forth to spend a solitary life. His temptations by the devil are famous: they drove him from place to place. Afterwards his fame spread abroad, and he had many followers. His life was written by Saint Athanasius. An account of him is given by Mr. Kingsley in "The Hermits" (Sunday Library).

xxxiv. 9. Etall.] A castle, now in ruins, embattled by Sir Robert de Manners, a knight of Edward III.

Wark.] As a Border castle, was often besieged by the Scots. Edward III. defended it against them. It stood on the south bank of the River Tweed, east of Teviotdale, not far from Kelso. At the Union the castle was demolished. Cf. Percy's "Hermit of Warkworth" :

"Lord Percy's knights their bleeding friend

To Wark's fiery castle bore."

Ford.] Separated from Flodden by the River Till. There is a castle here, originally built by Sir William Heron, but frequently altered. It was in this castle that James IV. was said to have lingered, lured by the fatal fascinations of Lady Heron. Cf. supra, x. 2.

10. Cf. Lingard, vol. iv. pp. 179, 180.

25. Millfield.] Where was once an old palace of the Kings of Bernicia. A skirmish took place near it shortly before Flodden, in which the Scots under Lord Home were defeated, principally through an ambuscade.

26. Surrey.] Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, afterwards Duke of Norfolk. The dukedom had been forfeited by the attainder of his father John, on the accession of Henry VII. It was restored to Thomas, as a reward for his victory of Flodden.

On his sons, vide infra, VI. xxiv. 14.

29. Wooler.] A small and uninteresting town, described as the metropolis of the Cheviot district.

CANTO VI.-THE BATTLE.

MARMION is detained with his train, including Clara, at Tantallon. The Palmer there reveals to Lord Douglas that he is no other than De Wilton, and, having told his story, receives from him a promise that he would dub him knight afresh; after which he reveals himself to his truelove, Clara. The ceremony of knighting is performed; and next morning Marmion, eager for battle, departs for the English camp before Flodden, an angry scene taking place with Douglas at his departure. He had not gone far before he noticed the absence of the Palmer, and discovered that he was his hated rival. The rest of the poem can be briefly told. There is a very spirited description of the Battle of Flodden Field, and of Marmion's death, after deeds of wondrous valour, his last

moments being soothed by the injured Clara herself. De Wilton likewise distinguishes himself in the battle, and without difficulty wins back fame and position. By his marriage with Clara, celebrated with almost royal splendour, poetic justice is secured: in the interests of which, it must further be observed, Lord Marmion's body receives the undistinguished burial of the battlefield, whilst the sumptuous monument intended for him in Lichfield Cathedral is raised over the body of a peasant.

i. 8. Terouenne.] In the province of Artois, south-east of Calais. It was besieged by Henry VIII., in whose camp the Emperor Maximilian was then serving as a volunteer. A league had been formed against France, between Henry VIII., the Emperor of Germany, and Pope Leo X. The town was surrendered to the English after the Battle of Spurs, and was razed to the ground at the request of Maximilian.

ii. 10. Bloody Heart.] Cf. note, V. xv. 18.

iv. 11. The very form of Hilda fair.] "This is only a reflection caused by the splendour of the sunbeams." (Charlton's "History of Whitby," p. 33.) On Lady Hilda's other miracles, see II. viii. and notes.

29. Red De Clare, stout Gloster's Earl.] Cf. x. 23. Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, son-in-law of King Edward I. He was descended from Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, and Arnicia his wife, daughter and sole heiress of William Earl of Gloucester. Their son Gilbert became Earl of Hertford in 1218, and, in right of his mother, of Gloucester. Both Richard and Gilbert were amongst the twenty-five barons who were appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Charta (Cf. Hume, vol. i. p. 471). 1230, Richard de Clare, son and heir, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester. 1262, his son and heir, Gilbert de Clare, to whom reference is here made. In the barons' wars in the reign of Henry III., he was at first the adherent of Simon de Montfort-afterwards, disgusted with his policy, the opponent. This defection was of importance in strengthening the King's hands before the battle of Evesham. Gilbert de Clare afterwards married Joan Plantagenet, known as "Joan of Acre," daughter of Edward I. But although the Earl of Gloucester was his son-in-law, on a later occasion, Edward fined him for an act of private violence the sum of 10,000 marks (Cf. Hume, vol. ii. p. 21). This earl is mentioned by Gray ("The Bard." i. 13). His son and heir, another Gilbert, was slain at Bannockburn in 1314, with whom the earldom became extinct. His third daughter, Elizabeth, with her portion of the family estates, in 1347 endowed Clare Hall, now Clare College, at Cambridge.-See the "Historic Peerage of England" by Sir Harris Nicolas.

