"'Tis scarcely ten, now," said the King; "I heard the clock mysell." Before the hour the Queen is brought, The burning to proceed; In a black velvet chair she's set, A token for the dead. She saw the flames ascending high, The tears blinded her ee: "Where is the worthy knight," she said, "Who is to fight for me?" Then up and spak the King himsell, They then advanced to fight the duel Came running to his heel. Sir Hugh took out a lusty sword, Till's heart-blood did appear. "Confess your treachery, now," he said, "This day before you die!" "I do confess my treachery, I shall no longer lye : "I like to wicked Haman am, an ancient name in Cumberland and Northumberland. The ballad itself was given, in the first edition, from the recitation of a gentleman, who professed to have forgotten some verses. These have, in the present edition, been partly restored, from a copy obtained by the recitation of an ostler in Carlisle, which has also furnished some slight alterations. The ballad is remarkable, as containing, probably, the very latest allusion to the institution of brotherhood in arms, which was held so sacred in the days of chivalry, and whose origin may be traced up to the Scythian ancestors of Odin. Many of the old romances turn entirely upon the sanctity of the engagement, contracted by the frères d'armes. In that of Amis and Amelion, the hero slays his two infant children, that he may compound a potent salve with their blood, to cure the leprosy of his brother-in-arms. The romance of Gyron le Courtois has a similar subject. I think the hero, like Græme in the ballad, kills himself, out of some high point of honour towards his friend. The quarrel of the two old chieftains, over their wine, is highly in character. Two generations have not elapsed since the custom of drinking deep, and taking deadly revenge for slight offences, produced very tragical events on the Border; to which the custom of going armed to festive meetings contributed not a little. A minstrel, who flourished about 1720, and is often talked of by the old people, happened to be performing before one of these parties, when they betook themselves to their swords. The cautious musician, accustomed to such scenes, dived beneath the table. A moment after, a man's hand, struck off with a back-sword, fell beside him. The minstrel secured it carefully in his pocket, as he would have done any other loose movable; sagely observing, the owner would miss it sorely next morning. I choose rather to give this ludicrous example, than some graver instances of bloodshed at Border orgies. I observe it is said in a MS. account of Tweeddale, in praise of the inhabitants, that, "when they fall in the humour of good fellowship, they use it as a cement and bond of society, and not to foment revenge, quarrels, and murders, which is usual in other counties;" by which we ought, probably, to understand Selkirkshire and Teviotdale.-Macfarlane's MSS." GRÆEME AND BEWICK. Gude Lord Græme is to Carlisle gane; Sir Robert Bewick there met he; And arm in arm to the wine they did go, And they drank till they were baith merrie. "Ye sent him to the schools, and he wadna learn; Ye bought him books, and he wadna read.""But my blessing shall he never earn, Till I see how his arm can defend his head." Gude Lord Græme has a reckoning call'd, And he paid a crown, and it went roun'; And he has to the stable gane, Where there stude thirty steeds and three : He's ta'en bis ain horse amang them a', And hame he rade sae manfullie. "Welcome, my auld father!" said Christie Græme, "But where sae lang frae hame were ye?"— "It's I hae been at Carlisle town, And a baffled man by thee I be. "I hae been at Carlisle town, Where Sir Robert Bewick he met me; He says ye're a lad, and ye are but bad, And billie to his son ye canna be. "I sent ye to the schools, and ye wadna learn; I bought ye books, and ye wadna read; Therefore my blessing ye shall never earn, Till I see with Bewick thou save thy head." "Now, God forbid, my auld father, That ever sic a thing suld be! Billie Bewick was my master, and I was his scholar, And aye sae weel as he learned me.' "O hald thy tongue, thou limmer loon, If thou does na end me this quarrel soon, The wind has blown it from your hand? "— There's my right hand thou shalt fight with me." The ostler's copy reads very characteristically, "It was all for good wine and hay." Then Christie Græme's to his chamber gane, God's blessing I shall never win; It is God's will, so let it be; Then he's put on's back a gude auld jack, And sword and buckler by his side; O gin he did not become them weel! Where he was teaching his scholars five. And he walk'd his father's close about. He look'd atween him and the sun, And a' to see what there might be, Till he spied a man in armour bright, Was riding that way most hastilie. "O wha is yon, that came this way, Sae hastilie that hither came? I think it be my brother dear! I think it be young Christie Græme. "Ye're welcome here, my billie dear, And thrice ye're welcome unto me!". "But I'm wae to say, I've seen the day, When I am come to fight wi' thee. "My father's gane to Carlisle town, Wi' your father Bewick there met he: He says I'm a lad, and I am but bad, And a baffled man I trow I be. "He sent me to schools, and I wadna learn; He gae me books, and I wadna read; Sae my father's blessing I'll never earn, Till he see how my arm can guard my head. "O God forbid, my billie dear, That ever such a thing suld be! We'll take three men on either side, And see if we can our fathers agree.”"O hald thy tongue, now, billie Bewick, And of thy talking let me be ! But if thou'rt a man, as I'm sure thou art, Belive-By and by. "But I hae nae harness, billie, on my back, And he tied his horse unto a tree. And's psalter-book frae's hand flung he; He laid his hand upon the dyke, And ower he lap most manfullie. O they hae fought for twae lang hours; Arise and speak three words to me!