Unknown the manner of his death,
Gone was his brand, both sword and sheath;
But ever from that time, 'twas said,
That Dickon wore a Cologne blade.

VIII.

The dwarf, who fear'd his master's eye
Might his foul treachery espie,
Now sought the castle buttery,
Where many a yeoman, bold and free,
Revell'd as merrily and well
As those that sat in lordly selle.
Watt Tinlinn, there, did frankly raise
The pledge to Arthur Fire-the-Braes ;*
And he, as by his breeding bound,
To Howard's merry-men sent it round.
To quit them, on the English side,
Red Roland Forster loudly cried,
"A deep carouse to yon fair bride!"-
At every pledge, from vat and pail,
Foam'd forth in floods the nut-brown ale;
While shout the riders every one;

Such day of mirth ne'er cheer'd their clan,
Since old Buccleuch the name did gain,
When in the cleuch the buck was ta'en.t
IX.

The wily page, with vengeful thought,
Remember'd him of Tinlinn's yew,
And swore, it should be dearly bought
That ever he the arrow drew..
First, he the yeoman did molest,

*The person bearing this redoubtable nom de guerre was an Elliot, and resided at Thorleshope, in Liddesdale. He occurs in the list of Border riders, in 1597.

* A tradition preserved by Scott of Satchells, who published, in 16. A true History of the Right Honourable name of Scott, gives the following romantic origin of that name. Two brethren, Batives of Galloway, having been banished from that country for a riot, or insurrection, came to Rankleburn, in Ettrick Forest, where the keeper, whose name was Brydone, received them joy faily, on account of their skill in winding the horn, and in the er mysteries of the chase. Kenneth MacAlpin, then King of Scotland, came soon after to hunt in the royal forest, and pursued a buck from Ettrick-heuch to the glen now called Buckcleuch, about two miles above the junction of Rankleburn with the river Ettrick. Here the stag stood at bay; and the King and his attendants, who followed on horseback, were thrown out by the strepness of the hill and the morass. John, one of the brethren from Galloway, had followed the chase on foot; and now coming in, seized the buck by the horns, and, being a man of great strength and activity, threw him on his back, and ran with his burden about a mile up the steep hill, to a place called Craca-Cross, where Kenneth bad halted, and laid the buck at the sovereign's fect.*

"The deer being enree'd in that place,

At his Majesty's demand,

Then John of Galloway ran apace,
And fetched water to his hand.
The King dal wash into a dish,
And Galloway John he wot;

He said, Thy name now after this
Shall ever be called John Scott.

***The forest and the dear therein,
We commit to thy hand;
For thou shalt sure the ranger be,
If thou obey command;

And for the buck thou stoutly brought
To us op that steep heuch,

Thy designation ever shall

Be John Scott in Buckscleuch."

"In Scotland no Backcleuch was then,
Before the back in the clench was slain;
Night's ment at first they did appear,
Because moon and stars to their arms they bear,
Their crest, supporters, and hunting-born,
Snow their beginning from hunting came;
Their name, and style, the book doth say,
John gained them both into one day."
Watt's Bellenden.

The Buccleuch arms have been altered, and now allude less pointedly to this hunting, whether real or fabulous. The family

• Frobert relates, that a knight of the household of the Comte de Foix exAbited a similar feat of strength. The hall fire had waxed low, and wood was wanted to mend it. The knight went down to the court-yard, where stood an us laden with fagots, seized on the animal and burden, and, carrying him up to the ball on his shoulders, tumbled him into the chimney with his heels uppermost: a humane pleasantry, much applauded by the Count and all the Penatore Minions of the moon," as Falstaff would have sair. The vocation purmed by our ancient Borderers may be justified on the authority of the most polished of the ancient nations:-" For the Grecians in old time, and such bartarians as in the continent lived neere unto the sea, or else inhabited the islands, after once they began to crosse over one to another in ships, became theeves, and went abroad under the conduct of their more puissant men, both to eurich themselves, and to fetch in maintenance for the weak; and falling upon towns

