26th cantos of the second book of the Orlando Inamorato, the Paladin, Brandimarte, after surmounting many obstacles, penetrates into the recesses of an enchanted palace. Here he finds a fair damsel, seated upon a tomb, who announces to him, that, in order to achieve her deliverance, he must raise the lid of the sepulchre, and kiss whatever being should issue forth. The knight, having pledged his faith, proceeds to open the tomb, out of which a monstrous snake issues forth, with a tremendous hiss. Brandimarte, with much reluctance, fulfils the bizarre conditions of the adventure; and the monster is instantly changed into a beautiful Fairy, who loads her deliverer with benefits. For the satisfaction of those who may wish to compare the tale of the Italian Poet with that of Kempion, a part of the original of Boiardo is given below.'

There is a ballad, somewhat resembling Kempion, called the Laidley Worm of Spindleston-heugh, which is very popular upon the Borders; but having been often published, it was thought unnecessary to insert it in this collection. The most common version was either entirely composed, or rewritten, by the Reverend Mr. Lamb, of Norham.

A similar tradition is, by Heywood and Deliro, said to have existed at Basil. A tailor, in an adventurous mood, chose to descend into an obscure cavern, in the vicinity of the city. After many windings he came to an iron door, through which he passed into a splendid chamber. Here he found, seated upon a stately throne, a lady, whose countenance was surprisingly beautiful, but whose shape terminated in a dragon's train, which warped around the chair on which she was placed. Before her stood a brazen chest, trebly barred and bolted; at each

Poich' ebbe il verso Brandimarte letto,
La lapida pesante in aria alzava:
Ecco fuor una serpe insin' al petto,
La qual, forte stridendo, zufolava,
Di spaventoso, e terribil' aspetto,
Aprendo il muso gran denti mostrava,
De' quali il cavalier non si fidando,

Si trasse a dietro, et misse mano al brando.

Ma quella Donna gridava “non fate"

Col viso smorto, e grido tremebondo,

"Non far, che ci farai pericolare,

E cadrem' tutti quanti nel profondo:

A te convien quella serpe baciare,

O far pensier di non esser' al mondo,

Accostar la tua bocca con la sua,

O perduta tener la vita tua."

"Come! non vedi, che i denti degrigna, Che pajon fatti a posta a spiccar' nasi,

E fammi un certo viso de matrigna,"

Disse il Guerrier, "ch' lo me spavento quasi ?" Anzi t' invita con faccia benigna,"

Disse la Donna, "e molti altri rimasi

Per vilta sono a questa sepoltura;

Or la t' accosta, e non aver paura."

Il cavalier s' accosta, ma di passo,

Che troppo grato quel baciar non gli era,
Verso la serpe chinandosi basso,

Gli parvo tanto orrenda, e tanto fera,
Che venne in viso freddo, com' un sasso;
E disse si fortuna vuol' ch' io pera,
Fia tanto un altra volta quanto addesso
Ma cagion dar non me ne voglio io stesso.

"Fuss' io certo d' andare in paradiso,

end of which lay couched a huge black ban-dog, who rose up, as if to tear the intruder in pieces. But the lady appeased them; and, opening the chest, displayed an immense treasure, out of which she bestowed upon the visitor some small pieces of money, informing him, that she was enchanted by her stepdame, but should recover her natural shape on being kissed thrice by a mortal. The tailor essayed to fulfil the conditions of the adventure; but her face assumed such an altered, wild, and grim expression, that his courage failed, and he was fain to fly from the place. A kinsman of his, some years after, penetrated into the cavern, with the purpose of repairing a desperate fortune. But, finding nothing but dead men's bones, he ran mad and died. Sir John Mandeville tells a similar story of a Grecian island.

There are numerous traditions upon the Borders, concerning huge and destructive snakes, and also of a poisonous reptile called a man-keeper; although the common adder, and blind worm, are the only reptiles of that genus now known to haunt our wilds. Whether it be possible, that, at an early period, before the country was drained, and cleared of wood, serpents of a larger size may have existed, is a question which the Editor leaves to the naturalist. But, not to mention the fabulous dragon, slain in Northumberland by Sir Bevis, the fame still survives of many a preux chevalier, supposed to have distinguished himself by similar achievements.