- Or if God and good leeching may succour thee?"— "O horse, O horse, now, billie Græme, And get thee far from hence with speed; And get thee out of this country, "OI have slain thee, billie Bewick, If this be true thou tellest to me; But I made a vow, ere I came frae hame, He has pitch'd his sword in a moodie-hill,' 'Twas then came up Sir Robert Bewick, "O hald your tongue, my father dear! "Gae dig a grave, baith wide and deep, That e'er was born unto my name.”— "Alack! a wae!" quo' gude Lord Græme "I'm sure I hae lost the deeper lack! I durst hae ridden the Border through, And thirty horsemen guarding me, I durst hae ridden the world round, THE DUEL OF WHARTON AND STUART. IN TWO PARTS. Duels, as may be seen from the two preceding ballads, are derived from the times of chivalry. They succeeded to the combat at outrance, about the end of the sixteenth century; and, though they were no longer countenanced by the laws, nor considered a solemn appeal to the Deity, nor honoured by the presence of applauding monarchs and multitudes, yet they were authorized by the manners of the age, and by the applause of the fair. They long continued, they even yet continue, to be appealed to as the test 3 Ackward-Backward. 2 Moodie-hill-Mole-hill. 3 "All things being ready for the ball, and every one being in their place, and I myself being next to the Queen (of France), expecting when the dancers would come in, one knockt at the door somewhat louder than became, as I thought, a very civil person. When he came in, I remember there was a sudden whisper among the ladies, saying, 'C'est Monsieur Balagny,' or, 'Tis Monsieur Balagny; whereupon, also, I saw the ladies and gentlemen, one after another, invite him to sit near them; and, which is more, when one lady had his company a while, another would say, 'You have enjoyed him long enough; I must have him now;' at which bold civility of theirs, though I were astonished, yet it added unto my wonder, that his person could not be thought, at most, but ordinary handsome; his hair, which was cut very short, half grey, his doublet but of sackcloth, cut to his shirt, and his breeches only of plain grey cloth. Informing myself of some standers-by who he was, I was told he was one of the gallantest men in the world, as having killed eight or nine men in single fight; and that, for this reason, the ladies made so much of him; it being the manner of all French women to cherish gallant men, as thinking they could not make so much of any one else, with the safety of their honour."-Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, p. 70. How near the character of the duellist, originaily, approached to that of the knight-errant, appears from a transaction which took place at the siege of Juliers, betwixt this Balagny and Lord Herbert. As these two noted duelists stood together in the trenches, the Frenchman addressed Lord Herbert: "Monsieur, on dit que rous estes un des plus braves de votre nation, et je suis Balagny; allons voir qui fera le mieux." With these words, Balagny jumped over the trench, and Herbert as speedily following, both ran sword in hand towards the defences of the besieged town, which welcomed their approach with a storm of musketry and artillery. Balagny then observed this was hot service, but Herbert swore he would not turn back first; so the Frenchman was finally fain to set him the example of retreat. Notwithstanding the advantage which he had gained over Balagay, in this "jeopardy of war," Lord Herbert seems still to have grudged of truth; since by the code of honour, every gentleman is still bound to repel a charge of falsehood with the point of his sword, and at the peril of his life. This peculiarity of manners, which would have surprised an ancient Roman, is obviously deduced from the Gothic ordeal of trial by combat. Nevertheless, the custom of duelling was considered, at its first introduction, as an innovation upon the law of arms; and a book, in two huge volumes, entitled Le vrai Theatre d'Honneur et de la Chivalerie, was written by a French nobleman, to support the venerable institutions of chivalry against this unceremonious mode of combat. He has chosen for his frontispiece two figures; the first represents a conquering knight, trampling his enemy under foot in the lists, crowned by Justice with laurel, and preceded by Fame, sounding his praises. The other figure presents a duellist, in his shirt, as was then the fashion, (see the following ballad,) with his bloody rapier in his hand the slaughtered combatant is seen in the distance, and the victor is pursued by the Furies. Nevertheless, the wise will make some scruple, whether, if the warriors were to change equipments, they