Mis guest, the while, laid low aside

The ponderous cloak of tough bull's hide,
And to the torch glanced broad and clear'
The corselet of a cuirassier;

Then from his brows the casque he drew,
And from the dank plume dash'd the dew,
From gloves of mail relieved his hands,*
And spread them to the kindling brands,
And, turning to the genial board,t
Without a health, or pledge, or word
Of meet and social reverence said,
Deeply he drank, and fiercely fed ;
As free from ceremony's sway,
As famished wolf that tears his prey.
VII.

With deep impatience, tinged with fear,
His host beheld him gorge his cheer,
And quaff the full carouse, that lent
His brow a fiercer hardiment.
Now Oswald stood a space aside,
Now paced the room with hasty stride,
In feverish agony to learn

Tidings of deep and dread concern,
Cursing each moment that his guest
Protracted o'er his ruffian feast.§
Yet, viewing with alarm, at last,
The end of that uncouth repast,
Almost he seem'd their haste to rue,
As, at his sign, his train withdrew,
And left him with the stranger, free
To question of his mystery.
Then did his silence long proclaim
A struggle between fear and shame.
VIII.

Much in the stranger's mien appears,
To justify suspicious fears.

On his dark face a scorching clime,
And toil, had done the work of time,
Roughen'd the brow, the temples bared
And sable hairs with silver shared,
Yet left-what age alone could tame-
The lip of pride, the eye of flame ;|||
The full-drawn lip that upward curl'd,
The eve that seem'd to scorn the world.
That lip had terror never blench'd;
Ne'er in that eye had tear-drop quench'd
The flash severe of swarthy glow,
That mock'd at pain, and knew not wo.

IMS."he freed his hands."]

[MS.-"Then turn'd to the replenish'd board."], :["The description of Bertram which follows, is highly picturesque; and the rude air of conscious superiority with which he treats his employer, prepares the reader to enter into the full spirit of his character. These, and many other little circumstances, which none but a poetical mind could have conceived, give great relief to the stronger touches with which this excellent sketch is completed."-Critical Review.] $IMS.- Protracted o'er his savage feast.

Yet with alarm he saw at last."

["As Roderick rises above Marmion, so Bertram ascends above Roderick Dhu in awfulness of stuture and strength of colouring. We have trembled at Roderick; but we look with doubt and suspicion at the very shadow of Bertram-and, as we approach him, we shrink with terror and antipathy from

"The lip of pride, the eye of flame.'"
British Critic.]

In this character, I have attempted to sketch one of those West Indian adventurers, who, during the course of the seventeenth century, were popularly known by the name of Bucaniers. The successes of the English in the predatory incursions upon Spanish America, during the reign of Elizabeth, had never been forgotten; and from that period downward, the exploits of Drake and Raleigh were imitated, upon a smaller scale indeed, but with equally desperate valour, by small bands of pirates, gathered from all nations, but chiefly French and English. The engrossing policy of the Spaniards tended greatly to increase the number of these freebooters, from whom their commerce and colonies suffered, in the issue, dreadful calamity. The Windward Islands, which the Spaniards did not deem worthy their own occupation, had been gradually settled by adventurers of the French and Eng lish nations. But Frederic of Toledo, who was despatched in 1630, with a powerful fleet, against the Dutch, had orders from the Court of Madrid to destroy these colonies, whose vicinity at once offended the pride and excited the jealous suspicions of their Spanish neighbours. This order the Spanish Admiral executed with sufficient rigour; but the only consequence was, that the planter, being rendered desperate by persecution, began, under the well-known name of Bucaniers, to commence a retaliation so horridly savage, that the perusal makes the reader shudder. When they carried on their depredations at sea, they boarded, without respect to disparity of number, every Spanish vessel that

Inured to danger's direst form,
Tornade and earthquake, flood and storm,
Death had he seen by sudden blow,
By wasting plague, by tortures slow, I
By mine or breach, by steel or ball,
Knew all his shapes, and scorn'd them all.
IX.

