And turn the doubtful day again, While yet on Flodden side, Afar the royal standard flies, And round it toils, and bleeds, and dies, In vain the wish-for, far away, Of Tilmouth upon Tweed. There all the night they spent in prayer, XXXIV. But as they left the darkening heath, That fought around their king. But yet, though thick the shafts as snow, Unbroken was the ring; The stubborn spearmen still made good Each stepping where his comrade stood, No thought was there of dastard flight; Till utter darkness closed her wing Then did their loss his foeman know; When streams are swoln and south winds blow, Tweed's echoes heard the ceaseless plash, While many a broken band, Disorder'd, through her currents dash, To gain the Scottish land: To town and tower, to down and dale, -- Chiefs, knights, and nobles, many a one, That, journeying far on foreign strand, May yet return again. He saw the wreck his rashness wrought; And fell on Flodden plain : And well in death his trusty brand, But, O! how changed since yon blithe night! — XXXVI. Short is my tale:- Fitz-Eustace' care His hands to heaven upraised; . To seek the water-flag and rush, sit That holds the.bones of Marmion brave.- Thou left'st the right path for the wrong: XXXVIII. I do not rhyme to that dull elf << Love they like Wilton and like Clare!» L'ENVOY. TO THE READER. Why, then, a final note prolong, And twined by her he loves the best; Used generally for tale, or discourse. And knowledge to the studious sage, And pillow to the head of age. To thee, dear schoolboy, whom my lay Has cheated of thy hour of play, Light task and merry holiday! To all, to each, a fair good night, And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light! NOTES. CANTO I. Note 1. Introduction. As when the Champion of the Lake Or in the Chapel Perilous, Despising spells and demons' force, Holds converse with the unburied corse. The Romance of the Morte Arthur contains a sort of abridgment of the most celebrated adventurers 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. also the merit of being written in pure old English; and It has 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 published, I confine myself to the tale of the Chapel Perilous, and of the quest of Sir Launcelot after the Sangreal. << Right so Sir Launcelot 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 church-yard, 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 hee 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 if the earth had quaked a little, whereof he was afeared, and then he saw a faire sword lye by the dead knight, and that he gat in his hand, and hied him out of the chapell. 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 yee list.' Therewith he passed through them; and, beyond the chappell-yerd, there met him a fair damosel, 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, Queene Guenever should ye never see.' Then were I foole and I would leave this sword,' said Sir Launcelot. Now, gentle knight,' said the damosel, 'I require thee to kisse me once.' 'Nay,' said Sir Launcelot, that God forbid!' 'Well, sir,' said she, ' and thou haddest kissed me, thy life dayes had been done; but now, alas!' said she, 'I have lost all my labour; for I ordained 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 thare 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 Queen Guenever; but sithen I may not rejoyce 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 my life daies, and daily I should have clipped thee, and kissed thee, in the despite of Queene Guene'Yee say well,' said Sir Launcelot; 'Jesus preserve me from your subtill craft!' And therewith he took his horse, and departed from her.>> ver.' Note 2. Introduction. A sinful man, and unconfess'd, 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 darke, 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 hee put off his shield, and hung it upon a tree, and then hee went unto the chappell door, 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 candlesticke, 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 he might enter. Then he was passing heavie and dismaied. Then he returned, and came againe to his horse, and tooke off his saddle and his bridle, and let him pasture, and un laced his helme, and ungirded his sword, and laid him downe to sleepe upon his shield before the crosse. « And so he 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, 'Oh 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 vessell 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 heede 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.' So 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 hee 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, 'whatsoever he be, he is unhappie; for, as I deeme, he 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. ༥ 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 harde 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, hee was passing heavy, and wit 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.» Note 3. Introduction. And Dryden, in immortal strain, But that a ribald king and court Dryden's melancholy account of his projected Epic Poem, blasted by the selfish and sordid parsimony of his patrons, is contained in an «< Essay on Satire,» addressed to the Earl of Dorset, and prefixed to the Translation of Juvenal. After mentioning a plan of supplying machinery from the guardian angels of kingdoms, mentioned in the book of Daniel, he adds..: Lothly he was to look on than, 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. Note 5. Stanza i. Day set on Norham's castled steep, And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep, etc. The ruinous castle of Norham (anciently called Ubbandford), 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 « Thus, my lord, I have, as briefly