might not also exchange their emblematic attendants. : The modern mode of duel without defensive armour, began about the reign of Henry III. of France, when the gentlemen of that nation, as we learn from Davila, began to lay aside the cumbrous lance and cuirass, even in war. The increase of danger being supposed to contribute to the increase of honour, the national ardour of the French gallants led them early to distinguish themselves by neglect of every thing that could contribute to their personal safety. Hence, duels began to be fought by the combatants in their shirts, and with the rapier only. To this custom contributed also the art of fencing, then cultivated as a new study in Italy and Spain, by which the sword became at once an offensive and defensive weapon. The reader will see the new science of defence," as it was called, ridiculed by Shakspeare, in Romeo and Juliet, and by Quevedo, in some of his novels. But the more ancient customs continued for some time to maintain their ground. The Sieur Colombiere mentions two gentlemen, who fought with equal advantage for a whole day, in all the panoply of chivalry, and, the next day, had recourse to the modern mode of combat. By a still more extraordinary mixture of ancient and modern fashions, two combatants on | horseback ran a tilt at each other with lances, without any covering but their shirts. When armour was laid aside, the consequence was, that the first duels were very sanguinary, terminating frequently in the death of one, and sometimes, as in the ballad, of both persons engaged. Nor was this all the seconds, who had nothing to do with the quarrel, fought stoutly, pour se desennuyer, and often sealed with their blood their friendship for their principals. A desperate combat, fought between Messrs. Entraguet and Caylus, is said to have been the first, in which this fashion of promiscuous fight was introduced. It proved fatal to two of Henry the Third's minions, and extracted from that sorrowing monarch an edict against duelling, which was as frequently as fruitlessly renewed by his successors. The use of rapier and poniard together,' was another cause of the mortal slaughter in these duels, which were supposed, in the reign of Henry IV., to have cost France at least as many of her nobles as had fallen in the civil wars. With these double weapons, frequent instances occurred, in which a duellist, mortally wounded, threw himself within his antagonist's guard, and plunged his poniard into his heart. Nay, sometimes the sword was altogether abandoned for the more sure and murderous dagger. A quarrel having arisen betwixt the Vicomte d'Allemagne and the Sieur de la Roque, the former, alleging the youth and dexterity of his antagonist, insisted upon fighting the duel in their shirts, and with their poniards only; a desperate mode of conflict, which proved fatal to both. Others refined even upon this horrible struggle, by choosing for the scene a small room, a large hogshead, or, finally, a hole dug in the earth, into which the duellists descended, as into a certain grave. Must I add, that even women caught the frenzy, and that duels were fought, not only by those whose rank and character rendered it little surprising, but by modest and wellborn maidens!-Audiguier Traité de Duel. Theatre d'Honneur, vol. i. ' We learn, from every authority, that duels became nearly as common in England, after the accession of James VI., as they had ever been in France. The point of honour, so fatal to the gallants of the age, was nowhere carried more highly than at the court of the pacific Solomon of Britain. Instead of the feudal combats, upon the Hiegate of Edinburgh, which had often disturbed his repose at Holyrood, that gentleman's astonishing reputation; for he endeavoured to pick a quarrel with him, on the romantic score of the worth of their mistresses; and, receiving a ludicrous answer, told him, with disdain, that he spoke more like a paillard than a cavalier. From such instances, the reader may judge, whether the age of chivalry did not endure somewhat longer than is generally supposed. It appears from a line in the black-letter copy of the following ballad, that Wharton and Stuart fought with rapier and dagger : "With that stout Wharton was the first This folly ran to such a pitch, that no one was thought worthy to be reckoned a gentleman, who had not tried his valour in at least one duel; of which Lord Herbert gives the following instance: A young gentleman, desiring to marry a niece of Monsieur Disancour, écuyer to the Duke de Montmorenci, received this answer: "Friend, it is not yet time to marry; if you will be a brave man, you must first kill, in single combat, two or three men; then marry, and get two or three children; otherwise the world will neither have gained nor lost by you."