But yet, though BERTRAM's harden'd look,
Unmoved, could blood and danger brook,
Still worse than apathy had place
On his swart brow and callous face;
For evil passions, cherished long,
Had plough'd them with impressions strong
All that gives gloss to sin, all gay
Light folly, past with youth away,
But rooted stood in manhood's hour,
The weeds of vice without their flower.
And yet the soil in which they grew,
Had it been tamed when life was new,
Had depth and vigour to bring forth**
The hardier fruits of virtuous worth.
Not that, e'en then, his heart had known
The gentler feelings' kindly tone;
But lavish waste had been refined
To bounty in his chasten'd mind,
And lust of gold, that waste to feed,
Been lost in love of glory's meed,
And, frantic then no more, his pride
Had ta'en fair virtue for its guide.

X.

Even now, by conscience unrestrain'd,
Clogg'd by gross vice, by slaughter stain'd,
Still knew his daring soul to soar,
And mastery o'er the mind he bore;
For meaner guilt, or heart less hard,
Quail'd beneath Bertram's bold regard.tt
And this felt Oswald, while in vain
He strove, by many a winding train,
To lure his sullen guest to show,
Unask'd, the news he long'd to know,
While on far other subject hung

His heart, than falter'd from his tongue.**
Yet naught for that his guest did deign
To note or spare his secret pain,
But still, in stern and stubborn sort,
Return'd him answer dark and short,
Or started from the theme to range
In loose digression wild and strange,

came in their way; and, demenning themselves, both in the bat tle and after the conquest, more like demons than human beings, they succeeded in impressing their enemies with a sort of superstitious terror, which rendered them incapable of offering effectua. resistance. From piracy at sea, they advanced to making predatory descents on the Spanish territories; in which they displayed the same furious and irresistible valour, the same thirst of spoil, and the same brutal inhumanity to their captives. The large treasures which they acquired in their adventures, they dissipated by the most unbounded licentiousness in gaming, women, wine, and debauchery of every species. When their spoils were thus wasted, they entered into some new association, and undertook new adventures. For farther particulars concerning these extraordinary banditti, the reader may consult Raynai, or the common and popular book called The History of the Bucaniers. ** [MS.-" Show'd depth and vigour to bring forth The noblest fruits of virtuous worth. Then had the lust of gold accurst Been lost in glory's nobler thirst, And deep revenge for trivial cause, Been zeal for freedom and for laws, And, frantic then no more, his pride Had ta'en fair honour for its guide."] -"stern regard."]

tt (MS.

We are

1 The mastery' obtained by such a being as Bertram over the timid wickedness of inferior villains, is well delineated in the conduct of Oswald, who, though he had not hesitated to propose to him the murder of his kinsman, is described as fearing to ask him the direct question, whether the crime has been accomplished. We must confess, for our own parts, that we did not, till we came to the second reading of the canto, perceive the propriety, and even the moral beauty, of this circumstance. now quite convinced that, in introducing it, the poet has been guided by an accurate perception of the intricacies of human nature. The scene between King John and Hubert may probably have been present to his mind when he composed the dialogue between Oswald and his terrible agent; but it will be observed, that the situations of the respective personages are materially different; the mysterious caution in which Shakspeare's usurper is made to involve the proposal of his crime, springs from motives undoubtedly more obvious and immediate, but not more consistent with truth and probability, than that with which Wycliffo conceals the drift of his fearful interrogatories."-Critical Řev.),

And forced the embarrass'd host to buy, By query close, direct reply.

XI.

A while he glozed upon the cause
Of Commons, Covenant, and Laws,
And Church Reform'd-but felt rebuke
Beneath grim Bertram's sneering look,
Then stammer'd-"Has a field been fought?
Has Bertram news of battle brought
For sure a soldier, famed so far
In foreign fields for feats of war,
On eve of fight ne'er left the host,
Until the field were won and lost."-
"Here in your towers by circling Tees,
Yon, Oswald Wycliffe, rest at ease;*
Why deem it strange that others come
To share such safe and easy home,
From fields where danger, death, and toil,
Are the reward of civil broil ?"-t

-

"Nay, mock not, friend! since well we know
The near advances of the foe,
To mar our northern army's work,
Encamp'd before beleaguer'd York;
Thy horse with valiant Fairfax lay,t
And must have fought-how went the day?"—
XII.

"Wouldst hear the tale ?-On Marston heaths
Met, front to front, the ranks of death;
Flourish'd the trumpets fierce, and now
Fired was each eye, and flush'd each brow;
On either side loud clamours ring,

God and the cause!'-' God and the king!
Right English all, they rush'd to blows,
With naught to win and all to lose.

