ページの画像
PDF
ePub

Fair maiden Lylliard lies under this stane,
Little was her stature, but great was her fame;
Upon the English louns she laid mony thumps,
And when her 1. gs were cutted off, she fought upon
Vide Account of the Parish of Melrose.

It

Buccleuch came up, at full speed, with a small but cosen body of his retainers, the rest of whom were Ter at hand. By the advice of this experienced waror (to whose conduct Pitscottie and Buchanan ascribe tve success of the engagement), Angus withdrew from the height which he occupied, and drew up his forces behind it, upon a piece of low flat ground, called PaBier-heugh, or Peniel-heugh. The spare horses, being sent to an eminence in their rear, appeared to the Eng-rian, lish to be the main body of the Scots, in the act of flight. Under this persuasion, Evers and Latoun hurried precipitately forward, and, having ascended the bill, which their foes had abandoned, were no less dismayed than astonished, to find the phalanx of Scottish spearmen drawn up, in firm array, upon the flat ground

her

stumps.

appears, from a passage in Stowe, that an ancestor of Lord Evers held also a grant of Scottish lands from an English monarch. «I have seen.» says the histo« under the broad seale of the said King Edward I., a manor called Ketnes, in the countie of Ferfare, in Scotland, and necre the furthest part of the same nation northward, given to John Eure and his heirs, ancestor to the Lord Eure that now is, and for his service done in these partes, with market, etc. dated at Lanercost, the 20th day of October, anno regis, 34.»STOWE'S Annals, p. 210. This grant, like that of Henry, must have been dangerous to the receiver.

Stanza_xlviii.

There is a nun in Dryburgh bower.

The circumstance of the nun, « who never saw the

below. The Scots in their turn became the assailants. A lheron, roused from the marslies by the tumult, soared away betwist the encountering armies : « 0 !» exclaimed Angus, « that I had here my white goss hawk, that we might all yoke at once !» - Godscroft. The English, breathless and fatigued, having the setting sunday,» is not entirely imaginary. About fifty years ago, and wind full in their faces, were unable to withstand an unfortunate female wanderer took up her residence the resolute and desperate charge of the Scottish lances. in a dark vault, among the ruins of Dryburgh-Abbey, No sooner had they begun to waver, than their own al- which, during the day, she never quitted. When night lies, the assured Borderers, who had been waiting the fell, she issued from this miserable habitation, and event, threw aside their red crosses, and, joining their went to the house of Mr Haliburton, of Newmains, the countrymen, made a most merciless slaughter among editor's great-grandfather, or to that of Mr Erskine, of the English fugitives, the pursuers calling upon each Shielfield, two gentlemen of the neighbourhood. From other to remember Broomhouse»-Lesley, p. 478 their charity she obtained such necessaries as she could In the battle fell Lord Evers, and his son, together with be prevailed upon to accept. At twelve, each night, Sir Brian Latoun, and 8oo Englishmen, many of wliom | she lighted her candle, and returned to her vault ; aswere persons of rank. A thousand prisoners were suring her friendly neighbours that, during her abtaken. Among these was a patriotic alderman of Lonsence, her habitation was arranged by a spirit, to whom don, Read by name, wlio, having contumaciously reshe gave the uncouth name of Fatlips; describing him fused to pay his portion of a benevolence, demanded as a little man, wearing heavy iron shoes, with which from the city by Henry VIII., was sent by royal autho-he trampled the clay floor of the vault, to dispel the rity to serve against the Scots. These, at settling his damps.. This circumstance caused her to be regarded, ransom, he found still more exorbitant in their exac-by the well-informed, with compassion, as deranged in tions than the monarch.-REDPATH'S Border History, her understanding; and by the vulgar, with some deEvers was much regretted by King Henry, gree of terror. The cause of her adopting this extrawho swore to avenge his death upon Angus; against ordinary mode of life she would never explain. It was, whom he conceived himself to have particular grounds however, believed to have been occasioned by a vow, of resentment, on account of favours received by the that, during the absence of a man, to whom she was earl at his hands. The answer of Angus was worthy attached, she would never look upon the sun. of a Douglas. «< Is our brother-in-law offended,»' said lover never returned. He fell during the civil war of he, that I, as a good Scotsman, have avenged my ra1745-6, and she never more would behold the light of raged country, and the defaced tombs of my ancestors, day. apon Ralph Evers? They were better men than he, and I was bound to do no less-and will he take my life for that? Little knows King Henry the skirts of Kirnetable: I can keep myself there against all his English host. - Godscroft.

p. 553.

