XIII. As ended Albert's simple lay, Who has not heard of Surrey's fame? (13) His was the hero's soul of fire, And his the bard's immortal name, And his was love, exalted high By all the glow of chivalry. XIV. They sought, together, climes afar, And deem'd, that spirits from on high, XV. Fitztraver! O what tongue may say Ungrateful Tudor's sentence slew! His harp call'd wrath and vengeance down. XVI. FITZTRAVER. 'T was All-souls eve, and Surrey's heart beat high; Albeit betwixt them roar'd the ocean grim: Yet so the sage had hight to play his part, That he should see her form in life and limb, And mark, if still she loved, and still she thought of him. XVII. Dark was the vaulted room of gramarye, To which the wizard led the gallant knight, On cross, and character, and talisman, For fitful was the lustre, pale and wan, As watch-light by the bed of some departing man. XVIII. But soon, within that mirror huge and high, Was seen a self-emitted light to gleam And forms upon its breast the earl 'gan spy, Placed by a couch of Agra's silken loom, ΧΙΧ. Fair all the pageant-but how passing fair And, pensive, read from tablet eburnine XX. Slow roll'd the clouds upon the lovely form, O'er my beloved master's glorious day. The gory bridal bed, the plunder'd shrine, The murder'd Surrey's blood, the tears of Geraldine! XXI. Both Scots and southern chiefs prolong XXII. And much of wild and wonderful Tis not because the ring they ride, And Lindesay at the ring rides well, But that my sire the wine will chide, It is not fill'd by Rosabelle.»— Ver Roslin all that dreary night A wond'rous blaze was seen to gleam; Twas broader than the watch-fire light, And redder than the bright moon-beam. It glared on Roslin's castled rock, It ruddied all the copse-wood glen; Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud, Seem'd all on fire, within, around, And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail. Blazed battlement and pinnet high, Blazed every rose-carved buttress fairSo still they blaze, when fate is nigh The lordly line of high St Clair. There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold Lie buried within that proud chapelle? Each one the holy vault doth hold— 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. XXIV. So sweet was Harold's piteous lay, Scarce mark'd the guests the darken'd hall, Though, long before the sinking day, A wond'rous shade involved them all: It was not eddying mist or fog, Of no eclipse had sages told; And yet, as it came on apace, Each one could scarce his neighbour's face, Could scarce his own stretch'd hand behold. secret horror check'd the feast, And chill'd the soul of every guest; And, shuddering, mutter'd, «Found! found! found!»> XXV. Then sudden, through the darken'd air A flash of lightning came; So broad, so bright, so red the glare, And fill'd the hall with smouldering smoke, XXVI. Some heard a voice in Branksome-hall, Cry, with loud summons, «GYLBIN, COME!» (13) Just where the page had flung him down, Some saw an arm, and some a hand, His blood did freeze, his brain did burn, XXVII. The anxious crowd, with horror pale, And he a solemn sacred plight Of Michael's restless sprite. Then each, to ease his troubled breast, To some bless'd saint his prayers address'd; Some to St Mary of the Lowes, Some to our Ladye of the Isle; Each did his patron witness make, And monks should sing, and bells should toll, While vows were ta en, and prayers were pray'd, "T is said the noble dame, dismay'd, Renounced for aye dark magic's aid. XXVIII. Nought of the bridal will I tell, Which after in short space befel ; XXIX. With naked foot, and sackcloth vest, Did every pilgrim go; The standers-by might hear unneath, Footstep, or voice, or high-drawn breath, Through all the lengthen'd row: The Isle of Man,--See Note. No lordly look, nor martial stride; Silent and slow, like ghosts, they glide And there they knelt them down: And slow up the dim aisle afar, In long procession came; And bless'd them as they kneel'd: The mass was sung, and prayers were said, For the departed spirit's weal; SOLVET SECLUM IN FAVILLA; Were it meet with sacred strain To close my lay, so light and vain, Thus the holy fathers sung. XXXI. HYMN FOR THE DEAD. That day of wrath, that dreadful day, When heaven and earth shall pass away, What power shall be the sinner's stay? How shall he meet that dreadful day? When, shrivelling like a parched scroll, Oh! on that day, that wrathful day, HUSH'D is the harp-the Minstrel gone. And did he wander forth alone? Alone, in indigence and age, To linger out his pilgrimage? No-close beneath proud Newark's tower Then would he sing achievements high, And noble youths, the strain to hear, NOTES. CANTO I. Note 1. Stanza i. The feast was over in Branksome tower. 