I could have laugh'-but lack'd the time-
To see, in phrenesy sublime,

How the fierce zealots foug it and bled,
For king, or state, as humour led;
Some for a dream of public good,

Some for church-tippet, gown and hood,
Draining their veins in death to claim
A patriot's or a martyr's name.-
Led Bertram Risingham the hearts,
That counter'd there on adverse parts,
No superstitious fool had I
Sought El Dorados in the sky!
Chili had heard me through her states,
And Lima oped her silver gates,

[MS.-"Safe sit you, Oswald, and at ease."]
✦ (MS.-" Award the meed of civil broil."]

I [MS." Thy horsemen on the outposts lay."]

The well known and desperate battle of Long-Marston Moor, which terminated so unfortunately for the cause of Charles, commenced under very different auspices. Prince Rupert had marched with an army of 20,000 men for the relief of York, then besieged by Sir Thomas Fairfax, at the head of the Parliamentary army, and the Earl of Leven, with the Scottish auxiliary forces. In this he so completely succeeded, that he compelled the besiegers to retreat to Marston Moor, a large open plain, about eight miles distant from the city. Thither they were followed by the Prince, who had now united to his army the garrison of York, probably not less than ten thousand men strong, under the gallant Marquis (then Earl) of Newcastle. Whitelocke has recorded, with much impartiality, the following particulars of this eventful day:The right wing of the Parliament was com manded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, and consisted of all his horse, and three regiments of the Scots horse; the left wing was com manded by the Earl of Manchester and Colonel Cromwell. One body of their foot was commanded by Lord Fairfax, and consisted of his foot, and two brigades of the Scots foot for reserve; and the main body of the rest of the foot was commanded by General Leven.

The right wing of the Prince's army was commanded by the Earl of Newcastle; the left wing by the Prince himself; and the main body by General Goring, Sir Charles Lucas, and Major General Porter-thus were both sides drawn up into battalia.

"July 3d, 1644. In this posture both armies faced each other, and about seven o'clock in the morning the fight began between them. The Prince, with his left wing, fell on the Parliament's right wing, routed them and pursued them a great way; the like did General Goring, Lucas, and Porter, upon the Parliament's main body. The three generals, giving all for lost, hasted out of the field, and many of their soldiers fled, and threw down their arms; the King's forces too eagerly following them, the victory, now almost achieved by them, was again snatched out of their hands. For Colonel Cromwell, with the brave regiment of his countrymen, and Sir Thomas Fairfax, having rallied some of his horse, fell upon the Prince's right wing, where the Earl of Newcastle was, and routed them; and the rest of their companions rallying, they fell altogether upon the divided bodies of Rupert and Goring, and totally dispersed them, and obtained a complete victory, after three hours' fight. "From this battle and the pursuit, some reckon were buried 7000 Englishmen ; all agree that above 3000 of the Prince's men

Rich Mexico I had march'd through,
And sack'd the splendours of Peru,
Till sunk Pizarro's daring name,
And, Cortez, thine, in Bertram's fame."-T
"Still from the purpose wilt thou stray!
Good gentle friend, how went the day?"-
XIII.

"Good am I deem'd at trumpet-sound,
And good where goblets dance the round,
Though gentle ne'er was join'd, till now,
With rugged Bertram's breast and brow.-
But I resume. The battle's rage
Was like the strife which currents wage,
Where Orinoco, in his pride,

Rolls to the main no tribute tide,
But 'gainst broad ocean urges far
A rival sea of roaring war;
While, in ten thousand eddies driven,
The billows fling their foam to heaven,
And the pale pilot seeks in vain,
Where rolls the river, where the main.
Even thus upon the bloody field,
The eddying tides of conflict wheel'd**
Ambiguous, till that heart of flame,
Hot Rupert, on our squadrons came,
Hurling against our spears a line
Of gallants, fiery as their wine;
Then ours, though stubborn in their zeal,
In zeal's despite began to reel.

What wouldst thou more ?-in tumult tost,
Our leaders fell, our ranks were lost.

A thousand men who drew the sword
For both the Houses and the Word,
Preach'd forth from hamlet, grange, and down
To curb the crosier and the crown,

Now, stark and stiff, lie stretch'd in gore,
And ne'er shall rail at mitre more.-

Thus fared it, when I left the fight,

With the good Cause and Commons' right."

XIV.