With bitter gibe and taunting jest ;
Told, how he fled at Solway strife,
And how Hob Armstrong cheer'd his wife;
Then, shunning still his powerful arm,
At unawares he wrought him harm;
From trencher stole his choicest cheer,
Dash'd from his lips his can of beer;
Then, to his knee sly creeping on,
With bodkin pierced him to the bone:
The venom'd wound, and festering joint,
Long after rued that bodkin's point.
The startled yeoman swore and spurn'd,
And board and flagons overturn'd.
Riot and clamour wild began;
Back to the hall the Urchin ran;
Took in a darkling nook his post,

And grinn'd, and inutter'd, "Lost! lost! lost!"

X.

By this, the dame, lest farther fray
Should mar the concord of the day,
Had bid the Minstrels tune their lay
And first stept forth old Albert Græme,
The Minstrel of that ancient name :§
Was none who struck the harp so well,
Within the Land Debateable;
Well friended, too, his hardy kin,
Whoever lost, were sure to win:

They sought the beeves that made their broth.
In Scotland and in England both.
In homely guise, as nature bade,
His simple song the Borderer said.

now bear Or, upon a bend azure, a mullet betwixt two crescents of the field; in addition to which, they formerly bore in the field a hunting-horn. The supporters, now two ladies, were formerly a hound and buck, or, according to the old terms, a hart of leash and a hart of greece. The family of Scott of Howpasley and Thirlestaine long retained the bugle-horn; they also carried a bent bow and arrow in the sinister cantle, perhaps as a difference. It is said the motto was. Best riding by moonlight, in allusion to the crescents on the shield, and perhaps to the habits of those who bore it. The motto now given is Amo, applying to the female supporters.

[The appearance and dress of the company assembled in the chapel, and the description of the subsequent feast, in which the hounds and hawks are not the least important personages of the drama, are again happy imitations of those authors, from whose rich but unpolished ore Mr. Scott has wrought much of his most exquisite imagery and description. A society, such as that assembled in Branxholm Castle, inflamed with national prejudices, and heated with wine, seems to have contained in itself suf ficient seeds of spontaneous disorder; but the goblin page is well introduced, as applying a torch to this mass of combustibles. Quarrels, highly characteristic of Border manners, both in their cause and the manner in which they are supported, ensue, as well among the lordly guests, as the yeomen assembled in the buttery." -Critical Revicio, 1805.]

"John Grahame, second son of Malice, Earl of Monteith, commonly surnamed John with the Bright Sicord, upon some displeasure risen against him at court, retired with many of his clan and kindred into the English Borders, in the reign of King Henry the Fourth, where they seated themselves; and many of their posterity have continued there ever since. Mr. Sandford, speaking of them, says, (which indeed was applicable to most of the Borderers on both sides.) They were all stark moss-troopers, and arrant thieves: Both to England and Scotland outlawed; yet sometimes connived at, because they gave intelligence forth of Scotland, and would raise 400 horse at any time upon a raid of the English into Scotland. A saying is recorded of a mother to her son, (which is now become proverbial,) Ride, Rowley, hough's 'the pot: that is, the last piece of beef was in the pot, and therefore it was high time for him to go and fetch more.' "'-Introduction to the History of Cumberland.

The residence of the Græmes being chiefly in the Debateable Land, so called because it was claimed by both kingdoms, their depredations extended both to England and Scotland, with impunity; for as both wardens accounted them the proper subjects of their own prince, neither inclined to demand reparation for their excesses from the opposite officers, which would have been an acknowledgment of his jurisdiction over them.-See a long correspondence on this subject betwixt Lord Dacre and the English Privy Council, in Introduction to History of Cumberland. The Debateable Land was finally divided betwixt England and Scotland, by commissioners appointed by both nations.!

unfortified, or sea'teringly inhabited, rifled them, and made this the best means of thear living, being a matter at that time no where in disgrace, but rather carrying with it something of glory. This is manifest by some that dwell upon the continent, amongst whom, so it be performed nobly, it is still esteemed as an ornament. The same is also proved by some of the ancient poets, who introduced men questioning of such as sail by, on all coasts alike, whether they be theeves or not; as a thyng neyther scorned by such as were asked, nor upbroided by those that were desirous to know. They also robbed one another, within the main land; and much of Greece useth that of custome, as the Locrians, the Acarnanians, and those of the continent in that quarter, unto this day. Moreover, the fashion of wearing iron remaineth yet with the people of that continent, from their old trade of theeving."-Hobbes' Thucydides, p. 4. Lond.

