan, Baronet, in the wild and +romantic tracks of Merionethshire. The abbey mentioned passes under +two names, Vener and Cymmer. The former is retained, as more +generally used."--See the Metrical Tale in Sir +Walter Scott's Poetical Works, vol. vii. pp. 396-402.'--LOCKHART. + +line 161. By a victory gained at Maida, 6 July 1806, Sir John Stuart +broke the power of the French in southern Italy. + +line 163. 'The Daoine shi,' or Men of Peace, of the Scottish +Highlanders, rather resemble the Scandinavian Duergar, than the +English Fairies. Notwithstanding their name, they are, if not +absolutely malevolent, at least peevish, discontented, and apt to do +mischief on slight provocation. The belief of their existence is +deeply impressed on the Highlanders, who think they are particularly +offended at mortals, who talk of them, who wear their favourite +colour green, or in any respect interfere with their affairs. This +is especially to be avoided on Friday, when, whether as dedicated to +Venus, with whom, in Germany, this subterraneous people are held +nearly connected, or for a more solemn reason, they are more active +and possessed of greater power. Some curious particulars concerning +the popular superstitions of the Highlanders may be found in Dr. +Graham's Picturesque Sketches of Perthshire.'--SCOTT. + +Friday (the day of the goddess Freya) is regarded as lucky for +marriages. Mr. Thiselton Dyer in 'Domestic Folk-lore,' p. 39, quotes +the City Chamberlain of Glasgow as affirming that 'nine-tenths of +the marriages in Glasgow are celebrated on a Friday.' In Hungary +nothing of any importance is undertaken on a Friday, and there is a +Hungarian proverb which says that 'whoever is merry on a Friday is +sure to weep on the Sunday.' The Sicilians make the exception for +weddings. In America Friday is a lucky day-the New World, no doubt, +upsetting in this as other matters the conservatism of the Old. The +superstition of sailors about Friday is famous. Cp. the old English +song 'The Mermaid.' For further discussion of the subject see 'Notes +and Queries,' 6th S. vol. vi. + +line 175. 'The journal of the Friend, to whom the Fourth Canto of +the poem is inscribed, furnished me with the following account of a +striking superstition:-- + +'"Passed the pretty little village of Franchemont (near Spaw), with +the romantic ruins of the old castle of the counts of that name. The +road leads through many delightful vales, on a rising ground: at +the extremity of one of them stands the ancient castle, now the +subject of many superstitions legends. It is firmly believed by the +neighbouring peasantry, that the last Baron of Franchemont +deposited, in one of the vaults of the castle, a ponderous chest, +containing an immense treasure in gold and silver, which, by some +magic spell, was intrusted to the care of the Devil, who is +constantly found sitting on the chest in the shape of a huntsman. +Any one adventurous enough to touch the chest is instantly seized +with the palsy. Upon one occasion, a priest of noted piety was +brought to the vault: he used all the arts of exorcism to persuade +his infernal majesty to vacate his seat, but in vain; the huntsman +remained immovable. At last, moved by the earnestness of the priest, +he told him, that he would agree to resign the chest, if the +exorciser would sign his name with blood. But the priest understood +his meaning, and refused, as by that act he would have delivered +over his soul to the Devil. Yet if any body can discover the mystic +words used by the person who deposited the treasure, and pronounced +them, the fiend must instantly decamp. I had many stories of a +similar nature from a peasant, who had himself seen the Devil, in +the shape of a great cat."'--SCOTT. + +line 190. Begun has always been a possible past tense in poetry, and +living poets continue its use. There is an example in Mr. Browning's +'Waring':-- + + 'Give me my so-long promised son, + Let Waring end what I BEGUN; + +and Lord Tennyson writes:-- + + 'The light of days when life BEGUN! + +in the memorial verses prefixed to his brother's 'Collected Sonnets' +(1879). + +line 205. Robert Lindsay of Pittscottie (a Fife estate, eastward of +Cupar) lived in the first half of the sixteenth century, and wrote +'Chronicles of Scotland' from James II to Mary. Nothing further of +him is known with certainty. Like the Lion King he was a cadet of +the noble family of Lindsay, including Crawford and Lindsay and +Lindsay of the Byres. + +line 207. See above, IV. xiv. + +line 212. John of Fordun (a village in Kincardineshire) about the +end of the fourteenth century wrote the first five of the sixteen +books of the 'Scotochronicon,' the work being completed by Walter +Bower, appointed Abbot of St. Colm's, 1418. + +line 220. Gripple, tenacious, narrow. See 'Waverley,' chap. lxvii. - +-'Naebody wad be sae gripple as to take his gear'; and cp. 