as I could, given your lordship, and by you the world, a rude draft of what I have been long labouring in my imagination, and what I had intended to have put in practice (though importance, shows it to have been a place of magnifiEdward I resided there far unable for the attempt of such a poem), and to have cence, as well as strength. when he was created umpire of the dispute concerning left the stage, to which my genius never much inclined the Scottish succession. It was repeatedly taken and me, for a work which would have taken up my life in retaken during the wars between England and Scotland; the performance of it. This, too, I had intended chiefly and, indeed, scarce any happened, in which it had not for the honour of my native country, to which a poeta principal share. Norham Castle is situated on a is particularly obliged. Of two subjects, both relating to it, I was doubtful whether I should chuse that of steep bank, which overhangs the river. The repeated King Arthur conquering the Saxons, which, being far-sieges which the castle had sustained rendered frequent ther 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, Don Pedro the Cruel; which, for the compass of time, including only the expedition of one year, for the greatness of the action, and its answerable event, for the magnanimity of the English hero, opposed to the ingratitude of the person whom he restored, and for the many beautiful episodes which I had interwoven with the principal design, together with the characters of the chiefest English persons (wherein, after Virgil and Spenser, I would have taken occasion to represent my living friends and patrons of the noblest families, and also shadowed the events of future ages in the suc Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, who added a huge repairs necessary. In 1164 it was almost rebuilt by 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 chietly 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 6000l. See his curious Memoirs, published by Mr Constable of Edinburgh. cession of our imperial line),—with these helps, and those of the machines which I have mentioned, 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 dis-heads of salted salmon, forty quarters of grain, besides abled me.» Note 4. Introduction. Of Ascapart, and Bevis bold. 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 de scribed in an extract: This geaunt was mighty and strong, 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. According to Mr Pinkerton, there is, in the British Museum, Cal. B. vi, 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 hogs 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, inclosed within an outward wall of great circuit. Note 6. Stanza i. 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 cen- This affront could only be expiated by a joust with tre of the other buildings, from which, however, it was sharp lances. In the course, Dalzell left his helmet unusually detached. Here, in case of the outward de- laced, so that it gave way at the touch of his antagonist's fences being gained, the garrison retreated to make lance, and he thus avoided the shock of the encounter. their last stand. The donjon contained the great hall, This happened twice:-In the third encounter, the and principal rooms of state for solemn occasions, and handsome Courtenay lost two of his front teeth. As also the prison of the fortress; from which last circum- the Englishman complained bitterly of Dalzell's fraud stance we derive the modern and restricted use of the in not fastening his helmet, the Scottishman agreed to word dungeon. Ducange (voce DUNJO) conjectures run six courses more, each champion staking in the plausibly, that the name is derived from these keeps hand of the king two hundred pounds, to be forfeited being usually built upon a hill, which in Celtic is called if, on entering the lists, any unequal advantage should DUN. Borlase supposes the word came from the dark-be detected. This being agreed to, the wily Scot deness of the apartments in these towers, which were thence figuratively called Dungeons; thus deriving the ancient word from the modern application of it. Note 7. Stanza vi. Well was he arm'd from head to heel, manded, 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 equalization 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 The artists of Milan were famous in the middle ages and valour. This must appear to the reader a singular for their skill in armoury, as appears from the follow-specimen of the humour of that time. I suspect the ing passage, in which Froissart gives an account of the Jockey Club would have given a different decision from preparations made by Henry, Earl of Hereford, after- Henry IV. wards Henry IV, and Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Note 9. Stanza xi. Mareschal, for their proposed combat in the lists of Coventry. << These two lords made ample provision 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. Note 8. Stanza vi. The golden legend bore aright, WHO CHECKS AT ME, TO DEATH IS DIGHT. The crest and motto of Marmion are borrowed from the following story. Sir David de Lindsay, first Earl of Crawford, 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 court, he there saw Sir Piers Courtenay, 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, They hail'd Lord Marmion. Of Tamworth tower and town. 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 cas tle 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 Dymocke, 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. It was one of the Marmion family who, in the reign of Edward II, performed that chivalrous feat before the very castle of Norham, which Bishop Percy has woven into his beautiful Ballad, «< The Hermit of Warkworth.>> The story is thus told by Leland: |
