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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Goblin Groom, by R. O. Fenwick, Esq.
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: The Goblin Groom
-       a Tale of Dunse
-
-Author: R. O. Fenwick, Esq.
-
-Release Date: December 16, 2021 [eBook #66950]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-Produced by: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
-             at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
-             generously made available by The Internet Archive/American
-             Libraries.)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOBLIN GROOM ***
-
-
-
-
-                           THE GOBLIN GROOM;
-
-                                A Tale
-
-                               OF DUNSE.
-
-                                  BY
-
-                          R. O. FENWICK, ESQ.
-
-
-                  _Thus, while I ape the measure wild
-                 Of tales that charmed me yet a child,
-               Rude though they be, still with the chime
-              Return the thoughts of early time._--SCOTT.
-
-
-                              EDINBURGH:
-
-                     PRINTED BY ALEX. LAWRIE & CO.
-
-                     FOR ALEX. LAWRIE, EDINBURGH;
-                                  AND
-                          J. RIDGWAY, LONDON.
-
-                                 1809.
-
-
-
-
-                           TO THOSE ADMIRERS
-
-                           OF ENGLISH POETRY
-
-                  WHO WISH TO SEE IT RESTORED TO ITS
-
-                       “_OLD STYLE OF PATHOS_,”
-
-                          THE FOLLOWING POEM
-
-                       IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
-
-                                  BY
-
-                              THE AUTHOR.
-
-
-
-
-ADVERTISEMENT.
-
-
-_The Author of the Goblin Groom can, on no consideration, be induced to
-follow the example of the amiable and justly celebrated Madame de
-Genlis, who, in her Historical Romance of the Chevaliers du Cygne,
-observes,--“Enfin l’ideè de faire mourir l’heroine de l’histoire des les
-premieres pages, et cependant de s’occuper d’elle jusqu’ a la fin, est
-peutetre assez neuve pour meriter quelqu’ indulgence.” Could he, on the
-contrary, prolong the precious life of his exalted hero, but for a
-single day, he should feel more real delight, than the indulgence due to
-the most afflicting novelty can possibly confer. But though unable to
-guard him from the blow, which the unrelenting hand of time must one day
-inflict, the author can at least promise, if he shall himself survive
-the catastrophe, to restore him to the respectful consideration of his
-readers, in a form at once congenial to the spirit of poetry, and
-suitable to the taste and temper of the times. To some of his readers,
-it may be necessary to remark, which must readily occur to the attention
-of the critic, that his true hero is only to be discovered, by the
-frequent allusions to his high rank and acknowledged virtues; and having
-thus divested the Goblin of the precedency, which he might otherwise
-appear to have usurped, it now only remains to give his readers a
-general idea of the story. It turns on the several incidents of a
-fox-chace, but is called a Tale of Dunse, because in that favourite_
-RENDEZVOUS _of the lovers of the chace, the Goblin first made his
-appearance. That the minds of his readers may be as perfectly prepared,
-as he could wish, for the manners of the age in which it is laid, he
-apprizes them, that the poem opens on the last day of April 1806, and
-concludes with the death of a fox on Flodden Field twenty-four hours
-thereafter. The country over which he has accompanied his elfin fay and
-merry pack, he has viewed with the rapid glance of a sportsman, and
-therefore trusts, that his hasty and imperfect sketch will not be
-regarded with the too scrupulous eye of rigid criticism. With all its
-faults, but without further apology, he commits it to its fate, and,
-notwithstanding the protecting influence of wire-wove,--broad
-margin,--high price,--and hot-press, he is not without feeling some
-apprehensions concerning its success._
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-                                                                    PAGE
-
-_Introduction to Canto First_--TO WALTER MARROWFAT, _Gardener to
-his Grace the Duke of B-- --h_                                         1
-
-CANTO I. THE HOSTEL, OR INN,                                          13
-
-_Introduction to Canto Second_--TO BENJAMIN BUFFET, _Butler to his
-Grace the Duke of B-- --h_                                            37
-
-II. THE FOX CHACE,                                                    47
-
-_Notes to Canto First_                                                81
-
-         _Canto Second_                                              103
-
-
-
-
-ERRATA.
-
-
-Page 40, line 1, _for_ mintrel’s _read_ minstrel’s.
-Pages 53 and 57, head line, _for_ FOX-CHASE _read_ FOX-CHACE.
-Page 72, line 5, note, _for_ son _read_ sont.
-     83, line 9, _for_ Anceps _read_ Auceps.
-
-
-
-
-THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-
-Introduction to Canto First.
-
-
-
-
-TO WALTER MARROWFAT,
-
-_GARDENER TO HIS GRACE THE D-- OF B-- --H_.
-
-
-                                 _Edinburgh._
-
-    Walter, at last, in order due,
-    The minstrel tunes his harp to you;
-    The very notes of friendship dear,
-    Are cordial to a poet’s ear:
-    Then why, my Walter, should I care
-    From whence you come, or who you are.
-    What! tho’ no royal blood should flow
-    Thro’ veins of blue and breast of snow:
-    Tho’ lowest of the low you be,
-    Still you shall hear my minstrelsy:
-    Enough to me it is that you
-    Are vassal to the bold B-- --h;
-    For to my heart they still are dear,
-    Who serve that stout, that valiant peer.
-    But now, my friend, ’tis right to ask,
-    How thrives your culinary task?
-    Seems it to me the cultured soil,
-    Should glow beneath your sun-burnt toil.
-    I see thy face with ruddy glow
-    Smile on the rising cabbage row;
-    And now, methinks, I feel thy glee,
-    For I, my friend, can feel like thee,
-    E’en at the peeping of a pea;
-    Just when the germ has broke the soil,
-    The very sight repays thy toil.
-    O, Cultivation! Ceres’ child,
-    Foe to the hill and desert wild!
-    Foe to the mountain and the moor,
-    Friend to the hungry and the poor!
-    But let me not, with thoughts elate,
-    Forget my Walter’s garden gate:
-    Of all the gates so wonderous fair
-    Here round the princely dwelling,
-    My Watty’s gate, beyond compare,
-    All these is far excelling![1]
-    But I forgot the garden fair,
-    And sought the barren mountain bare.
-    O’er Tiviot’s hills, I bent my way,
-    Forgetful of my minstrel lay;
-    Nor thought I much of this or that,
-    Till fancy painted Marrowfat.
-    She painted Walter as I’ve seen,
-    When weeding D-- --h’s walks so green;
-    To noble dames, just bent to bow;
-    Dejected head, erected hoe,
-    Proclaimed respect to ladye fair,
-    And shewed her that defence was there.
-    ’Twas diffidence and manly pride,
-    That bows, yet shews the power to chide.
-    Above the common height of man,
-    My Walter stands at least a span:
-    A brow of jet, a fiery eye,
-    Like planet in a sable sky,
-    Shone from my fancy’s painted chief;
-    And then, to give the scene relief,
-    A nose projecting curvedly;
-    The nose befitting well the eye.
-    Vails it not me, alas! to speak
-    Of bushy lip, or cherry cheek;
-    To say I saw my Walter smile,
-    I’d rather pause a little while:
-    For bootless is the task to paint,
-    When fancy’s self is far too faint,
-    To shew the gardener of B-- --h,
-    In form exact, and colours true.
-    How happy passed my early days,
-    With thee in D-- --h’s groves of bays;
-    When slinking sly, from bush to bush,
-    We sought to catch the nestling thrush;
-    Or when supported, friend, by thee,
-    I climbed the giant cherry-tree;
-    Or ran a race, dear Wat, with you,
-    To please the gallant young B-- --h.
-    The bower was still, and all was hushed,
-    ’Twas eve, and modest nature blushed;
-    The crimson setting of the sun,
-    Waved o’er the night-cloud’s visage dun,
-    And all creation, so serene,
-    Enjoyed the still, the lovely scene.
-    The thrush, upon the hazel bough,
-    Pour’d calmly forth her evening vow,
-    And every bird, from tree to tree,
-    Joined in the heavenly melody;
-    What heart so fraught with woe or care,
-    But might have tasted pleasure there.
-    Such, Watty, was the night when we
-    Pursued the humming bumble bee;[2]
-    When you averred the beast[3] could sting,
-    And I responded, no such thing!
-    “The question fierce, the stern reply,”
-    Was heard to sound ’twixt U and I.[4]
-    Anon: my Watty dared to fight
-    The fancied foeman Wallace wight;
-    And I, if pleasing mem’ry hold.
-    Dared to the combat, Bruce the bold.
-    Perhaps, my friend, you’ll wish to know
-    Th’ event of each successive blow;
-    How Bruce, transported, swore he’d die,
-    But never, never yield or fly;
-    How Wallace to the combat flew,
-    With fancied pride, but courage true.
-    Alas! my friend, your hopes are vain,
-    For friendship still forbids the strain:
-    The tale, alas! would only tend
-    To make a foeman of a friend.
-    And whilst I live, and whilst I breathe,
-    I swear it is so much beneath
-    The soul of man, to harbour hate
-    Against the good, against the great,
-    That I will ne’er to man disclose
-    The purport of these bloody blows.
-    Enough! enough! it is to me
-    To hate the name of bumble bee.
-
-
-
-
-THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-CANTO FIRST.
-
-The Hostel, or Inn.
-
-
-
-
-THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-
-
-
-CANTO FIRST.
-
-The Hostel, or Inn.
-
-
-I.
-
-    Joy reign’d in Dunse’s[5] distant seat,
-    Thro’ tavern, market place, and street,
-    The scene of many a valiant feat
-          In days of distant yore.
-    But now those distant days are fled,
-    Peace rears again her placid head,
-    And gory feud I hope is staid
-          To plague the land no more.
-    Where garden is, was place of tilt
-    Or tournament, where blood was spilt;
-    Where stain’d was many a foeman’s hilt
-          With blood of knight laid low;
-    Now peeps the pea, from glowing bed,
-    Forgetful of December dread;
-    The broader bean, her leaf has spread
-          Th’ unhallow’d spot to show.
-
-
-    II.