[See various notes in the Minstrelsy.]

Soft is the note, and sad the lay,

That mourns the lovely Rosabelle.*
-"Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew
And, gentle ladye, deign to stay!
Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch,†
Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day.
"The blackening wave is edged with white;
To inch and rock the sea-mews fly;
The fishes have heard the Water-Sprite,
Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh.
"Last night the gifted Seer did view

A wet shroud swathed§ round layde gay;
Then stay thee, Fair, in Ravensheuch:
Why cross the gloomy firth to day?"-
"'Tis not because Lord Lindesay's heir
To-night at Roslin leads the ball,
But that my ladye-mother there
Sits lonely in her castle-hall.
""Tis not because the ring they ride,
And Lindesay at the ring rides well,
But that my sire the wine will chide,
If 'tis not fill'd by Rosabelle."-
O'er Roslin all that dreary night,

A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam
'Twas broader than the watch-fire's light,
And redder than the bright moon-beam.
It glared on Roslin's castled rock,

It ruddied all the copse-wood glen;
'Twas seen from Dryden's groves of oak,
And seen from cavern'd Hawthornden."
Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud,
Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie,
Each Baron, for a sable shroud,
Sheathed in his iron panoply.
Seem'd all on fire within, around,
Deep sacristy T and altar's pale;
Shone every pillar foliage-bound,

And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail.**

Blazed battlement and pinnet high,

Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair-
So still they blaze, when fate is nigh
The lordly line of high St. Clair.

This was a family name in the house of St. Clair. Henry St. Clair, the second of the line, married Rosabelle, fourth daughter of the Earl of Stratherne.

A large and strong castle, now ruinous, situated betwixt Kirkaldy and Dysart, on a steep crag, washed by the Frith of Forth. It was conferred on Sir William St. Clair, as a slight compensation for the earldom of Orkney, by a charter of King James III, dated in 1471, and is now the property of Sir James St. Clair Erskine, (now Earl of Rosslyn,) representative of the family. It was long a principal residence of the Barons of Roslin.

: Inch, Isle.

First Edt. "A wet shroud roll'd."] [First Edit. "It reddened," &c.]

First Edit." Both vaulted crypt."&c.] **The beautiful chapel of Roslin is still in tolerable perservation. It was founded in 1446, by William St. Clair, Prince of Orkney, Duke of Oldenburgh, Earl of Caithness and Stratherne. Lord St. Clair, Lord Niddesdale, Lord Admiral of the Scottish Sens, Lord Chief Justice of Scotland, Lord Warden of the three Marches, Baron of Roslin, Pentiand, Pentland moor, &c. Knight of the Cockle, and of the Garter, (as is affirmed,) High Chancellor, Chamberlain, and Lieutenant of Scotland. This lofty person, whose titles, says Godscroft, might weary a Spaniard, built the cast'e of Roslin, where he resided in princely splendour, and founded the chapel, which is in the most rich and florid style of Gothic architecture. Among the profuse carving on the pillars and buttress the rose is frequently introduced, in allusion to the name, with which, however, the flower has no connexion; the etymology be ing Rosslinnhe, the promontory of the linn, or water fall. The chapel is said to appear on fire previous to the death of any of his descendants. This superstition, noticed by Slezer in his Theatrum Scotia, and alluded to in the text, is probably of Norwegian derivation, and may have been imported by the Earls of Orkney into their Lothian dominions. The tomb-fires of the north are mentioned in most of the Sagas.