'Faerie +Queene,' VI. iv. 6:-- + + 'On his shield he GRIPPLE hold did lay.' + +line 225. They hide away their treasures without using them, as the +magpie or the jackdaw does with the articles it steals. + +CANTO SIXTH. + +Stanza I. line 6. Cp. Job xxxix. 25. + +line 8. Terouenne, about thirty miles S. E. of Calais. + +line 9. Leaguer, the besiegers' camp. Cp. Longfellow's 'Evangeline,' +I. 5,-- + + 'Like to a gipsy camp, or a LEAGUER after a battle.' + +Stanza II. lines 27-30. Cp. 'Faerie Queene,' III. iv. 7.:-- + + 'The surges hore + That 'gainst the craggy clifts did loudly rore, + And in their raging surquedry disdaynd + That the fast earth affronted them so sore.' + +lines 34-6. The cognizance was derived from the commission Brace +gave the Good Lord James Douglas to carry his heart to Palestine. +The FIELD is the whole surface of the shield, the CHIEF the upper +portion. The MULLET is a star-shaped figure resembling the rowel of +a spur, and having five points. + +line 45. Bartisan, a small overhanging turret. + +line 46. With vantage-coign, or advantageous corner, cp. 'Macbeth,' +i. 6. 7. + +Stanza III. line 69. Adown, poetical for down. Cp. Chaucer, 'Monkes +Tale,' 3630, Clarendon Press ed.:-- + + 'Thus day by day this child bigan to crye + Til in his fadres barme ADOUN it lay.' + +lines 86-91. Cp. Coleridge's 'Christabel,' line 68. + + 'I guess, 'twas frightful there to see + A lady so richly clad as she-- + Beautiful exceedingly.' + +Stanza IV. lines 106-9. Cp. 'Il Penseroso,' 161-6,-- + + 'There let the pealing organ blow + To the full voic'd quire below, + In service high, and anthems clear, + As may with sweetness, through mine ear, + Dissolve me into ecstasies, + And bring all Heav'n before mine eyes.' + +See also Coleridge's 'Dejection,' v.:-- + + 'O pure of heart! thou need'st not ask of me + What this strong music in the soul may be!' &c. + +line 112. 'I shall only produce one instance more of the great +veneration paid to Lady Hilda, which still prevails even in these +our days; and that is, the constant opinion, that she rendered, and +still renders herself visible, on some occasions, in the Abbey of +Streamshalh, or Whitby, where she so long resided. At a particular +time of the year (viz. in the summer months), at ten or eleven in +the forenoon, the sunbeams fall in the inside of the northern part +of the choir; and 'tis then that the spectators, who stand on the +west side of Whitby churchyard, so as just to see the most northerly +part of the abbey pass the north end of Whitby church, imagine they +perceive, in one of the highest windows there, the resemblance of a +woman, arrayed in a shroud. Though we are certain this is only a +reflection caused by the splendour of the sunbeams, yet fame reports +it, and it is constantly believed among the vulgar, to be an +appearance of Lady Hilda in her shroud, or rather in a glorified +state; before which, I make no doubt, the Papists, even in these our +days, offer up their prayers with as much zeal and devotion, as +before any other image of their most glorified saint." CHARLTON'S +History of Whitby, p. 33.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza V. line 131. What makes, what is it doing? Cp. Judges xviii. +3: 'What makest thou in this place?' The usage is frequent in +Shakespeare; as e.g. As Yo Like It, i. I. 31: 'Now sir! what make +you here?' + +line 137. Blood-gouts, spots of blood. Cp. 'gouts of blood,' +Macbeth, ii. I. 46. + +line 150. Shakespeare, King John, iv. 2. 13, makes Salisbury say +that-- + + 'To smooth the ice, or add another hue + Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light + To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish + Is wasteful, and ridiculous excess.' + +Stanza VI. line 174. Beadsman, one hired to pray for another. Cp. +'Piers the Plowman,' B, III. 40:-- + + 'I shal assoille the my-selue . for a seme of whete, + And also be thi BEDEMAN.' + +Edie Ochiltree, the Blue-gown in 'The Antiquary,' belongs to the +class called King's Bedesmen, 'an order of paupers to whom the kings +of Scotland were in the custom of distributing a certain alms, in +conformity with the ordinances of the Catholic Church, and who were +expected in return to pray for the royal welfare and that of the +state.' See Introd. to the novel. Cp. also Henry V, iv. I. 315:-- + + 'Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay,' &c. + +Stanza VII. line 218. The Palmer's dress is put off like the +serpent's slough. Cp. the Earl of Surrey's Spring sonnet-- + + 'The adder all her slough away she flings.' + +Stanza VIII. line 261. Featly, cleverly, dexterously. Cp. Tempest, +i. 2. 