failure of his negotiation, for matching the infant Mary There is a military tradition, that the old Scottish << Notwithstanding, the lords held them quiet till they caused certain armed men to pass into the king's pallion, and two or three wise men to pass with them, and give the king fair pleasant words, till they laid hands on all the king's servants, and took them and hanged them before his eyes over the bridge of Lawder. Incontinent they brought forth Cochran, and his hands bound with a tow, who desired them to take one of his own pallion tows and bind his hands, for he thought shame to have his hands bound with such a tow of Tantallon was at length «< dung down» and ruined hemp, like a thief. The lords answered, he was a by the Covenanters; its lord, the Marquis of Douglas, traitor, he deserved no better; and, for despight, they being a favourer of the royal cause. The castle and took a hair tether, and hanged him over the bridge barony were sold in the beginning of the eighteenth of Lawder, above the rest of his complices.»-PITSCOT-century to President Dalrymple of North Berwick, by TIE, p. 78, folio edit. the then Marquis of Douglas. Note 14. Stanza xiv. Against the war had Angus stood, Angus was an old man when the war against England was resolved upon. He earnestly spoke against that measure from its commencement; and, on the eve of the battle of Flodden, remonstrated so freely on the impolicy of fighting, that the king said to him,with scorn and indignation, «< if he was afraid, he might go home.>> The earl burst into tears at this insupportable insult, and retired accordingly, leaving his sons, George, master of Angus, and Sir William of Glenbervie, to command his followers. They were both slain in the battle, with two hundred gentlemen of the name of Douglas. The aged earl, broken-hearted at the calamities of his house and country, retired into a religious house, where he died about a year after the field of Flodden. Note 15. Stanza xv. Then rest you in Tantallon Hold. The ruins of Tantallon Castle occupy a high rock projecting into the German Ocean, about two miles east of North Berwick. The building is not seen till a close approach, as there is rising ground betwixt it and the land. The circuit is of large extent, fenced upon three sides by the precipice which overhangs the sea, and on the fourth by a double ditch and very strong outworks. Tantallon was a principal castle of the Douglas family, and when the Earl of Angus was banished, in 1527, it continued to hold out against James V. The king went in person against it, and, for its reduction, borrowed from the castle of Dunbar, then belonging to the Duke of Albany, two great cannons, whose names, as Pitscottie informs us with laudable minuteness, were «< Thrawnmouth'd Mow and her Marrow;» also, « two great botcards, and two moyan, two double falcons, and four quarter falcons;» for the safe guiding and re-delivery of which, three lords were laid in pawn at Dunbar. Yet, notwithstanding all this apparatus, James was forced to raise the siege, and only afterwards obtained possession of Tantallon by treaty with the governor, Simeon Panango. When the Earl of Angus returned from banishment, upon the death of James, he again obtained possession of Tantallon, and it actually afforded refuge to an English ambassador, under circumstances similar to those described in the text. This was no other than the celebrated Sir Ralph Sadler, who resided there for some time under Angus's protection, after the Halter. Mak a brig to the Bass. Note 16. Stanza xv. --their motto on his blade. A very ancient sword in possession of Lord Douglas bears, among a great deal of flourishing, two hands pointing to a heart which is placed betwixt them, and the date 1329, being the year in which Bruce charged the Good Lord Douglas to carry his heart to the Holy Land. The following lines (the first couplet of which is quoted by Godscroft as a popular saying in his time) are inscribed around the emblem: So mony guid as of ye Douglas beinge, I will ye charge, efter yat I depart, I do protest in tyme of al my ringe, Ye lyk subject had never ony keing. This curious and valuable relique was nearly lost during the civil war of 1745-6, being carried away from Douglas Castle by some of those in arms for Prince Charles. But great interest having been made by the Duke of Douglas among the chief partisans of Stuart, it was at length restored. It resembles a Highland claymore, of the usual size, is of an excellent temper, and admirably poized. Note 17. The name of this German general is preserved by that of the field of battle, which is called, after him, Swartmoor.-There were songs about him long current in England.