"Disastrous news!" dark Wycliffe said;
Assumed despondence bent his head,
While troubled joy was in his eye,
The well-feign'd sorrow to belie.-
"Disastrous news!-when needed most,
Told ye not that your chiefs were lost?
Complete the woful tale, and say,
Who fell upon that fatal day;

were slain in the battle, besides those in the chase, and 3000 prisoners taken, many of their chief officers, twenty five pieces of ordnance, forty-seven colours, 10,000 arms, two wazons of cara bins and pistols, 130 barrels of powder, and all their bag and baggage."-WHITELOCKE'S Memoirs, fol. p. 89. Lond. 1682.

Lord Clarendon informs us, that the King, previous to receiving the true account of the battle, had been informed, by an express from Oxford," that Prince Rupert had not only relieved York, but totally defeated the Scots, with many particulars to confirm it, all which was so much believed there, that they had made public fires of joy for the victory."

[MS." Led I but half of such bold hearts,

As countered there," &c.]

[The Quarterly Reviewer (No. xvi.) thus states the causes of the hesitation he had had in arriving at the ultimate opinion, that Rokeby was worthy of the "high praise" already quoted from the commencement of his article: We confess, then, that in the language and versification of this poem, we were, in the first instance, disappointed. We do not mean to say that either is inva riably faulty; neither is it within the power of accident that the conceptions of a vigorous and highly cultivated mind, should uni formly invest themselves in trivial expressions, or in dissonant rhymes; but we do think that those golden lines, which sponta neously fasten themselves on the memory of the reader, are more rare, and that instances of a culpable, and almost slovenly inattention to the usual rules of diction and of metre, are more fre quent in this, than in any preceding work of Mr. Scott. In support of this opinion, we adduce the following quotation, which occurs in stanza xii.; and in the course of a description which is, in some parts, unusually splendidLed Bertram Risingham the hearts,'

And, Cortez, thine, in Bertram's fame.', "The author, surely, cannot require to be told, that the feebleness of these jingling couplets is less offensive than their obscu rity. The first line is unintelligible, because the conditional word, if on which the meaning depends, is neither expressed nor implied in it; and the third line is equally faulty, because the sentence, when restored to its natural order, can only express the exact converse of the speaker's intention. We think it neces sary to remonstrate against these barbarous inversions, because we consider the rules of grammar as the only shackles by which the Hudbrastic metre, alteady so licentious, can be confined within tolerable limits."]

** [MS. The doubtful tides of battle reel'd "I

XV.

The wrath his art and fear suppress'd,
Now blazed at once in Wycliffe's breast;
And brave, from man so meanly born,
Roused his hereditary scorn.

"Wretch! hast thou paid thy bloody debt?
PHILIP OF MORTHAM, lives he yet?
False to thy patron or thine oath,
Trait'rous or perjured, one or both.
Slave! hast thou kept thy promise plight,
To slay thy leader in the fight?"
Then from his seat the soldier sprung,
And Wycliffe's hand he strongly wrung;
His grasp, as hard as glove of mail,
Forced the red blood-drop from the nail-
"A health!" he cried; and, ere he quaff'd,
Flung from him Wycliffe's hand, and laugh'd:
-"Now, Oswald Wycliffe, speaks thy heart!
Now play'st thou well thy genuine part!
Worthy, but for thy craven fear,

Like me to roam a bucanier.

What reck'st thou of the Cause divine,
If Mortham's wealth and lands be thine?
What carest thou for beleaguer'd York,
If this good hand have done its work?
Or what though Fairfax and his best
Are reddening Marston's swarthy breast,
If Philip Mortham with them lie,
Lending his life-blood to the dye ?-t
Sit, then! and as mid comrades free
Carousing after victory,

When tales are told of blood and fear,
That boys and woment shrink to hear,
From point to point I frankly tells
The deed of death as it befell.
XVI.
"When purposed vengeance I forego,
Term me a wretch, nor deem me foe;
And when an insult I forgive,ll
Then brand me as a slave, and live!-
Philip of Mortham is with those
Whom Bertram Risingham calls foes;
Or whom more sure revenge attends, T
If number'd with ungrateful friends.
As was his wont, ere battle glow'd,
Along the marshall'd ranks he rode,
And wore his vizor up the while.
I saw his melancholy smile,,
When, full opposed in front, he knew
Where ROKEBY's kindred banner flew.
And thus,' he said, 'will friends divide !'-
I heard, and thought how, side by side,
We two had turn'd the battle's tide,
In many a well-debated field,