380:-- + + 'Foot it FEATLY here and there.' + +Stanza IX. line 271. See Otterbourne, 'Border Minstrelsy,' i. p. +345. Douglas's death, during the battle was kept secret, so that +when his men conquered, as if still under his command, the old +prophecy was fulfilled that a dead Douglas should, win the field. + +line 280. James encamped in Twisel glen (local spelling 'Twizel') +before taking post on Flodden. + +line 282. The squire's final act of qualification for knighthood was +to watch by his armour till midnight. In his Essay on 'Chivalry' +Scott says: 'The candidates watched their arms ALL NIGHT in a +church or chapel, and prepared for the honour to be conferred on +them by vigil, fast, and prayer.' For a hasty and picturesque +ceremony of knighthood see Scott's 'Halidon Hill,' I. ii. + +Stanza XI. With the moonlight scene opening this stanza, cp. 'Lay of +Last Minstrel,' II. i. Scott is fond of moonlight effects, and he +always succeeds with them. See e.g. a passage in 'Woodstock,' chap. +xix, beginning 'There is, I know not why, something peculiarly +pleasing to the imagination in contemplating the Queen of Night,' +&c. + +line 327. 'The well-known Gawain Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, son of +Archibald Bell-the-Cat, Earl of Angus. He was author of a Scottish +metrical version of the "AEneid," and of many other poetical pieces +of great merit. He had not at this period attained the mitre.'-- +SCOTT. + +A word of caution is necessary as to the 'many pieces' mentioned +here. Besides his 'AEneid, ' Douglas's extant works are 'Palice of +Honour,' 'King Hart,' and a poem of four stanzas entitled +'Conscience.' To each book of the 'AEneid,' however, as well as to +the supplementary thirteenth book of Maphaeus Vegius, which he also +translates, he prefixes an introductory poem, so that there is a +sense in which it is correct to call him the author of 'many +pieces.' His works were first published in complete form in 1874, in +four volumes, +admirably edited by the late Dr. John Small. See 'Dict. of Nat. +Biog.' + +line 329. Rocquet, a linen surplice. + +line 344, 'Angus had strength and personal activity corresponding to +his courage. Spens of Kilspindie, a favourite of James IV, having +spoken of him lightly, the Earl met him while hawking, and, +compelling him to single combat, at one blow cut asunder his thigh- +bone, and killed him on the spot. But ere he could obtain James's +pardon for this slaughter, Angus was obliged to yield his castle of +Hermitage, in exchange for that of Bothwell, which was some +diminution to the family greatness. The sword with which he struck +so remarkable a blow, was presented by his descendant, James Earl of +Morton, afterwards Regent of Scotland, to Lord Lindesay of the +Byres, when he defied Bothwell to single combat on Carberry-hill. +See Introduction to the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XII. line 379. With the use of fall = befall cp. Antony and +Cleopatra, iii. 7. 38:-- + + 'No disgrace + Shall FALL you for refusing him at sea.' + +Stanza XIV. line. Saint Bride is Saint Bridget of Ireland, who +became popular in England and Scotland under the abbreviated form of +her name. She was 'a favourite saint of the house of Douglas, and of +the Earl of Angus in particular.' See note to Clarendon Press 'Lay +of Last Minstrel,' VI. 469. + +line 437. 'This ebullition of violence in the potent Earl of Angus +is not without its example in the real history of the house of +Douglas, whose chieftains possessed the ferocity, with the heroic +virtues, of a savage state. The most curious instance occurred in +the case of Maclellan, Tutor of Bombay, who, having refused to +acknowledge the pre-eminence claimed by Douglas over the gentlemen +and Barons of Galloway, was seized and imprisoned by the Earl, in +his castle of the Thrieve, on the borders of Kirkcudbrightshire. Sir +Patrick Gray, commander of King James the Second's guard, was uncle +to the Tutor of Bombay, and obtained from the King a "sweet letter +of supplication," praying the Earl to deliver his prisoner into +Gray's hand. When Sir Patrick arrived at the castle, he was received +with all the honour due to a favourite servant of the King's +household; but while he was at dinner, the Earl, who suspected his +errand, caused his prisoner to be led forth and beheaded. After +dinner, Sir Patrick presented the King's letter to the Earl, who +received it with great affectation of reverence; "and took him by +the hand, and led him forth to the green, where the gentleman was +lying dead, and showed him the manner, and said, 'Sir Patrick, you +are come a little too late; yonder is your sister's son lying, but +he wants the head; take his body, and do with it what you will.'-- +Sir Patrick answered again with a sore heart, and said, 'My lord, if +ye have taken from him his head, dispone upon the body as ye +please;' and with that called for his horse, and leaped thereon; and +when he was on horseback, he said to the Earl on this manner: 'My +Lord, if I live, you shall be rewarded for your labours, that you +have used at this time, according to your demerits.' + +'"At this saying the Earl was highly offended, and cried for horse. +Sir Patrick, seeing the Earl's fury, spurred his horse, but he was +chased near Edinburgh ere they left him; and had it not been his led +horse was so tried and good, he had been taken."'