-See Dissertation prefixed to RITSON's Ancient Songs, 1792, page lxi. Note 18. Stanza xxi. Va It was early necessary for those who felt themselves obliged to believe in the divine judgment being enunciated in the trial by duel, to find salvos for the strange and obviously precarious chances of the combat. rious curious evasive shifts, used by those who took up an unrighteous quarrel, were supposed sufficient to convert it into a just one. Thus, in the romance of «<Amys and Amelion,» the one brother-in-arms, fighting for the other, disguised in his armour, swears that he did not commit the crime of which the Steward, his antagonist, The very curious State Papers of this able negotiator bave been lately published by Mr Clifford, with some Notes by the author of Marmion. truly though maliciously, accused him whom he repre- Note Stanza xxv. 19. Dun-Edin's Cross. and Plotcock, so far from implying any thing fabulous, was a synonyme of the grand enemy of mankind. <«< Yet all their warnings, and uncouth tidings, nor no good counsel, might stop the king, at this present, from his vain purpose, and wicked enterprise, but hasted him fast to Edinburgh, and there to make his provisions and furnishing, in having forth his army against the day appointed, that they should meet in the Burrow-muir of Edinburgh: that is to say, seven cannons that he had forth of the castle of Edinburgh, which were called the Seven Sisters, casten by Robert Borthwick the master-gunner, with other small artillery, bullet, powder, and all manner of order, as the master-gunner could devise. << In this mean time, when they were taking forth their artillery, and the king being in the Abbey for the time, there was a cry heard at the Market cross of Edinburgh, at the hour of midnight, proclaining as it had been a summons, which was named and called by the proclaimer thereof, The Summons of Plotcock; which desired all men to compear, both Earl, and Lord, and Baron, and all honest gentlemen within the town (every man specified by his own name), to compear, The Cross of Edinburgh was an ancient and curious within the space of forty days, before his master, structure. The lower part was an octagonal tower, six- where it should happen him to appoint, and be for the But whether teen feet in diameter, and about fifteen feet high. At time, under the pain of disobedience. each angle there was a pillar, and between them an this summons was proclaimed by vain persons, nightarch, of the Grecian shape. Above these was a pro- walkers, or drunken men for their pastime, or if it jecting battlement, with a turret at each corner, and was a spirit, I cannot tell truly; but it was shown to medallions, of rude but curious workmanship, between me, that an indweller of the town, Mr Richard Lawthem. Above this rose the proper Cross, a column of son, being evil-disposed, ganging in his gallery-stair one stone, upwards of twenty feet high, surmounted foreanent the cross, hearing this voice proclaiming this with a unicorn. This pillar is preserved at the House summons, thought marvel what it should be, cried on of Drum, near Edinburgh. The magistrates of Edin-his servant to bring him his purse; and when he had burgh, in 1756, with consent of the Lords of Session, (proh pudor!) destroyed this curious monument, under a wanton pretext that it encumbered the street; while, on the one hand, they left an ugly mass, called the Luckenbooths, and, on the other, an awkward, long, and low guard-house, which were fifty times more encumbrance than the venerable and inoffensive Cross. From the tower of the Cross, so long as it remained, the heralds published the acts of parliament; and its site, marked by radii, diverging from a stone centre, in the High Street, is still the place where proclamations are made. Note 20. Stanza xxv. brought him it, he took out a crown, and cast over the Note 21. Stanza xxix. Fife, in 1216. This supernatural citation is mentioned by all our Scottish historians. It was probably, like the apparition at Linlithgow, an attempt, by those averse to the war, to impose upon the superstitious temper of James The convent alluded to is a foundation of Cistertian IV. The following account from Pitscottie is charac-nuns, near North Berwick, of which there are still teristically minute, and furnishes, besides, some curious some remains. It was founded by Duncan, Earl of particulars of the equipment of the army of James IV. I need only add to it, that Plotcock, or Plutock, is no other than Pluto. The christians of the middle ages by no means disbelieved in the existence of the heathen deities: they only considered them as devils;1 1 See, on this curious subject, the Essay on Fairies, in the « Border Minstrelsy,» vol. II, under the fourth head; also Jackson on Unbelief, p. 175. Chaucer calls Pluto the King of Faerie; and " Dunbar names him Pluto, that elrich incubus." If he was not actually the Devil, he must be considered as the prince of the power of the air. The most remarkable instance of these surviving classical superstitions, is that of the Germans, concerning the Hill of Venus, into which she attempts to entice all gallant knights, and detains them in a sort of Fool's Paradise. Note 22. Stanza xxxi. 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 astutia, fere nullo suo tempore impar.» This baron, having expelled the monks from the church of Coventry, was not long of experiencing the divine judgment, as the same monks no doubt termed his disaster. Having waged a feudal war with the Earl of Chester, Marmion's horse fell, as he charged in the van of his troop, against a body of the Earl's followers: the rider's thigh being broken by the fall, his head was cut off by a common foot-soldier, ere he could receive any succour. The whole story is told by William of Newbury. CANTO VI. Note 1. Introduction. -the savage Dane At Iol more deep the mead did drain. 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 2. Introduction. On Christmas eve the mass was sung. 