Familiar was the look, and told,
Marmion and she were friends of old.
The King observed their meeting eyes,
With something like displeased surprise;
For monarchs ill can rivals brook,
Even in a word, or smile, or look.
Straight took he forth the parchment broad,
Which Marmion's high commission showed:
Our borders sacked by many a raid,

Our peaceful liegemen robbed," he said;
"On day of truce our warden slain,
Stout Barton killed, his vassals ta'en-
Unworthy were we here to reign,
Should these for vengeance cry in vain
Our full defiance, hate, and scorn,
Our herald has to Henry borne."
XIV.

He paused, and led where Douglas stood,
And with stern eye the pageant viewed:
I mean that Douglas, sixth of yore,
Who coronet of Angus bore,

And, when his blood and heart were high,*
Did the third James in camp defy,
And all his minions led to die

On Lauder's dreary flat :

Princes and favourites long grew tame,
And trembled at the homely name
Of Archibald Bell-the-cat ;+

The same who left the dusky vale
Of Hermitage in Liddesdale,

Its dungeons, and its towers,

* [MS.-"And when his blood and heart were high,
King James's minions led to die,
On Lauder's dreary flat-"]

Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, a man remarkable for strength of body and mind, acquired the popular name of Bell-theCat, upon the following remarkable occasion:-James the Third, of whom Pitscottie complains, that he delighted more in music, and "policies of building," than in hunting, hawking, and other noble exercises, was so ill advised, as to make favourites of his architects and musicians, whom the same historian irreverently terms masons and fiddlers. His nobility, who did not sympathize in the King's respect for the fine arts, were extremely incensed at the honours conferred on those persons, particularly on Cochrane, a mason, who had been created Earl of Mar; and, seizing the opportunity, when, in 1482, the King had convoked the whole array of the country to march against the English, they held a midnight council, in the church of Lauder, for the purpose of forcibly removing these minions from the King's person. When all had agreed on the propriety of this measure, Lord Gray told the assembly the apalogue of the Mice, who had formed a resolution, that it would be highly advantageous to their community to tie a bell round the cat's neck, that they might hear her approach at a distance; but which public measure unfortunately miscarried, from no mouse being willing to undertake the task of fastening the bell, "I understand the moral," said Angus, and, that what we propose may not lack execution, I will bell the oat." The rest of the strange scene is thus told by Pitscottie:

Where Bothwell's turrets brave the air,
And Bothwell bank is blooming fair,
To fix his princely bowers.
Though now, in age, he had laid down
His armour for the peaceful gown,

And for a staff his brand;

Yet often would flash forth the fire,
That could, in youth, a monarch's ire
And minion's pride withstand;
And even that day, at council board,
Unapt to sooth his sovereign's mood,
Against the war had Angus stood
And chafed his royal lord.‡

XV.

His giant-form, like ruined tower,
Though fallen its muscles' brawny yaunt,
Huge-boned, and tall, and grim, and gaunt,
Seemed o'er the gaudy scene to lower :
His locks and beard in silver grew;
His eyebrows kept their sable hue.
Near Douglas when the Monarch stood,
His bitter speech he thus pursued :-
"Lord Marmion, since these letters say,
That in the north you needs must stay,
While slightest hopes of peace remain,
Uncourteous speech it were, and stern,
To say-Return to Lindisfarne,

Until my herald come again.-
Then rest you on Tantallon hold;$
Your host shall be the Douglas bold,-
A chief unlike his sires of old.

"Notwithstanding, the lords held them quiet till they caused
certain armed men to pass into the King's pallion, and two of
three wise men to pass with them, and give the King fair pleasant
words, till they laid hands on all the King's servants, and took
them and hanged them before his eyes over the bridge of Lawder.
Incontinent they brought forth Cochran, and his hands bound
with a tow, who desired them to take one of his own pallion
tows and bind his hands, for he thought shame to have his hands
bound with such tow of hemp, like a thief. The lords answered,
he was a traitor, he deserved no better; and, for despight, they
took a hair tether, and hanged him over the bridge of Lawder,
above the rest of his complices."-PITSCOTTIE, p. 78, folio edit.
1 Angus was an old man when the war against England was
resolved upon. He earnestly spoke against that measure from its
commencement; and, on the eve of the battle of Flodden, remon
strated so freely upon the impolicy of fighting, that the King said
to him, with scom and indignation, if he was afraid, he might
go home." The Earl burst into tears at this insupportable insult,
and retired accordingly, leaving his sons, George, Master of An-
gus, and Sir William of Glenbervie, to command his followers.
They were both slain in the battle, with two hundred gentlemen
of the name of Douglas. The aged Earl, broken-hearted at the
calamities of his house and his country, retired into a religious
house, where he died about a year after the field of Flodden.