--PITSCOTTIE'S +History, p. 39.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XV. line 456. Cp. above, III. 429, and see As You Like It, i. +2. 222: 'Hercules be thy speed!' The short epistle of St. Jude is +uncompromising in its condemnation of those who have fallen from +their faith--who have forgotten, so to speak, their vows of true +knighthood. It closes with the beautiful ascription--'To Him that is +able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before +the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.' There is deep +significance, therefore, in this appeal of the venerable and +outraged knight for the protection of St. Jude. + +line 457. 'Lest the reader should partake of the Earl's +astonishment, and consider the crime as inconsistent with the +manners of the period, I have to remind him of the numerous +forgeries (partly executed by a female assistant) devised by Robert +of Artois, to forward his suit against the Countess Matilda; which, +being detected, occasioned his flight into England, and proved the +remote cause of Edward the Third's memorable wars in France. John +Harding, also, was expressly hired by Edward IV to forge such +documents as might appear to establish the claim of fealty asserted +over Scotland by the English monarchs.'--SCOTT. + +line 458. It likes was long used impersonally, in the sense of it +pleases. Cp. King John, ii. 2. 234: 'It likes us well.' + +line 460. St. Bothan, Bythen, or Bethan is said to have been a +cousin of St. Columba and his successor at Iona. His name is +preserved in the Berwickshire parish, Abbey-Saint-Bathan's; where, +towards the close of the twelfth century, a Cistertian nunnery, with +the title of a priory, was dedicated to him by Ada, daughter of +William the Lion. There is no remaining trace of this structure. + +line 461. The other sons could at least sign their names. Their +signatures are reproduced in facsimile in 'The Douglas Book' by Sir +William Eraser, 4 vols. 4to, Edin. 1886 (privately printed). + +line 468. Fairly, well, elegantly, as in Chaucer's Prol. 94:-- + + 'Well cowde he sitte on hors, and FAIRE ryde'; + +and in 'Faerie Queene,' I. i. 8:-- + + 'Full jolly knight he seemed, and FAIRE did sitt.' + +Stanza XVI. line 498. This line is a comprehensive description of a +perfectly satisfactory charger or hunter. + +line 499. Sholto is one of the Douglas family names. One of the +Earl's sons, being sheriff, could not go with his brothers to the +war. + +line 500. 'His eldest son, the Master of Angus.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XVII. line 532. In Bacon's ingenious essay, 'Of Simulation +and Dissimulation,' he states these as the three disadvantages of +the qualities:--'The first, that Simulation and Dissimulation +commonly carry with them a show of fearfulness, which, in any +business, doth spoil the feathers of round flying up to the mark. +The second, that it puzzleth and perplexeth the conceits of many, +that would otherwise co-operate with him, and makes a man almost +alone to his own ends. The third, and greatest, is that it depriveth +a man of one of the most principal instruments for action; which is +trust and belief.' + +Stanza XVIII. line 540. 'This was a Cistertian house of religion, +now almost entirely demolished. Lennel House is now the residence of +my venerable friend, Patrick Brydone, Esquire, so well known in the +literary world. {4} It is situated near Coldstream, almost opposite +Cornhill, and consequently very near to Flodden Field.'--SCOTT. + +line 568. traversed, moved in opposition, as in fencing. Cp. Merry +Wives, ii. 3. 23: 'To see thee fight, to see thee foin, to see thee +traverse,' &c. + +Stanza XIX line 573, 'On the evening previous to the memorable +battle of Flodden, Surrey's headquarters were at Barmoor Wood, and +King James held an inaccessible position on the ridge of Flodden- +hill, one of the last and lowest eminences detached from the ridge +of Cheviot. The Till, a deep and slow river, winded between the +armies. On the morning of the 9th September, 1513, Surrey marched in +a north-westerly direction, and crossed the Till, with his van and +artillery, at Twisel Bridge, nigh where that river joins the Tweed, +his rear-guard column passing about a mile higher, by a ford. This +movement had the double effect of placing his army between King +James and his supplies from Scotland, and of striking the Scottish +monarch with surprise, as he seems to have relied on the depth of +the river in his front. But as the passage, both over the bridge and +through the ford, was difficult and slow, it seems possible that the +English might have