Where Bertram's breast was Philip's shield.
I thought on Darien's deserts pale,
Where death bestrides the evening gale,
How o'er my friend my cloak I threw,
And fenceless faced the deadly dew;
I thought on Quariana's cliff,

Where, rescued from our foundering skiff,
IMS.-"Chose death in preference to shame."]
M8.-" And heart's-blood lend to aid the dye?
Sit then! and as to comrades boon
Carousing for achievement won."]
(MS-"That boys and cowards," &c.],
[MS.-"Frank, as from mate to mate, I tell

What way the deed of death befell."]
ILMS.-"Name when an insult I for gave,,

And, Oswald Wycliffe, call me slave."I
TIMS.-"Whom surest his revenge attends,

If number'd once among his friends."]
VOL. I.-3 L

Through the white breakers' wrath I bore
Exhausted Mortham to the shore;
And when his side an arrow found,

I suck'd the Indian's venom'd wound.
These thoughts like torrents rush'd along,**
To sweep away my purpose strong.
XVII.

"Hearts are not flint, and flints are rent;
Hearts are not steel, and steel is bent.
When Mortham bade me as of yore,
Be near him in the battle's roar,
I scarcely saw the spears laid low,
I scarcely heard the trumpets blow;
Lost was the war in inward strife,
Debating Mortham's death or life.
'Twas then I thought, how, lured to come,
As partner of his wealth and home,
Years of piratic wandering o'er,
With him I sought our native shore.
But Mortham's lord grew far estranged
From the bold heart with whom he ranged;
Doubts, horrors, superstitious fears,
Sadden'd and dimm'd descending years;
The wily priests their victim sought,

And damn'd each free-borntt deed and thought.
Then must I seek another home,
My license shook his sober dome;
If gold he gave, in one wild day
I revell'd thrice the sum away.
An idle outcast then I stray'd,
Unfit for tillage or for trade.
Deem'd like the steel of rusted lance,
Useless and dangerous at once.
The women fear'd my hardy look,
At my approach the peaceful shook;
The merchant saw my glance of flame,
And lock'd his hoards when Bertram came;
Each child of coward peace kept far
From the neglected son of war.
XVIII.

"But civil discord gave the call,
And made my trade the trade of all.
By Mortham urged, I came again
His vassals to the fight to train.
What guerdon waited on my care?#
I could not cant of creed or prayer;
Sour fanatics each trust obtain'd,
And I, dishonour'd and disdain'd,
Gain'd but the high and happy lot,
In these poor arms to front the shot!-
All this thou know'st, thy gestures tell;
Yet hear it o'er, and mark it well.
"Tis honour bids me now relate

Each circumstance of Mortham's fate.
XIX.

"Thoughts, from the tongue that slowly part,
Glance quick as lightning through the heart.
As my spur press'd my courser's side,
Philip of Mortham's cause was tried,
And, ere the charging squadrons mix'd,
His plea was cast, his doom was fix'd."
I watch'd him through the doubtful fray,
That changed as March's moody day,§§
Till, like a stream that bursts its bank,
Fierce Rupert thunder'd on our flank.
'Twas then, midst tumult, smoke, and strife,
Where each man fought for death or life,
'Twas then I fired my petronel,
And Mortham, steed and rider, fell.
One dying look he upward cast,
Of wrath and anguish-'twas his last.
Think not that there I stopp'd, to view
What of the battle should ensue;
But ere clear'd that bloody press,
Our northern horse ran masterless;

** [MS.-"These thoughts rush'd on, like torrent's sway, To sweep my stern resolve away."]

+ [MS.-" Each liberal deed."1

I [MS." But of my labour what the meed

I could not cant of church or creed."]

$$ (MS." That changed as with a whirlwinds's sway."

Monckton and Mitton told the news,*
How troops of roundheads choaked the Ouse,
And many a bonny Scot, aghast,
Spurring his palfrey northward, past,
Cursing the day when zeal or meed
First lured their Lesley o'er the Tweed.t
Yet when I reach'd the banks of Swale,
Had rumour learn'd another tale;
With his barb'd horse, fresh tidings say,
Stout Cromwell has redeem'd the day :
But whether false the news, or true,
Oswald, I reck as light as you."
XX.