[blocks in formation]

Her

The vault, or rather dungeon, in which this unfortunate woman lived and died, passes still by the name of the supernatural being, with which its gloom was tenanted by her disturbed imagination, and few of the neighbouring peasants dare enter it by night.

CADYOW CASTLE.

ADDRESSED TO THE

RIGHT HON. LADY ANNE HAMILTON.

THE ruins of Cadyow, or Cadzow Castle, the ancient baronial residence of the family of Hamilton, are situated upon the precipitous banks of the river Evan, about two miles above its junction with the Clyde. It was dismantled in the conclusion of the civil wars,

is a ruined chapel. Brotherstone is a heath, in the neighbourhood of Smaylho'me Tower.

This ancient fortress and its vicinity formed the scene of the author's infancy, and seemed to claim from him this attempt to celebrate them in a Border tale. The catastrophe of the tale is founded upon a well-known Irish tradition.

THE Baron of Smaylho'me rose with day,
He spurr'd his courser on,
Without stop or stay, down the rocky way,

That leads to Brotherstone.

fountains, etc. in Scotland. He was, according to Ca-
merarius, an abbot of Pittenweem, in Fife, from which
situation he retired, and died a hermit in the wilds of
Glenurchy, A.D. 649. While engaged in transcribing
the Scriptures, his left hand was observed to send forth
such a splendour, as to afford light to that with which
he wrote; a miracle which saved many candles to the
convent, as St Fillan used to spend whole nights in that
exercise. The 9th of January was dedicated to this
saint, who gave his name to Kilfillan, in Renfrew, and
St Phillans, or Forgend, in Fife. Lesley, lib. 7. tells us,
that Robert the Bruce was possessed of Fillan's miracu
lous and luminous arm, which he inclosed in a silver
shrine, and had it carried at the head of his army. Pre-He went not with the bold Buccleuch,
vious to the battle of Bannockburn, the king's chap-
lain, a man of little faith, abstracted the relic, and de-
posited it in some place of security, lest it should fall
into the hands of the English. But, lo! while Robert
was addressing his prayers to the empty casket, it was
observed to open and shut suddenly; and, on inspection,
the saint was found to have himself deposited his arm
in the shrine, as an assurance of victory. Such is the
tale of Lesley. But though Bruce little needed that the
arm of St Fillan should assist his own, he dedicated to
him, in gratitude, a priory at Killin, upon Loch Tay.

In the Scots Magazine for July, 1802 (a national pe- | riodical publication, which has lately revived with considerable energy), there is a copy of a very curious crown-grant, dated 11th July, 1487, by which James III. confirms to Malice Doire, an inhabitant of Strathfillan, in Perthshire, the peaceable exercise and enjoyment of a relic of St Fillan, called the Quegrich, which he, and his predecessors, are said to have possessed since the days of Robert Bruce. As the Quegrich was used to cure diseases, this document is, probably, the most ancient patent ever granted for a quack medicine. The ingenious correspondent, by whom it is furnished, further observes, that additional particulars concerning St Fillan are to be found in BALLENDEN'S Boece, Book 4, folio ccxiii, and in PENNANT'S Tour in Scotland, 1772, Pp. 11, 15.

THE EVE OF SAINT JOHN.

His banner broad to rear;

He went not 'gainst the English yew
To lift the Scottish spear.

Yet his plate-jack1 was braced, and his helmet was laced,
And his vaunt-brace of proof he wore;

At his saddle-gerthe was a good steel sperthe,
Full ten pound weight and more.

The baron return'd in three days' space,
Afd his looks were sad and sour;
And weary was his courser's pace,

As he reachi'd his rocky tower.

He came not from where Ancram Moor2
Rau red with English blood;
Where the Douglas true, and the bold Buccleuch,
'Gainst keen Lord Evers stood.

Yet was his helmet hack'd and hew'd,
His acton pierced and tore;

His axe and his dagger with blood embrued,
But it was not English gore.

He lighted at the Chapellage,

He held him close and still;
And he whistled thrice for his little foot-page,
His name was English Will,

<< Come thou hither, my little foot-page;
Come hither to my knee;

Though thou art young, and tender of age,
I think thou art true to me.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Come, tell me all that thou hast seen,
And look thou tell me true!

What did thy lady do?»

My lady, each night, sought the lonely light,
That burns on the wild Watchfold;

For, from height to height, the beacons bright
Of the English foemen told.