-
-    Now why are Dunse’s people glad,
-    Who once were wont to be so sad;
-    How was the feudal hatred staid
-    That waste their lovely fields had laid;
-    Why rolls the Whittadder[6] so white,
-    The scene of many a bloody fight;
-    And how has peace reception found
-    On such unhallowed bloody ground?
-    I may not tell the change of time;
-    It ill becomes my minstrel rhyme:
-    ’Twere impious surely to relate
-    The fancied works of fancied fate.
-    Enough, the bloody feud is staid;
-    Enough, the sword aside is laid;
-      And Whittadder long may’st thou flow
-        With spotless wave and crystal tide;
-    And may’st thou never, never know,
-      Again the strife of border side.
-
-
-III.
-
-    The sun o’er Dunse’s hills of grey,
-      Had nearly shed his parting light,
-    Save to the west, one lingering ray,
-      Seemed to forbid th’ approach of night;
-    And Lammermoor, with transient smile,
-      Now lighted up her visage bleak,
-    And every distant hill, the while,
-      Shone with a vivid, passing streak;
-    And Tweed’s broad river, from afar,
-    Blazed like a beacon flame of war:
-    Sure ’twould have pleased your heart to see
-    So much of grandeur, so much glee.
-    ’Twas so to Dunse, when keen of sport
-      The Lothian sportsmen bent their way;
-    Her hostel then became a court;
-      If courts are jovial, courts are gay.
-    But why need I pretend to tell,
-    What to each chief or squire befel
-      In journeying that way.
-
-
-IV.
-
-    Thronged was the hostel’s chambered space,
-      With peer, with baron, knight, and squire,
-    And many a waiting man in lace
-      Stood ready round the kitchen fire,
-      Attentive to the jirking wire;
-    For each attendant knew full well
-    The jirking of his master’s bell.
-    I’ll say the sportsmen all are dressed,
-    Have doffed their morning’s spattered vest,
-      And after salutation meet,
-        And question after lady fair,
-      Each at the board has ta’en his seat;
-        For ev’ry sportsman had his chair.
-
-
-V.
-
-    Perchance, my friend, you’d have me name
-      Each, after each, in his degree;
-    Or even say from whence they came;
-      Alas! that must not, may not be.
-    In truth, I only know a few
-    Of all the gallant, noble crew:
-    But he, the chieftain of them all,
-    Is absent from the festival,
-        The heir of bold B-- --h.
-
-
-VI.
-
-      Why stands that chair
-      So empty there,
-    Whilst anxious eyes are cast around;
-      And looks that show
-      They do not know
-    Where one so worthy may be found?
-      The chair, they vow, shall empty stand,
-        To shew their loyalty and truth;
-      For each and all, this huntsman-band,
-        Admired and loved the gallant youth;
-    And said they, with a passing tear,
-    “How much we miss his presence here.”
-
-
-VII.
-
-    Four-and-twenty huntsmen keen
-    Round the table sat, I ween;
-    Four-and-twenty footmen neat,
-    Plied the beer, and served the meat:
-    Landlady, and daughter fair
-    Paid their due obedience there.
-      Well I ween, each gallant youth,
-        Cast an eye upon the maid;
-      Each thought his look, in real truth,
-        By the maiden’s well repaid:
-    One alone, of all the crew,
-    More than all the others knew;
-    What he knew, I may not tell,
-    But the maiden knew full well.
-
-
-VIII.
-
-    Fish, from Dunbar’s rocky shore,
-    Stood the president before,
-    If my mem’ry do not fail,
-    Sent by noble L-- --le.
-      In the centre, soup was seen
-        Smoking, from a vase of snow.
-      Beef, at bottom, fat and lean,--
-        Beef of Indian Buffalo.
-    This was sent by T-- --le’s peer
-    To augment the sportsman’s cheer;
-    T-- --le, sprung from mighty H--y,
-    Foremost in the border day.
-    Tarts and pastry sent, I ween,
-    By the lady De G-- --ne.
-
-
-IX.
-
-    ’Tis not for me to say what more
-      The hostess’ care supplied;
-    But welcome free, and open door,
-    And pease, from D-- --h’s garden store,
-      Were seen on every side:
-    So one and all, at once agreed,
-    That bold B-- --h had earlier seed
-    Than any northward of the Tweed.
-
-
-X.
-
-      The dinner’s o’er, the circling glass
-    Now full, now emptier, passes round,
-    As strikes the ear, the pleasing sound
-      Of jovial song, or toasted lass:
-    But short, alas! this tabled glee;
-    For who the coming woe might see!
-
-           *       *       *       *       *
-
-   --Said I, D-- --h’s much honoured chair
-    Might not be filled by any there;
-    And, said I, it was right that he,
-    Though absent from the company,
-    With honour due should treated be;
-    D-- --h, so honoured for his worth,
-    For rank, for titles, and for birth,
-    Had not an equal here on earth,
-        To fill his vacant chair:
-    So one and all, with one consent,
-    Their voice have given, and vote have lent,
-        To let the seat be bare:
-
-    (Friend Walter, I am certain quite,
-    You’ll say both voice and vote went right).
-
-
-XI.
-
-    But why that hollow note of woe,
-    That stops of wine the genial flow;
-    Why shrinks the late convivial throng,
-    And why has silence banished song;
-    And why is horror’s aching stare
-    Sent wildly to the empty chair:
-    Oh! why is every eyebrow knit,
-    When turned to where D-- --h should sit.--
-
-           *       *       *       *       *
-
-      The chair is filled! a stranger sat
-        Upon the honoured seat;
-      Nor deigned he to doff his hat,
-      Though more than one had hinted that
-        Respect was always meet.
-    But he was heedless of them all,
-    And thrice he gazed round the hall,
-    But ne’er a word did he let fall:
-    Whilst thus he sat, whilst thus he gazed,
-    The goodly throng were all amazed;--
-
-
-XII.
-
-    And marvelled they, how this could be,
-      And how he entered none might say;
-    And some averred a sprite was he,
-      And others swore he was a fay:
-    And all agreed ’twas passing strange,
-      And marvellous withall,
-    That either sprite or fay should range
-      Into a festal hall:
-    Nor could the wisest present name
-    From whence he sprung, or how he came.
-
-
-XIII.
-
-    He was of little form, and tight;
-    His weight, if man, had been full light:
-    In short, he was a sportsman-sprite.
-    A pea-green jerkin on his back
-    All dabbled by a splashing hack;
-      His dirty boots, his leathers long
-        With crimson whip-cord tied;
-      His straight necked spurs, and heavy thong,
-        Proclaimed him formed to ride:
-    And he had ridden far that day,
-    For he was daubed, and splashed with clay.
-
-
-XIV.
-
-    The circling glass again goes round,
-    As fear in wine and use is drowned:
-    The goblin sprite enjoys each joke,
-    Though never once the while he spoke,
-    But lent a civil listening ear,
-    Resolved minutely all to hear;
-    And every toast with ready will
-    His elfin hand consents to fill.
-    Heavens! what a wondrous draught he drew
-    When e’er they toasted bold B-- --h.
-
-
-XV.
-
-    Oh! ’twould have done you good to see
-    How keen, how long, how heartily
-      He pushed the liquor round:
-    He never left or spilt a drop;
-    He never let the bottle stop,
-      Nor uttered a sound.
-    And, strange to tell, the jovial fay,
-    Though fond of wine, had nought to say.
-    A man of words might never learn
-    To be so wondrous taciturn.
-      And now the song, with jovial strain,
-        Awakened midnight’s dull repose;
-      Though many pleaded colds in vain,
-        Ayes had the ’vantage still of noes:
-    And thus may rulers ever be
-    Supported by majority.[7]
-
-
-XVI.
-
-    Dear unto me, my native land,
-      Is every field of thy wide realm;
-    And dearer still the guardian hand
-      That holds the way-directing helm;
-    And now I love thee ten times more,
-    When threatened is thy rocky shore:
-      When waves on every side assail,
-    And adverse winds and tides prevail.
-    But why should I with sorrow’s flow
-    Bewail my much loved country’s woe,
-      And all her coming danger tell;
-    Enough to me it is to know
-      I love my native country well.
-
-
-XVII.
-
-    The song went round, the Goblin Groom
-    Still plied the wine in festal room;
-    And bumper after bumper flew;
-    It was I ween a jovial crew.--
-      What chance had mortal man at drink
-        With one of charmed degree;
-      I cannot say, but needs must think
-        That chance but small could be.
-    And so it proved, and so they found,
-    E’er thirty bumper toasts went round.
-
-
-XVIII.
-
-    Why need I tell, why need I show
-    Humanity debased, laid low;
-    How some beneath the table lay;
-    How others strove to get away,
-    And, tumbling headlong on the floor,
-    Ne’er reached the fated festal door;
-    Whilst stammering, incoherently,
-    Towards the goblin turned an eye;
-    Still saw him quaff the liquor down;
-    Still saw him smile, still saw him frown,
-    As fancied joke, or fancied toast,
-    Or fancied anger, ruled him most:
-    And thus he toasting bumpered on,
-    As long as he was looked upon.
-
-
-XIX.
-
-    And many say they heard the splash,
-    And jingle of the elfin glass,
-    Long after all the rest were dead,
-    And carried lifeless into bed:
-    But none may tell, for none can say,
-    Where the unhallowed goblin lay:
-    But he had beat the sportsmen all,
-    At drinking in the festal hall;
-    And soon I’ll show, if luck betide,
-    How this elf goblin dared to ride.[8]
-    But now I’ve left them all at rest:
-    Where is the greatest, and the best?
-    He, amid D-- --h’s lovely groves,
-    With virtuous footsteps strays the while,
-    And woos the graces, and the loves,
-    With many a courtly winning smile.
-
-
-XX.
-
-    Long mayst thou flourish, gallant peer,
-    For Caledonia owns thee dear,
-    And bids her fav’rite minstrel tell,
-    How that she loves her hero well;
-    Though polished mail no more shall grace,
-    Oh! S--tt, thy ancient chieftain race:
-    No more the splintered spear shall sound
-    On N-- --k’s green or D-- --h’s ground:
-    These days are past, and with them, too,
-    The deeds their chiefs were wont to do:
-    The towering plume, and nodding crest,
-    Have with their wearers gone to rest;
-    And ease and peace may now be seen
-    In every hamlet, wood, or green.
