Was it, that, seared by sinful scorn, From Red De Clare, stout Gloster's Earl: V. "But see!-what makes this armour here ?" For in her path there lay Targe, corslet, helm ;-she viewed them near.- As these dark blood-gouts say.- She raised her eyes in mournful mood,- Each changing passion's shade: And hope, that paints the future fair, VI. DE WILTON'S HISTORY. I found me on a pallet low, Within my ancient beadsman's shed.§ How thou didst blush, when the old man the choir; and 'tis then that the spectators, who stand on the west side of Whitby churchyard, so as just to see the most northerly part of the abbey pass the north end of Whitby church, imagine they perceive, in one of the highest windows there, the resemblance of a woman, arrayed in a shroud. Though we are certain this is only a reflection caused by the splendour of the sunbeams, yet fame reports it, and it is constantly believed among the vulgar, to be an appearance of Lady Hilda in her shroud, or rather in a glorified state; before which. I make no doubt, the Papists, even in these our days, offer up their prayers with as much zeal and devotion, as before any other image of their most glorified saint."-CHARLTON'S History of Whitby, p. 33. * [MS.—" of such a stem, or branch, though weak, 80 He ne'er shall bend me, though he break."] And tended me for many a day, No more a lord of rank and birth, When I would sit, and deeply brood My friend at length fell sick, and said, Beneath my brand should conquered lie, "Still restless as a second Cain, None cared which tale was true: And ne'er the time shall I forget, Dark looks we did exchange: What were his thoughts I cannot tell; VIII. "A word of vulgar augury, That broke from me, I scarce knew why, Which wrought upon his moody sprite, I borrowed steed and mail, And weapons, from his sleeping band; For the death stroke my brand I drew, O, good old man! even from the grave, [MS.-"By many a short caress delay'd."] When the surprise at meeting a lover rescued from the dead is considered, the above picture will not be thought over charged with colouring; and yet the painter is so fatigued with his exertion, that he has finally thrown away the brush, and is contented with merely chalking out the intervening adventures of De Wilton, without bestowing on them any colours at all."Critical Review] $ (MS." Where an old beadsman held my head."] [MS.—“The_banish'd traitor's humble bed."} lowly S TIMS.-"But thought of Austin staid my hand, And in the sheath I plunged the brand; I left him there alone. O good old man! even from the grave, Thy spirit could De Wilton save."I Thy spirit could thy master save: Appeal to heaven I judged was best, "Now here, within Tantallon hold, And women, priests, and gray-haired men ; X. ་་ There soon again we meet, my Clare! Once more"- "O, Wilton! must we then Might build a cottage in the shade, Thy task on dale and moor? That reddening brow!-too well I know, That night, upon the rocks and bay, Much was there need; though, seamed with scars, Two veterans of the Douglas' wars, [See the ballad of Otterbourne, in the Border Minstrelsy."] Where James encamped before taking post on Flodden. (The MS. has The rest were all on Flodden plain."] [MS.-" You might not by their shine desery."] The well-known Gawain Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, son of Archibald Bell-the-Cat, Earl of Angus. He was author of a Scottish metrical version of the Eneid, and of many other poetical pieces of great merit. He had not at this period attained the mitre. Angus had strength and personal activity corresponding to his courage. Spena of Kilspindie, a favourite of James IV. having spoken of him lightly, the Earl met him while hawking, and, compelling him to single combat, at one blow cut asunder VOL. I.-3 B Though two gray priests were there, More pleased that, in a barbarous age, Some giant Douglas may be found So pale his face, so huge his limb, his thighbone, and killed him on the spot. But ere he could obtain James's pardon for this slaughter. Angus was obliged to yield his castle of Hermitage, in exchange for that of Bothwell, which was some diminution to the family greatness. The sword with which he struck so remarkable a blow, was presented by his descendant. James, Earl of Morton, afterwards Regent of Scotland. to Lord Lindesay of the Byres, when he defied Bothwell to single combat on Carberry-hill. See Introduction to the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. The following (five lines) are a sort of mongrel between the school of Sternhold and Hopkins and the later one of Mr. Wordsworth."-JEFFREY.] ** MS.-"The train the portal arch pass'd through."] "Though something I might plain," he said, Of cold respect to stranger guest, Sent hither by your king's behest, 64 While in Tantallon's towers I staid; The hand of such as Marmion clasp."- Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire And-"This to me!" he said,- Lord Angus, thou hast lied!"