5 The ruins of Tantallon Castle occupy a high rock projecting into the German Ocean, about two miles east of North Berwick The building is not seen till a close approach, as there is rising fenced upon three sides by the precipice which overhangs the sea, and on the fourth by a double ditch and very strong outworks, Tantallon was a principal castle of the Douglas family, and when the Earl of Angus was banished, in 1527, it continued to hold out against James V. The King went in person against it. and for its reduction, borrowed from the Castle of Dunbar, then belonging to the Duke of Albany, two great cannons, whose names, as Pitscottie informs us with laudable minuteness, were "Thrawn mouth'd Meg and her Marrow; also, two great botcards, and two moyan, two double falcons, and four quarter falcons" for the safe guiding and re-delivery of which, three or wearatus, James was forced to raise the siege, and only lords were laid in pawn at Dunbar, Yet, notwithstanding all afterwards obtained possession of Tantallon by treaty with the governor, Simon Panango. When the Earl of Angus returned from banishment, upon the death of James, he again obtained possession of Tantallon, and it actually afforded refuge to an English ambassador, under circumstances similar to those de scribed in the text. This was no other than the celebrated Sir Ralph Sadler, who resided there for some time under Angus's protection, after the failure of his negotiation for matching the infant Mary with Edward VI. He says, that though this place was poorly furnished, it was of such strength as might warrant him against the malice of his enemies, and that he now thought himself out of danger. §

"By this was advised and spoken by thir lords foresaid, Coch-ground betwixt it and the land. The circuit is of large extent, ran, the Earl of Mar, came from the King to the council, (which council was holden in the kirk of Lauder for the time.) who was well accompanied with a band of men of war, to the number of three hundred light axes, all clad in white livery, and black bends thereon, that they might be known for Cochran the Earl of Mar's men. Himself was clad in a riding-pie of black velvet, with a great chain of gold about his neck, to the value of five hundred crowns, and four blowing horns, with both the ends of gold and silk, set with a precious stone, called a berryl, hanging in the midst. This Cochran had his heumont born before him, overgilt with gold, and so were all the rest of his horns, and all his pallions were of fine canvas of silk, and the cords thereof fine twined silk, and the chains upon his pallions were double overgilt with gold. "This Cochran was so proud in his conceit, that he counted no lords to be marrows to him, therefore he rushed rudely at the kirkdoor. The council enquired who it was that perturbed them at that time. Sir Robert Douglas, Laird of Lochleven, was keeper of the kirk-door at that time, who enquired who that was that knocked so rudely? and Cochran answered, This is I, the Earl of Mar. The which news pleased well the lords, because they were ready boun to cause take him, as is before rehearsed. Then the Earl of Angus past hastily to the door, and with him Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven, there to receive in the Earl of Mar, and so many of his complices who were there, as they thought good. And the Earl of Angus met with the Earl of Mar, as he came in at the door, and pulled the golden chain from his craig, and said to him, a tow would set him better. Sir Robert Douglas syne pulled the blowing horn from him in like manner, and said, He had been the hunter of mischief over long. This Cochran asked, My lords, is it mows, or earnest? They answered, and said. It is good earnest, and so thou shalt find; for thou and thy complices have abused our prince this long time; of whom thou shalt have no more credence, but shalt have thy reward according to thy good service, as thou hast deserved in times by past; right so the rest of thy followers.'

There is a military tradition, that the old Scottish March was meant to express the words,

Ding down Tantallon, Mak a brig to the Bass Tantallon was at length" dung down" and ruined by the Cove nanters; its lord, the Marquis of Douglas, being a favourer of the royal cause. The castle and barony were sold in the beginning of the eighteenth century to President Dalrymple, of North Ber wick, by the then Marquis of Douglas.

¡Halter.

The very curious State Papers of this able negotiator were, in 1910, published by Mr. Clifford, with some notes by the Author of Marmion.

Who left the royal revelry

To bowne him for the war.

A solemn scene the Abbess chose;
A solemn hour, her secret to disclose.

XXI.

