"the stair, saying, 'I appeal from that summons, judgment, "and sentence thereof, and takes 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 the 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 sum66 mons, 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."

Note XX.

Fitz-Eustace bade them pause a while

Before a venerable pile.—St. XXIX. p. 292.

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.

Note XXI.

That one of his own ancestry

Drove the Monks forth of Coventry. St. XXX. p. 296. 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, ferocia, et astucia, fere nullo suo tempore impar.” This Baron, having expelled the Monks from the church of

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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.

NOTES TO CANTO VI.

Note I.

the savage Dane

At Iol more deep the mead did drain.-P. 305.

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 Torfæus 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 entrenchment, 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."

Note II.

On Christmas eve the mass was sung.-P. 306.

In Roman Catholic countries, mass is never said at night, excepting on Christmas eve. Each of the frolics with which that holiday used to be celebrated, might admit of a long and curious note; but I shall content myself with the following description of Christmas, and his attributes, as personified in one of Ben Jonson's Masques for the Court.

"Enter CHRISTMAS, with two or three of the Guard. He ❝is attired in round hose, long stockings, a close doublet, a "high-crowned hat, with a broach, a long thin beard, a trun"cheon, little ruffs, white shoes, his scarfs and garters tied cross, and his drum beaten before him.

"The names of his children, with their attires.

"Miss-Rule, in a velvet cap, with a sprig, a short cloak, "great yellow ruff, like a reveller; his torch-bearer bearing a rope, a cheese, and a basket.

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"Caroll, a long tawny coat, with a red cap, and a flute at "his girdle; his torch-bearer carrying a song-book open. "Minc'd-pie, like a fine cook's wife, drest neat, her man "carrying a pie, dish, and spoons.

"Gamboll, like a tumbler, with a hoop and bells; his torch"bearer arm'd with cole-staff, and blinding cloth.

"Post and Pair, with a pair-royal of aces in his hat, his garment all done over with pairs and purs; his squire car"rying a box, cards, and counters.