-    But nowhere are they seen so true
-    As round the mansion of B-- --h;
-    Where patriarchal peace is found,
-    And care in rosy liquor drowned;
-    Where all of this illustrious line
-    Together sup, together dine.
-      And now I’ll cease my minstrel lay,
-        For time it is I should give up,
-      But once again, D-- --h, I’ll say,
-        Long may you dine, long may you sup.
-
-
-END OF CANTO FIRST.
-
-
-
-
-THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-
-Introduction to Canto Second.
-
-
-
-
-TO BENJAMIN BUFFET,
-
-_BUTLER TO HIS GRACE THE D--OF B-- --H._
-
-
-                                   _Edinburgh._
-
-    The cracking cork has pleased my ear,
-    Has silenced grief, has banished fear;
-    Has made dark winter’s dreary night
-    Seem to my senses noonday bright.
-    December’s cold was then forgot;
-    The wine was good, the fire was hot:
-    Thus many a heedless evening flew,
-    In table-talk, dear Ben, with you.
-    Though mentioned last in mintrel’s lay,
-    First in my heart you hold the sway:
-    For love and interest must combine;
-    And you are love, and interest wine:
-    And what must make you still more dear,
-    They say you have your master’s ear;
-    And if this rumour, Ben, be true,
-    Speak well of me to bold B-- --h.
-    Pleasing to me is every scene,
-    Where, with my dearest friends, I’ve been.
-    I love the green, I love the grove,
-    The cavern vast, the neat alcove,
-    The mountain high, the valley low,
-    The scenes of friendship all may show.
-    These scenes I’ve loved, and still adore,
-    But, Oh! I love the pantry more.
-    There have I sat, there have I sung,
-    Have twirled a cork, or rolled a bung;
-    As infant fancy played her part,
-    That was a coach, this was a cart.
-    Those were the days of childish youth,
-    That promised parts, that promised truth;
-    For fancy shewed herself in play,
-    E’en in my earliest infant day:
-    When older grown, the pantry still
-    Was dear to me, against my will.
-    What there was done, I may not tell;
-    It might not please your master well;
-    So please me joy, or pierce me woe,
-    The bold B-- --h shall never know.
-    Enough, the claret is not there;
-    But you and I both had a share.
-    And joy, you know, by danger bought,
-    Is always sweeter, dearer thought:
-    Regrets for past mistakes are vain,
-    And pleasure often follows pain.
-    Pleasure is but an empty sound,
-    And surely never yet was found:
-    It reigns but in the poet’s brain;
-    Reality is always pain:
-    And reasoning thus, it is my plan,
-    To be as merry as I can:
-    And though they say the claret went,
-    I don’t repine, I won’t repent.
-    It scarcely seems a summer’s day,
-    Though years and years have past away,
-    Since in the pantry’s snug retreat,
-    I, at the fire, first took my seat.
-    Oh! how I loved those moments dear;
-    Oh! how your lessons pleased my ear.
-    How oft you spoke of N-- --k’s tower,
-    Forgetful of the midnight hour;
-    Of noble dames, of valiant knights,
-    Of bloody fields, and listed fights;
-    Of ancient manners, past and fled;
-    How S--tts, victorious, fought and bled;
-    In every combat, strife, or fight,
-    S--tt was victorious, S--tt was right.
-    And said I to myself, that they
-    Shall one time hear my minstrel lay:
-    That all my powers should then combine,
-    To praise B-- --h’s illustrious line.
-    Yet whilst I sing the noble race,
-    My humbler friend shall have a place.
-    What though the oak be grand to see?
-    The humbler shrub is dear to me.
-    The sturdy oak unused to bend,
-    Too stately looks to be my friend.
-    So I’m content, and amply paid,
-    To crouch beneath the expansive shade.
-    There, wondring at the form sublime,
-    To friendship’s heights, I dare not climb;
-    And so I tune my humbler lays,
-    To notes of wonder, notes of praise.
-    And thus the minstrel’s efforts tend,
-    To claim a patron, not a friend.
-    In you, dear Ben, the shrub I see,
-    That lowly bows his head like me:
-    And thus I choose thee for my friend;
-    For both alike are doomed to bend:
-    And whilst we bend, and whilst we bow,
-    The adverse winds may rage and blow.
-    We need not fear misfortune’s stroke,
-    While couched beneath the stately oak:
-    And may that oak long live and last,
-    That guards us from misfortune’s blast.
-    Dear Ben, the oak shall have his due,
-    If bows, and flattering praise will do.
-    And those, you know, who bow and bend,
-    Ne’er want a patron, or a friend.
-
-
-
-
-THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-
-
-
-CANTO SECOND.
-
-The Fox-Chace.
-
-
-
-
-THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-CANTO SECOND.
-
-The Fox-Chace.
-
-
-I.
-
-    Now crows the cock in Dunse’s streets;
-    The twittering sparrow morning greets;
-    The braying ass his trumpet blew,
-    For well the morning air he knew;
-    And hies the hostler to his care,
-    With bosom light as morning air.
-    The ruddy streaks of infant day
-    On Lammer’s hills and Chiviot’s play;
-    And freshly blows the morning breeze,
-    From Firth of Forth to German seas.
-
-
-II.
-
-    The kennelled pack, with conscious ear,
-    Well know the huntsman to be near;
-    Their deep-toned notes, in concert rise,
-    As to the door each staunch hound flies;
-    And merry were the huntsman’s cries:
-    Full well he knew to cheer each hound,
-    Or quell his riot, by the sound
-        Of angry word, or cracking thong.
-      But now the pack as round they crowd,
-      In notes melodious, and loud,
-        Pour forth their morning song.
-    And, on my soul, the sound was dear,
-    And transport to the huntsman’s ear.
-    Out dashed the pack, a stauncher crew
-    Ne’er snuffed the pearly morning-dew:
-    And soon the huntsman’s sounding thong
-    Has checked the ardour of the throng:
-    In meet procession, quiet, slow,
-    Behind their master’s horse they go:
-    His two assistants after ride,
-    To bring them all to cover side.
-
-
-III.
-
-    Meanwhile the hostled sportsmen rise,
-    With bosoms light, but heavy eyes;
-        For last night’s liquor still remained,
-      And some would liked to’ve lain in bed,
-      To ease a fevered, aching head;
-        But manly pride such ease disdained.
-    So all have risen, and all have dressed,
-    In jockey cap, and scarlet vest;
-    And now they’re met, and seated all
-    At breakfast, in the festal hall:
-    And question after question passed,
-    Who saw the goblin jockey last?
-    Disputes arise, but all agree
-    That mortal man he could not be;
-    And cried they, with a jovial air,
-    Faith, but he drank his liquor fair!
-    The hostess enters in to say,
-    The Goblin Groom had gone away,
-    And who his share of drink should pay.
-    And all agree ’twas passing fair,
-    As he had filled great D-- --h’s chair,
-    That his account for jovial cheer,
-    Should be discharged by D-- --h’s peer.
-
-
-IV.
-
-    The hacks are pacing now before
-    The Hostel’s arch projecting door;
-    Full twelve miles off the cover lay;
-    The hunters went at peep of day:
-    And some, I’m told, went over night,
-    To be in better hunting plight.
-    Each sportsman mounts his cover steed,
-    And through the town with fiery speed,
-        Spurs on his ready hack:
-      One thinks a canter gives him grace,
-      Another thinks a trot the pace,
-        And knowingly looks back;
-    And pleased he looks, in sooth to find
-    His cantering comrade left behind.
-    Now one, now t’other takes the lead,
-    As jockey whim directs the speed.
-
-
-V.
-
-    At Ladykirk the cover lay,
-    Where, steep and high, a birken brae
-        Hangs o’er the river Tweed:
-      Hence many a fox the hounds have driven,
-      Whose dirtied brush has oft been given,
-        The foremost horseman’s meed.
-    This bank, in former days, has been
-    Sad witness of a different scene;
-    When Norham’s border castle rang
-    With England’s war foreboding clang;
-    When threatened feud was heard to sound
-    Defiance to the Scottish ground;
-    When cannon roared from Norham’s wall,
-    The English border clans to call:
-    Then flew the fox this brae of birk,
-    And far from Scottish Ladykirk;
-    And sought he, much against his will,
-    The safe retreat of Chiviot hill.
-
-
-VI.
-
-    Hither the hounds have bent their way,
-    And hither come the sportsmen gay:
-    Sure such a sight was never seen,
-    At tournament, or listed green.
-    The neighing steeds were seen to prance,
-      As through the copse-wood green they came:
-    The sounding whip displaced the lance,
-      And sport has banished feudal flame.
-    In every face a smile of joy,
-    From titled peer, to huntsman-boy;
-    In every eye a flash of fire;
-    A flash of hope, but not of ire:
-    In every heart joy’s transport bounds,
-    As into cover dash the hounds:
-    And in they dash with such a clang,
-    That Norham’s empty castle rang:
-      And every bush in tremor shook,
-        And every sapling waved on high;
-      Each horseman gazed with eager look,
-        Or listened for the joyous cry:
-    And sideways on their steeds they sat,
-    With side-placed cap, or side-placed hat.
-
-
-VII.
-
-    But when they hear the well known hound
-    Proclaim the rascal to be found,
-    High beats each gallant sportsman’s heart
-    To take the lead, or have the start.
-      And now the banks of Ladykirk
-        Ring with the pack’s melodious cry;
-      And waves its head, each verdant birk,
-        To merry notes of extacy.
-    O! how the hounds together dash,
-    And make the greenwood cover crash.
-    Poor Reynard! all your hopes are vain;
-      In vain you strive to tarry here;
-      Go seek the fields, or plains so drear;
-    At Ladykirk you can’t remain;
-    To Tweed’s green banks now bid adieu,
-    They ne’er again shall greet your view;
-    No more her murm’ring streams shall cheer,
-    With soothing notes, your listening ear.
