XVII. MOUNTAIN SPIRIT. "Arthur's slow wain his course doth roll, Shimmers through mist each planet star; The unearthly voices ceast, And the heavy sound was still; It died on the river's breast, It died on the side of the hill. But round Lord David's tower The sound still floated near; For it rung in the Ladye's bower, And it rung in the Ladye's ear. She raised her stately head, And her heart throbb'd high with pride:"Your mountains shall bend, And your streams ascend, Ere Margaret be our foeman's bride !" XIX. The Ladye sought the lofty hall, Even bearded knights, in arms grown old, 3 How the brave boy, in future war, Should tame the Unicorn's pride, Exalt the Crescent and the Star. XX. The Ladye forgot her purpose high, One moment gazed with a mother's eye, 1 See Appendix, Note N. Foray, a predatory inroad. This line, of which the metre appears defective, would have its full complement of feet according to the pronunciation of the poet himself-as all who were familiar with his utterane of the letter r will bear testimony.-ED. XXI. A stark moss-trooping Scott was he, moss, Blindfold, he knew the paths to cross; By wily turns, by desperate bounds, XXII. "Sir William of Deloraine, good at need, Seek thou the Monk of St. Mary's aisle. Say that the fated hour is come, For this will be St. Michael's night, Will point to the grave of the mighty dead. XXV. Soon in his saddle sate he fast, XXVI. The clattering hoofs the watchmen mark ;— "Stand, ho! thou courier of the dark.""For Branksome, ho!" the knight rejoin'd, And left the friendly tower behind. He turn'd him now from Teviotside, And, guided by the tinkling rill, And gain'd the moor at Horsliehill; XXVIL A moment now he slack'd his speed, When some sad swain shall teach the grove, Down from the lakes did raving come; XXIX. At the first plunge the horse sunk low, Stemm'd a midnight torrent's force. Was daggled by the dashing spray; Yet through good heart, and Our Ladye's grace, At length he gain'd the landing place. XXX. Now Bowden Moor the march-man won, And sternly shook his plumed head, As glanced his eye o'er Halidon; For on his soul the slaughter red When first the Scott and Carr were foes; XXXI. In bitter mood he spurred fast, Old Melros' rose, and fair Tweed ran: Now midnight lauds were in Melrose sung. In solemn wise did rise and fail, Like that wild harp, whose magic tone Is waken'd by the winds alone. But when Melrose he reach'd, 'twas silence all; He meetly stabled his steed in stall, And sought the convent's lonely wall." HERE paused the harp; and with its swell His hand was true, his voice was clear, The Lay of the Last Minstrel. CANTO SECOND. I. If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright,1 When the broken arches are black in night, And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die ;* And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave, Then go but go alone the while- II. Short halt did Deloraine make there; "In the description of Melrose, which introduces the Secend Canto, the reader will observe how skilfully the Author calis in the aid of sentimental associations to heighten the effect of the picture which he presents to the eye."-JEFFREY. 1 See Appendix, Note W. David I. of Scotland, purchased the reputation of sanctity, by founding, and liberally endowing, not only the monastery of Melrose, but those of Kelso, Jedburgh, and many others; The porter hurried to the gate "Who knocks so loud, and knocks so late?" "From Branksome, I," the warrior cried; And straight the wicket open'd wide: For Branksome's Chiefs had in battle stood, To fence the rights of fair Melrose; And lands and livings, many a rood, Had gifted the shrine for their souls' repose. III. Bold Deloraine his errand said; IV. . "The Ladye of Branksome greets thee by me; V And strangely on the Knight look'd he, And his blue eyes gleam'd wild and wide; "And, darest thou, Warrior! seek to see What heaven and hell alike would hide? My breast, in belt of iron pent, With shirt of hair and scourge of thorn; For threescore years, in penance spent, My knees those flinty stones have worn; Yet all too little to atone For knowing what should ne'er be known. VI. "Penance, father, will I none; Prayer know I hardly one; which led to the well-known observation of his successor, that he was a sore saint for the crown. 4 The Buccleuch family were great benefactors to the Abbey of Melrose. As early as the reign of Robert II., Robert Scott, Baron of Murdieston and Rankleburn (now Buccleuch), gave to the monks the lands of Hinkery, in Ettrick Forest, pro sœ lute anime sua.-Chartulary of Melrose, 28th May, 1415. Aventayle, visor of the helmet. For mass or prayer can I rarely tarry, When I ride on a Border foray. So speed me my errand, and let me be gone.”