SMAYLHO ME, or Smallholm Tower, the scene of the fol-
lowing ballad, is situated on the northern boundary of
Roxburghshire, among a cluster of wild rocks, called
Sandiknow Crags, the property of Hugh Scott, Esq. of
Harden. The tower is a high square building, surround-Since I from Smaylho'me tower have been,
ed by an outer wall, now ruinous. The circuit of the
outer court, being defended, on three sides, by a pre-
cipice and morass, is accessible only from the west, by
a steep and rocky path. The apartments, as is usual in
a Border keep, or fortress, are placed one above another,
and communicate by a narrow stair; on the roof are
two bartizans, or platforms, for defence or pleasure.
The inner door of the tower is wood, the outer an iron
grate; the distance between them being nine feet, the
thickness, namely, of the wall. From the elevated si-Yet the craggy pathway she did cross,
tuation of Smaylho'me Tower, it is seen many miles in
every direction. Among the crags, by which it is sur-
rounded, one, more eminent, is called The Watchfold;
and is said to have been the station of a beacon, in the
times of war with Eagland. Without the tower-court

The bittern clamour'd from the moss,
The wind blew loud and shrill;

To the eiry beacon hill.

The plate-jack is coat-armour; the vaunt-brace, or

armour for the body; the sperthe, a battle-ase.
ballad.

1

1

See an account of the battle of Ancram Mour, subjoined so 'n

I watch'd her steps, and silent came

Where she sat her on a stone;

No watchman stood by the dreary flame; It burned all alone.

The second night I kept her in sight,

Till to the fire she came,

And, by Mary's might! an armed knight
Stood by the lonely flame.

And many a word that warlike lord
Did speak to my lady there;

But the rain fell fast, and loud blew the blast,
And I heard not what they were.

The third night there the sky was fair, And the mountain blast was still, As again I watch'd the secret pair, On the lonesome beacon hill.

And I heard her name the midnight hour,
And name this holy eve;

And say, Come this night to thy lady's bower; 'Ask no bold baron's leave.

'He lifts his spear with the bold Buccleuch; His lady is all alone;

'The door she 'll undo to her knight so true, On the eve of good St John.'

'I cannot come; I must not come;

'I dare not come to thee;

'On the eve of Saint John I must wander alone'In thy bower I may not be.'

"Now, out on thee, faint-hearted knight!

Thou shouldst not say me nay;

For the eve is sweet, and when lovers meet,
Is worth the whole summer's day.

*And I'll chain the blood-hound, and the warder shall not sound,

And rushes shall be strew'd on the stair,

So, by the black rood-stone, and by holy St Jolin, * I conjure, thee, my love, to be there!'

Though the blood-hound be mute, and the rush be

neath my foot,

And the warder his bugle should not blow,

[blocks in formation]

Then changed. I trow, was that bold baron's brow,
From the dark to the blood-red high;

«Now, tell me the mien of the knight thou hast seen, For, by Mary, he shall die!»

« His arms shone full bright in the beacon's red light, His plume it was scarlet and blue;

On his shield was a hound, in a silver leash bound, And his crest was a branch of the yew.»

« Thou liest, thou liest, thou little foot-page,
Loud dost thou lie to me!

For that knight is cold, and low laid in the mould,
All under the Eildon-tree.»>

[blocks in formation]

Yet there sleepeth a priest in the chamber to the That lady sat in mournful mood;

east,

And my footstep he would know.'

O fear not the priest, who sleepeth to the east! For to Dryburgh the way he has ta'en;

And there to say mass, till three days do pass,

[ocr errors]

For the soul of a knight that is slayne.'

He turn'd him round, and grimly he frown'd;
Then he laugh'd right scornfully-

He who says the mass-rite for the soul of that knight
May as well say mass for me.

The black rood of Melrose was a crucifix of black marble, and of superior sanctity.

Dryburgh Abbey is beautifully situated on the banks of the After its dissolution, it became the property of the HaliTreed. Larions of Newmains, and is now the seat of the right honourable the Earl of Bachan. It belonged to the order of Premonstratenses.

Look'd over hill and dale;

Over Tweed's fair flood, and Mertoun's' wood,

And all down Teviotdale.

<< Now hail, now hail, thou lady bright!» «Now hail, thou haron true!

What news, what news, from Ancram fight? What news from the bold Buccleuch ?»

<< The Ancram Moor is red with gore
For many a southern fell;

And Buccleuch has charged us, evermore,
To watch our beacons well,»>

Eildon is a high hill, terminating in three conical summits, immediately above the town of Melrose, where are the admired ruins of a magnificent monastery. Eildon-tree is said to be the spot where Thomas the Rhymer uttered his prophecies.

Mertoun is the beautiful seat of Ilugh Scott, Esq. of Harden.

fountains, etc. in Scotland. He was, according to Ca- | is a ruined chapel. Brotherstone is a heath, in the merarius, an abbot of Pittenweem, in Fife, from which neighbourhood of Smaylho'me Tower.