been attacked to great advantage while straggling +with these natural obstacles. I know not if we are to impute James's +forbearance to want of military skill, or to the romantic +declaration which Pitscottie puts in his mouth, "that he was +determined to have his enemies before him on a plain field," and +therefore would suffer no interruption to be given, even by +artillery, to their passing the river. + +'The ancient bridge of Twisel, by which the English crossed the +Till, is still standing beneath Twisel Castle, a splendid pile of +Gothic architecture, as now rebuilt by Sir Francis Blake, Bart., +whose extensive plantations have so much improved the country +around. The glen is romantic and delightful, with steep banks on +each side, covered with copse, particularly with hawthorn. Beneath +a tall rock, near the bridge, is a plentiful fountain, called St. +Helen's Well.'--SCOTT. + +That James was credited by his contemporaries with military skill +and ample courage will be seen by reference to Barclay's 'Ship of +Fooles,' formerly referred to. The poet proposes a grand general +European movement against the Turks, and suggests James IV as the +military leader. The following complimentary acrostic is a feature +of the passage:-- + + 'I n prudence pereles is this moste comely kinge; + A nd as for his strength and magnanimitie + C onceming his noble dedes in every thinge, + O ne founde on grounde like to him can not be. + B y birth borne to boldenes and audacitie, + U nder the bolde planet of Mars the champion, + S urely to subdue his enemies eche one.' + +line 583. Sullen is admirably descriptive of the leading feature in +the appearance of the Till just below Twisel Bridge. No one +contrasting it with the Tweed at Norham will have difficulty in +understanding the saying that:-- + + 'For a'e man that Tweed droons, Till droons three.' + +Stanza XX. line 608. The earlier editions have vails, 'lowers' or +'checks'; as in Venus and Adonis, 956, 'She vailed her eyelids.' The +edition of 1833 reads 'VAILS, contr. for 'avails.' + +line 610. Douglas and Randolph were two of Bruce's most trusted +leaders. + +line 611. See anecdote in 'Border Minstrelsy,' ii. 245 (1833 ed.), +with its culmination, 'O, for one hour of Dundee!' Cp. 'Pleasures of +Hope' (close of Poland passage):-- + + 'Oh! once again to Freedom's cause return + The Patriot Tell--the Bruce of Bannockburn!' + +and Wordsworth's sonnet, 'In the Pass of Killicranky,' in which the +aspiration for 'one hour of that Dundee' is prompted by the fear of +an invasion in 1803. + +Stanza XXI. line 626. Hap what hap, come what may. Cp. above 'tide +what tide,' III. 416. + +line 627. Basnet, a light helmet. + +Stanza XXIII. line 682. 'The reader cannot here expect a full +account of the Battle of Flodden: but, so far as is necessary to +understand the romance, I beg to remind him, that, when the English +army, by their skilful countermarch, were fairly placed between King +James and his own country, the Scottish monarch resolved to fight; +and, setting fire to his tents, descended from the ridge of Flodden +to secure the neighbouring eminence of Brankstone, on which that +village is built. Thus the two armies met, almost without seeing +each other, when, according to the old poem of "Flodden Field,"-- + + "The English line stretch'd east and west, + And southward were their faces set; + The Scottish northward proudly prest, + And manfully their foes they met." + +The English army advanced in four divisions. On the right, which +first engaged, were the sons of Earl Surrey, namely, Thomas Howard, +the Admiral of England, and Sir Edmund, the Knight Marshal of the +army. Their divisions were separated from each other; but, at the +request of Sir Edmund, his brother's battalion was drawn very near +to his own. The centre was commanded by Surrey in person; the left +wing by Sir Edward Stanley, with the men of Lancashire, and of the +palatinate of Chester. Lord Dacres, with a large body of horse, +formed a reserve. When the smoke, which the wind had driven between +the armies, was somewhat dispersed, they perceived the Scots, who +had moved down the hill in a similar order of battle, and in deep +silence. {5} The Earls of Huntley and of Home commanded their left +wing, and charged Sir Edmund Howard with such success as entirely to +defeat his part of the English right wing. Sir Edmund's banner was +beaten down, and he himself escaped with difficulty to his brother's +division. The Admiral, however, stood firm; and Dacre advancing to +his support with the reserve of cavalry, probably between the +interval of the divisions commanded by the brothers Howard, appears +to have kept the victors in effectual check. Home's men, chiefly +Borderers, began to pillage the baggage of both armies; and their +leader is branded, by the Scottish historians, with negligence or +treachery. On the other hand, Huntley, on