The Barons of Roslin were buried in a vault beneath the chapel floor. The manner of their interment is thus described by Father Hay, in the MS. history already quoted.

Sir William Sinclair, the father, was a leud man. He kept a miller's daughter, with whom it was alleged, he went to Ireland; yet I think the cause of his retreat was rather occasioned by the Pre-byterians, who vexed him sadly, because of his religion being Roman Catholic. His son. Sir William, died during the troubles, and was interred in the chapel of Roslin the very same day that the battle of Dunbar was fought. When my good-father was buried, his (2. e. Sir William's) corpse seemed to be entire at the

There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold
Lie buried within that proud chapelle;
Each one the holy vault doth hold-

But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle!
And each St. Clair was buried there,
With candle, with book, and with knell
But the sea-caves rung, and the wild winds sung,††
The dirge of lovely Rosabelle.

XXIV.

So sweet was Harold's piteous lay,‡‡

Scarce mark'd the guests the darken'd hall,
Though, long before the sinking day,

A wondrous shade involved them all:
It was not eddying mist or fog,
Drain'd by the sun from fen or bog;

Of no eclipse had sages told;

And yet, as it came on apace,

Each one could scarce his neighbour's face,
Could scarce his own stretch'd hand behold.

A secret horror check'd the feast,

And chill'd the soul of every guest;

Even the high Dame stood half aghast,

She knew some evil on the blast;

The elvish page fell to the ground,

And, shuddering, mutter'd "Found! found! found!"

XXV.

Then sudden, through the darken'd air
A flash of lightning came;
So broad, so bright, so red the glare,
The castle seem'd on flame.
Glanced every rafter of the hall,
Glanced every shield upon the wall;
Each trophied beam, each sculptured stone,
Were instant seen, and instant gone;
Full through the guests' bedazzled band
Resistless flash'd the levin-brand,
And fill'd the hall with smouldering smoke,
As on the elvish page it broke.

It broke, with thunder long and loud, Dismay'd the brave, appall'd the proud, From sea to sea the farum rung; On Berwick wall, and at Carlisle withal, To arms the startled warders sprung. When ended was the dreadful roar, The elvish dwarf was seen no more!§§ opening of the cave; but when they came to touch his body, it fell into dust. He was laying in his armour, with a red velvet cap on his head, on a flat stone; nothing was spoiled except a piece of the white furring that went round the cap, and answered to the hinder part of the head. All his predecessors were buried after the same manner, in their armour: late Rosline, my good father, was the first that was buried in a coffin, against the sentiments of King James the Seventh, who was then in Scotland, and several other persons well versed in antiquity, to whom my mother would not hearken, thinking it beggarly to be buried after that manner. The great expenses she was at in burying her husband, occasioned the sumptuary acts which were made in the following parliament." [First Edit. "But the Kelpie rung and the Mermaids sung."] :["I observe a great poetic climax, designed, doubtless, in the two last of these songs, from the first."-ANNA SEWARD.] $$("The Goblin Page is, in our opinion, the capital deformity of the poem. We have already said the whole machinery is useless; but the magic studies of the lady, and the rifled tomb of Michael Scott, give occasion to so much admirable poetry, that we can on no account consent to part with them. The page, on the other hand, is a perpetual burden to the poet, and to the readers; it is an undignified and improbable fiction, which excites neither terror, admiration, nor astonishment, but needlessly debases the strain of the whole work, and excites at once our incre dulity and contempt. He is not a 'tricksy spirit,' like Ariel, with whom the imagination is irresistibly enamoured, nor a tiny monarch, like Oberon, disposing of the destinies of mortals; he ra ther appears to us to be an awkward sort of a mongrel between Puck and Caliban, of a servile and brutal nature, and limited in his powers to the indulgence of petty malignity, and the infliction of despicable injuries. Besides this objection to his character, his existence has no support from any general or established super stition. Fairies and devils, ghosts, angels, and witches, are creatures with whom we are all familiar, and who excite in all clas ses of mankind emotions with which we can easily be made to sympathize. But the history of Gilpin Horner was never believ ed out of the village where he is said to have made his appearance, and has no claims upon the credulity of those who were not originally of his acquaintance. There is nothing at all intoresting or elegant in the scenes of which he is the hero; and in reading these passages, we really could not help suspe ting that they did not stand in the romance when the aged minstrel recited it to the royal Charles and his mighty earls, but were inserted af terwards to suit the taste of the cottagers among whom he begged his bread on the Border. We entreat Mr. Scott to inquire into