The

This ancient fortress and its vicinity formed the serne of the author's infancy, and seemed to claim from his this attempt to celebrate them in a Border tale. catastrophe of the tale is founded upon a well-known Irish tradition.

THE Baron of Smaylho'me rose with day,
He spurr'd his courser on,
without stop or stay, down the rocky way,

That leads to Brotherstone.

situation he retired, and died a hermit in the wilds of
Glenurchy, A.D. 649. While engaged in transcribing
the Scriptures, his left hand was observed to send forth
such a splendour, as to afford light to that with which
he wrote; a miracle which saved many candles to the
convent, as St Fillan used to spend whole nights in that
exercise. The 9th of January was dedicated to this
saint, who gave his name to Kilfillan, in Renfrew, and
St Phillans, or Forgend, in Fife. Lesley, lib. 7. tells us,
that Robert the Bruce was possessed of Fillan's miracu
lous and luminous arm, which he inclosed in a silver
shrine, and had it carried at the head of his army. Pre-He went not with the bold Buccleuch,
vious to the battle of Bannockburn, the king's chap-
lain, a man of little faith, abstracted the relic, and de-
posited it in some place of security, lest it should fall
into the hands of the English. But, lo! while Robert
was addressing his prayers to the empty casket, it was
observed to open and shut suddenly; and, on inspection,
the saint was found to have himself deposited his arm
in the shrine, as an assurance of victory. Such is the
tale of Lesley. But though Bruce little needed that the
arm of St Fillan should assist his own, he dedicated to
him, in gratitude, a priory at Killin, upon Loch Tay.

In the Scots Magazine for July, 1802 (a national periodical publication, which has lately revived with considerable energy), there is a copy of a very curious crown-grant, dated 11th July, 1487, by which James III. confirms to Malice Doire, an inhabitant of Strathfillan, in Perthshire, the peaceable exercise and enjoy. ment of a relic of St Fillan, called the Quegrich, which he, and his predecessors, are said to have possessed since the days of Robert Bruce. As the Quegrich was used to cure diseases, this document is, probably, the most ancient patent ever granted for a quack medicine. The ingenious correspondent, by whom it is furnished, further observes, that additional particulars concerning St Fillan are to be found in BALLENDEN'S Boece, Book 4, folio ccxiii, and in PENNANT's Tour in Scotland, 1772, Pp. 11, 15.

THE EVE OF SAINT JOHN.

His banner broad to rear:

He went not 'gainst the English yew
To lift the Scottish spear.

Yet his plate-jack' was braced, and his helmet was laced,
And his vaunt-brace of proof he wore;

At his saddle-gerthe was a good steel sperthe,
Full ten pound weight and more.

The baron return'd in three days' space,

And his looks were sad and sour;
And weary was his courser's pace,

As he reach'd his rocky tower.

He came not from where Ancram Moor2
Rau red with English blood;
Where the Douglas true, and the bold Buccleuch,
'Gainst keen Lord Evers stood.

Yet was his helmet hack'd and hew'd,
His acton pierced and tore;

Ilis axe and his dagger with blood embrued,
But it was not English gore.

Ile lighted at the Chapellage,

He held him close and still;
And he whistled thrice for his little foot-page,
His name was English Will.

<< Come thou hither, my little foot-page;
Come hither to my knee;

Though thou art young, and tender of age,
I think thou art true to me.

[ocr errors]

Come, tell me all that thou hast seen,
And look thou tell me true!

What did thy lady do?»

My lady, each night, sought the lonely light,
That burns on the wild Watch fold:
For, from height to height, the beacons bright
Of the English foemen told.

SMAYLHO ME, or Smallholm Tower, the scene of the fol-
lowing ballad, is situated on the northern boundary of
Roxburghshire, among a cluster of wild rocks, called
Sandiknow Crags, the property of Hugh Scott, Esq. of
Harden. The tower is a high square building, surround-Since I from Smaylho'me tower have been,
ed by an outer wall, now ruinous. The circuit of the
outer court, being defended, on three sides, by a pre-
cipice and morass, is accessible only from the west, by
a steep and rocky path. The apartments, as is usual in
a Border keep, or fortress, are placed one above another,
and communicate by a narrow stair; on the roof are
two bartizans, or platforms, for defence or pleasure.
The inner door of the tower is wood, the outer an iron
grate; the distance between them being nine feet, the
thickness, namely, of the wall. From the elevated si-Yet the craggy pathway she did cross,
tuation of Smaylho'me Tower, it is seen many miles in
every direction. Among the crags, by which it is sur-
rounded, one, more eminent, is called The Watchfold;
and is said to have been the station of a beacon, in the
times of war with Eagland. Without the tower-court

The bittern clamour'd from the moss,
The wind blew loud and shrill;

To the eiry beacon hill.

