Have been the minstrel's loved resort. Oft have I traced within thy fort, Of mouldering shields the mystic sense, Quartered in old armorial sort, Remains of rude magnificence: Nor wholly yet hath time defaced Thy lordly gallery fair; Nor yet the stony cord unbraced, Whose twisted knots, with roses laced, Adorn thy ruined stair. Still rises unimpaired, below, And, shuddering, still may we explore, Where oft whilome were captives pent, The darkness of thy Massy More ;* Or, from thy grass-grown battlement, May trace, in undulating line, The sluggish mazes of the Tyne. XII. Another aspect Crichtoun shewed, As through its portal Marmion rode; For none were in the castle then, But women, boys, or aged men. With eyes scarce dried, the sorrowing dame, To welcome noble Marmion, came; Her son, a stripling twelve years old, Proffered the Baron's rein to hold; For each man, that could draw a sword, Had marched that morning with their lord, The pit, or prison-vault.-See Note. Earl Adam Hepburn, he who died She ne'er shall see his gallant train Of hated Bothwell stained their fame. XIII. And here two days did Marmion rest, With every rite that honour claims, Such the command of royal James; To march against the English land. Here while they dwelt, did Lindesay's wit Oft cheer the Baron's moodier fit; And, in his turn, he knew to prize Lord Marmion's powerful mind, and wise,— Trained in the lore of Rome, and Greece, And policies of war and peace. XIV. It chanced, as fell the second night, That on the battlements they walked, And, by the slowly fading light, Of varying topics talked ; And, unaware, the Herald-bard Said, Marmion might his toil have spared, In travelling so far; For that a messenger from heaven In vain to James had counsel given Against the English war; And, closer questioned, thus he told In Scottish story have enrolled: XV. Sir Gavid Lindesay's Tale. "Of all the palaces so fair, Built for the royal dwelling, In Scotland, far beyond comprae Linlithgow is excelling; And in its park, in jovial June, How sweet the merry linnet's tune, How blithe the blackbird's lay! The wild buck bells from ferny brake, The coot dives merry on the lake, The saddest heart might pleasure take To see all nature gay. But June is to our Sovereign dear The heaviest month in all the year: Too well his cause of grief you know,— June saw his father's overthrow. Woe to the traitors, who could bring * An ancient word for the cry of deer.-See Note. |