Not then by Wycliffe might be shown,
How his pride startled at the tone

[MS.-"Hot Rupert on the spur pursues;

Whole troops of fliers choaked the Ouse."]

↑ Monckton and Mitton are villages near the river Ouse, and not very distant from the field of battle. The particulars of the action were violently disputed at the time; but the following extract from the Manuscript History of the Baronial House of Somerville, is decisive as to the flight of the Scottish general, the Earl of Leven. The particulars are given by the author of the history on the authority of his father, then the representative of the family. This curious manuscript has been published by consent of my noble friend, the present Lord Somerville. "The order of this great battell, wherin both armies was neer of ane equall number, consisting, to the best calculatione, neer to three score thousand men upon both sydes, I shall not take upon me to discryve; albeit, from the draughts then taken upon the place, and information I receaved from this gentleman, who be ing then a volunteer, as having no command, had opportunitie and libertie to ryde from the one wing of the armie to the other, to view all ther several squadrons of horse and battallions of foot, how formed, and in what manner drawn up, with every other circumstance relating to the fight, and that both as to the King's armies and that of the Parliament's, amongst whom, untill the engadgment, he went from statione to statione to observe ther order and forme; but that the descriptione of this battell, with the various success on both sides at the beginning, with the loss of the royal armie, and the sad effects that followed that misfor tune as to his Majestie's interest, hes been so often done already by English authors, little to our commendatione, how justly 1 shall not dispute, seing the truth is, as our principall generall fled that night neer fortie mylles from the place of the fight, that part of the armie where he commanded being totallie routed; but it is as true, that much of the victorie is attributed to the good conduct of David Lesselie, lievetennent-generall of our horse. Cromwell himself, that minione of fortune, but the rod of God's wrath, to punish eftirward three rebellious nations, disdained not to take orders from him, albeit then in the same qualitie of command for the Parliament, as being lievtennent general to the Earl of Manchester's horse, whom, with the assistance of the Scots horse, haveing routed the Prince's right wing, as he had done that of the Parliament's. These two cominanders of the horse upon that wing, wisely restrained the great bodies of their horse from persuing these brocken troups, but, wheelling to the left-hand, falls in upon the naked flanks of the Prince's main battallion of foot, carying them doune with great violence; nether mett they with any great resistance untill they came to the Marques of New castle his battallione of White Coats, who, first peppering them soundly with ther shott, when they came to charge, stoutly boor them up with their picks that they could not enter to break them. Here the Parliament's horse of that wing receaved ther greatest losse, and a stop for sometyme putt to ther hoped-for victorie; and that only by the stout resistance of this gallant battallione, which consisted neer of four thousand foot, until at length a Scots regiment of dragouns, commanded by Collonell Frizeall, with other two, was brought to open them upon some hand, which at length they did, when all the ammunitione was spent. Having refused quarters, every man fell in the same order and ranke wherin he had foughten.

"Be this execution was done, the Prince returned from the persuite of the right wing of the Parliament's horse, which he had beatten and followed too farre, to the losse of the battell, which certanely, in all men's opinions, he might have careyed if he had not been too violent upon the persuite; which gave his enemies upon the left-hand opportunitie to disperse and cut doune his infantrie, who, haveing cleared the field of all the standing bodies of foot, wer now, with many of their oune, standing ready to receave the charge of his allmost spent horses, if he should attempt it; which the Prince observeing, and seing all lost, he retreated to Yorke with two thousand horse. Notwithstanding of this, ther was that night such a consternatione in the Parliament armies, that it's believed by most of those that wer there present, that if the Prince, haveing so great a body of horse inteire, had made ane onfall that night, or the ensucing morning betyme, he had carried the victorie out of ther hands for it's certane, by the morning's light, he had rallyed a body of ten thousand men, wherof ther was neer three thousand gallant horse. These, with the assistance of the toune and garrisoune of Yorke, might have done much to have recovered the victory, for the losse of this battell in effect lost the King and his interest in the three kingdomes; his Majestie never being able eftir this to make head in the north, but lost his garrisons every day.

As for Generall Lesselie, in the beginning of this flight haveing that part of the army quite brocken, whare he had placed himself, by the valour of the Prince, he imagined, and was confermed by the opinione of others then upon the place with him, that the battell was irrecoverably lost, seeing they wer fleeing upon all hands; theirfore they humblie intreated his excellence to reteir and wait his better fortune, which, without farder advyseing, he did and never drew bridle untill he came the lenth of Leads, hav

In which his complice, fierce and free,
Asserted guilt's equality.