The plate-jack is coat-armour; the vaunt-brace, or wambean, armour for the body; the sperthe, a battle-axe.

* See an account of the battle of Ancram Mer, subjoined to the

ballad.

I watch'd her steps, and silent came

Where she sat her on a stone;

No watchman stood by the dreary flame; It burned all alone.

The second night I kept her in sight,

Till to the fire she came,

And, by Mary's might! an armed knight
Stood by the lonely flame.

And many a word that warlike lord
Did speak to my lady there;

But the rain fell fast, and loud blew the blast,
And I heard not what they were.

The third night there the sky was fair,
And the mountain blast was still,
As again I watch'd the secret pair,
On the lonesome beacon hill.

And I heard her name the midnight hour,
And name this holy eve;

And say, Come this night to thy lady's bower; 'Ask no bold baron's leave.

'He lifts his spear with the bold Buccleuch; 'His lady is all alone;

'The door she 'll undo to her knight so true, On the eve of good St John.'

'I cannot come; I must not come;

'I dare not come to thee;

'On the eve of Saint John I must wander alone

'In thy bower I may not be.'

Now, out on thee, faint-hearted knight!

Thou shouldst not say me nay;

For the eve is sweet, and when lovers meet, Is worth the whole summer's day.

And I'll chain the blood-hound, and the warder shall not sound,

And rushes shall be strew'd on the stair,

So, by the black rood-stone,' and by holy St Jolin, I conjure, thee, my love, to be there!'

Though the blood-hound be mute, and the rush be

neath my foot,

And the warder his bugle should not blow,

At the lone midnight hour, when bad spirits have

power,

In thy chamber will I be.'

With that he was gone, and my lady left alone,

And no more did I see.»>—

Then changed. I trow, was that bold baron's brow, From the dark to the blood-red high;

« Now, tell me the mien of the knight thou hast seen, For, by Mary, he shall die!»

<< His arms shone full bright in the beacon's red light, His plume it was scarlet and blue;

On his shield was a hound, in a silver leash bound, And his crest was a branch of the yew.»

<< Thou liest, thou liest, thou little foot-page,
Loud dost thou lie to me!

For that knight is cold, and low laid in the mould,
All under the Eildon-tree.»

«Yet hear but my word, my noble lord,
For I heard her name his nume;
And that lady bright, she call'd the knight,
Sir Richard of Coldinghame.»>

The bold baron's brow then changed, I trow,
From high blood-red to pale-

«The grave is deep and dark-and the corpse is stiff and stark

So I may not trust thy tale.

« Where fair Tweed flows round holy Melrose, And Eildon slopes to the plain,

Full three nights ago, by some secret foe,

That gay gallant was slain.

«The varying light deceived thy sight,

And the wild winds drown'd the name;

For the Dryburgh bells ring, and the white monks do sing,

For Sir Richard of Coldinghame!»

He pass'd the court-gate, and he open'd the tower

grate,

And he mounted the narrow stair,

To the bartizan-seat, where, with maids that on her

wait,

He found his lady fair.

Yet there sleepeth a priest in the chamber to the That lady sat in mournful mood;

east,

And my footstep he would know.'

O fear not the priest, who sleepeth to the east!
For to Dryburgh2 the way he has ta'en;
And there to say mass, till three days do pass,
For the soul of a knight that is slayne.'

«He turn'd him round, and grimly he frown'd;
Then he laugh'd right scornfully-

He who says the mass-rite for the soul of that knight May as well say mass for me.

The black rood of Melrose was a crucifix of black marble, and of superior sanctity.

[ocr errors][merged small]

Look'd over hill and dale;

Over Tweed's fair flood, and Mertoun's wood, And all down Teviotdale.

«Now hail, now hail, thou lady bright!» «Now hail, thou haron true! What news, what news, from Ancram fight? What news from the bold Buccleuch ?»

«The Ancram Moo is red with gore
For many a southern fell;

And Buccleuch has charged us, evermore,
To watch our beacons well,»

Eildon is a high hill, terminating in three conical summits, immediately above the town of Melrose, where are the admired rains of a magnific at monastery. Eildon-tree is said to be the spot where Thomas the Rhymer uttered his prophecies.

* Mertoun is the beautiful seat of Hugh Scott, Esq. of Harden.

« 前へ次へ »