-
-
-VIII.
-
-    Now peeping from the copse so green,
-    The Fox’s cunning head is seen,
-      His ready ears turned back:
-    His open mouth his terror shows;
-    For time put off, full well he knows,
-      Will bring the eager pack.
-    So down towards the Tweed he steels,
-    With outstretched brush, and nimble heels;
-    When, hark! a horseman from below
-    Has given the welcome Tallyho!
-    Amazement filled the listening crew;
-    The note was strange, the voice was new:
-    Wondered they much who it could be
-    That shouted with such melody;
-    For such a voice, or such a sound,
-    Ne’er till this moment cheered a hound.
-
-
-IX.
-
-    And round they gazing looked, when, lo!
-    The Goblin Groom is seen below,
-      Dressed as he was last night;
-    Save that a cap, place hat, he wore,
-    And neater looked he than before,
-      His leathers were more tight.
-    He strode a poney, lank and lean,
-    That looked as if astray ’t had been:
-    Dun was its hue, with flowing mane;
-    The tail was black, and like a train
-    Swept far behind the scented plain,
-    Save, when at speed, he whisking spread
-    It round the Goblin’s fated head;
-    Or to the spur, the sure reply
-    Was lashed across the Goblin’s thigh:
-    On every side, above, below,
-    The whisking tail was seen to flow.
-
-
-X.
-
-    Said I the Fox towards the Tweed
-    Had urged with fear his utmost speed;
-    And that the hounds approaching nigh
-    Had bid the cowering ruffian fly;
-    And that the Goblin Groom had seen
-    Him leave his haunts of copse-wood green;
-    Had seen him leave the bank so steep,
-    And stem the tide so broad and deep;
-    And that he ready staid below
-    To give the welcome Tallyho!
-
-
-XI.
-
-    No sooner had the shout been given,
-    Than to the hilt the spurs were driven:
-      The lank-lean poney knew full well
-        The signal for the chace;
-      And only those who’ve seen may tell
-        The issue of the race.
-    But Norham’s castle saw the start,
-    And knows the Goblin did his part;
-    At least she knows, if it may be
-    That Castles are allowed to see,
-    That first the Goblin saw the find,
-    And left the boldest far behind.
-
-
-XII.
-
-    Into the river, broad and deep,
-    Beneath old Norham’s ruined keep,
-    Where the descent appears most steep,
-      The gallant pack have dashed:
-    In likewise dashed the Elf and horse,
-    Quite heedless of the torrent’s force;
-    And as they stemmed the river’s course
-      His tail the poney lashed.
-    The Goblin Groom now screamed a scream;
-    For Goblins hate a running stream;
-    And, if the truth my records say,
-    The Elfin Poney neighed a neigh.
-
-
-XIII.
-
-    O! ’twas a gallant sight, and brave,
-    To see them stem the chrystal wave:
-    But now the tide and stream have bore
-    The Groom and pack to England’s shore:
-    The other sportsmen, round about,
-    With hurried speed, have ta’en their route;
-    For well they knew th’ attempt were vain
-    Here the English side of Tweed to gain;
-    And so they’ve gone a mile below,
-    Where gurgling Tweed runs on more slow;
-    And much they marvel, all the way,
-    How crossed that gallant daring fay.
-
-
-XIV.
-
-    Meanwhile the hounds round Norham’s base
-    Have ta’en their way with eager pace;
-    Have hurried on with ready will
-    To where the Tweed receives the Till:
-    Through Tillmouth’s wooded banks they fly,
-    Whilst Echo answers to the cry;[9]
-    And then they seek the higher lands,
-    Where Twizel’s lordly castle stands:
-    High on her wood surrounded mead,
-    She views at once both Till and Tweed:
-    Two fairer streams ne’er met, I ween,
-    In such a grand and lovely scene;
-    Where braes and banks, and woods combine,
-    And swiftly gliding waters shine;
-    Where distant hills and mountains rise,
-    And fade beneath th’ expansive skies.
-
-
-XV.
-
-    The Goblin Groom has led the van
-      O’er hill and dale, through grove and glen;
-    And as the breast-high scent they ran,
-      Nor yawning ditch nor boggy fen,
-      Nor thickset-hedge, nor strong built wall,
-          Could stop his bold career;
-      His Elfin Steed disdained to fall,
-      And dashed impetuous at them all,
-          Determined each to clear.
-    And thus he hilter skilter flew,
-    And distanced all the huntsmen-crew;
-    Whilst much they wondered such a steed
-    So well could leap and take the lead.
-
-
-XVI.
-
-    From lordly Twizel’s wide domain,
-    An opener country now they gain;
-    No longer dells obstruct the sight:
-    The fields were large, the soil was light;
-    The eager hounds increase their pace;
-    The gallop now becomes a race:
-    But vain it were for horse to try
-    To race with one that seemed to fly:
-    And oft the Goblin looked in rear
-    As if he sought great D-- --h’s Peer:
-    For be it known, and it is true,
-    The Goblin honoured bold B-- --h;
-    And had he come t’enjoy the chace,
-    The Goblin sure had slacked his pace;
-    For, Goblin as he was, he knew
-    Respect to rank is always due.
-
-
-XVII.
-
-    Past Duddo’s black and ruined tower
-      The hard pressed Fox has bent his way;
-      Past Etal’s town and Etal’s bower,
-        Which in the neighb’ring valley lay:
-    Climbed they the hills so steep and fair,
-    Which over Ford’s proud castle stare;
-    And pleased was every eye, I ween,
-    Whilst glanced along the princely scene.
-    The castle first attracts the eye,
-    In all her ancient majesty:
-    Meandering Till’s impetuous flow,
-    Runs wildly in the vale below;
-    And mountains bleak, and hills of green,
-    Diversify the giant scene.
-    Such is the wide domain and hall
-    Of John the Peer of Delaval.
-
-
-XVIII.
-
-    And now the country bleaker grew,
-    As to the upland grounds they drew;
-      A barren waste, so bleak and drear,
-        Is seen on every side:
-      No objects to the sight appear
-      The eye to glad, or heart to cheer,
-        In all the desert wide.
-    The ocean blue, with clustered isles,[10]
-    The only feature here that smiles;
-    Here glouring[11] o’er the German flood,
-    Bare Barmoor’s baby castle stood,
-    With pallid face of new built woe,
-    Sad contrast to the moor below.
-    The owner saw the hounds run by,
-    And, from a tower, joined in the cry;
-    Wondered he much who it could be
-    That led the joyous revelry:
-    To right, or left, the leading hound,
-    The Goblin Groom was always found.
-    “Oh!” cried the squire of Barmoor bare,
-    “Oh! like yon Elf, that I were there!”
-    Amazement seized his soul to find
-    The others were a mile behind.
-
-
-XIX.
-
-    From Barmoor’s bare and shrubless hill,
-    The hounds have doubled back to Till,
-    And seem to make for Chiviot hill.
-    Ah! hapless Fox, and dost thou know,
-    That fated Flodden lies below;
-    And does not dark foreboding fear
-    Warn thee that fated Flodden’s near;
-    And art thou doomed so soon to yield
-    Thy life on Flodden’s fated field.
-
-
-XX.
-
-    And now old Milfield’s town they gain,
-    And reach dark Flodden’s dreary plain,
-    Where, in full cry, and all abreast,
-    The hounds the wily villain pressed:
-    The Goblin Groom still keeps his place,
-    And glories in the varying chace;
-    No demi volte, nor demi air;
-    No high curvett, nor terre-a-terre;
-    No hand to guide the gay croupade,
-    Nor heel to aid the balotade;
-    No capriole his skill to shew;
-    He these disdained, with pas et saut.[12]
-    Stiff on his stirrups, standing now,
-    He scorns to touch the saddle bow;
-      His elbows squared, and head awry,
-        As if he rode a race;
-      But none might know, for none might spy,
-        The Goblin’s spell-bound face:
-    For were he sprite, or were he fay,
-    He only shewed his back that day.
-
-
-XXI.
-
-    And now the Fox is losing ground;
-    Now strains his speed each eager hound;
-    Now at his brush the foremost prest;
-    Now at his side, now at his breast;
-    And now despair o’ercoming fright,
-    The crafty Fox turns round to fight;
-    But soon by numbers overthrown,
-    He yields his life without a groan.
-    Thus fell the Fox, and, hate aside,
-    We’ll say, at least, he nobly died.
-
-
-XXII.
-
-      Down from his Poney jumped the Elf,
-        When, lo! the Poney disappeared;
-      And now the Goblin Groom himself
-        Has ta’en the brush, the hounds has cheered;
-    Has bowed his head to Chiviot gray,
-    And vanished from the light of day:
-      And when the distanced horsemen neared
-        The bloody scene on Flodden’s plain,
-      No vestige of the Elf appeared;
-        The Poney too, was sought in vain.
-    Loud howled each hound; I will presume
-    They howled at loss of Goblin Groom;
-    And well they might, for such a fay
-    Ne’er rode before on hunting day;
-    And hounds, like ladies fair, I’m told,
-    Dote on the daring and the bold;
-    And than the Goblin, we’ll agree,
-    A bolder there could never be.
-
-
-XXIII.
-
-      On Flodden’s field there stands a bush,
-        A willow bush where sedges grow,
-      The fav’rite haunt of Friar Rush:[13]
-        This bush the neighb’ring shepherds know:
-    ’Twas here the hounds had killed their prey,
-    And vanished here the Goblin fay;
-    And, even to this very day,
-    The passing shepherd calls the bush,
-    The Winning-Post of Friar Rush;
-    And, therefore, I may well presume,
-    That Friar Rush was Goblin Groom.
-
-
-XXIV.
-
-    I do not rhyme to that dull clown
-    That has no fancy of his own;
-    Who thinks on Flodden’s dreary plain
-    The wearied hunters still remain,
-    Because not mentioned in my strain;
-    Who cannot figure in his mind,
-    That they returned to Dunse and dined;
-    That flowing bumpers then went round
-    To every horse, to every hound;
-    That e’en midst jokes, and converse hot.