ix. 7. The tide of fight on Otterburne, &c.] Otterburne is a village in Northumberland, on the River Otter, where the battle between the Scots and the English was fought (August 15, 1388), upon which the ballad of "Chevy Chase" is founded. (Vide Percy's" Reliques," vol. i.) Of its merit one may judge from what Sir Philip Sidney said: "I never heard the old

song of Percie and Douglas, that I found not my heart moved more than with the sound of a trumpet; and yet it is sung but by some blind crowder, with no rougher voice than rude style." There is also a Scottish account of the battle in a ballad called "The Battle of Otterburne," in Scott's" Border Minstrelsy," vol. i. p. 345, where also an account of the battle is added, from which the following is abridged :-James Earl of Douglas invaded Northumberland, Newcastle being defended by Harry Percy, surnamed Hotspur. Earl Douglas captured Hotspur's lance and pennon, to rescue which, Hotspur made a night attack on the Scottish camp at Otterburne, thirty-two miles from Newcastle. A moonlight fight ensued in which, at length, Douglas rushed upon the English ranks, armed with his tremendous iron mace, and followed only by a chaplain and two squires. When his men came up, the squires were killed, and the priest was defending the mortally-wounded body of their beloved leader. "I die like my forefathers," said he, "in a field of battle, and not on a bed of sickness. Conceal my death, defend my standard, and avenge my fall! It is an old prophecy that a dead man shall gain a field, and I hope it will be accomplished to-night.”

["I saw a dead man win a fight,

And I think that man was I."]

With these words he expired, and the fight being renewed with double obstinacy, by morning the victory at last inclined to the side of the Scotch: Harry Percy and his brother were taken prisoners. A memorial, strangely called Percy's Cross, is erected where Earl Douglas is said to have fallen.

x. 23. Red Earl Gilbert.] Cf. note, iv. 29.

xi. 17. A bishop.] Gawain Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld. He translated Virgil's "Eneid" into his native tongue, and wrote other poems of merit. He was not at this time a bishop. A fuller account of him will be found in Tytler's "Scottish Worthies."

19. Rocquet,] now usually spelt rochet. (Low Latin, rochetum, roccus. Cf. G. Rock, Anglo-Saxon roc.) "A linen habit peculiar to the Bishop, and worn under what we call the 'chimere.' Bishops were obliged by the Canon Law to wear their rochettes whenever they appeared in public, which practice was constantly kept up in England till the Reformation; but since that time the Bishops have not used them at any place out of the church, except in the Parliament House, and there always with the chimere or upper robe."-"Wheatly on the Common Prayer," chap. ii. sec. 3.

25. Dunkeld.] Fifteen miles from Perth, on the way to Inverness, beautifully situated on the River Tay. The greater part of the cathedral is now nothing better than a ruin, though the choir is fitted up and used as a parish church.

xii. 10. The following account of the creation of a knight is from Milman's "Latin Christianity" (book vii. chap. vi.):

"He knelt before his godfather in this war-baptism. He was publicly sworn to maintain the right, to be loyal to all true knighthood, to protect the poor from oppression. He must forswear all treason, all injustice. Where woman needed his aid, he must be ever prompt and valiant ; to protect her virtue was the first duty and privilege of a true knight. He must fast every Friday, give alms according to his means; keep faith with all the world, especially his brethren in arms; succour, love, honour all loyal knights. When he had taken his oath, knights and ladies arrayed him in his armour: each piece had its symbolic meaning, its moral lesson. His godfather then struck him with a gentle blow, and laid his sword three times on his neck. In the name of God, St. Michael (or St. George, or some other tutelar saint) and (ever) of Our Lady, we dub thee knight.' The church-bells pealed out; the church rang with acclamations; the knight mounted his horse, and rode round the lists, or over the green meadows, amid the shouts of the rejoicing multitude."

xii. 13. Notice the threefold duty of a knight :

1. To God and His Church.

2. To his king and feudal superior to whom he owed allegiance.
3. To his lady, and all ladies in distress.

xiv. 27. Saint Bride,] Bryde, Brigide, or Bridget. There seem to have been two saints of this name, one Irish, and one Scotch. Many churches are dedicated in it-one in Fleet Street, London.