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 pursued by his successors. In the next reign, James 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 2d 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. 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. This appears from the following inscription. Around a stone, bearing the arms of Scott of Buccleuch, appears the following legend: «SIR W. SCOTT OF BRANXHEIM KNYT YOE OF SIR WILLIAM SCOTT OF KIRKURD KNYT BEGAN YE WORK UPON YE 24 of March 1571 ZIER QUHA DEPARTIT AT GOD'S PLEISOUR YE 17 APRIL 1574.» On a similar compartment are sculptured the arms of Douglas, with this inscription, «DAME Margaret Doug LAS HIS SPOUS COMPLEITIT THE FORSAID WORK IN OCTOBER 1576. Over an arched door is inscribed the following In the reign of James I. Sir William Scott of Buc- In moral verse: AT.. NATURE. HES. BROUGHT. TAT. BAL. LEST. THARFORE. SERVE. GOD. KEIP. VEIL. NOCHT. DECAY. TE. HOD. TRY. FANE. SAL. t he held by occupancy the estate of Buccleuch, 2 much of the forest land on the river Ettrick. Tendale he enjoyed the barony of Eckford, by a grant from Robert II. to his ancestor, Walter Scott of Branksome Castle continued to be the principal seat Hirsurd, for the apprehending of Gilbert Ridderford, of the Buccleuch family, while security was any object tofirmed by Robert III, 3d May, 1424. Tradition im- in their choice of a mansion. It has since been the putes the exchange betwixt Scott and Inglis to a con-residence of the commissioners, or chamberlains, of versation, in which the latter, a man, it would appear, the family. From the various alterations which the a mild and forbearing nature, complained much of building has undergone, it is not only greatly restricted which he was exposed to from the English in its dimensions, but retains little of the castellated lenderers, who frequently plundered his lands of Brank- form, if we except one square tower of massy thickSir William Scott instantly offered him the ness, the only part of the original building which now state of Murdiestone, in exchange for that which was remains. The whole forms a handsome modern residence, lately inhabited by my deceased friend, Adam Ogilvy, Esq. of Hartwoodmyres, Commissioner of his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch. SIR WALTER SCOTT ОР BRANIHOLM KNIGHT. MARGARET DOUG- juries Brantholm is the proper name of the barony; but Branksome has been adopted, as suitable to the pronunciation, and more proper he poetry. 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 steep bank surrounded by the Teviot, and flanked by a deep ravine, formed by a precipitous brook. It was anciently surrounded by wood, as appears from the survey of Roxburghshire, made for Pont's Atlas, and preserved in the Advocate's Library. This wood was cut about fifty years ago, but is now replaced by the thriving plantations which have been formed by the late noble proprietor, around the ancient mansion of his forefathers. Note 2. Stanza iii. Hung their shields in Branksome-hall. The ancient barons of Buccleuch, both from feudal splendour, and from their frontier situation, retained in their household, at Branksome, a number of gentle- No barou was better served into Britain; Each two had a servant to wait upon him; Both from the lairds and lords of Buckleugh. restless military disposition of its inhabitants, who we seldom on good terms with their neighbours. The fo lowing letter from the Earl of Northumberland Henry VIII. in 1533, gives an account of a successf inroad of the English, in which the country was plu dered up to the gates of the castle, although the invade failed in their principal object, which was, to kill, make prisoner, the laird of Buccleuch. It occurs the Cotton MS. Calig. B. v111. f. 222. « Pleaseth yt your most gracious highnes to be aduc tised, that my comptroller, with Raynald Carnab desyred licence of me to invade the realme of