He pierced her brother to the heart. Where the sun shines fair on Carlisle wall: bo perish all would true love part, That Love may still be lord of all! And then he took the cross divine, Where the sun shines fair on Carlisle wall; And died for her sake in Palestine, So Love was still the lord of all. Now all ye lovers that faithful prove, XIIL But soon, within that mirror, huge and high, Part lighted by a lamp with silver beam, XIX. Both Scots, and Southern chiefs, prolong XXII. And much of wild and wonderful XXIII. And thus had Harold, in his youth, Learn'd many a Saga's rhyme uncouth,Of that Sea-Snake, tremendous curl'd, Whose monstrous circle girds the world: Of those dread Maids, whose hideous yell Maddens the battle's bloody swell; Of chiefs, who, guided through the gloom Harold. O listen, listen, ladies gay! No haughty feat of arms I tell; Soft is the note, and sad the lay, That mourns the lovely rosabelle. "Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew! And, gentle ladye, deign to stay! Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch, Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day. A wet shroud swathed round ladye gay; "Tis not because the ring they ride, O'er Roslin all that dreary night A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam; It ruddied all the copse-wood glen; Sheathed in his iron panoply. And glimmered all the dead men's mail. Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair- But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle! And each St. Clair was buried there, With candle, with book, and with knell; But the sea-caves rung, and the wild winds sung The dirge of lovely Rosabelle. XXV. So sweet was Harold's piteous lay, Scarce marked the guests the darkened hall, Though, long before the sinking day, A wondrous shade involved them all: * Inch, Isle. c Then sudden through the darkened air So broad, so bright, so red the glare, It broke with thunder long and loud, XXVII. Some heard a voice in Branksome Hall, And some the waving of a gown. Like a pilgrim from beyond the sea; And knew-but how it mattered notIt was the wizard, Michael Scott. XXVIII. The anxious crowd, with horror pale, And he a solemn sacred plight To some blessed saint his prayers addressed: Some to St. Mary of the Lowes, *The Isle of Man.-See Note. And monks should sing, and bells should toll, While vows were ta'en, and prayers were prayed, "Tis said the noble Dame, dismayed, Renounced, for aye, dark magic's aid. XXIX. Nought of the bridle will I tell, Nor how brave sons, and daughters fair, Blessed Teviot's Flower and Cranstoun's heir: XXX. With naked foot, and sackcloth vest, Did every pilgrim go; The standers-by might hear uneath, Silent and slow, like ghosts, they glide And there they kneeled them down: XXXI. And slow up the dim aisle afar, In long procession came; Then mass was sung, and prayers were said, And ever in the office close DIES IRE, DIES ILLA, SOLVET SÆCLUM IN FAVILLA; While the pealing organ rung; Were it meet with sacred strain To close my lay, so light and vain, Thus the holy Fathers sung. HYMN FOR THE DEAD. That day of wrath, that dreadful day, Hushed is the harp-the Minstrel gone. To linger out his pilgrimage? NOTES. In the reign of James I. Sir William Scott, of Buccleuch, chief of the clan bearing that name, exchanged, with Sir Thomas Inglis, of Manor, the estate of Murdiestone, in Lanarkshire, for one half of the barony of Branksome, or Branxholm, lying upon the Teviot, about three miles above Hawick. He was probably induced to this transaction, from the vicinity of Branksome to the extensive domain which he possessed in Ettricke Forest and in Teviotdale. In the former district he held by occupancy the estate of Buccleuch,t and much of the forest land on the river Ettricke. In Teviotdale, he enjoyed the barony of Eckford, by a grant from Robert II, to his ancestor, Walter Scott, of Kirkurd, for the apprehending of Gilbert Ridderford, confirmed by Robert III, 3rd May, 1424. Tradition imputes the exchange betwixt Scott and Inglis to a conversation, in which the latter, a man, it would appear, of a mild and forbearing nature, complained much of the injuries which he was exposed to from the English borderers, who frequently plundered his lands of Branksome. Sir William Scott instantly offered him the estate of Murdiestone, in exchange for that which was subject to such egregious inconvenience. When the bargain was completed, he drily remarked, that the cattle in Cumberland were as good as those of Teviotdale; and proceeded to commence a system of reprisals upon the English, which was regularly In the next reign, used by his successors. II granted to Sir Walter Scott, of Branksome, and to Sir David, his son, the remaining half of the barony of Branksome. to be held in blanch for the payment of a red rose. The cause assigned for the grant is, their brave and faithful exertions in favour of the king against the house of Douglas, with whom James had been recently tugging for the throne of Scotland. This charter is dated the 2nd February, 1443; and, in the same month, part of the barony of Langholm, and many lands in Lanarkshire. were conferred upon Sir Walter and his son by the same monarch. After the period of the exchange with Sir Thomas Inglis, Branksome became the principal seat of the Buccleuch family. The castle was enlarged and strengthened by Sir David Scott, the grandson of Sir William, its first possessor. * Branxholm is the proper name of the barony; but Branksome has been adopted, as suitable to the pronunciation, and more proper for poetry. There are no vestiges of any building at Buccleuch, except the site of a chapel, where, according