Although the great arch-fiend and he On his broad shoulders wrought; Was from Loretto brought; 1 A Palmer, opposed to a Pilgrim, was one who made it his sole business to visit different holy shrines; travelling incessantly, and subsisting by charity: whereas the Pilgrim retired to his usual home and occupations, when he had paid his devotions at the particular spot which was the object of his pilgrimage. The Palmers seem to have been the Quæstionarii of the ancient Scottish canons 1242 and 1296. There is in the Bannatyne MS. a burlesque account of two such persons, entitled, Simmy and his Brother." Their accoutrements are thus ludicrously described, (I discard the ancient spelling)— 66 "Syne shaped them up, to loup on leas, Two tabards of the tartan; They counted nought what their clouts were Syne clampit up St Peter's keys, Made of an old red gartane; St James's shells, on t'other side, shews As pretty as a partane Toe, On Symmye and his brother." His sandals were with travel tore, Staff, budget, bottle, scrip, he wore ; XXVIII. When as the Palmer came in hall, Or look'd more high and keen; For no saluting did he wait,, But strode across the hall of state, And fronted Marmion where he sate,2 As he his peer had been. But his gaunt frame was worn with toil; And when he struggled at a smile, Poor wretch! the mother that him bare, And blanch at once the hair; 1 ["The first presentment of the mysterious Palmer is laudable." -JEFFREY.] 2[MS." And near Lord Marmion took his seat."] Hard toil can roughen form and face,1 And want can quench the eye's bright grace, More deeply than despair. Happy whom none of these befall, 2 XXIX. Lord Marmion then his boon did ask ; From midnight to the dawn of day, Sung to the billows' sound; * 4 [MS. "Hard toil can alter form and face, roughen youthful grace, And want can quench the eyes of grace."] dim 2 [MS.-"Happy whom none such woes befall."] 3 [MS.-"So he would ride with morning tide."] 4 St Regulus, (Scotticé, St Rule,) a monk of Patræ, in Achaia, warned by a vision, is said, A. D. 370, to have sailed westward, until he landed at St Andrews, in Scotland, where he founded a chapel and tower. The latter is still standing; and, though we may doubt the precise date of its foundation, is certainly one of the most ancient edifices in Scotland. A cave, nearly fronting the ruinous castle of the Archbishops of St Andrews, bears the name Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well, Whose spring can frenzied dreams dispel, Saint Mary grant, that cave or spring XXX. And now the midnight draught of sleep, In massive bowl of silver deep, of this religious person. It is difficult of access; and the rock in It is nearly which it is hewed is washed by the German Ocean. round, about ten feet in diameter, and the same in height. On one side is a sort of stone altar; on the other an aperture into an inner den, where the miserable ascetic, who inhabited this dwelling, probably slept. At full tide, egress and regress are hardly practicable. As Regulus first colonized the metropolitan see of Scotland, and converted the inhabitants in the vicinity, he has some reason to complain, that the ancient name of Killrule (Cella Reguli) should have been superseded, even in favour of the tutelar saint of Scotland. The reason of the change was, that St Rule is said to have brought to Scotland the relics of Saint Andrew. 1 St Fillan was a Scottish saint of some reputation. Although Popery is, with us, matter of abomination, yet the common people still retain some of the superstitions connected with it. There are in Perthshire several wells and springs dedicated to St Fillan, which are still places of pilgrimage and offerings, even among the Protestants. They are held powerful in cases of madness; and, in some of very late occurrence, lunatics have been left all night bound to the holy stone, in confidence that the saint would cure and unloose them before morning. [See various notes to the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.] The page presents on knee. Lord Marmion drank a fair good rest, Alone the Palmer pass'd it by, Though Selby press'd him courteously. It hush'd the merry wassel roar, 2 The minstrels ceased to sound. Soon in the castle nought was heard, XXXI. With early dawn Lord Marmion rose: 1[MS.-"The cup pass'd round among the rest."] 3 [" In Catholic countries, in order to reconcile the pleasures of the great with the observances of religion, it was common, when a party was bent for the chase, to celebrate mass, abridged and maimed of its rites, called a hunting-mass, the brevity of which was designed to correspond with the impatience of the audience."-Note to "The Abbot." New Edit.] |