XXVI.
Some heard a voice in Branksome Hall,
Some saw a sight, not seen by all;
That dreadful voice was heard by some,
Cry, with loud summons, "GYLBIN, COME!"
And on the spot where burst the brand,

Just where the page had flung him down,
Some saw an arm, and some a hand,
And some the waving of a gown,
The guests in silence prayed and shook,
And terror dimm'd each lofty look.
But none of all the astonish'd train
Was so dismay'd as Deloraine;
His blood did freeze, his brain did burn,
'Twas feared his mind would ne'er return;
For he was speechless, ghastly, wan,
Like him of whom the story ran,
Who spoke the spectre-hound in Man.*
At length, by fits, he darkly told,
With broken hint, and shuddering cold-
That he had seen, right certainly,
A shape with amice wrapp'd around,
With a wrought Spanish baldric bound,
Like pilgrim from beyond the sea;
And knew-but how it mattered not-
It was the wizard, Michael Scott.
XXVII.

The anxious crowd, with horror pale,
All trembling heard the wonderous tale;

No sound was made, no word was spoke,
Till noble Angus silence broke;

And he a solemn sacred plight
Did to St. Bride of Douglas make,t
That he a pilgrimage would take
To Melrose Abbey, for the sake
Of Michael's restless sprite.
Then each, to ease his troubled breast,

To some bless'd saint his prayers address'd:
Some to St. Modan made their vows,

Some to St. Mary of the Lowes,
Some to the Holy Rood of Lisle,

Some to our Ladye of the Isle:

Each did his patron witness make,

That he such pilgrimage would take,

And monks should sing, and bell should toll,

All for the weal of Michael's soul.

While vows were ta'en, and prayers were pray'd, 'Tis said the noble dame, dismay'd, Renounced, for aye, dark magic's aid.

XXVIII.

Nought of the bridal will I tell,
Which after in short space befell;

the grounds of this suspicion, and to take advantage of any decent pretext he can lay hold of for purging the Lay, of this ungraceful intruder. We would also move for a quo warranto against the Spirits of the River and the Mountain; for, though they are come of a very high lineage, we do not know what lawful busiBess they could have at Branksome castle in the year 1550."JEFFREY.]

The ancient castle of Peel-town in the Isle of Man,'is surrounded by four churches, now ruinous. Through one of these chapels there was formerly a passage from the guard-room of the garrison. This was closed, it is said, upon the following occasion: They say, that an apparition, called, in the Mankish language, the Mauthe Doog, in the shape of a large black spaniel, with curled shaggy hair, was used to haunt Peel-castle; and has been frequently seen in every room, but particularly in the guard chamber, where, as soon as candles were lighted, it came and lay down before the fire, in presence of all the soldiers, who at length, by being so much accustomed to the sight of it, lost great part of the terror they were seized with at its first appearance. They still, however, retained a certain awe, as believing it was an evil spirit, which only waited permission to do them hurt; and, for that reason, forbore swearing, and all profane discourse, while in its company. But though they endured the shock of such a guest when altogether in a body, none cared to be left alone with it. It being the custom, therefore, for one of the soldiers to lock the rates of the castle at a certain hour, and carry the keys to the Captain, to whose apartment, as I said before, the way led through the church, they agreed among themselves, that whoever was to succeed the ensuing night his fellow in this errand, should accompany him that went first, and by this means no man would be exposed singly to the danger; for I forgot to mention, that the Mauthe Doog was always seen to come out from that passage at the close of the day, and return to it again as soon as the morning dawned; which made them look on this place as Its peculiar residence.