whom they bestow many +encomiums, is said, by the English historians, to have left the +field after the first charge. Meanwhile the Admiral, whose flank +these chiefs ought to have attacked, availed himself of their +inactivity, and pushed forward against another large division of the +Scottish army in his front, headed by the Earls of Crawford and +Montrose, both of whom were slain, and their forces routed. On the +left, the success of the English was yet more decisive; for the +Scottish right wing, consisting of undisciplined Highlanders, +commanded by Lennox and Argyle, was unable to sustain the charge of +Sir Edward Stanley, and especially the severe execution of the +Lancashire archers. The King and Surrey, who commanded the +respective centres of their armies, were meanwhile engaged in close +and dubious conflict. James, surrounded by the flower of his +kingdom, and impatient of the galling discharge of arrows, supported +also by his reserve under Bothwell, charged with such fury that the +standard of Surrey was in danger. At that critical moment, Stanley, +who had routed the left wing of the Scottish, pursued his career of +victory, and arrived on the right flank, and in the rear of James's +division, which, throwing itself into a circle, disputed the battle +till night came on. Surrey then drew back his forces; for the +Scottish centre not having been broken, and the left wing being +victorious, he yet doubted the event of the field. The Scottish +army, however, felt their loss, and abandoned the field of battle in +disorder, before dawn. They lost, perhaps, from eight to ten +thousand men; but that included the very prime of their nobility, +gentry, and even clergy. Scarce a family of eminence but has an +ancestor killed at Flodden; and there is no province in Scotland, +even at this day, where the battle is mentioned without a sensation +of terror and sorrow. The English also lost a great number of men, +perhaps within one-third of the vanquished, but they were of +inferior note.--See the only distinct detail of the Field of Flodden +in PINKERTON'S History, Book xi; all former accounts being full of +blunders and inconsistency. + +'The spot from which Clara views the battle, must be supposed to +have been on a hillock commanding the rear of the English right +wing, which was defeated, and in which conflict Marmion is supposed +to have fallen.'--SCOTT. + +Lockhart adds this quotation:--'In 1810, as Sir Carnaby +Haggerstone's workmen were digging in Flodden Field, they came to a +pit filled with human bones, and which seemed of great extent; but, +alarmed at the sight, they immediately filled up the excavation, and +proceeded no farther. + +'In 1817, Mr. Grey of Millfield Hill found, near the traces of an +ancient encampment, a short distance from Flodden Field, a tumulus, +which, on removing, exhibited a very singular sepulchre. In the +centre, a large urn was found, but in a thousand pieces. It had +either been broken to pieces by the stones falling upon it when +digging, or had gone to pieces on the admission of the air. This urn +was surrounded by a number of cells formed of flat stones, in the +shape of graves, but too small to hold the body in its natural +state. These sepulchral recesses contained nothing except ashes, or +dust of the same kind as that in the urn."--Sykes' Local Records (2 +vols. 8vo, 1833), vol. ii. pp. 60 and 109.' + +Stanza XXIV. line 717. 'Sir Brian Tunstall, called in the romantic +language of the time, Tunstall the Undefiled, was one of the few +Englishmen of rank slain at Flodden. He figures in the ancient +English poem, to which I may safely refer my readers, as an edition, +with full explanatory notes, has been published by my friend, Mr. +Henry Weber. Tunstall, perhaps, derived his epithet of undefiled +from his white armour and banner, the latter bearing a white cock, +about to crow, as well as from his unstained loyalty and knightly +faith. His place of residence was Thurland Castle.'--SCOTT. + +Stanza XXV. line 744. Bent, the slope of the hill. It is less likely +to mean the coarse grass on the hill--also a possible meaning of the +word--because spectators would see the declivity and not what was on +it. For the former usage see Dryden, 'Palamon and Arcite,' +II. 342-45:-- + + 'A mountain stood, + Threat'ning from high, and overlook'd the wood; + Beneath the low'ring brow, and on a BENT, + The temple stood of Mars armipotent.' + +line 745. The tent was fired so that the forces might descend amid +the rolling smoke. + +line 747. As a poetical critic Jeffrey was right for once when he +wrote thus of this great battle piece:-- + +'Of all the poetical battles which have been fought, from the days +of Homer to those of Mr. Southey, there is none, in our opinion, at +all comparable, for interest and animation--for breadth of drawing +and magnificence of effect--with this of Mr. Scott's.' + +line 757. To this day a commanding position to the west of the hill +is called the 'King's Chair.' + +Stanza XXVI. line 795. 