"O, holy Palmer!" she began,-
"For sure he must be sainted man,
Whose blessed feet have trod the ground
Where the Redeemer's tomb is found;-
For His dear Church's sake, my tale
Attend, nor deem of light avail,
Though I must speak of worldly love,-
How vain to those who wed above!--
De Wilton and Lord Marmion woo'd*
Clara de Clare, of Gloster's blood;
(Idle it were of Whitby's dame,
To say of that same blood I came ;)
And once, when jealous rage was high,
Lord Marmion said dispiteously,
Wilton was traitor in his heart,

And had made league with Martin Swart,t
When he came here on Simnel's part;
And only cowardice did restrain
His rebel aid on Stokefield's plain,-
And down he threw his glove :-the thing
Was tried, as wont, before the King;
Where frankly did De Wilton own,
That Swart in Guelders he had known;
And that between them then there went
Some scroll of courteous compliment.
For this he to his castle sent;
But when his messenger returned,
Judge how De Wilton's fury burned!
For in his packet there were laid
Letters that claimed disloyal aid,
And proved King Henry's cause betrayed.
His fame thus blighted, in the field

He strove to clear, by spear and shield ;-
To clear his fame in vain he strove,
For wondrous are His ways above!
Perchance some form was unobserved;
Perchance in prayer, or faith, he swerved ;
Else how could guiltless champion quail,
Or how the blessed ordeal fail?

XXII.
"His squire, who now De Wilton saw
As recreant doomed to suffer law,
Repentant, own'd in vain,

That, while he had the scrolls in care,
A stranger maiden, passing fair,

Had drenched him with a beverage rare;
His words no faith could gain.
With Clare alone he credence won,
Who, rather than wed Marmion,
Did to Saint Hilda's shrine repair,
To give our house her livings fair,
And die a vestal vot'ress there.

The impulse from the earth was given,
But bent her to the paths of heaven.
A purer heart, a lovelier maid,
Ne'er sheltered her in Whitby's shade,
No, not since Saxon Edelfled;

Only one trace of earthly stain,
That for her lover's loss
She cherishes a sorrow vain,

And murmurs at the cross.

*["There are passages in which the flatness and tediousness of the narrative is relieved by no sort of beauty nor elegance of diction, and which form an extraordinary contrast with the more animated and finished portions of the poem. We shall not our readers with more than one specimen of this falling off. We select it from the Abbess's explanation to De Wilton :De Wilton and Lord Marmion woo'd,' &c.

(and twenty-two following lines,)-JEFFREY.]

And then her heritage ;-it goes
Along the banks of Tame;

Deep fields of grain the reaper mows,
In meadows rich the heifer lows
The falconer and huntsman knows
Its woodlands for the game.

Shame were it to Saint Hilda dear,
And I, her humble vot'ress here,
Should do a deadly sin,

Her temple spoiled before mine eyes,
If this false Marmion such a prize

By my consent should win;
Yet hath our boisterous Monarch sworn,
That Clare shall from our house be torn,
And grievous cause have I to fear,

Such mandate doth Lord Marmion bear.

XXIII.

"Now, prisoner, helpless, and betrayed
To evil power, I claim thine aid,

By every step that thou hast trod
To holy shrine and grotto dim,
By every Martyr's tortured limb,
By angel, saint, and seraphim,

And by the Church of God!

For mark-When Wilton was betrayed,
And with his squire forged letters laid,
She was, alas! that sinful maid,
By whom the deed was done,-

O! shame and horror to be said,-
She was a perjured nun!

No clerk in all the land, like her,
Traced quaint and varying character.
Perchance you may a marvel deem,
That Marmion's paramour

(For such vile thing she was) should scheme

Her lover's nuptial hour;

But o'er him thus she hoped to gain,
As privy to his honour's stain,
Illimitable power;

For this she secretly retained

Each proof that might the plot reveal,
Instructions with his hand and seal;
And thus Saint Hilda deigned,
Through sinner's perfidy impure,
Her house's glory to secure,
And Clare's inmortal weal.

XXIV.

"Twere long, and needless, here to tell,
How to my hand these papers fell;

With me they must not stay.
Saint Hilda keep her Abbess true!
Who knows what outrage he might do,
While journeying by the way ?-

O, blessed saint, if e'er again

I venturous leave thy calm domain,
To travel or by land or main,

Deep penance may I pay!