-    The Goblin Groom was not forgot;
-    And that they sat ’twixt hope and fear,
-    To see his Elfin form appear;
-    And that they drank, with honours due,
-    In three times three, the bold B-- --h;
-    And midst the wassel-wine and cheer,
-    They thought on D-- --h’s noble Peer;
-    And crowned in bowls of rosy wine,
-    The whole of that illustrious line.
-
-
-L’Envoy,
-
-TO THE READER.
-
-    Now let the Minstrel bid adieu,
-    With votive lays, my friends to you:
-    To you, my friends, he’ll now impart
-    The wishes of a Minstrel’s heart;
-    If my poor rede be dull and flat,
-    Pray blame my head alone for that;
-    But when I act a friendly part
-    You must not, cannot, blame my heart.
-    To every Peer, if Peer there be,
-    To read my idle minstrelsy,
-    Unspotted fame, and courage true,
-    And boundless wealth, like bold B-- --h:
-    To every Bard that serves his Grace,
-    A goodly pension or a place;
-    To every Gardener may there be
-    A Bard to sing his praise, like me;
-    And may the bard be favoured too,
-    With Gardener-friend, dear Wat, like you:
-    Strong head, strong liquor, and good cheer,
-    To every Butler, far and near,
-    That serves a worthy, gallant, Peer:
-    Long life to all; my friends adieu,
-    And pray with me for bold B-- --h.
-
-
-THE END OF THE GOBLIN GROOM.
-
-
-
-
-NOTES.
-
-
-
-
-NOTES TO CANTO FIRST.
-
-
-NOTE I, P. 16.
-
-    Where garden is, was place of tilt
-    Or tournament, where blood was spilt;
-    Where stain’d was many a foeman’s hilt
-        With blood of knight laid low.
-
-The martial exercise of Tilting is said to have been introduced some
-time between the years 920 and 937, by Henry I of Germany, styled
-Anceps, or Falconer, but better known by the appellation of the Fowler:
-his motto was, “Tardus ad vindictam, ad beneficentiam velox.”[14] He is
-likewise said to have purchased the lance which pierced our Saviour’s
-side, and, with it, some of the nails of the holy cross; giving in
-exchange a great portion of Suabia, and other valuable gifts.
-
-
-NOTE II, P. 23.
-
-    In the centre, soup was seen
-      Smoking, from a vase of snow.
-
-That learned philosopher and prince of culinary perfection, Count
-Rumford, has taught the world the mode of preparing ice-cream in a hot
-oven, and of sending it freezing to table in a light crust of smoking
-pastry. The epicurean reader will be much disappointed if he expects to
-find that the above lines allude to some recent improvement in the
-science of chemistry, establishing the converse of this discovery; and
-that the soup at Dunse was actually served steaming to the company in an
-excavated snow-ball. It is hoped, that “a vase of snow” will be allowed
-as an appropriate figure for a clean white crockery tureen.
-
-
-
-
-NOTE III, P. 26, 27.
-
-      The chair is filled! a stranger sat
-        Upon the honoured seat;
-      Nor deigned he to doff his hat,
-      Though more than one had hinted that
-        Respect was always meet.
-    But he was heedless of them all,
-    And thrice he gazed round the hall,
-    But ne’er a word did he let fall:
-    Whilst thus he sat, whilst thus he gazed,
-    The goodly throng were all amazed.--
-
-The subject of superstition, as connected with the history of man,
-whether it be considered as influencing his character, or as affecting
-his conduct in society, seems sufficiently important to occupy the
-serious attention of the most learned investigator. It has been treated,
-however, with so much ability by an elegant author of our own
-times,[15] that, if not altogether exhausted, little more seems left to
-the ingenuity of any succeeding writer, than to avail himself, as his
-occasions may require, of the store of information thus amply afforded
-him. No maxim being more certainly founded on truth, than that early
-impressions are generally the most lasting. Would it not be highly
-meritorious in any one equal to the task, to favour the public with new
-editions of these invaluable productions, Satan’s Invisible World, and
-Glanvil’s History of Witchcraft, rendered, on the modern and improved
-plan of juvenile education, into easy ditties, to be sung or said by
-nurse or child? Might we not then expect to see the pure principles of
-poetic taste reared on the solid basis of useful knowledge?
-
-The following marvellous occurrence, recorded in the letter of a noble
-peer, and said to be founded in fact, may appear to the reader of
-prosaic fancy, as extremely dull and uninteresting; but as it has been
-the ground-work of the present poem, the author cannot think of
-refusing it insertion. It will likewise help to increase the volume to
-that respectable size which may entitle it to the honours of Russia or
-Morocco, and to a distinguished situation on the well arranged shelves
-of a modern library.
-
-          “MY DEAR SIR,
-
-     “I obey your commands with some reluctance, in relating the story
-     of which you have heard so much, and to which your curiosity
-     appears to be so broad awake. I do it unwillingly, because such
-     histories depend so much upon the manner in which they are related;
-     and this, which I have told with such success, and to the midnight
-     terrors of so many simple souls, will make but a sorry figure in a
-     written narration.--However, you shall have it.
-
-
-     “It was in the early part of-- -- --’s life, that he attended an
-     hunting club at their sport, when a stranger, of a genteel
-     appearance, and well mounted, joined the chace, and was observed
-     to ride with a degree of courage and address that called forth the
-     utmost astonishment of every one present. The beast he rode was of
-     amazing powers; nothing stopped them; the hounds could never escape
-     them; and the huntsman, who was left far behind, swore that the man
-     and his horse were devils from hell. When the sport was over, the
-     company invited this extraordinary person to dinner; he accepted
-     the invitation, and astonished the company as much by the powers of
-     his conversation, and the elegance of his manners, as by his
-     equestrian prowess. He was an orator, a poet, a painter, a
-     musician, a lawyer, a divine; in short, he was every thing, and the
-     magic of his discourse kept the drowsy sportsmen awake long after
-     their usual hour. At length, however, wearied nature could be
-     charmed no more, and the company began to steal away by degrees to
-     their repose. On his observing the society diminish, he discovered
-     manifest signs of uneasiness: he therefore gave new force to his
-     spirits, and new charms to his conversation, in order to detain the
-     remaining few some time longer. This had some little effect; but
-     the period could not be long delayed when he was to be conducted to
-     his chamber. The remains of the company retired also; but they had
-     scarce closed their eyes, when the house was alarmed by the most
-     terrible shrieks that were ever heard: several persons were
-     awakened by the noise; but, its continuance being short, they
-     concluded it to proceed from a dog who might be accidentally
-     confined in some part of the house: they very soon, therefore,
-     composed themselves to sleep, and were very soon awakened by
-     shrieks and cries of still greater terror than the former. Alarmed
-     at what they heard, several of them rung their bells, and, when the
-     servants came, they declared that the horrid sounds proceeded from
-     the stranger’s chamber. Some of the gentlemen immediately arose, to
-     inquire into this extraordinary disturbance; and, while they were
-     dressing themselves for that purpose, deeper groans of despair, and
-     shriller shrieks of agony, again astonished and terrified them.
-     After knocking sometime at the stranger’s chamber-door, he answered
-     them as one awakened from sleep, declared he had heard no noise,
-     and, rather in an angry tone, desired he might not be again
-     disturbed. Upon this they returned to one of their chambers, and
-     had scarce begun to communicate their sentiments to each other,
-     when their conversation was interrupted by a renewal of yells,
-     screams, and shrieks, which, from the horror of them, seemed to
-     issue from the throats of damned and tortured spirits. They
-     immediately followed the sounds, and traced them to the stranger’s
-     chamber, the door of which they instantly burst open, and found him
-     upon his knees in bed, in the act of scourging himself with the
-     most unrelenting severity, his body streaming with blood. On their
-     seizing his hand to stop the strokes, he begged them, in the most
-     wringing tone of voice, as an act of mercy, that they would retire,
-     assuring them that the cause of their disturbance was over, and
-     that in the morning he would acquaint them with the reasons of the
-     terrible cries they had heard, and the melancholy sight they saw.
-     After a repetition of his entreaties, they retired; and in the
-     morning some of them went to his chamber, but he was not there;
-     and, on examining the bed, they found it to be one gore of blood.
-     Upon further inquiry, the groom said, that, as soon as it was
-     light, the gentleman came to the stable booted and spurred, desired
-     his horse might be immediately saddled, and appeared to be
-     extremely impatient till it was done, when he vaulted instantly
-     into his saddle, and rode out of the yard on full speed.--Servants
-     were immediately dispatched into every part of the surrounding
-     country, but not a single trace of him could be found; such a
-     person had not been seen by any one, nor has he been since heard
-     of.
-
-
-     “The circumstances of this strange story were immediately committed
-     to writing, and signed by every one who were witnesses to them,
-     that the future credibility of any one, who should think proper to
-     relate them, might be duly supported. Among the subscribers to the
-     truth of this history are some of the first names of this
-     century.--It would now, I believe, be impertinent to add any thing
-     more, than that I am, yours, &c.”
-
-If farther proof were necessary to shew, that the dominion of
-superstition is not altogether confined, as has been erroneously
-supposed, to the heroes of romance, it might be found in the learned
-support afforded, but a few years ago, to the predictions of the
-unfortunate Prophet Brothers: And although the sublime and simple truths
-of the Christian faith have given a fatal blow to the superstitious
-absurdities of more early creeds, our propensity to the marvellous, has
-still retained sufficient influence, to screen from detection the
-grossest impositions of the Roman Church. Among the numberless
-deceptions, which Popish craft has successfully practised upon the
-credulity of its votaries, one has been handed down by a venerable
-historian, the insertion of which cannot fail to gratify the enlightened
-commentators and note-compilers of the present age.--
-
-
-     “Qui, cum die quadam tale aliquid foris ageret, digressis ad
-     ecclesiam sociis, ut dicere cœperam, et episcopus solus in oratorio
-     loci, lectioni vel orationi operam daret; audivit repente, ut
-     postea referebat, vocem suavissimam cantantium atque lætantium de
-     cœlo ad terras usque descendere: quam videlicet vocem ab Euro
-     austro, id est, ab alto brumalis, exortam, primo se audisse
-     dicebat, ac deinde paulatim eam sibi appropiare, donec ad tectum
-     usque oratorii, in quo erat Episcopus, perveniret; quod ingressa
-     totum implevit, atque in gyro circundedit. At ille, dum solicitus
-     in ea quæ audiebat, animum intenderet, audivit denuo transacto
-     quasi dimidiæ horæ spatio, ascendere de tecto ejusdem oratorii idem
-     lætitiæ canticum; et ipsa qua venerat via, ad cœlos usque cum
-     ineffabili dulcedine, reverti. Qui cum aliquantulum horæ quasi
-     attonitus maneret, et quid hæc essent solerti animo scrutaretur,
-     aperuit Episcopus fenestram oratorii, et sonitum manu faciens, ut
-     sæpius consuevit, siquis foris esset, ad se intrare præcepit.