The manor of Sockburne, in the bishopric of Durham, anciently the seat of the family of Conyers, or Cogniers, is held of the bishop by the service of presenting, or showing to him, upon his first entrance into his diocese, an antique sword, or falchion. The origin of this peculiar service is thus stated in

Come son' certo, chinandomi un poco,
Che quella bestia mi s'avventa al viso,
E mi piglia nel naso, o altro loco:
Egli e proprio così, com' io m'avviso,

Ch' altri ch' io stato e colto a questo gioco,

E che costei mi da questo conforto

Per vindicarsi di colui, ch' ho morto."⚫

Cosi discendo, a rinculare attende,
Deliberato piu non s'accostare :

La donna si dispera, e lo reprende,
"Ah codardo," dicea, che credi fare?
Perche tanta vilta l'alma t'offende,
Che ti fara alla fin mal capitare?
Infinita paura e poca fede,

La salute gli mostro, e non mi crede."

Punto il Guerrier de questi agre parole,
Torna di nuovo ver la sepoltura,

Tinsegli in rose il color di viole,

In vergogna mutata la paura :

Pur stando ancor' fra due, vuole, e non vuole,

Un pensier lo spaventa, un l'assicura,

Al fin tra l'animoso, e'l disperato,

A lei s'accosta, ed halle un bacio dato.

Un ghiaccio proprio gli parse a toccare

La bocca, che parea prima di foco:
La serpe se commincia a tramutare,

E diventa donzella a poco a poco:
Febosilla costei si fa chiamare,
Una fata, che fece quel bel loco,

E quel giardino, e quella sepoltura,

Ove gran tempo e stato in pena dura, etc.

Un cavalier occiso per Brandimarte nel entrare del palazzo incantato.

Beckwith's edition of BLOUNT'S Ancient Tenures, p. 200.

"Sir Edward Blackett (the proprietor of the manor) now represents the person of Sir John Conyers, who, as tradition says, in the fields of Sockburne, slew, with his falchion, a monstrous creature, a dragon, a worm, or flying serpent, that devoured men, women, and children. The then owner of Sock burne, as a reward for his bravery, gave him the manor, with its appurtenances, to hold for ever, on condition that he meets the Lord Bishop of Durham, with this falchion, on his first entrance into his diocese, after his election to that see.

"And, in confirmation of this tradition, there is painted, in a window of Sockburne church, the falchion we just now spoke of: and it is also cut in marble, upon the tomb of the great ancestor of the Conyers', together with a dog, and the monstrous worm, or serpent, lying at his feet, of his own killing, of which the history of the family gives the above account.

"When the Bishop first comes into his diocese, he crosses the river Tees, either at the ford of Nesham, or Croft-Bridge, where the counties of York and Durham divide; at one of which places Sir Edward Blackett, either in person, or by his representative, if the Bishop comes by Nesham, rides into the middle of the river Tees, with the ancient falchion drawn in his hand, or upon the middle of Croft-Bridge; and then presents the falchion to the Bishop, addressing him in the ancient form of words: upon which the Bishop takes the falchion into his hand, looks at it, and returns it back again, wishing the lord of the manor his health, and the enjoyment of his estate." The falchion above alluded to has upon its hilt the arms of England, in the reign of King John, and an eagle, supposed to be the ensign of Morcar, Earl of Northumberland. · GOUGH'S Camden's Britannia, vol. iii. p. 114. Mr. Gough, with great appearance of probability, conjectures the dragon, engraved on the tomb, to be an emblematical, or heraldic ornament.

The property, called Pollard's Lands, near Bishop Auckland. is held by a similar tenure; and we are informed, in the work just quoted, that "Dr. Johnson of Newcastle met the present Bishop, Dr. Egerton, in September, 1771, at his first arrival there, and presented a falchion upon his knee, and addressed him in the old form of words, saying, My lord, in behalf of myself, as well as of the several other tenants of Pollard's Lands, I do humbly present your lordship with this falchion, at your first coming here, wherewith, as the tradition goeth, Pollard slew of old a great and venomous serpent, which did much harm to man and beast: and by the performance of this service