to a tradition current in the time of Scott of Satchells, many of the ancient barons of Buccleuch lie buried. There is also said to have been a mill near this solitary spot; an extraordinary circumstance, little or no corn grows within several miles of Buccleuch. Satchells says it was used to grind corn for the hounds of the chieftain. But, in 1570-1, the vengeance of Elizabeth, provoked by the inroads of Buccleuch, and his attachment to the cause of Queen Mary, destroyed the castle, and laid waste the lands of Branksome. In the same year the castle was repaired and enlarged by Sir Walter Scott, its brave possessor; but the work was not completed until after his death, in 1574, when the widow finished the building. Branksome Castle continued to be the principal seat of the Buccleuch family, while security was any object in their choice of a mansion. It has been the residence of the commissioners or chamberlains of the family. From the various alterations which the building has undergone, it is not only greatly restricted in its dimensions, but retains little of the castellated form, if we except one square tower of massy thickness, being the only part of the original building which now remains. The whole forms a handsome, modern residence; but the extent of the ancient edifice can still be traced by some vestiges of its foundation; and its strength is obvious from the situation, on a deep bank surrounded by the Teviot, and flanked by a deep ravine, formed by a precipitous brook. Nine-and-twenty knights of fame The ancient barons of Buccleuch, both from feudal splendour, and from their frontier situation, retained in their household, at Branksome, a number of gentlemen of their own name, who held lands from their chief, for the military service of watching and warding his castle. And with Jedwood-axe at saddle-bow.-St. v, p. 5. "Of a truth," says Froissart, "the Scottish cannot boast great skill with the bow, but rather bear axes, with which, in time of need, they give heavy strokes." The Jedwood-axe was a sort of partizan, used by horsemen, as appears from the arms of Jedburgh, which bears a cavalier mounted, and armed with this weapon. They watch against Southern force and guile, Branksome Castle was continually exposed to the attacks of the English, both from its situation and the restless military disposition of its inhabitants, who were seldom on good terms with their neighbours. A letter from the Earl of Northumberland to Henry VIII, in 1533, gives an account of a successful inroad of the English, in which the country was plundered, up to the gates of the castle, although the invaders failed in their principal object, which was to kill or make prisoner the laird of Buccleuch. of the same name own the Marquis of Lothian Before Lord Cranstoun she should wed. The Cranstouns, Lord Cranstoun, are an ancient Border family, whose chief seat was at Crailing, in Teviotdale. They were at this time at feud with the clan of Scot; for it appears that the lady of Buccleuch, in 1557, beset the laird of Cranstoun, seeking his life. Nevertheless, the same Cranstoun, or perhaps his son, was married to a daughter of the same lady. Of Bethune's line of Picardie.-St. XI, p. 6. The Bethunes were of French origin, and derived their name from a small town in Artois. There were several distinguished families of the Bethunes in the neighbouring province of Picardie; they numbered among their descendants the celebrated Duc de Sully; and the name was accounted among the most noble in France, while ought noble remained in that country. The family of Bethune, or Beatoun, in Fife, produced three learned and dignified prelates; namely, Cardinal Beaton, and two successive archbishops of Glasgow, all of whom flourished about the date of the romance. Of this family was descended Dame Janet Beaton, Lady Buccleuch, widow of Sir Walter Scott of Branksome. She was a woman of masculine spirit, as appeared from her riding at the head of her son's clan, after her husband's murder. She family in such a degree, that the superstition of also possessed the hereditary abilities of her the vulgar imputed them to supernatural knowledge. With this was mingled, by faction, the foul accusation of her having influenced Queen Mary to the murder of her husband. He learnt the art that none may name, In Padua, far beyond the sea.-St. XI, p. 6. His form no darken-St. XI, p. 6. The shadow of a necromancer is independent of the sun. Glyeas informs us, that Simon Magus caused his shadow to go before him, making people believe he was an attendant spirit. The vulgar conceive, that when a class of students have made a certain progress in their mystic studies, they are obliged to run through a subterranean hall, where the devil literally catches the hindermost in the race, arch-enemy can only apprehend his shadow. unless he crosses the hall so speedily, that the In the latter case, the person of the sage never after throws any shade; and those who have thus lost their shadow, always prove the best magicians. All se to nothing The viewless forms of air-St. XII, p. 6. defined notion of their attributes, believe in the The Scottish vulgar, without having any very existence of an intermediate class of spirits residing in the air, or in the water: to whose agency they ascribe floods, storms, and al such phenomena as their own philosophy cannot readily explain. They are supposed to interfere in the affairs of mortals, sometimes with a malevolent purpose, and sometimes with milder views. It is said, for example, that a gallant baron, having returned from the Holy Land to his castle of Drummelziar, found his fair lady nursing a healthy child, whose |