-t On the Earl's cheek the flush of rage Fierce he broke forth," And darest thou then The Douglas in his hall? And hopest thou hence unscathed to go?- Up drawbridge, grooms--what, warder, ho! Lord Marmion turned,-well was his need, XV. The steed along the drawbridge flies, And when Lord Marmion reached his band, "A royal messenger he came, The day in Marmion's journey wore, Good sooth, it was in strange array."- I heard the sheriff Sholto say, The Earl did much the master¶ pray To use him on the battle day; But he preferred"-" Nay, Henry, cease! Thou sworn horse-courser, hold thy peace. Eustace, thou bear'st a brain-I pray, "In brief, my lord, we both descried Upon the Earl's own favourite steed; Lord Angus wished him speed."The instant that Fitz-Eustace spoke, A sudden light on Marmion broke ;taken from him his head, dispone upon the body as ye please;" and with that called for his horse, and leaped thereon; and when he was on horseback, he said to the Earl on this manner, My lord, if I live, you shall be rewarded for your labours, that you have used at this time, according to your demerits.' "At this saying the Earl was highly offended, and cried for horse. Sir Patrick, seeing the Earl's fury, spurred his horse, but he was chased near Edinburgh ere they left him: and had it not been his led horse was so tried and good, he had been taken." This ebullition of violence in the potent Earl of Angus is not without its example in the real history of the house of Douglas, whose chieftains possessed the ferocity, with the heroic virtues, of a savage state. The most curious instance occurred in the case of Maclellan, Tutor of Bombay, who, having refused to acknowledge the pre-eminence claimed by Douglas over the gentlemen and Barons of Galloway, was seized and imprisoned by the Earl, in his castle of the Thrieve, on the borders of Kirk--PITSCOTTIE'S History, p. 39. cudbrightshire. Sir Patrick Gray, commander of King James the Second's guard, was uncle to the Tutor of Bombay, and obtained from the King a "sweet letter of supplication," praying the Earl to deliver his prisoner into Gray's hand. When Sir Patrick ar rived at the castle, he was received with all the honour due to a favourite servant of the King's household; but while he was at dinner, the Earl, who suspected his errand, caused his prisoner to be led forth and beheaded. After dinner, Sir Patrick presented the King's letter to the Earl, who received it with great affectation of reverence; "and took him by the hand, and led him forth to the green, where the gentleman was lying dead, and showed him the manner, and said, 'Sir Patrick, you are come a little too late; yonder is your sister's son lying, but he wants the head: take his body, and do with it what you will.'-Sir Patrick answered again, with a sore heart, and said, 'My lord, if ye have Lest the reader should partake of the Earl's astonishment, and consider the crime as inconsistent with the manners of the period, I have to remind him of the mumerous forgeries (partly executed by a female assistant) devised by Robert of Artois, to forward his suit against the Countess Matilda; which, being de tected, occasioned his flight into England, and proved the remote cause of Edward the 'Third's memorable wars in France. John Harding, also, was expressly hired by Edward IV. to forge such documents as might appear to establish the claim of fealty asserted over Scotland by the English monarchs. [MS.-"Thanks to Saint Bothan, son of mine Could never pen a written line, So swear I, and I swear it still, Let brother Gawain fret his fill."] His eldest son, the Master of Angus. "Ah! dastard fool, to reason lost!" He muttered; "Twas nor fay nor ghost, O dotage blind and gross! Had I but fought as wont, one thrust My path no more to cross.— How stand we now ?-he told his tale 'Twas therefore gloomed his rugged brow.-Will Surrey dare to entertain, 'Gainst Marmion, charge disproved and vain ? Small risk of that, I trow. Yet Clare's sharp questions must I shun; I might have known there was but one, Stung with these thoughts, he urged to speed Yet mourn thou not its cells; Our time a fair exchange has made; A reverend pilgrim dwells, Well worth the whole Bernardine brood, Long Marmion looked :-at length his eye The Scottish host drawn out appears, Their front now deepening, now extending; XIX. Even so it was. From Flodden ridge High sight it is, and haughty, while This was a Cistertian house of religion, now almost entirely demolished. Lennel House is now the residence of my venerable friend, Patrick Brydone, Esquire, so well known in the literary world* It is situated near Coldstream, almost opposite to Cornhill, and consequently very near to Flodden Field. "From this period to the conclusion of the poem, Mr. Scott's genius, so long overclouded, bursts forth in full lustre, and even transcends itself. It is impossible to do him justice by making extracts, when all is equally attractive-Monthly Review.). On the evening previous to the memorable