'Badenoch-man,' says Lockhart, 'is the +correction of the author's interleaved copy of the ed. of 1830.' +HIGHLANDMAN was the previous reading. Badenoch is in the S. E. of +co. of Inverness, between Monagh Lea mountains and Grampians. + +Stanza XXVIII. line 867 Sped, undone, killed. Cp. Merchant of +Venice, ii. 9. 70: ' So be gone; you are sped.' See also note on +'Lycidas' 122, Clarendon Press Milton, vol. i. + +Stanza XXX. The two prominent features of this stanza are the sweet +tenderness of the verses, and the illustration of the irony of +events in the striking culmination of the hero's career. + +line 904. Cp. Pope, 'Moral Epistles,' II. 269:-- + + 'And yet, believe me, good as well as ill, + Woman's at best a contradiction still.' + +line 906. Cp. Byron's 'Sardanapalus,' I. ii. 511:-- + + 'Your last sighs + Too often breathed out in a woman's hearing, + When men have shrunk from the ignoble care + Of watching the last hour of him who led them.' + +Stanza XXXII. line 972. See above, III. x. + +line 976. Metaphor from the sand-glass. Cp. Pericles, v. 2. 26:-- + + 'Now our sands are almost run.' + +Stanza XXXIII. lines 999-1004. Charlemagne's rear-guard under Roland +was cut to pieces by heathen forces at Roncesvalles, a valley in +Navarre, in 778. Roland might have summoned his uncle Charlemagne by +blowing his magic horn, but this his valour prevented him from doing +till too late. He was fatally wounded, and the 'Song of Roland,' +telling of his worth and prowess, is one of the best of the +mediaeval romances. Olivier was also a distinguished paladin, and +the names of the two are immortalized in the proverb 'A Rowland for +an Oliver.' Fontarabia is on the coast of Spain, about thirty miles +from Roncesvalles. See Paradise Lost, I. 586, and note in Clarendon +Press ed. + +line 1011 Our Caledonian pride, fitly and tenderly named 'the +flowers of the forest.' + +Stanza XXXIV. line 1034. Cp. 'spearmen's twilight wood,' 'Lady of +the Lake,' VI. xvii. + +line 1035. Cp. Aytoun's 'Edinburgh after Flodden,' vii, where +Randolph Murray tells of the 'riven banner':-- + + 'It was guarded well and long + By your brothers and your children, + By the valiant and the strong. + One by one they fell around it, + As the archers laid them low, + Grimly dying, still unconquered, + With their faces to the foe.' + +line 1059. Lockhart here gives an extract from Jeffrey:--'The +powerful poetry of these passages can receive no illustration from +any praise or observations of ours. It is superior, in our +apprehension, to all that this author has hitherto produced; and, +with a few faults of diction, equal to any thing that has ever been +written upon similar subjects. From the moment the author gets in +sight of FIodden Field, indeed, to the end of the poem, there is no +tame writing, and no intervention of ordinary passages. He does not +once flag or grow tedious; and neither stops to describe dresses and +ceremonies, nor to commemorate the harsh names of feudal barons from +the Border. There is a flight of five or six hundred lines, in +short, in which he never stoops his wing, nor wavers in his course; +but carries the reader forward with a more rapid, sustained, and +lofty movement, than any epic bard that we can at present remember.' + +Stanza XXXV. 1. 1067. Lockhart quotes from Byron's 'Lara' as a +parallel,-- + + 'Day glimmers on the dying and the dead, + The cloven cuirass, and the helmless head,' &c. + +line 1084. 'There can be no doubt that King James fell in the battle +of Flodden. He was killed, says the curious French Gazette, within a +lance's length of the Earl of Surrey; and the same account adds, +that none of his division were made prisoners, though many were +killed; a circumstance that testifies the desperation of their +resistance. The Scottish historians record many of the idle reports +which passed among the vulgar of their day. Home was accused, by the +popular voice, not only of failing to support the King, but even of +having carried him out of the field, and murdered him. And this tale +was revived in my remembrance, by an unauthenticated story of a +skeleton, wrapped in a bull's hide, and surrounded with an iron +chain, said to have been found in the well of Home Castle, for +which, on enquiry, I could never find any better authority than the +sexton of the parish having said, that, IF THE WELL WERE CLEANED +OUT, HE WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED AT SUCH A DISCOVERY. Home was the +chamberlain of the King, and his prime favourite; he had much to +lose (in fact did lose all) in consequence of James's death, and +nothing earthly to gain by that event: but the retreat, or +inactivity, of the left wing, which he commanded, after defeating +Sir Edmund Howard, and