An altar, dedicated to Sylvan Mars, was found in a glen in Weardale, in the bishopric of Durham. From the following votive inscription, it appears to have been erected by C. T. V. Micianus, a Roman general, upon taking an immense boar, which none of his predecessors could destroy:

these lands are holden."—Ancient Tenures, p. 201. Above the south entrance of the ancient parish church of Linton, in Roxburghshire, is a rude piece of sculpture, representing a knight, with a falcon on his arm, encountering with his lance, in full career, a sort of monster, which the common people call a worm, or snake. Tradition bears, that this animal inhabited a den, or hollow, at some distance from the church, whence it was wont to issue forth, and ravage the country, or, by the fascination of its eyes and breath, draw its prey into its jaws. Large rewards were in vain offered for the destruction of this monster, which had grown to so huge a bulk, that it used to twist itself, in spiral folds, round a green hillock of considerable height, still called Wormeston, and marked by a clump of trees. When sleeping in this place, with its mouth open, popular credulity affirms, that it was slain by the Laird of Lariston, a man brave even to madness, who, coming upon the snake at full gallop, thrust down its throat a peat (a piece of turf dried for fuel) dipt in scalding pitch, and fixed to the point of his lance. The aromatic quality of the peat is said to have preserved the champion from the effects of the monster's poisonous breath, while, at the same time, it clogged its jaws. In dying, the serpent contracted its folds with so much violence, that their spiral impression is still discernible round the hillock where it lay. The noble family of Somerville are said to be descended from this adventurous knight, in memory of whose achievement they bear a dragon as their crest.

1

The sculpture itself gives no countenance to this fine story; for the animal, whom the knight appears to be in the act of slaying, has no resemblance to a serpent, but rather to a wolf, or boar, with which the neighbouring Cheviot mountains must in early times have abounded; and there remain vestiges of another monster, of the same species, attacking the horse of the champion. An inscription, which might have thrown light upon this exploit, is now totally defaced. The vulgar, adapting it to their own tradition, tell us that it ran thus:

"The wode Laird of Lariestoun

Slew the wode worm of Wormiestoune,
And wan all Lintoun parochine."

the ancestor of Lord Somerville, was one of those
It is most probable, that the animal destroyed by
fested, but which, now,
beasts of prey by which Caledonia was formerly in-

"Razed out of all her woods, as trophies hung, Grin high emblazon'd on her children's shields." Since publishing the first edition of this work, I have found the following account of Somerville's achievement, in a MS. of some antiquity :

"Silvano invicto sacrum, C. Tetius Veturius Micianus Præf. Alae Sebosina ob aprum eximiæ formæ captum, quem multi antecessores ejus prædari non potuerunt, Votum solvens lubenter posuit."-LAMB's Notes on Battle of Flodden, 1774, p. 67.

"John Somerville (son to Roger de Somerville, baron of Wichenever, in Staffordshire) was made, by King William (the lion), his principal falconer, and got from that King the lands and baronie of Linton, in Teviotdale, for an extraordinarie and valiant action, which, according to the manuscript of the family of Drum, was thus: In the parochen of Lintoun, within the sheriffdom of Roxburgh, there happened to breed a monster, in form of a serpent or worme; in length, three Scots yards, and somewhat bigger than an ordinarie man's leg, with a head more proportionable to its length than greatnesse. It had its den in a hollow piece of ground, a mile south-east from Lintoun church; it destroyed both men and beasts that came in its way. Several attempts were made to destroy it, by shooting of arrows, and throwing of darts, none daring to approach so near as to make use of a sword or lances. John Somerville undertakes to kill it, and being well mounted, and attended with a stoute servant, he cam, before the sun-rising, before the dragon's den, having prepared some long, small, and hard peats (bog-turf dried for fuel,) bedabbed with pitch, rosett, and brimstone, fixed with a small wire upon a wheel, at the point of his lance; these, being touched with fire, would instantly break out into flames; and, there being a breath of air, that served to his purpose, about the sun-rising, the serpent, dragon, or worme, so called by tradition, appeared with her head, and some part of her body, without the den; whereupon his servant set fire to the peats upon the wheel, at the top of the lance, and John Somerville, advancing with a full gallop, thrust the same with the wheel, and a great part of the lance, directly into the serpent's mouth, which wente down its throat into the belly, and was left there, the lance breaking by the rebounding of the horse, and giving a deadly wound to the dragon; for which action he was knighted by King William; and his effigies was cut in ston in the posture he performed this actione, and placed above the principal church door of Lintoun, where it is yet to be seen, with his name and sirname : and the place, where this monster was killed, is at this day called, by the common people, who have the foresaid story by tradition, the Wormes Glen. And further to perpetuate this actione, the barons of Lintoun, Cowthally, and Drum, did always carry for crest, a wheel, and thereon a dragon."