Now, saintly Palmer, mark my prayer:
I give this packet to thy care,
For thee to stop they will not dare;

And, O! with cautious speed,
To Wolsey's hand the papers bring,
That he may show them to the King:
And, for thy well-earned meed,
Thou holy man, at Whitby's shrine
A weekly mass shall still be thine,

"Amys and Amelion," the one brother-in-arms, fighting for the
other, disguised in his armour, swears that he did not commit the
crime of which the Steward, his antagonist, truly, though mal-
afletciously, accused him whom he represented. Brantome tells &
story of an Italian, who entered the lists upon an unjust quarrel,
but, to make his cause good, fled from his enemy at the first on-
set. Turn, coward!" exclaimed his antagonist. "Thou hest."
said the Italian, "coward am I none; and in this quarrel will I
fight to the death, but my first cause of combat was unjust, and I
abandon it." "Je vous laisse a penser," adds Brantome, "
n'y a pas de l'abus la." Elsewhere he says, very sensibly, upon
the confidence which those who had a righteous cause enter

A German general, who commanded the auxiliaries sent by the Dutchess of Burgundy with Lambert Simnel. He was defeated and killed at Stokefield. The name of this German general is preserved by that of the field of battle, which is called, after him, Swart-moor-There were songs about him long current in Eng-tained of victory: "Un autre abus y aroit-il, que ceux qui land. See Dissertation prefixed to RITSON's Ancient Songs, 1792. p. lxi.

It was early necessary for those who felt themselves obliged to believe in the divine judgment being enunciated in the trial by duel, to find salvos for the strange and obviously precarious chances of the combat. Various curious evasive shifts, used by those who took up an unrighteous quarrel, were supposed sufficient to convert it into a just one. Thus, in the romance of

avoient un juste subjet de querelle, et qu'on les faisoit purer avant entrer au camp, pensoient estre aussitost vainqueurs, voire s'en assuroient-t-ils du tout, mesmes que leurs confes seurs, parrains et confidants leurs en respondoient tout-afalt, comme si Dieu leur en eust donne une patente; et na regardant point a d'autres fautes passers, et que Dieu en garde la punition a ce coup la pour plus grande, despiteuse, et exemplaire."-Discours sur les Duels."

While priests can sing and read.-
What ail'st thou ?-Speak !"-For as he took
The charge, a strong emotion shook
His frame; and, ere reply

They heard a faint, yet shrilly tone,
Like distant clarion feebly blown,
That on the breeze did die;

And loud the Abbess shrieked in fear,
"Saint Withold save us!-What is here?
Look at yon city cross!

See on its battled tower appear

Phantoms, that scutcheons seem to rear,
And blazoned banners toss !"-

XXV.

Dun-Edin's cross, a pillared stone,*
Rose on a turret octagon;

(But now is raised that monument,
Whence royal edict rang,

And voice of Scotland's law was sent,
In glorious trumpet clang.
0! be his tomb as lead to lead,
Upon its dull destroyer's head!-
A minstrel's malisont is said.)
Then on its battlements they saw
A vision, passing nature's law,
Strange, wild, and dimly seen;
Figures that seemed to rise and die,
Gibber and sign, advance and fly,

While nought confirmed could ear or eye
Discern of sound or mien.

Yet darkly did it seem, as there
Heralds and pursuivants prepare,
With trumpet sound, and blazon fair,
A summons to proclaim.

But indistinct the pageant proud,,
As fancy forms of midnight cloud,
When flings the moon upon her shroud
A wavering tinge of flame;

It fits, expands, and shifts, till loud,
From midmost of the spectre crowd,
This awful summons came:-§

XXVI.

"Prince, prelate, potentate, and peer,
Whose names I now shall call,
Scottish, or foreigner, give ear!
Subjects of him who sent me here,
At his tribunal to appear,

*[MS.-" Dun-Edin's Cross, a pillar'd stone,
Rose on a turret hexagon;
(Dust unto dust, lead unto lead,
On its destroyer's drowsy

{head!

Upon its base destroyer's S

The Minstrel's malison is said.")]

↑ Le Curse.

I summon one and all:

I cite you by each deadly sin,

That e'er hath soiled your hearts within;
I cite you by each brutal lust,
That e'er defiled your earthly dust,—
By wrath, by pride, by fear,ll

By each o'er-mastering passion's tone,
By the dark grave, and dying groan!
When forty days are past and gone, ¶
I cite you at your Monarch's throne,
To answer and appear."-

Then thundered forth a roil of names:-
The first was thine, unhappy James!
Then all thy nobles came;

Crawford, Glencairn, Montrose, Argyle,
Rosa, Bothwell, Forbes, Lennox, Lyle-
Why should I tell their separate style?
Each chief of birth and fame,

Of lowland, highland, border, isle,
Fore-doom'd to Flodden's carnage pile,
Was cited there by name;
And Marmion, lord of Fontenaye,
Of Lutterward, and Scrivelbay;
De Wilton, erst of Aberley,

The self-same thundering voice did say.**
But then another spoke:
"Thy fatal summons I deny,
And thine infernal lord defy,
Appealing me to Him on high,

Who burst the sinner's yoke."
At that dread accent, with a scream,
Parted the pageant like a dream,

The summoner was gone.
Prone on her face the Abbess fell,
And fast, and fast, her beads did tell!
Her nuns came, startled by the yell,
And found her there alone.