-     Introivit ille concitus; cui dixit antistes: vade cito ad
-     ecclesiam, et hos septem fratres huc venire facito; tu quoque simul
-     adesto. Qui cum venissent, primo admonuit eos, ut virtutem
-     dilectionis et pacis, ad invicem et ad omnes fideles servarent.
-     Instituta quoque disciplinæ regularis, quæ vel ab ipso
-     didicissent, vel in ipso vidissent, vel in patrum præcedentium
-     factis sive dictis invenissent, indefessa instantia sequerentur.
-     Deinde subjunxit, diem sui obitus jam proxime instare. Namque
-     hospes, inquit, ille amabilis, qui fratres nostros visitare
-     solebat, ad me quoque hodie venire, meque de seculo evocare
-     dignatus est. Propter quod revertentes ad ecclesiam, dicite
-     fratribus, ut et meum exitum Domino precibus commendent, et suum
-     quoque exitum, (cujus hora incerta est), vigiliis, orationibus,
-     bonis operibus, prævenire meminerint. Cumque hæc et hujusmodi plura
-     loqueretur, atque illi, percepta ejus benedictione, jam multum
-     tristes exiissent, rediit ipse solus, qui carmen cœleste audierat,
-     et prosternens se in terram, Obsecro, inquit pater, licetne aliquid
-     interrogare? Interroga, inquit, quod vis. At ille, Obsecro, inquit,
-     ut dicas, quod erat canticum illud lætantium, quod audivi,
-     venientium de cœlis super oratorium hoc, et post tempus redeuntium
-     ad cœlos. Respondit ille; Si vocem carminis audivisti, et cœlestes
-     supervenire cœtus cognovisti, præcipio tibi in nomine Domini, ne
-     hoc cuiquam, ante meum obitum, dicas. Revera autem Angelorum fuere
-     spiritus, qui me ad cœlestia, quæ semper amabam ac desiderabam,
-     præmia vocare venerunt; et post dies septem se redituros, ac me
-     secum adducturos esse promiserunt. Quod quidem ita ut dictum ei
-     erat opere completum est. Nam confestim languore corporis tactus
-     est, et hoc per dies ingravescente, septimo (ut promissum ei
-     fuerat) die, postquam obitum suum dominici corporis, et sanguinis
-     perceptione munivit, soluta ab ergastulo corporis anima sancta,
-     ducentibus (ut credi fas est), angelis comitibus, æterna gaudia
-     petivit.”
-
-                              E HIST. ECCLES. VENER. BED.
-
-
-
-
-NOTE IV, P. 28.
-
-    A pea-green jerkin on his back,
-    All dabbled by a splashing hack.--
-
-The dress of this little stranger, and his manner of introducing himself
-to the festival, must satisfy the reader that the Goblin Groom is one
-of those supernatural sportsmen usually termed Fairies. In the sequel,
-however, it will appear evident, that he owes his origin to the hardy
-race of northern Elves, rather than to the more delicate family of
-eastern Peris.[16]
-
-The existence of the Fairy, like that of the Mermaid, no longer rests on
-the credulity of the ignorant, but is confirmed and established by
-attestations no less respectable than the affidavits so frequently made
-before the Lord Mayor of London, in support of the infallibility of a
-quack and his nostrums.
-
-In the isle of Man, where sportsmen of more tangible materials enjoy a
-temporary security, these little supernaturals, probably under similar
-circumstances, find an agreeable retreat. In the Minstrelsy of the
-Scottish Borders, on the unrefuted authority of Mr. Waldron, we have
-the following interesting particulars.--
-
-     “Like the FELD ELFEN of the Saxons, the usual dress of the Fairies
-     is green; though, on the moors, they have been sometimes observed
-     in heath-brown, or in weeds dyed with the stoneraw, or lichen. They
-     often ride in invisible procession, when their presence is
-     discovered by the shrill ringing of their bridles. On these
-     occasions, they sometimes borrow mortal steeds; and when such are
-     found at morning, panting and fatigued in their stalls, with their
-     manes and tails dishevelled and entangled, the grooms, I presume,
-     often find this a convenient excuse for their situation; as the
-     common belief of the elves quaffing the choicest liquors in the
-     cellars of the rich, (see the story of Lord Duffus below), might
-     occasionally cloak the delinquencies of an unfaithful butler.
-
-     “The Fairies, beside their equestrian processions, are addicted, it
-     would seem, to the pleasures of the chace. A young sailor,
-     travelling by night from Douglas, in the Isle of Man, to visit his
-     sister, residing in Kirk Merlugh, heard the noise of horses, the
-     holla of a huntsman, and the sound of a horn. Immediately
-     afterwards, thirteen horsemen, dressed in green, and gallantly
-     mounted, swept past him. Jack was so much delighted with the sport,
-     that he followed them, and enjoyed the sound of the horn for some
-     miles; and it was not till he arrived at his sister’s house that he
-     learned the danger which he had incurred. I must not omit to
-     mention, that these little personages are expert jockeys, and scorn
-     to ride the little Manks ponies, though apparently well suited to
-     their size. The exercise, therefore, falls heavily upon the English
-     and Irish horses brought into the Isle of Man. Mr. Waldron was
-     assured by a gentleman of Ballafletcher, that he had lost three or
-     four capital hunters by these nocturnal excursions.
-
-                              WALDRON’S WORKS, P. 132.”
-
-
-
-It is to be lamented, for the comfort of that valuable class of society
-denominated Hunting-Grooms, that their masters do not look into the
-casualties of their studs with the discriminating eye of the worthy
-gentleman of Ballafletcher.
-
-
-NOTE V, P. 29.
-
-    And every toast with ready will
-    His elfin hand consents to fill.
-    Heavens! what a wondrous draught he drew
-    Whene’er they toasted bold B-- --h.
-
-Monsieur Mallet, the learned author of the ingenious work on Northren
-Antiquities, seems to consider Fairies and Elves as synonymous terms. In
-his remarks on the ninth fable of the Edda, we find him thus expressing
-himself.--“ALFHEIM signifies, in Gothic, the abode of the Genii, that
-is, the Fairies of the male-sex.” To prove the Gothic origin of our Elf,
-we need only appeal to the devotion he shews to the bottle. His conduct
-at the Dunse Festival is truly northern, and the mighty Thor himself,
-the great champion of Scandinavian revelry, could not have displayed
-greater zeal in emptying the enchanted horn.--But of this the reader may
-judge by perusing the Gothic fable.--
-
-
-     THE TWENTY-FIFTH FABLE.
-
-     _Of the Trials that Thor underwent._
-
-     “Then the king asked Thor, in what art he would choose to give
-     proof of that dexterity for which he was so famous. Thor replied,
-     that he would contest the prize of drinking with any person
-     belonging to his court. The king consented, and immediately went
-     into his palace to look for a large horn, out of which his
-     courtiers were obliged to drink when they had committed any
-     trespass against the customs of the court.[17] This the cup-bearer
-     filled to the brim, and presented to Thor, whilst the king spake
-     thus.--Whoever is a good drinker, will empty that horn at a single
-     draught; some persons make two of it; but the most puny drinker of
-     all can do it at three. Thor looked at the horn, and was astonished
-     at its length;[18] however, as he was very thirsty, he set it to
-     his mouth, and, without drawing breath, pulled as long and as
-     deeply as he could, that he might not be obliged to make a second
-     draught of it; but when he withdrew the cup from his mouth, in
-     order to look in, he could scarcely perceive any of the liquor
-     gone. To it he went again with all his might, but succeeded no
-     better than before. At last, full of indignation, he again set the
-     horn to his lips, and exerted himself to the utmost to empty it
-     entirely: then looking in, he found that the liquor was a little
-     lowered; upon this, he resolved to attempt it no more, but gave
-     back the horn. I now see plainly, says the king, that thou art not
-     quite so stout as we thought thee; but art thou willing to make
-     any more trials? I am sure, says Thor, such draughts as I have been
-     drinking, would not have been reckoned small among the Gods.
-
-                       MALLET’S NORTH. ANTIQ. VOL. II, P. 126-127.”
-
-
-
-
-
-
-NOTES TO CANTO SECOND.
-
-
-NOTE I, P. 60.
-
-    He strode a poney, lank and lean,
-    That looked as if astray ’t had been;
-    Dun was its hue, with flowing-mane;
-    The tail was black, and like a train--
-
-Contrary to the custom of the Manx Fairies, it might be inferred, that
-our Groom had just returned from the sanctuary of sportsmen, with a nag
-of the native breed. But having already made considerable progress in
-establishing the origin of the rider, we shall now take some pains in
-proving to our readers the pedigree of the steed: and in asserting him
-to be from the stock of the far-famed Sleipner, we hope to be borne out
-by his performances, and confirmed by probability in our opinion. The
-circumstance of that noted stallion having had eight legs, does not in
-the least degree weaken our belief in the genuine descent of the
-Goblin’s poney; for, reasoning by analogy, we have never yet heard of a
-parent with a wooden-leg transmitting timber-toes to posterity.
-
-To those sportsmen who confine their genealogical inquiries to the
-general stud-book and racing-calendar, we present, in the words of the
-Gothic Edda, the history of a horse, more famed than the Childer’s Barb,
-or the Godolphin Arabian.--
-
-
-     HISTORIA VICESIMA PRIMA.