"O meikle dolour sall ye dree,

And aye the salt seas o'er ye’se swim ; And far mair dolour sall ye dree

On Estmere crags, 3 when ye them climb.

"I weird ye to a fiery beast, 4

And relieved sall ye never be, Till Kempion, the kingis son,

Cum to the crag, and thrice kiss thee.". O meikle dolour did she dree,

And aye the salt seas o'er she swam ; And far mair dolour did she dree

On Estmere crags, when she them clamb.

And aye she cried for Kempion,

Gin he would but come to her hand: Now word has gane to Kempion,

[ Mr. Motherwell has printed from recitation, in the west of Scotland, a version of this ballad, in which, he thinks, the name of the hero is given "in greater purity than in any before published." "Kemp Owayne," he says, “is no doubt the same Ewain or Owain ap Urien, King of Reged, (i. e. Strathclyde,) who is celebrated by Taliessin and Llywarch-hen, and also in the Welsh Triads." Kemp means hero, or champion. The other various readings in Mr. Motherwell's copy are unimportant.-ED.]

• Weird-From the German auxiliary verb werden, "to become."

3 If by Estmere Crags we are to understand the rocky cliffs of Northumberland, in opposition to Westmoreland, we may bring our scene of action near Bamborough, and thereby almost identify the tale of Kempion with that of the Laidley Worm of Spindleston, to which it bears so strong a resemblance.

4 Our ideas of dragons and serpents are probably derived from the Scandinavians. The legends of Regnar Lodbrog, and of the huge snake in the Edda, by whose folds the world is encircled, are well known. Griffins and dragons were fabled by the Danes, as watching over and defending hoards of gold.-Bartholin. de caus. cont. mortis, p. 490. Saxo Grammaticus, lib. 2. The Edda also mentions one Fafner, who, transformed into a serpent, brooded over his hidden treasures. From these authorities, and that of Herodotus, our Milton draws his simile,

"As when a Gryphon, through the wilderness,
With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian, who, by stealth,
Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd
The guarded gold."

Warwolf, or Lycanthropus, signifies a magician, possessing the power of transforming himself into a wolf, for the purpose of ravage and devastation. It is probable the word was first used symbolically, to distinguish those, who, by means of intoxicating herbs, could work their passions into a frantic state, and throw themselves upon their enemies with the fury and temerity of ravenous wolves. Such were the noted Berserkar of the Scandina- | vians, who, in their fits of voluntary frenzy, were wont to perform the most astonishing exploits of strength, and to perpetrate the most horrible excesses, although, in their natural state, they neither were capable of greater crimes nor exertions than ordinary men. This quality they ascribed to Odin. "Odinus efficere valuit ut hostes ipsius inter bellandum cæci vel surdi vel attoniti fierent armaque illorum instar baculorum obtusa essent. Sui vero mililes sine loricis incedebant, ac instar canum vel luporum furebant scuta sua arrodentes et robusti ut ursi vel tauri, adversarios trucidabant: ipsis vero neque ignis neque ferrum nocuit. Ea qualitas vocatur furor Berserkicus."— Snorro Sturleson, quoted by Bartholin. de causis contemptæ mortis, p. 344. For a fuller account of these frantic champions, see the Hervarar Saga, published by Suhm; also the Christni Saga, and most of the ancient Norwegian histories and romances. Camden explains the tales of the Irish, concerning men transformed into wolves, upon nearly the same principle.-GOUGH's edition of Camden's Britannia, vol. iil. p. 520.