even the circumstance of his returning +unhurt, and loaded with spoil, from so fatal a conflict, rendered +the propagation of any calumny against him easy and acceptable. +Other reports gave a still more romantic turn to the King's fate, +and averred, that James, weary of greatness after the carnage among +his nobles, had gone on a pilgrimage, to merit absolution for the +death of his father, and the breach of his oath of amity to Henry. +In particular, it was objected to the English, that they could never +show the token of the iron belt; which, however, he was likely +enough to have laid aside on the day of battle, as encumbering his +personal exertions. They produce a better evidence, the monarch's +sword and dagger, which are still preserved in the Herald's College +in London. Stowe has recorded a degrading story of the disgrace with +which the remains of the unfortunate monarch were treated in his +time. An unhewn column marks the spot where James fell, still called +the King's Stone.'--SCOTT. See also Mr. Jerningham's 'Norham +Castle,' chap. xi. + +line 1084. See above, V. vii, &c. + +Stanza XXXVI. line 1096. 'This storm of Lichfield Cathedral, which +had been garrisoned on the part of the King, took place in the Great +Civil War. Lord Brook, who, with Sir John Gill, commanded the +assailants, was shot with a musket-ball through the vizor of his +helmet. The royalists remarked that he was killed by a shot fired +from St. Chad's Cathedral, and upon St. Chad's day, and received his +death-wound in the very eye with which, he had said, he hoped to see +the ruin of all the cathedrals in England. The magnificent church in +question suffered cruelly upon this, and other occasions; the +principal spire being ruined by the fire of the besiegers.'--SCOTT. + +Ceadda, or Chad, after resigning the bishopric of York in 669 A. D., +was appointed Bp. of Lichfield, where he 'lived for a little while +in great holiness.' See Hunt's 'English Church in the Middle Ages,' +p. 17. + +line 1110. The allusion is to the old fragment on Flodden, which has +been so skilfully extended by Jean Elliot and also by Mrs. Cockburn +in their national lyrics, 'The Flowers o' the Forest.' + +line 1117. Once more the poet uses the irony of events with +significant force. + +Stanza XXXVII. line 1125. There is now a font of stone with a +drinking cup, and an inscription on the back of the font runs thus:- +- + + 'Drink, weary pilgrim, drink and stay, + Rest by the well of Sybil Grey.' + +Stanza XXXVIII. In this stanza the poet indicates the spirit in +which romances are written, clearly indicating that those only that +have ears will be able to hear. 'Phonanta sunetoisin' might be the +watchword of all imaginative writers. Cp. Thackeray's 'Rebecca and +Rowena.' + +line 1155. Hall and Holinshed were chroniclers of the sixteenth +century, to both of whom Shakespeare was indebted for pliant +material. + +line 1168. Sir Thomas More, Lord Sands, and Anthony Denny. See Henry +VIII. + +lines 1169-70. The references are to old homely customs at weddings. +See Brand's 'Popular Antiquities.' + +L'ENVOY. + +Scott's fondness for archaisms makes him add his L'Envoy in the +manner of early English and Scottish poets. See e.g. Spenser's +'Shepherd's Calendar' and the 'Phoenix' of James VI. + +line 4. Rede, 'used generally for TALE or DISCOURSE.'--SCOTT. + +line 6. Cp. William Morris's introduction to 'Earthly Paradise,' +where the poet calls himself + + 'The idle singer of an empty day.' + +line 17. This hearty wish is uttered, no doubt, with certain +reminiscences of the author's own school days. His youthful spirit, +and his genial sympathy with the young, are prominent features in +the character of Sir Walter Scott. + + + +Footnotes: + +{1} Lockhart quotes:--'He resumed the bishopric of Lindisfarne, +which, owing to bad health, he again relinquished within less than +three months before his death.'--RAINE'S St. Cuthbert. + +{2} See, on this curious subject, the Essay on Fairies, in the +"Border Minstrelsy," vol. ii, under the fourth head; also Jackson on +Unbelief, p. 175. Chaucer calls Pluto the "King of Faerie"; and +Dunbar names him, "Pluto, that elrich incubus." If he was not +actually the devil, he must be considered as the "prince of the +power of the air." The most curious instance of these surviving +classical superstitions is that of the Germans, concerning the Hill +of Venus, into which she attempts to entice all gallant knights, and +detains them there in a sort of Fools' Paradise. + +{3} See Pennant's Tour in Wales. + +{4} 'First Edition--Mr. Brydone has been many years dead. 1825.' + +{5} '"Lesquels Escossois descendirent la montaigne in bonne ordre, +en la maniere que marchent Its Allemans, sans parler, ne faire aucun +bruit"--Gazette of the Battle, PINKERTON'S History, Appendix, vol. +ii. p. 456.' + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5077 *** |