She marked not, at the scene aghast,
What time, or how, the Palmer passed.

thing fabulous, was a synonyme of the grand enemy of mankind. "Yet all their warnings, and uncouth tidings, nor no good counsel, might stop the King, at this present, from his vain purpose, and wicked enterprise, but hasted him fast to Edinburgh, and there to make his provision and furnishing, in having forth of his army against the day appointed, that they should meet in the Burrow-muir of Edinburgh: That is to say, seven cannons that he had forth of the Castle of Edinburgh, which were called the Seven Sisters, casten by Robert Borthwick, the master gunner, with other small artillery, bullet, powder, and all manner of order, as the master-gunner could devise.

The Cross of Edinburgh was an ancient and curious structure. The lower part was an octagonal tower, sixteen feet in diameter, and about fifteen feet high. At each angle there was a pillar, and between them an arch, of the Grecian shape. Above these was projecting battlement, with a turret at each corner, and medalhors of nude but curious workmanship, between them. Above and the King being in the Abbey for the time, there was a cry In this meantime, when they were taking forth their artillery, rose the proper Cross, a column of one stone, upwards of heard at the Market cross of Edinburgh, at the hour of midnight, twenty feet high, surmounted with a unicorn. This pillar is pre-proclaiming as it had been a summons, which was named and served in the grounds of the property of Drum. near Edinburgh. The Magistrates of Edinburgh, in 1756, with consent of the Lords of Session, (proh pudor!) destroyed this curious monument, ulera wonton pretext that it encumbered the street; while on the one hand, they left an ugly mass called the Luckenbooths, and on the other, an awkward, long, and low guard house, which were fifty times more encumbrance than the venerable and inoffensive Cross.

From the tower of the Cross, so long as it remained, the heralds pablished the acts of Parliament; and its site, marked by radi, diverging from a stona centre, in the High Street, is still the place where proclamations are made.

This supernatural citation is mentioned by all our Scottish historians. It was, probably, like the apparition at Linlithgow, an attempt, by those averse to the war, to impose upon the superstitious temper of James IV. The following account from Pitscottie is characteristically minute, and furnishes, besides, some canons particulars of the equipment of the army of James IV. I need only add to it, that Plotcock, or Plutock, is no other than Pluto, The Christians of the middle ages by no means misbelieved in the existence of the heathen deities: they only considered them as devils:* and Plotcock, so far from implying any relay" ante, under the fourth head; ulso, Jackson on Unbelief, p. 175. on this curious subject, the Essay on Fairies, in the "Border MinChacer calls Pluto the "King of Faerie :" and Dunbar names him, Pluto, that inch incube." If he was not actually the devil, he must be considered theprince of the power of the air." The most remarkable instance of these Surviving classical superstitions, is that of the Germans, concerning the Hill of Yes, into which she attempts to entice all gallant knights, and detains them there in a sort of Fools' Paradise.

VOL. I.-3 A

called by the proclaimer thereof, The Summons of Plotcock;
which desired all men to compear, both Earl, and Lord, and
Baron, and all honest gentlemen within the town, (every man
specified by his own name,) to compear, within the space of
forty days, before his master, where it should happen him to ap-
point, and be for the time, under the pain of disobedience. But
whether this summons was proclaimed by vain persons, night-
walkers, or drunken men, for their pastime, or if it was a spirit, I
cannot tell truly; but it was shewn to me, that an indweller of
his gallery-stair foreanent the Cross, hearing this voice proclaim-
the town, Mr. Richard Lawson, being evil disposed, ganging in
ing this summons, thought marvel what it should be, cried on his
he took out a crown, and cast over the stair, saying, 'I appeal
servant to bring him his purse; and when he had brought him it,
from that summons, judgment, and sentence thereof, and takes
Verily, the author of this, that caused me write the manner of
me all whole in the mercy of God, and Christ Jesus his son.'
this summons, was a landed gentleman, who was at that time
twenty years of age, and was in the town the time of the said
summons; and thereafter, when the field was stricken, he swore
to me, there was no man that escaped that was called in this
summons, but that one man alone which made his protestation,
and appealed from the said summons; but all the lave were
perished in the field with the king."

MS. By wrath, by fraud, by fear."]
TLMS.-" Ere twenty days are pass'd and gone,
Before the mighty Monarch's throne,
I cite you to appear."]

** [MS." In thundering tone the voice did say."]