1. Irish, virgin and abbess. February 1 is St. Bride's Day. St. Patrick, St. Columba, and St. Bride (called Thaumaturga, the wonder-worker), are regarded as the patron-saints of Ireland.

2. Scotch. Her relics are shown at a collegiate church, at Abernethie in Perthshire, where a church was dedicated to her by Nethan or Nectan, a Pictish king, of 5th century, and which was for a short time the seat of a bishopric. She seems to have been regarded as the patron-saint of cattle. In Lyndsay's poems, frequently, e. g. vol. iii. p. 7:—

"To Saint Bryde, to keep calf and kow."

She was a favourite saint of the Douglas family, with a shrine at Bothwell, where they had a castle (V. xiv. 1). Cf. "Lay of the Last Minstrel," VI. xxvii. 6. "Saint Bride of Douglas," where in his note Scott quotes from Godscroft (vol. ii. p. 131), to the effect that the Earl of Angus swore "by the might of God," when he was "serious and in anger; at other times it was by Saint Bryde of Douglas."

XV. 13. "Saint Jude to speed!"] Cf. III. xxii. 36, "Saint George to speed!" There seems to be no particular reason why this saint should be selected for invocation. The chief oaths of the Douglas are mentioned in the last note. It has been suggested that in Douglas's ignorance, he invokes Judas Iscariot under the name of a saint. In a ballad

by Southey, called "Queen Mary's Christening," St. Jude is made to share the odium which attaches to the name of the arch-traitor :

"I never can call him Judas,

It isn't a Christian name."

17. Saint Bothan.] Cf. note, I. xix. 5.

xvi. 29. The Master.] George, Master of Angus. Master is the title given to the eldest son of a Scotch lord. He was now in King James's camp: cf. xii. 26.

xviii. 3. Lennel's convent.] “A Cistercian house of religion, now almost entirely demolished," near Coldstream.

6. A fair exchange.] It was the residence of Sir W. Scott's friend, Patrick Brydone, Esq., author of "Travels in Sicily and Malta."

9. Bernardine.] A reformed branch of the Cistercians (V. xxx. 34, note), founded by St. Bernard at Clairvaux. St. Bernard was very successful as an Abbot, and is said to have established upwards of 150 monasteries. A very good Life of him has been written by Mr. J. C. Morison.

xix. 1. "On the evening previous to the memorable Battle of Flodden, Surrey's head-quarters were at Barmoor Wood, and King James held an inaccessible position on the ridge of Flodden Hill, one of the last and lowest eminences detached from the ridge of Cheviot. The Till, a deep and slow river, winded between the armies. On the morning of September 9, 1513, Surrey marched in a north-westerly direction, and crossed the Till, with his van and artillery, at Twisel Bridge, nigh where that river joins the Tweed, his rearguard column passing about a mile higher, by a ford."-S. Surrey's object, in which he was very successful, was to force King James from his advantageous position, by getting between him and Scotland so as to cut off his supplies. This movement was suggested by Surrey's son, Lord Thomas Howard. James ought to have attacked the English whilst crossing the river, but is said to have refrained from this through a chivalrous preference for a "fair field and no favour." He had, however, shown no anxiety for this when he but reluctantly left his advantageous position on Flodden. His inactivity seems rather due to a want of military skill.

5. Twisel (or Twizell) Bridge.] Said to have been built in the sixteenth century, not long therefore before the battle. It is still standing. 25. Saint Helen's well is a petrifying spring a little below Twizell Bridge.

xx. 12. Douglas.] Cf. note on V. xvi. 7.

13. Randolph.] Sir Thomas Randolph, sister's son to King Robert Bruce, and created by him Earl of Murray; after a short alienation at the first, one of Bruce's best supporters. There was a sort of rivalry between him and Good Lord James Douglas (Cf. note, V. xv. 18), which