One night a fellow being drunk, and by the strength of his liquor rendered more daring than ordinarily, laughed at the sim• See the Author's Introduction to the "Lay," p. 314. VOL. I.-2 S

Nor how brave sons and daughters fair
Bless'd Teviot's Flower, and Cranstoun's heir:
After such dreadful scene, 'twere vain
To make the note of mirth again.
More meet it were to mark the day
Of penitence and prayer divine,
When pilgrim-chiefs, in sad array,
Sought Melrose' holy shrine.
XXIX.

With naked foot, and sackcloth vest,
And arms enfolded on his breast,

Did every pilgrim go:

The standers-by might hear uneath,
Footstep, or voice, or high-drawn breath,
Through all the lengthen'd row:

No lordly look, nor martial stride,
Gone was their glory, sunk their pride,
Forgotten their renown;

Silent and slow, like ghosts they glide
To the high altar's hallow'd side,

And there they knelt them down;
Above the suppliant chieftains wave
The banners of departed brave;
Beneath the letter'd stones were laid
The ashes of their fathers dead;

From many a garnish'd niche around,
Stern saints and tortured martyrs frown'd.
XXX.

And slow up the dim aisle afar,
With sable cowl and scapular,
And snow-white stoles, in order due,
The holy Fathers, two and two,

In long procession came;
Taper, and host, and book they bare,
And holy banner, flourish'd fair
With the Redeemer's name.
Above the prostrate pilgrim band
The mitred Abbot stretched his hand,
And blessed them as they kneel'd;
With holy cross he sign'a them all,
And pray'd they might be sage in hall,

And fortunate in field.

Then mass was sung, and prayers were said,

And solemn requiem for the dead;

And bells toll'd out their mighty peal,

For the departed spirit's weal;

And ever in the office close

The hymn of intercession rose;
And far the echoing aisles prolong
The awful burthen of the song,-
DIES IRE, DIES ILLA,

SOLVET SECULUM IN FAVILLA ;

plicity of his companions; and, though it was not his turn to go with the keys, would needs take that office upon him, to testify his courage. All the soldiers endeavoured to dissuade him; but the more they said, the more resolute he seemed, and swore that he desired nothing more than that the Mauthe Doog would follow him, as it had done the others: for he would try it it were dog or devil. After having talked in a very reprobate manner for some time, he snatched up the keys, and went out of the guard-room. In some time after his departure, a great noise was heard, but nobody had the boldness to see what occasioned it, till the adventurer returning, they demanded the knowledge of him; but as loud and noisy as he had been at leaving them, he was now be come sober and silent enough; for he was never heard to speak more; and though all the time he lived, which was three days, he was entreated by all that came near him, either to speak, or, if he could not do that, to make some signs, by which they might understand what had happened to him, yet nothing intelligible could be got from him, only that, by the distortion of his limbs and features it might be guessed that he died in agonies more than is common in a natural death.

"The Mauthe Doog was, however, never after seen in tho castle, nor would any one attempt to go through that passage: for which reason it was closed up, and another way made. This accident happened about three score years since; and I heard it attested by several, but especially by an old soldier, who assured me he had seen it oftener than he had then hairs upon his head."-WALDRON'S Description of the Isle of Man, p. 107. This was a favourite saint of the house of Douglas, and of the Earl of Angus in particular; as we learn from the following passage: "The Queen-regent had proposed to raise a rival noble to the ducal dignity; and discoursing of her purpose with Angus, he answered, Why not, madam? we are happy that have such a princess, that can know and will acknowledge men's services, and is willing to recompense it: but, by the might of God,' (this was his oath when he was serious and in anger; at other times, it was by St. Bryde of Douglas,) if he be a Duke, I will be a Drake! So she desisted from prosecuting of that purpose."GODSCROFT, vol. ii. p. 131.