the manner which appeared to him most interesting and affecting.

It may be proper to inform the reader that the ROUND TABLE was not peculiar to the reign of K. Arthur, but was common in all the ages of chivalry. The proclaiming a great tournament (probably with some peculiar solemnities) was called "holding a Round Table." Dugdale tells us, that the great baron Roger de Mortimer "having procured the honour of knighthood to be conferred ' on his three sons' by K. Edw. I., he, at his own costs, caused a tourneament to be held at Kenilworth; where he sumptously entertained an hundred knights, and as many ladies, for three days; the like whereof was never before in England; and there began the ROUND TABLE (so called by reason that the place wherein they practised those feats was environed with a strong wall made in a round form). And upon the fourth day, the golden lion, in sign of triumph, being yielded to him, he carried it (with all the company) to Warwick."-It may further be added, that Matthew Paris frequently calls jousts and tournaments Hastiludia Mensa Rotundæ.

As to the art of healing being practised by a young princess, it is no more than what is usual in all the old romances, and was conformable to real manners: it being a practice derived from the

holding it against the wall with such force that its heart burst, and thereafter (ends the Folio version)

earliest times among all the Gothic and Celtic nations, for women, even of the highest rank, to exercise the art of surgery. In the Northern Chronicles we always find the young damsels stanching the wounds of their lovers, and the wives those of their husbands. And even so late as the time of Q. Elizabeth, it is mentioned among the accomplishments of the ladies of her court, that the "eldest of them are skilful in surgery.”—See Harrison's Description of England, prefixed to Holingshed's Chronicle, &c.

EDWARD EDWARD.

A Scottish Ballad.

FROM A MS. COPY TRANSMITTED FROM SCOTLAND.

HY does

your brand sae drop wi' bluid,

Edward, Edward?

Why does your brand sae drop wi' bluid?

And why sae sad

gang ye, O?" "O, I hae killed my hawk sae guid,

Mither, mither:

O, I hae killed my hawk sae guid:

And I had nae mair but hee, O."

"Your hawkis bluid was nevir sae reid,1
Edward, Edward:

Your hawkis bluid was nevir sae reid,
My dear son I tell thee, O."

"O, I hae killed my reid-roan steed,
Mither, mither:

O, I hae killed my reid-roan steed,
That erst was sae fair and free, O."

1 1 [Red.]

"Your steed was auld, and ye hae gat mair, Edward, Edward:

Your steed was auld, and ye hae gat mair,

Sum other dule1 ye dree," O."

“O, I hae killed my fadir dear,

Mither, mither:

O, I hae killed my fadir dear,

Alas! and wae is mee, O!"

"And whatten penance wul

And whatten

ye dree for that,

Edward, Edward?
penance wul ye dree for that?
My dear son, now tell me, O."

"I'll set my feet in yonder boat,
Mither, mither:

I'll set my feet in yonder boat,
And I'll fare over the sea, O."

"And what wul

ye

do wi' your towers and your ha', Edward, Edward?

"I'll let thame' stand til they doun fa',

Mither, mither:

I'll let them stand til they doun fa',

For here never mair maun I bee, O."

"And what wul ye leave to your bairns and your wife, Edward, Edward?

And what wul ye leave to your bairns and your wife, Whan ye gang over the sea, O?'

"The warldis room, late3 them beg throw life,
Mither, mither:

The warldis room, late them beg throw life,
For thame nevir mair wul I see, O."

"And what wul ye leave to your ain mither dear,

And what will

Edward, Edward?

ye leave to your ain mither dear? My dear son, now tell me, O."

"The curse of hell frae me sall ye bear,
Mither, mither:

The curse of hell frae me sall ye bear,
Sic counseils ye gave to me, O."

1[Them.]

2 [World's.]

3 [Let.]