battle of Flodden, Surrey's headquarters were at Barmoor Wood, and King James held an inaccessible position on the ridge of Flodden-hill, one of the last and lowest eminences detached from the ridge of Cheviot. The Till, a deep and slow river, winded between the armies. On the morning of the 9th September, 1513, Surrey marched in a north-westerly direction, and crossed the Till, with his van and artillery, at Twisel-bridge, nigh where that river joins the Tweed, his rear-guard column passing about a mile higher. by a ford. This movement had the double effect of placing his army between King James and his supplies from Scotland, and of striking the Scottish monarch with surprise, as he seems to have relied on the depth of the river in his front. But as the passage, both over the bridge and through the ford, was difficult and slow, it seems possible that the English might have been attacked to great advanFirst Edition-Mr. Brydone has been many years dead, 1825. By rock, by oak, by hawthorn tree, And, sweeping o'er the Gothic arch, That morn, to many a trumpet-clang, XX. And why stands Scotland idly now, And sees, between him and his land, What vails the vain knight-errant's brand?- O for one hour of Wallace wight, XXI. Ere yet the bands met Marmion's eye,S Between Tweed's river and the hill, Foot, horse, and cannon:-hap what hap, My basnet to a 'prentice cap, Lord Surrey's o'er the Till! Yet more! yet more! how far arrayed With all their banners bravely spread, And all their armour flashing high, Saint George might waken from the dead, To see fair England's standards fly.""Stint in thy prate," quoth Blount, best, And listen to our lord's behest."-T "thou'dst tage while struggling with these natural obstacles. I know not if we are to impute James's forbearance to want of military skill, or to the romantic declaration which Pitscottie puts in his mouth, "that he was determined to have his enemies before him on a plain field." and therefore would suffer no interruption to be given, even by artillery, to their passing the river. The ancient bridge of Twisel, by which the English crossed the Till, is still standing beneath Twisel Castle, a splendid pile of Gothic architecture, as now rebuilt by Sir Francis Blake, Bart., whose extensive plantations have so much improved the country around. The glen is romantic and delightful, with steep banks on each side, covered with copse, particularly with hawthorn, Beneath a tall rock, near the bridge, is a plentiful fountain, called St. Helen's Well. $IMS.-"Ere first they met Lord Marmion's eye."] [MS." And all go sweeping by."] TI The speeches of Squire Blount are a great deal too unpolished for a noble youth aspiring to knighthood. On two occasions, to specify no more, he addresses his brother squire in these cacucphoneus lines, And, St. Anton fire thee! wilt thou stand 'Stint in thy prate,' quoth Blount, thou'dst best, And listen to our lord's behest.' With kindling brow Lord Marmion said- XXII. Himself he swift on horseback threw, So Clare shall bide with me.' Till squire, or groom, before him ride; Eustace held Clare upon her horse, Stoutly they braved the current's course, That, on a hillock standing lone, Did all the field command. XXIII. Hence might they see the full array Of either host, for deadly fray ;† Their marshalled lines stretched east and west,t From the loud cannon mouth; The hillock gained, Lord Marmion staid: To Berwick speed amain.- He waited not for answer there, And would not mark the maid's despair,s Neither can we be brought to admire the simple dignity of Sir wing, consisting of undisciplined Highlanders, commanded by Hugh the Heron, who thus encourageth his nephew, By my fay, Well hast thou spoke-say forth thy say.'"-JEFFREY.] [MS.- Where to the Tweed Leat's tributes creep."] The reader cannot here expect a full account of the Battle of Flodden; but, so far as is necessary to understand the romance, beg to remind him, that, when the English army, by their skil ful countermarch, were fairly placed between King James and his own country, the Scottish monarch resolved to fight; and, setting fire to his tents, descended from the ridge of Flodden to secure the neighbouring eminence of Brankstone, on which that village is built. Thus the two armies met, almost without seeing each other, when, according to the old poem of " Flodden Field,' "The English line stretch'd east and west, And southward were their faces set; The Scottish northward proudly prest, And manfully their foes they met." The English army advanced in four divisions. On the right, which first engaged, were the sons of Earl Surrey, namely, Thomas Howard, the Admiral of England, and Sir Edmund, the Knight Marshal of the army. Their divisions were separated from each other; but, at the request of Sir Edmund, his brother's battalion was drawn very near to his own. The centre was com manded by Surrey in person; the left wing by Sir Edward Stanley, with the men of Lancashire, and of the palatmate of Chester. Lord Dacre, with a large body of horse, formed a reserve. When the smoke, which the wind had driven between the armies, was Somewhat dispersed, they perceived the Scots, who had moved down the hill in a similar order of battle, and in deep silence.