But, in process of time, the transformation into a wolf was believed to be real, and to affect the body as well as the mind; and to such transformations our faithful Gervase of Tilbury bears evidence, as an eyewitness. "Vidimus frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari, quod hominum genus Oerulfos Galli vocant, Angli vero WEB-WLF dicunt. WER enim Anglice virum sonat, WLF lupum." Ot. Imp. De oculis apertis post peccatum. The learned commentators upon the art of sorcery differ widely concerning the manner in which the archfiend effects this change upon the persons of his vassals; whether by surrounding their bodies with a sort of pelisse of condensed air, having the form of a wolf; or whether by some delusion, affecting the eyes of spectators; or, finally, by an actual corporeal transformation. The curious reader may consult Delrii Disquisitiones Magicæ, p. 188; and (if he pleases) Evvichius de Natura Sagarum-Fincelius, lib. 2. de Mirac.-Remigius, lib. 2. de Dæmonolat.-Binsfield. de Confession. Maleficarum; not to mention Spondanus, Bodinus, Peucerus, Philippus Camerarius, Condronchus, Petrus Thyræus, Bartholomeus Spineus, Sir George Mackenzie, and King James I., with the sapient Monsieur Oufle of Bayle. The Editor presumes, it is only since the extirpation of wolves that our British sorceresses have adopted the disguise of hares, cats, and such more familiar animals.

A wild story ofa war-wolf, or rather a war-bear, is told in Tor

Awa she gaed, and again she cam,

The fieryest beast that ever you saw.

"O out of my den I winna rise,

Nor flee it for the fear o' thee, Till Kempion, that courteous knight, Cum to the crag, and thrice kiss me.". He's louted him o'er the lofty crag,

And he has gi'en her kisses three: Awa she gaed, and again she cam,

The loveliest ladye e'er could be!

"And by my sooth," says Kempion,

"My ain true love, (for this is she,) They surely had a heart o' stane,

Could put thee to such misery.

"O was it warwolf in the wood? Or was it mermaid in the sea? Or was it man or vile woman,

My ain true love, that mishaped thee?”

fœus' History of Hrolfe Kraka. As the original is a scarce book, little known in this country, some readers may be interested by a short analysis of the tale.

Hringo, King of Upland, had an only son, called Biorno, the most beautiful and most gallant of the Norwegian youth. At an advanced period of life, the king became enamoured of a "witch lady," whom he chose for his second wife. A mutual and tender affection bad, from infancy, subsisted betwixt Biorno and Bera, the lovely daughter of an ancient warrior. But the new queen cast upon her step-son an eye of incestuous passion; to gratify which, she prevailed upon her husband, when he set out npon one of those piratical expeditions, which formed the summer campaign of a Scandinavian monarch, to leave the prince at home. In the absence of Hringo, she communicated to Biorno her impure affection, and was repulsed with disdain and violence. The rage of the weird step-mother was boundless. "Hence to the woods!" she exclaimed, striking the prince with a glove of wolfskin; "Hence to the woods! subsist only on thy father's herds; live pursuing, and die pursued!" From this time the Prince Biorno was no more seen, and the herdsmen of the king's cattle soon observed that astonishing devastation was nightly made among their flocks, by a black bear, of immense size and unusual ferocity. Every attempt to snare or destroy this animal was found vain; and much was the unavailing regret for the absence of Biorno, whose delight had been in extirpating beasts of prey. Bera, the faithful mistress of the young prince, added her tears to the sorrow of the people. As she was indulging her melancholy, apart from society, she was alarmed by the approach of the monstrous bear, which was the dread of the whole country. Unable to escape, she waited its approach, in expectation of instant death; when, to her astonishment, the animal fawned upon her, rolled himself at her feet, and regarded her with eyes, in which, spite of the horrible transformation, she still recognised the glances of her lost lover. Bera had the courage to follow the bear to his cavern, where, during certain hours, the spell permitted him to resume his human shape. Her love overcame her repugnance at so strange a mode of life, and she continued to inhabit the cavern of Biorno, enjoying his society during the periods of his freedom from enchantinent. One day, looking sadly upon his wife, “Bera," said the prince, "the end of my life approaches. My flesh will soon serve for the repast of my father and his courtiers. But do thou beware lest either the threats or entreaties of my diabolical stepmother induce thee to partake of the horrid banquet. So thou shalt safely bring forth three sons, who shall be the wonder of the North." The spell now operated, and the unfortunate prince sallied from his cavern to prowl among the herds. Bera followed him, weeping, and at a distance. The clamour of the chase was now heard. It was the old king, who, returned from his piratical excursion, had collected a strong force to destroy the devouring