Sleep at his side, in token that our death Ended the feud of Swinton and of Gordon.

K. ED. It is the Gordon ! Is there
aught beside

Edward can do to honour bravery,
Even in an enemy?

GOR. Nothing but this;

Let not base Baliol, with his touch or look,

Profane my corpse or Swinton's. I've

some breath still,

Enough to say-Scotland-Elizabeth! CHAN. Baliol, I would not brook such dying looks,

To buy the crown you aim at.
K. ED. (to VIPONT). Vipont, thy
crossèd shield shows ill in warfare
Against a Christian king.

VIP. That Christian king is warring
upon Scotland;

I was a Scotsman ere I was a Templar,
Sworn to my country ere I knew my
Order.

K. ED. I will but know thee as a
Christian champion,

And set thee free unransom'd.

Enter ABBOT OF WALTHAMSTOW. AB. Heaven grant your Majesty Many such glorious days as this has been!

K. ED. It is a day of much and high advantage;

Glorious it might have been, had all our foes

waked my camp.

GOR. (sinking down). If thus thou know'st him,

Thou wilt respect his corpse.

K. ED. As belted Knight and crowned King, I will.

GOR. And let mine

pions. Strike the drums, Sound trumpets, and pursue the fugitives,

Till the Tweed's eddies 'whelm them. Berwick's render'd;

These wars, I trust, will soon find lasting close.

PRELUDE.

On which, in ancient times, a Cross was rear'd,

Carved o'er with words which foil'd philologists;

And the events it did commemorate Were dark, remote, and undistinguishable

The summit of a Rocky Pass near to Newburgh, about two miles from the ancient Abbey of Lindores, in Fife. In the centre is MacDuff's Cross, an antique monument; and, at a small distance, on one side, a Chapel, with a lamp burning. Enter, as having ascended the Pass,

NINIAN and WALDHAVE, Monks of Lindores. NINIAN crosses himself, and seems to recite his devotions. WALDHAVE stands gazing on the prospect, as if in deep contemplation. NIN. Here stands the Cross, good brother, consecrated

By the bold Thane unto his patron saint,

Magridius, once a brother of our house.

rule,

That first when Scotland's King assumes the crown,

MacDuff's descendant rings his brow with it;

And hence, when Scotland's King calls forth his host,

MacDuff's descendant leads the van in battle;

And last, in guerdon of the crown restored,

Red with the blood of the usurping tyrant,

The right was granted in succeeding time,

That if a kinsman of the Thane of Fife Commit a slaughter on a sudden impulse,

And fly for refuge to this Cross MacDuff,

For the Thane's sake he shall find sanctuary;

For here must the avenger's step be staid,

And here the panting homicide find safety.

WAL. And here. a brother of your

order watches,

To see the custom of the place observed?

NIN. Even so ;-such is our convent's holy right,

Since Saint Magridius-blessed be his memory!

him

Some touch of your Lord Reynold.

NIN. Lindesay's name, my brother, Indeed was Reynold ;—and methinks,

moreover,

That, as you spoke even now, he

would have spoken.

I brought him a petition from our

convent:

He granted straight, but in such tone

and manner,

monk's mind

Is with his cloister match'd, nor lacks

more room.

Its petty duties, formal ritual, Its humble pleasures and its paltry troubles,

Fill up his round of life; even as some reptiles,

They say, are moulded to the very

shape,

And all the angles of the rocky crevice,

scarce safe

Till Tay roll'd broad between us.

I must now

Unto the chapel-meanwhile the watch is thine;

And, at thy word, the hurrying fugitive, Should such arrive, must here find

sanctuary;

And, at thy word, the fiery-paced

avenger

Must stop his bloody course, e'en as swoln Jordan

myself,

Retired in passion to the narrow cell,
Couching my tirèd limbs in its recesses,
So ill-adapted am I to its limits,
That every attitude is agony.
How now! what brings him back?

Re-enter NINIAN.

NIN. Look to your watch, my brother; horsemen come :

I heard their tread when kneeling in the chapel.