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 truncheon, little ruffs, white shoes, his scarf and garters tied across, 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. « Caroll, a long tawny coat, with a red cap, and a flute at his girdle; his torch-bearer carrying a song-book open. Minced-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 armed 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 carrying a box, cards, and counters. New-year's-gift, in a blue coat, serving-man like, with an orange, and a sprig of rosemary gilt on his head, his hat full of broaches, with a collar of ginger bread; his torch-bearer carrying a march-pain, with a bottle of wine on either arm. « Mumming, in a masquing pied suit, with a visor; his torch-bearer carrying the box, and ringing it. « Wassal, like a neat sempster and songster; her page bearing a brown bowl, drest with ribbands, and rosemary, before her. « Offering, in a short gown, with a porter's staff in his hand; a wyth borne before him, and a bason, by his torch-bearer. Note 3. Introduction. Who lists may in their mumming see It seems certain, that the Mummers of England, who (in Northumberland at least) used to go about in disguise to the neighbouring houses, bearing the then useless ploughshare; and the Guisards of Scotland, not yet in total disuse, present, in some indistinct degree, a shadow of the old mysteries, which were the origin of the English drama. In Scotland (me ipso teste), we were wont, during my boyhood, to take the characters of the apostles, at least of Peter, Paul, and Judas Iscariot; the first had the keys, the second carried a sword, and the last the bag, in which the dole of our neighbours' plum-cake was deposited. One played a Champion, and recited some traditional rhymes; another was . Alexander, king of Macedon, Who conquer'd all the world but Scotland alone; When he came to Scotland his courage grew cold, To see a little nation so courageous and bold. These, and many such verses, were repeated, but by rote, and unconnectedly. There was also occasionally, I believe, a Saint George. In all, there was a confused resemblance of the ancient mysteries, in which the characters of Scripture, the Nine Worthies, and other popular personages, were usually exhibited. It were much to be wished, that the Chester Mysteries were published from the MS. in the Museum, with the annotations which a diligent investigator of popular antiquities might still supply. The late acute and valuable antiquary, Mr Ritson, showed me several memoranda towards such a task, which are probably now dispersed or lost. See, however, his Remarks on Shakspeare, 1783, p. 38. Since the quarto edition of MARMION appeared, this subject has received much elucidation from the learned and extensive labours of Mr Douce. Note 4. Introduction. Where my great grandsire came of old, Mr Scott of Harden, my kind and affectionate friend, and distant relation, has the original of a poetical invitation, addressed from his grandfather to my relative, from which a few lines in the text are imitated. They are dated, as the epistle in the text, from Mertoun-house, the seat of the Harden family. With amber beard, and flaxen hair, Come hither, Christmas-day, and dine; We'll mix sobriety with wine, And easy mirth with thoughts divine. On it no sin to feast or play; And scorn enthusiastic zeal? Pray come, and welcome, or plague rott Your friend and landlord, William Scott." Mr Walter Scott, Lessudden. The venerable old gentleman, to whom the lines are addressed, was the younger brother of William Scott of Raeburn. Being the cadet of a cadet of the Harden family, he had very little to lose; yet he contrived to lose the small property he had, by engaging in the civil wars and intrigues of the house of Stuart. His veneration for the exiled family was so great, that he swore he would not shave his beard till they were restored: a mark of attachment, which, I suppose, had been common during Cromwell's usurpation; for, in Cowley's « Cutter of Coleman Street,» one drunken cavalier upbraids another, that, when he was not able to afford to pay a barber, he affected to « wear a beard for the king. I sincerely hope this was not absolutely the original reason of my ancestor's beard; which, as appears from a portrait in the possession of Sir Henry Hay Macdougal, Bart., and another painted for the famous Dr Pitcairn, was a beard of a most dignified and venerable appearance. Note 5. Introduction. -the Spirit's Blasted Tree. I am permitted to illustrate this passage, by inserting « Ceubren yr Ellyll, or the Spirit's Blasted Tree,» a legendary tale, by the Reverend George Warrington : « The event on which this tale is founded, is preserved by tradition in the family of the Vaughans of Henwyrt: nor is it entirely lost, even among the common people, who still point out this oak to the passenger. The enmity between the two Welsh chieftains, Howel Sele, and Owen Glyndwr, was extreme, and marked by vile treachery in the one, and ferocious cruelty in the other.2 The story is somewhat changed and softened, as more favourable to the characters of the two chiefs, and as better answering the purpose of poetry, by admitting the passion of pity, and a greater degree of sentiment in the description. Some trace of Howel Sele's mansion was to be seen a few years ago, and may perhaps be still visible, in the park of Nannau, now belonging to Sir Robert Vaughan, Baronet, in the wild and romantic tracts of Merionethshire. The abbey mentioned passes under two names, Vener and CymThe former is retained, as more generally used.