-HERBERT'S Life, p. 64. his levees, at Theobald's, were occupied with listening to the detail of more polished, but not less sanguinary, contests. I rather suppose, that James never was himself disposed to pay particular attention to the laws of the duello; but they were defined with a quaintness and pedantry, which, bating his dislike to the subject, must have deeply interested him. The point of honour was a science, which a grown gentleman might study under suitable professors, as well as dancing, or any other modish accomplishment. Nay, it would appear, that the ingenuity of the swordmen (so these military casuists were termed) might often accommodate a bashful combatant with an honourable excuse for declining the combat :— -"Understand'st thou well nice points of duel? Art born of gentle blood and pure descent? Were none of all thy lineage hang'd, or cuckold? Bastard or bastinadoed? Is thy pedigree As long, as wide as mine? For otherwise Thou wert most unworthy; and 'twere loss of honour In me to fight. More: I have drawn five teethIf thine stand sound, the terms are much unequal; And, by strict laws of duel, I am excused To fight on disadvantage."— Albumazar, Act IV. Sc. 7. In Beaumont and Fletcher's admirable play of A King and no King, there is some excellent mirth at the expense of the professors of the point of honour. But though such shifts might occasionally be resorted to by the faint-hearted, yet the fiery cavaliers of the English court were but little apt to profit by them; though their vengeance for insulted honour sometimes vented itself through fouler channels than that of fair combat. It happened, for example, that Lord Sanquhar, a Scottish nobleman, in fencing with a master of the noble science of defence, lost his eye by an unlucky thrust. The accident was provoking, but without remedy; nor did Lord Sanquhar think of it, unless with regret, until some years after, when he chanced to be in the French court. Henry the Great casually asked him, how he lost his eye? "By the thrust of a sword," answered Lord Sanquhar, not caring to enter into particulars. The king, supposing the accident the consequence of a duel, immediately enquired, "Does the man yet live?" These few words set the blood of the Scottish nobleman on fire; nor did he rest till he had taken the base vengeance of assassinating, by hired ruffians, the unfortunate fencing-master. The mutual animosity, betwixt the English and Scottish nations, had already occasioned much bloodshed among the gentry by single combat, and James now found himself under the necessity of making a striking example of one of his Scottish nobles, to avoid the imputation of the grossest partiality. Lord Sanquhar was condemned to be hanged, and suffered that ignominious punishment accordingly. By a circuitous route, we are now arrived at the subject of our ballad; for to the tragical duel of Stuart and Wharton, and to other instances of bloody combats and brawls betwixt the two nations, is imputed James's firmness in the case of Lord Sanquhar. "For Ramsay, one of the king's servants, not long before Sanquhar's trial, had switched the Earl of Montgomery, who was the king's first favourite, happily because he took it so. Maxwell, another of them, had bitten Hawley, a gentleman of the Temple, by the ear, which enraged the Templars, (in those times riotous, subject to tumults,) and brought it almost to a national quarrel, till the king stopt it, and took it up himself. The Lord Bruce had summoned Sir Edward Sackville, (afterwards Earl of Dorset,) into France, with a fatal compliment to take death from his hand.' And the much-lamented Sir James Stuart, one of the King's blood, and Sir George Wharton, the prime branch of that noble family, for little worthless punctilios of honour, (being intimate friends,) took the field, and fell together by each other's hand."-WILSON'S Life of James VI. p. 60. The sufferers in this melancholy affair were both men of high birth, the heirs-apparent of two noble families, and youths of the most promising expectation. Sir James Stuart was a knight of the Bath, and eldest son of Walter, first Lord Blantyre, by Nicholas, daughter of Sir James Somerville of Cambusnethan. Sir George Wharton was also a knight of the Bath, and eldest son of Philip, Lord Wharton, by Frances, daughter of Henry Clifford, earl of Cumberland. He married Anne, daughter of the Earl of Rutland, but left no issue. The circumstances of the quarrel and combat are accurately detailed in the ballad, of which there exists a black-letter copy in the Pearson Collection, now in the library of John, Duke of Roxburghe, entitled, "A Lamentable Ballad, of a Combate, lately fought near London, between Sir James Stewarde, and Sir George Wharton, knights, who were both slain at that time.-To the tune of Down Plumpton Park," etc. A copy of this ballad has been published in Mr. Ritson's Ancient Songs, and, upon comparison, appears very little different from that which has been preserved by tradition in Ettrick Forest. Two verses have been added, and one considerably improved, from Mr. Ritson's edition. These three stanzas are the fifth and ninth of Part First, and the penult verse of Part Second. I am thus particular, that the reader may be able, if he pleases, to compare the traditional ballad with the original edition. It furnishes striking evidence, that "without characters, fame lives long." The difference, chiefly to be remarked betwixt the copies, lies in the dialect, and in some modifications applicable to Scotland; as, using the words "Our Scottish Knight." The black-letter ballad, in like manner, terms Wharton "Our English Knight.” My correspondent, James Hogg, adds the following note to this ballad :-"I have heard this song sung See an account of this desperate duel in the Guardian, |