* The Earls of Huntley and of Home commanded their left wing, and charged Sir Edmund Howard with such success, as entirely to defeat his part of the English right wing. Sir Edmund's banner was beaten down, and he himself escaped with difficulty to his brother's division. The Admiral, however, stood firm; and Dacre advancing to his support with the reserve of cavalry, probably between the interval of the divisions commanded by the brothers Howard, appears to have kept the victors in effectual check. Home's men, chiefly Borderers, began to pillage the baggage of both armies and their leader is branded, by the Scottish historians, with negligence or treachery. On the other hand, Huntley, on whom they bestow many encomiums, is said, by the English historians, to have left the field after the first charge. Meanwhile the Admiral. whose flank these chiefs ought to have attacked, availed himself of their inactivity, and pushed forward against another large division of the Scottish army in his front, headed by the Earls of Crawford and Montrose, both of whom were slain, and their forces routed. On the left, the suc cess of the English was yet more decisive; for the Scottish right "Lesquelz Eerossois descendirent la montaigne en bonne ordre, en la maniere que marchent les Allemans sans parler, ne faire aucun bruit."Gazette of the Battle, Pinkerton's History, Appendis, vol. ii. p. 456. Lennox and Argyle, was unable to sustain the charge of Sir Edward Stanley, and especially the severe execution of the Lancashire archers. The King and Surrey, who commanded the respective centres of their armies, were meanwhile engaged in close and dubious conflict. James, surrounded by the flower of his kingdom, and impatient of the galling discharge of arrows, supported also by his reserve under Bothwell, charged with such fury, that the standard of Surrey was in danger. At that critical moment, Stanley, who had routed the left wing of the Scottish, pursued his career of victory, and arrived on the right flank, and in the rear of James's division, which, throwing itself into a circle, disputed the battle till night came on. Surrey then drew back his forces; for the Scottish centre not having been broken, and their left wing being victorious, he yet doubted the event of the field. The Scottish army, however, felt their loss, and abandoned the field of battle in disorder, before dawn. They lost, perhaps, from eight to ten thousand men; but that included the very prime of their nobility, gentry, and even clergy. Scarce family of eminence but has an ancestor killed at Flodden; and there is no province in Scotland, even at this day, where the battle is mentioned without a sensation of terror and sorrow. The Eng lish lost also a great number of men, perhaps within one third of the vanquished, but they were of inferior note.-See the only dis tinct detail of the field of Flodden in PINKERTON'S History, Book xi.; all former accounts being full of blunders and inconsistency, The spot from which Clara views the battle must be supposed to have been on a hillock commanding the rear of the English right wing, which was defeated, and in which conflict Marmion is supposed to have fallen." [MS.-Their lines were form'd, stretch'd east and west."] SIMS.-"Nor mark'd the lady's deep despair, Nor heeded discontented look."] Sir Brian Tunstall, called in the romantic language of the time, Tunstall the Undefiled, was one of the few Englishmen of rank slain at Flodden. He figures in the ancient English poem, to which I may safely refer my readers; as an edition, with full explanatory notes, has been published by my friend, Mr. Henry Weber, Tunstall, perhaps, derived his epithet of undefiled from his white armour and banner the latter bearing a white cock, ↑ ["In 1810, as Sir Carnaby Haggerstone's workmen were digging in Flodden Field, they came to a pit fillet with human bones, and which seemed of great extent; but, alarmel at the sight, they immediately filled up the excava tion, and proceedal no further. "In 1917, Mr Grey of Millfield Hill found, near the traces of an ancient en campment, a short distance from Flockden Hill, a tumulus, which, on removing, exhibited a very singular sepulchre. In the centre, a large urn was found, but in a thousand pieces. It had either been broken to pieces by the stones falling upon it when digging, or had gone to pieces on the admission of the air. This urn was surrounded by a number of cells formed of flat stumes, in the shape of graves, but too small to hold the body in its natural state. These sepulchral recesses contained nothing except ashes, or dust of the same kind as that in the urn."-Sykes' Local Records, (2 vols. 8vo. 1833,) vol. ii. pp. 60 and 109.] |