-
-     _Quomodo Loco procreavit equum Sleipnerum cum Svadilfaro._
-
-     “Faber quidam Asas adveniens, ad urbem illis ædificandam per tres
-     annos sese obtulit, eamque adeo munitam, ut tuta esset ab
-     incursionibus Gigantum. Mercedem vero laboris Frejam postulavit, ut
-     et lunam solemque. Dii vero, inito consilio, paciscuntur; si vero
-     quid laboris prima die æstatis superesset, præmium amitteret;
-     nullius vero opera ei uti liceret. Hic de auxilio equi sui
-     Svadelfari tantum pactus fuit. Omnia vero hæc fiebant, dirigente et
-     instigante Locone. Hic urbam ædificaturus, noctu per equum lapides
-     attraxit. Asis mirum videbatur, eam tam magnos adferre montes; nec
-     non equum plus, quam fabrum, conficere. Pacto autem multi
-     interfuere testes: quippe cum gigas videretur non satis tutus inter
-     Asas, si hic esset, Toro domum reverso. Qui jam mari Baltico
-     trajecto, hinc per amnes et fluvios ad Asiam progressus, (quod
-     priscis Austerveg audit) bellum cum gigantibus gessit. Urbs fuit
-     munita et tam alta, ut perspicere non valeres. Tribus vero reliquis
-     fabro diebus, Dii congregati solia sua ascendentes quæsiverunt,
-     quisnam auctor esset, ut Freya in Jotunheimiam elocaretur? ut et
-     aer perderetur, inducta cœlo calligine, sublatum solem et lunam
-     dando gigantibus. Illos vero inter conventum fuit, Loconem hoc
-     dedisse consilium. Dicebant, eum misera morte afficiendum esse,
-     nisi rationem, qua faber mercedem amitteret, inveniret, adjicientes
-     fore ut statim illum comprehenderent. Examinatus vero jurejurando
-     promisit se effecturum, ut faber mercede frustraretur, quicquid
-     tandem huic negotio impenderet. Fabro autem lapidis advehendi
-     causa, cum Svadilfaro, egressuro, ex sylva prosiliit equa quædam
-     solitaria, equo adhinniens. Quam conspicatus equus, in furorem
-     actus, rupto fune, eam adcurrit, jam in sylvam accelerantem,
-     insequente fabro, equum assecuturo. Equa vero totam per noctem
-     discurrente, faber impeditus fuit, quominus, hac nocte, una cum die
-     sequente, opus, uti antea, fuerit continuatum. Quo cognito, animo
-     percellitur giganteo. Quo viso, juramentis non parcentes Torum
-     invocarunt: qui statim adveniens, vibrato in aera malleo, dataque
-     mercede, occisum fabrum in Niflheimium detrusit. Loconi vero cum
-     Svadilfaro res fuit, ut equuleum genuerit nomine Sleipnerum, octo
-     habentem pedes.
-
-                  EDDA, FAB. XXI, OPERA ET STUDIO JO. GORANSON.”
-
-
-
-
-NOTE II, P. 63.
-
-    The Goblin Groom now screamed a scream;
-    For Goblins hate a running stream;
-    And, if the truth my records say,
-    The Elfin Poney neighed a neigh.
-
-The terror of the inhabitants of Alfheim, or Fairy land, for running
-water, has been too often asserted to require much comment. Unlicensed
-spirits, that wander on the face of the earth, with intentions injurious
-to mankind, are always represented as tortured with hydrophobia. The
-author cannot hope that he has painted the Goblin’s terror in all the
-glowing colours of a Burns,[19] or with the finer tints of a Scott; yet
-he flatters himself some beauty may be found, by the admirers of
-pleonastic redundancy, in the passage expressive of the horror of the
-horse and rider; and he feels that, in this judgment, he will be
-supported by the most classical authorities in the English language;
-_e.g._
-
-
-GILES SCROGGINS.
-
-    Giles Scroggins courted Molly Brown,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    The fairest wench in all the town,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    He bought a ring with posie true,
-    “If you loves I as I loves you,
-    “No knife can cut our love in two.”
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido.
-
-    But scissars cut as well as knives,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    And quite unsartin’s all our lives,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    The day they were to have been wed,
-    Fate’s scissars cut poor Giles’s thread,
-    So they could not be mar-ri-ed.
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido.
-
-    Poor Molly laid her down to weep,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    And cried herself quite fast asleep,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    When, standing all by the bed-post,
-    A figure tall her sight engrossed,
-    And it cried, I beez Giles Scroggins’ Ghost!
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido.
-
-    The Ghost it said, all solemnly,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    O Molly, you must go with I!
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    All to the grave, your love to cool.--
-    She says, I am not dead, you fool!--
-    Says the Ghost, says he, Vy that’s no rule.
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido.
-
-    The Ghost he seized her, all so grim,
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido;
-    All for to go along with him;
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido.
-    “Come, come, said he, ere morning beam.”--
-    “I vont!” said she, and she screamed a scream--
-    Then she woke and found she dreamed a dream.
-        Fol deriddle lol, fol deriddle lido.
-
-And again,--
-
-    With rapid round the Baron bent;
-    He sighed a sigh, he prayed a prayer;
-    The prayer was to his patron Saint,
-    The sigh was to his lady fair.
-
-           LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL.
-
-
-NOTE III, P. 66.
-
-    And thus he hilter skilter flew,
-    And distanced all the huntsmen-crew.
-
-We cannot give a better idea of the hilter skilter mode of riding with
-hounds, than by quoting the truly classical words of an accomplished
-Leicestershire sportsman, who is equally celebrated as a painter and a
-poet.--
-
-    And next in the cluster
-    See Wor’ster and Muster;
-    Now Muster sets Wor’ster,
-    Now Wor’ster beats Muster;
-    Now Muster is first, Sir,
-    And Wor’ster is burst, Sir:
-    Such bunglers as those are
-    Ought both to be curst, Sir.
-
-Although we in general disapprove of Parodies, the above is so
-excellent, and so applicable to our subject, that we sacrifice our
-principles for the gratification of our readers.
-
-
-NOTE IV, P. 72.
-
-    No demi volte, nor demi air;
-    No high curvett, nor terre-a-terre;
-    No hand to guide the gay croupade.
-    Nor heel to aid the balotade;
-    No capriole his skill to shew;
-    He these disdained, with pas et saut.
-
-It must be truly gratifying to yeomanry officers, and those who have not
-had the advantages of an equestrian education, that, in works of fancy,
-they may be at once amused and instructed with valuable hints on
-horsemanship; and believing, as we do, that those who have feasted on
-the pages of Marmion are now enabled to take a leading part in a meslee
-or fight, we shall proceed to forward them in their pursuits, by
-recommending to their attention Astley’s explanation of the Croupade.
-
-The Tailor too of Brentford will be enjoyed with greater glee, when the
-spectators do not curb their mirth by a fellow-feeling for the Cockney
-equestrian.
-
-
-     “CROUPADE.
-
-     “The horse leaps into the air with all his feet off the ground at
-     one and the same time, and without stretching out those behind: by
-     an attention to this action, much good might result to the cavalry;
-     and here I will relate a manœuvre, to which I often had recourse in
-     1761, and at other periods of the seven years war. I instructed my
-     horse to strike an object, or objects, at the will of the rider,
-     within a given distance, before, behind, or together; and necessity
-     furnished me with the idea.
-
-     “In patroling, a soldier sometimes wants a guide, and gentle means
-     often prove ineffectual to induce a peasant to quit his bed, at
-     the dead of the night, for the accommodation of others,--to
-     dismount for the purpose of procuring admittance into a house, at
-     such a time, barred and bolted within, and perhaps in an enemy’s
-     country, would be dangerous. I knew my duty, and, ere this, my
-     horse knew his. On approaching the door, I caused him to strike it
-     with his fore-feet; and if this did not answer my purpose, (for it
-     would sometimes fail), I faced him about, when, with his croup, he
-     would break the door in pieces: this he would accomplish in a few
-     moments, to the surprise and terror of the inhabitants: on the
-     other hand, when upon the defensive, no person could approach me
-     without danger; and when on the offensive, and animated at my
-     pleasure, to the highest pitch, he would strike in every direction,
-     and clear his way!
-
-                     ASTLEY’S EQUESTRIAN EDUCATION, P. 177.”
-
-
-
-We do not remember that La Broue has any where pointed out the
-application of this useful air du Manège, as the French term it.
-
-
-NOTE V, P. 74.
-
-    Loud howled each hound; I will presume
-    They howled at loss of Goblin Groom;
-    And well they might, for such a fay
-    Ne’er rode before on hunting day;--
-
-Though not exactly authorized by the writer of the following poem, yet
-we cannot think he will take offence at our availing ourselves of its
-beauties, to illustrate the fidelity and attachment of the canine
-species to their masters, and those who have shared with them in the
-dangers and fatigues of the chace. We extract this poem from a Calcutta
-Gazette of 1807.--
-
-
-BETH-GELERT,
-
-OR
-
-THE GRAVE OF THE GREYHOUND.[20]
-
-    The spearmen heard the bugle sound,
-      And cheerly smiled the morn,
-    And many a brach, and many a hound,
-      Obeyed Llewelyn’s horn.
-
-    And still he blew a louder blast,
-      And gave a lustier cheer,
-    “Come, Gelert, come, wer’t never last
-      “Llewelyn’s horn to hear.
-
-    “Oh! where does faithful Gelert roam,
-      “The flower of all his race?
-    “So true, so brave; a lamb at home,
-      “A lion in the chace!”
-
-    ’Twas only at Llewelyn’s board
-      The faithful Gelert fed;
-    He watched, he served, he cheered his lord,
-      And sentineled his bed.
-
-    In sooth he was a peerless hound,
-      The gift of royal John;
-    But now no Gelert could be found,
-      And all the chace rode on.
-
-    And now, as o’er the rocks and dells
-      The gallant chidings rise,
-    All Snowdon’s craggy chaos yells
-      The many mingled cries!