— VIL Again on the Knight look'd the Churchman old, For he had himself been a warrior bold, And he thought on the days that were long since by When his limbs were strong, and his courage was high: Now, slow and faint, he led the way, And beneath their feet were the bones of the dead. VIII. Spreading herbs, and flowerets bright, The youth in glittering squadrons start; Sudden the flying jennet wheel, And hurl the unexpected dart. He knew, by the streamers that shot so bright, That spirits were riding the northern light. IX. By a steel-clenched postern door, They enter'd now the chancel tall; The darken'd roof rose high aloof On pillars lofty and light and small: The key-stone, that lock'd each ribbed aisle, Was a fleur-de-lys, or a quatre-feuille ; The corbells were carved grotesque and grim; And the pillars, with cluster'd shafts so trim, 1 See Appendix, Note X. The cloisters were frequently used as places of sepulture. An instance occurs in Dryburgh Abbey, where the cloister has an inscription, bearing. Hic jacet frater Archibaldus. See Appendix, Note Y. Corbells, the projections from which the arches spring, usually cut in a fantastic face, or mask. "With plinth and with capital flourish'd around." First Edition. See Appendix, Note Z. 7 Ibid. Note 2 A. Ibid. Note 2 B. | "Bombay, September 25, 1805.-I began last night to read Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel, as part of my evening readings to my children. I was extremely delighted by the oetical beauty of some passages, the Abbey of Melrose for With base and with capital flourish'd around," Seem'd bundles of lances which garlands had bound. X. Full many a scutcheon and banner riven, And thine, dark Knight of Liddesdale !" XI. The moon on the east oriel shone By foliaged tracery combined; Thou wouldst have thought some fairy's hand "Twixt poplars straight the ozier wand, In many a freakish knot, had twined; Then framed a spell, when the work was done, And changed the willow-wreaths to stone. The silver light, so pale and faint, Show'd many a prophet, and many a saint, Whose image on the glass was dyed; And trampled the Apostate's pride. XII. They sate them down on a marble stone,- XIII. "In these far climes it was my lot To meet the wondrous Michael Scott;" The cos example, and most of the prologues to the cantos. tume, too, is admirable. The tone is antique; and it might be read for instruction as a picture of the manners of the mid dle ages." "November 2, 1805.-We are perfectly enchanted with Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. He is surely the man born at last to translate the Iliad. Are not the good parts of his poem the most Homeric of any thing in our language? There are tedious passages, and so are there in Ho mer."-SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, Life, vol. i. pp. 254, 262. 10 A large marble stone, in the chancel of Melrose, is pointed out as the monument of Alexander II., one of the greatest of our early kings; others say, it is the resting-place of Waldeve one of the early abbots, who died in the odor of sanctity. See Appendix, Note 2 C. A wizard, of such dreaded fame, The bells would ring in Notre Dame! The words that cleft Eildon hills in three," And bridled the Tweed with a curb of stone: But to speak them were a deadly sin; And for having but thought them my heart within, A treble penance must be done. XIV. "When Michael lay on his dying bed, His conscience was awakened: He bethought him of his sinful deed, And he gave me a sign to come with speed: XV. "I swore to bury his Mighty Book, I buried him on St. Michael's night, When the bell toll'd one, and the moon was bright, And I dug his chamber among the dead, XVI. "It was a night of wo and dread, When Michael in the tomb I laid! Strange sounds along the chancel pass'd, The banners waved without a blast"-Still spoke the Monk, when the bell toll'd one! I tell you, that a braver man Than William of Deloraine, good at need, See Appendix, Note 2 D. 18 Appendix, Note 2 F. 2 Ibid. Note 2 E. 4 Ibid. Note 2 G. XVII. "Lo, Warrior! now, the Cross of Red To chase the spirits that love the night: Slow moved the Monk to the broad flag-stone, An iron bar the Warrior took ;5 And the Monk made a sign with his wither'd hand, The grave's huge portal to expand. XVIII. With beating heart to the task he went; Till the toil-drops fell from his brows, like rain. It was by dint of passing strength, That he moved the massy stone at length. I would you had been there, to see Show'd the Monk's cowl, and visage pale, XIX. Before their eyes the Wizard lay, Like a pilgrim from beyond the sea: His left hand held his Book of Might; A silver cross was in his right; The lamp was placed beside his knee: High and majestic was his look, At which the fellest fiends had shook, And all unruffled was his face: They trusted his soul had gotten grace. XX. Often had William of Deloraine And neither known remorse nor awe; he had loved with brotherly affection-the horror of Deloraine, and his belief that the corpse frowned, as he withdrew the magic volume from its grasp, are, in a succeeding part of the Orig.-A bar from thence the warrior took. narrative, circumstances not more happily conceived than ex"The agitation of the monk at the sight of the man whom quisitely wrought."-Critical Review |