Scotlan they thought best exploit by theyme might be don for the annoysaunce of your highnes enemys, whe and to haue to concur withe theyme the inhabitants Northumberland, suche as was toward me accordingt theyre assembly, and as by theyre discrecions vpone ti same they shulde thinke most convenient; and soo the dyde mete vpone Monday, before nyght, being the i day of this instant monethe, at Wawhope, uppon North Tyne water, above Tyndaill, where they were to d number of xv c men, and soo invadet Scotland, at t hour of viii of the clok at nyght, at a place calle Whele Causay; and before xi of the clok dyd send fort a forrey of Tyndaill and Ryddisdaill, and laide all th resydewe in a bushment, and actyvely dyd set vpon towne called Branxholm, where the lord of Buclong dwellythe, and purpesed theymeselves with a trayne fo hym lyke to his accustomed manner, in rysying to a frayes; albeit, that knight he was not at home, and so they brynt the said Branxholm, and other townes, as t say Whichestre, Whichestre-helme, and Whelley, an haid ordered theymeself soo, that sundry of the sai Lord Buclough's servants, who dyd issue fourthe of hi gates, was takyn prisoners. They dyd not leve on house, one stak of corne, nor one shyef, without th gate of the said Lord Buclough vnbrynt; and thus serym aged and frayed, supposing the Lord of Buclough to b within iii or iiii myles to heve trayned him to the bush ment; and soo in the breyking of the day dyd the forrey and the busliment mete, and reculed homeward, making theyr way westward from theyre invasion to be over Lyddersdaill, as intending yf the fray frome theyre furst entry by the Scotts waiches, or otherwyse by warnyng, shulde haue bene gyven to Gedworth and the countrey of Scotland theyreabouts of theyre invasion; whiche Gedworth is from the Wheles Causay vi myles, that thereby the Scots shulde have cumen further valo theyme, and more out of ordre; and soo upon sundry good consideracons, before they entered Lyddersdaill, as well accompting the inhabitants of the same to be <«< Of a truth,» says Froissart, «the Scottish cannot boast great skill with the bow, but rather bear towards your highnes, and to enforce theyme the more with which, in time of need, they give heavy strokes.» thereby, as alsoo to put an occasion of suspect to the The Jedwood-axe was a sort of partisan, used by horse-kinge of Scotts and his counsaill, to be taken anensi men, as appears from the arms of Jedburgh, which bear a cavalier mounted, and armed with this weapon. Accordingly, dismounting from his Pegasus, Satchells gives us, in prose, the names of twenty-four gentlemen, younger brothers of ancient families, who were pensioners to the house of Buccleuch, and describes the lands which each possessed for his Border service. In time of war with England, the garrison was doubtless augmented. Satchells adds, «These twenty-three pensioners, all of his own name of Scott, and Walter Gladstanes of Whitelaw, a near cousin of my lord's, as aforesaid, were ready on all occasions, when his honour pleased cause to advertise them. It is known to many of the country better than it is to me, that the rent of these lands, which the lairds and lords of Buccleuch did freely bestow upon their friends, will amount to above twelve or fourteen thousand merks a-year.»—History of the Name of Scott, p. 45. An immense sum in those times. Note 3. Stanza v. And with Jedwood-axe at saddle-bow. It is also called a Jedwood or Jeddart staff. Note 4. Stanza vi. They watch against southern force and guile, axes, theyme, amonges theymselves, made proclamacions, for the said inhabitants of Lyddersdaill, without amy commanding, vpon payne of dethe, assurance to be prejudice or hurt to be done by any Inglysman vuto theyme, and soo in good ordre abowte the howre of ten of the clok before noon, vppone Tewisday, dyd pass through the said Lyddersdaill, when dyd come diverse of the said inhabitants there to my servauntes, under the said assurance, offerring theymselfs with any serthe vice they couthe make; and thus, thanks be to Godde, your highnes' subjects, abowte the howre of xii of the clok at none the same daye, came into this youre From Warkworth, or Naworth, or merry Carlisle. Branksome Castle was continually exposed to attacks of the English, both from its situation and the 'Room, portion of land. |