-
-    That day Llewelyn little loved
-      The chace of hart or hare,
-    And scant and small the booty proved,
-      For Gelert was not there.
-
-    Unpleased, Llewelyn homeward hied:
-      When, near the portal seat,
-    His truant Gelert he espied
-      Bounding his lord to greet.
-
-    But, when he gained his castle door,
-      Aghast the chieftain stood;
-    The hound all o’er was smeared with gore,
-      His lips, his fangs, ran blood.
-
-    Llewelyn gazed with fierce surprise:--
-      Unused such looks to meet,
-    His fav’rite checked his joyful guise,
-      And crouched and licked his feet.
-
-    Onward in haste Llewelyn past,
-      And on went Gelert too,
-    And still, where’er his eyes he cast,
-      Fresh blood-gouts shocked his view.
-
-    O’erturned his infant’s bed he found,
-      With blood-stained covert rent;
-    And all around, the walls and ground
-      With recent blood besprent.
-
-    He called his child, no voice replied;
-      He searched with terror wild;
-    Blood, blood he found on every side;
-      But no where found his child.
-
-    “Hell-hound! my child by thee’s devoured!”
-      The frantic father cried;
-    And to the hilt his vengeful sword
-      He plunged in Gelert’s side.
-
-    His suppliant looks, as prone he fell,
-      No pity could impart:
-    But still his Gelert’s dying yell
-      Passed heavy o’er his heart.
-
-    Aroused by Gelert’s dying yell
-      Some slumberer wakened nigh:
-    What words the parent’s joy could tell
-      To hear his infant’s cry!
-
-    Concealed beneath a tumbled heap,
-      His hurried search had missed:
-    All glowing from his rosy sleep,
-      The cherub boy he kissed.
-
-    Nor scath had he, nor harm, nor dread;
-      But the same couch beneath
-    Lay a gaunt wolf, all torn and dead,
-      Tremendous still in death.
-
-    Ah, what was then Llewelyn’s pain!
-      For now the truth was clear;
-    His gallant hound the wolf had slain,
-      To save Llewelyn’s heir.
-
-    Vain, vain was all Llewelyn’s woe:
-      “Best of thy kind adieu!
-    “The frantic blow, which laid thee low,
-      “This heart shall ever rue.”
-
-    And now a gallant tomb they raise,
-      With costly sculpture deckt;
-    And marbles storied with his praise,
-      Poor Gelert’s bones protect.
-
-    There never could the spearman pass,
-      Or forester, unmoved;
-    There oft the tear-besprinkled grass
-      Llewelyn’s sorrow proved.
-
-    And there he hung his horn and spear,
-      And there, as evening fell,
-    In Fancy’s ear he oft would hear
-      Poor Gelert’s dying yell.
-
-    And till great Snowdon’s rocks grow old,
-      And cease the storm to brave,
-    The consecrated spot shall hold
-      The name of “Gelert’s Grave!”
-
-
-NOTE VI, P. 76.
-
-    The passing shepherd calls the bush,
-    The Winning-Post of Friar Rush;--
-
-This Friar, or “esprit follet,” is a gentleman of as many names and
-titles as any Spanish Grandee; “Will o’ the Wisp,” however, is the name
-he is best known by, when stript of his ecclesiastical honours: he has
-always been considered a tricky knave, and is thus spoken of in
-Marmion.--
-
-    Better we had through mire and bush
-    Been lanthorn led by Friar Rush.
-
-MARMION, CANTO IV, P. 187.
-
-
-NOTE VII, P. 79.
-
-    To every Bard that serves his Grace,
-    A goodly pension or a place;--
-
-We here call upon our readers, to attend to the origin of the word Bard;
-inasmuch as, that term has become applicable to poem-mongers in general.
-The learned Mr. Prideaux informs us,--
-
-     “BARDUS possessed his father Druis’ place. To his ancestors
-     Phylosophy, Magick, Politicks, Rites and Ceremonies, this man added
-     Poetry, and set all their excellencies at a higher key. 2. From him
-     we have the ancient Bardi, the chroniclers of all heroick actions,
-     and commenders of their performers, to the imitation of their
-     posterity, whom an ancient poet thus bespeaketh,--
-
-    Vos quoq. qui fortes animas belloq. peremtas,
-    Laudibus in longum vates deducitis ævum.
-    Plurima securi fudistis carmina Bardi.
-
-        Then you brave Bards securely song,
-          The praise of dead Pears;
-        In lofty strains, for to prolong
-          Their fame for many years.
-
-     3. Their esteem was such amongst the greatest commanders, that if
-     two armies were even at push of pike, and a Bard had step’d in
-     between them, they would have held their hands, harkened to their
-     advice, and not have offered to strike until he were out of danger.
-     4. Famous amongst those Bards (before the coming of our Saviour)
-     were held Plenidius and Glaskirion, and of late years, Davye Dee,
-     David ap Williams and others. They say the island Bardsey had
-     Bardorum Insula, its name, from them, and Aquila, Perdix, Patrick,
-     Maddoch, and both the Merlins the wisards, were from this
-     institution.”
-
-                 PRIDEAUX’S INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY, P. 255-256.
-
-
-
-Although the terms Bard and Poet are those in more general use to
-express the rhyme-weaving brotherhood, yet there are words of Gothic
-origin which may still be found of uncommon meaning, and, on certain
-occasions, even more significant than the former. Thus, a dame
-declaiming in heroics to her waiting-women and children, is denominated
-a Scold, from the Scalds or Poets of Iceland; and the term Bragger may,
-from “Brage” of the Goths, be employed to designate a blustering
-Poetaster, who claims, for alleged facility and unquestionable length of
-composition, the applause reserved for creative genius and continued
-exertion.
-
-
-THE END.
-
-
-_Printed by Alex. Lawrie & Co. Edinburgh._
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[1] In this happy manner of expressing his admiration of the object
-before him, the author assures his readers, that he lays no claim to
-originality.
-
-[2] Bumble or bumbart bee. _Vide_ Dr. Jamieson’s Dictionary.
-
-[3] North of the Tweed _beast_ is applied, as a general term, to
-animals, without distinction.
-
-[4] The following anecdote, with many others equally interesting, is
-recorded in a very _rare_ work, to be found in few _collections, however
-excellent_. A gentleman and his friend, passing along Oxford Road, were
-stopped by an immense crowd near Hyde Park, and, on inquiring into the
-cause, were told that a person of the name of Vowel was leading to
-execution at Tyburn. “I wonder what vowel it can be,” (cried the one).
-“It is neither U nor I, (replied the other), so let us pass on.” JOE
-MILLER, a very old edition.
-
-[5] Dunse, supposed to be derived from the old Celtic word _Dun_, a
-hill, is situated in the centre of the county of Berwick, near to the
-Lammermoor hills,--is famous for its _cabbages_,--from its being the
-birth-place of _Duns Scotus_,--and from the number of _alehouses_ which
-it contains. For an account of its places of ancient strength, _vide_
-Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv.
-
-[6] Whitadder and Blackadder, probably corruptions of Whitewater and
-Blackwater, two streams which, uniting in their course, empty themselves
-into the Tweed a little above Berwick.
-
-[7] Those who feel with the author on this subject, will consult, with
-peculiar pleasure, the general tenor of our Parliamentary Reports.
-
-[8]
-
-      O fortes pejoraque passi
-    Mecum sæpe viri nunc vino pellite curas
-      Cras ingens iterabimus æquor.
-
-               HOR. ODE 7, LIB. 1.
-
-
-[9] Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.
-
-                             GEORG. III.
-
-
-[10] The Fern Islands.
-
-[11] Looking intensely. Dr. Jamieson gives the following authority for
-this meaning of the word.--
-
-    “He girnt, he _glourt_, he gapt, as he war weid.”
-         DUNBAR, MAITLAND POEMS, p. 77.
-
-
-[12]
-
-    Il monte avec la main les eperons et gaule,
-    Le cheval de pegase qui volle en capriole,
-    Il monte si haut qu’il touche de sa teste les cieux,
-    Et par ses merveilles ravit en extasses les Dieux,
-    Les chevaux corruptible qui la bas sur terre son
-    En courbettes demi-airs terre-à-tere vont
-    Avec humilite soumission et bassesse,
-    L’adorer, comme Dieu et auteur de leur adresse.
-
-    _See a General System of Horsemanship, &c.
-    by the DUKE OF NEWCASTLE._
-
-
-[13] Alias “Will o’ the Wisp,”--alias, in Scotland, “Spunkie.” The
-reader who is anxious for farther information on this interesting
-subject is referred to the notes on MARMION.
-
-[14] Hedio. Sleidan.
-
-[15] SCOTT. _Vide_ Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. ii.
-
-[16] By some etymologists of that learned class, who not only know
-whence words come, but also whither they are going, the term _Fairy_, or
-_Faërie_, is derived from _Faë_, which is again derived from _Nympha_.
-It is more probable the term is of oriental origin, and is derived from
-the Persic, through the medium of the Arabic. In Persic, the term _Peri_
-expresses a species of imaginary being, which resembles the Fairy in
-some of its qualities, and is one of the fairest creatures of romantic
-fancy.
-
-    _MINSTRELSY OF THE SCOTTISH BORDER, p. 115-116._
-
-
-[17] Our modern Bachanals will here observe, that punishing by a bumper
-is not an invention of these degenerate days. The ancient Danes were
-great Topers.
-
-[18] The drinking vessels of the northern nations were the horns of
-animals, of their natural length, only tipt with silver, &c. In
-York-Minster is preserved one of those ancient drinking-vessels,
-composed of a large elephant’s tooth, of its natural dimensions,
-ornamented with sculpture, &c. See DRAKE’S HIST.
-
-[19] Tam O’Shanter.
-
-[20] The story of this Ballad is traditionary in a village at the foot
-of Snowden, where Llewelyn the Great had a house. The Greyhound, named
-Gêlert, was given to him by his father-in-law, King John, in the year
-1205; and the place to this day is railed Beth Gêlert, or the Grave of
-Gêlert.
-
-
-
-
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