My liege hath deemed it shame, and lack

Of courtesy, to turn him back;

And, by his order, I, your guide,

Must lodging fit and fair provide,

Till finds King James meet time to see

The flower of English chivalry."—

IX.

Though inly chafed at this delay,
Lord Marmion bears it as he may.
The Palmer, his mysterious guide,
Beholding thus his place supplied,

Sought to take leave in vain :

The right-hand path they now decline,

And trace against the stream the Tyne.

X.

At length up that wild dale they wind,

Where Crichtoun-Castle crowns the bank;

For there the Lion's care assigned

A lodging meet for Marmion's rank.

That Castle rises on the steep

Of the green vale of Tyne ;

And far beneath, where slow they creep
From pool to eddy, dark and deep,

Where alders moist, and willows weep,

You hear her streams repine.

The towers in different ages rose;

Their various architecture shows

The builders' various hands;

A mighty mass, that could oppose,
When deadliest hatred fired its foes,

The vengeful Douglas bands.

Oft have I traced within thy fort,

Of mouldering shields the mystic sense,

Scutcheons of honour, or pretence,

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,

The court-yard's graceful portico;

Above its cornice, row and row

Of fair hewn facets richly show
Their pointed diamond form,

Though there but houseless cattle go,

To shield them from the storm.

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;
But yet 'twas melancholy state
Received him at the outer gate;

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;

* The pit, or prison-vault.-See Note.