>> mer. THE SPIRIT'S BLASTED TREE. Ce bren yr Ellyll. Through Nannau's Chase as Howel pass'd, 1 The old gentleman was an intimate of this celebrated genius. By the favour of the late Earl of Kelly, descended on the maternal side from Dr Pitcairn, my father became possessed of the portrait in question. 2 The history of their feud may be found in Pennant's Tour in Wales. Starting, he bent an eager ear, How should the sounds return again? His hounds lay wearied from the chase, And all at home his hunter train. Then sudden anger flash'd his eye, And deep revenge he vow'd to take, On that bold man who dared to force His red deer from the forest brake. Unhappy chief! would nought avail, No signs impress thy heart with fear, Thy lady's dark mysterious dream, Thy warning from the hoary seer? Three ravens gave the note of death, As through mid air they wing'd their way; Then o'er his head, in rapid flight, They croak,-they scent their destined prey. Ill-omen'd bird! as legends say, Who hast the wond'rous power to know, While health fills high the throbbing veins, The fated hour when blood must flow. Blinded by rage, alone he pass'd, Nor sought his ready vassals' aid; But what his fate lay long unknown, For many an anxious year delay'd. A peasant mark'd his angry eye, He saw him reach the lake's dark bourne, He saw him near a blasted oak, But never from that hour return. Three days pass'd o'er, no tidings came ;- Yet knew not where to point their way. They ne'er must see their lord again. Yet Fancy, in a thousand shapes, Bore to his home the chief once more: Some saw him on high Moel's top, Some saw him on the winding shore. With wonder fraught, the tale went round, Amazement chain'd the hearer's tongue; Each peasant felt his own sad loss, Yet fondly o'er the story bung. Oft by the moon's pale shadowy light, With cautious fear avoids the ground; And trembles at each rising sound. Ten annual suns had held their course, Yet still to hope her heart would cling, To distant lands had steer'd his way. 'T was now November's cheerless hour, Which drenching rains and clouds deface; Dreary bleak Robell's tract appear'd. And dull and dank each valley's space. A stranger pass'd Llanelltid's bourne, His dark-gray steed with sweat besprent, Which, wearied with the lengthen'd way, Could scarcely gain the hill's ascent. The portal reach'd-the iron bell Loud sounded round the outward wall; Quick sprung the warder to the gate, To know what meant the clam'rous call. O! lead me to your lady soon; To clear the fate of that brave knight, Then, as he cross'd the spacious hall, The menials look surprise and fear; Still o'er his harp old Modred hung, And touch'd the notes for grief's worn ear. The lady sat amidst ber train ; A mellow'd sorrow mark'd her look: Then, asking what his mission meant, The graceful stranger sigh'd and spoke: "O could I spread one ray of hope, One moment raise thy soul from woe, Gladly my tongue would tell its tale, My words at ease unfetter'd flow! Now, lady, give attention due, The story claims thy full belief: E'en in the worst events of life, Suspense removed is some relief. Though worn by care, see Madoc here, Great Glyndwr's friend, thy kindred's foe; Ah, let his name no anger raise, For now that mighty chief lies low! «E'en from the day, when, chain'd by fate, E'en from that day misfortune still, Pursued him with unwearied step, Clothed in a shepherd's humble guise, To penury extreme, and grief, Then may my parting soul be blest.' Dim wax'd the eye that fiercely shone, And faint the tongue that proudly spoke, And weak that arm, still raised to me, Which oft had dealt the mortal stroke. "How could I then his maudate bear? Or how his last behest obey? A rebel deem'd, with him I fled; With him I shunn'd the light of day. Proscribed by Henry's hostile rage, My country lost, despoil'd my land, Desperate, I fled my native soil, And fought on Syria's distant strand. «O, had thy long-lamented lord The holy cross and banner view'd, Died in the sacred cause! who fell Sad victim of a private feud! Made anger more intensely blaze. << They fought; and doubtful long the fray! The Glyndwr gave the fatal wound!- How could we hope for wish'd retreat, Be this, I cried, his proper grave!- And dropp'd his bleeding corpse within." A shriek from all the damsels burst, Like wild-fire o'er a mossy heath, The rumour through the hamlet ran; He led them near the blasted oak, And proudly deck'd their slaughter'd lord. Note 6. Introduction. The Highlander――― Will, on a Friday morn, look pale, If ask'd to tell a fairy tale. The Daoine shi', or Men of Peace, of the Scottish Highlanders, rather resemble the Scandinavian Duergar, than the English Fairies. Notwithstanding their name, they are, if not absolutely malevolent, at least, peevish, discontented, and apt to do mischief on slight provocation. The belief of their existence is deeply impressed on the Highlanders, who think they are particularly of fended with mortals who talk of them, who wear their favourite colour, green, or in any respect interfere with their affairs. This is especially to be avoided on Fri |