In smoothest terms his speech he wove,
Of endless friendship, faith, and love;
Promised and vow'd in courteous sort,
But Bertram broke professions short.
"Wycliffe, be sure not here I stay,
No, scarcely till the rising day;
Warn'd by the legends of my youth,
I trust not an associate's truth.
Do not my native dales prolong
Of Percy Rede the tragic song,
Train'd forward to his bloody fall,

By Girsonfield, that treacherous Hall?ll

ing ridden all that night with a cloak of drap de berrie about him; belonging to this gentleman of whom I write, then in his retinue, with many other officers of good qualitie. It was neer twelve the next day befor they had the certanety who was master of the field, when at length ther arry ves ane expresse, sent by Da vid Lesselie, to acquaint the General they had obtained a most glorious victory, and that the Prince, with his brocken troupes, was fled from Yorke. This intelligence was somewhat amazeing. to these gentlemen that had been eye-witnesses to the disorder of the armie before ther retearing, and had then accompanged the General in his flight; who, being much wearyed that evening of the battell with ordering of his armie, and now quite spent with his long journey in the night, had casten himselfe doune upon a bed to rest, when this gentleman comeing quyetly into his chamber, he awoke, and hastily cryes out, Lievtennent-collonell, what newes All is safe, may it please your Excellence; the Parliament's armie hes obtained a great victory; and then delyvers the letter. The Generall, upon the hearing of this, knocked upon his breast, and sayes, I would to God I had dyed upon the place!' and then opens the letter, which, in a few lines, gave ane account of the victory, and in the close pressed his speedy retume to the armie, which he did the next day, being accompanyed some mylles back by this gentleman, who then takes his leave of him, and receaved at parting many expressions of kyndenesse, with promises that he would never be unmyndful of his care and respect towards him; and in the end he intreats him to present his service to all his friends and acquaintances in Scotland. Theref tir the Generall sets forward in his journey for the armie, as this gentleman did for , in order to his transportatione for Scotland, where he arryved sex dayes eftir the fight of Mestoure Muir, and gave the first true account and descriptione of that great battell, wherin the Covenanters then gloryed soe much, that they impiously boasted the Lord had now signally appeared for his cause and people; it being ordinary for them, dureing the whole time of this warre, to attribute the greatnes of their suc cess to the goodnes and justice of ther cause, untill Divine Justice trysted them with some crosse dispensatione, and then you might have heard this language from them, "That it pleases the Lord to give his oune the heavyest end of the tree to bear, that the saints and the people of God must still be sufferers while they are here away, that the malignant party was God's rod to punish them for ther unthankfullnesse, which in the end he will cast into the fire;' with a thousand other expressions and scripture citations, prophanely and blasphemously uttered by them, to palhate ther villainie and rebellion."-Memorie of the Somervilles. Edin. 1815.

Cromwell, with his regiment of cuirassiers, had a principal share in turning the fate of the day at Marston Moor; which was equally matter of triumph to the Independents, and of gef and heart-burning to the Presbyterians and to the Scottish. Prio cipal Bui lie expresses his dissatisfaction as follows:

The Independents sent up one quickly to assure that all the glory of that night was theirs; and they and their Major-General Cromwell had done it all there alone; but Captain Stuart after ward showed the vanity and falsehood of their disgraceful relation. God gave us that victory wonderfully. There were three generals on each side, Lesley, Fairfax, and Manchester; Rupert, Newcastle, and King. Within half an hour and less, all six took them to their heels-this to you alone. The disadvantage of the ground, and violence of the flower of Prince Rupert's horse, car ried all our right wing down; only Eglinton kept ground, to his great loss; his lieutenant-crowner, a brave man, I fear shall die, and his son Robert be mutilated of an arm. Lindsay had the greatest hazard of any; but the beginning of the victory was from David Lesly, who before was much suspected of evil de signs: he, with the Scots and Cromwell's horse, having the ad vantage of the ground, did dissipate all before them."-BAILLIE'S Letters and Journals. Edin. 1785, 8vo, ii. 36. § (MS. Taught by the legends of my youth To trust to no associate's truth."]

In a poem, entitled "The Lay of the Reedwater Minstrel," Newcastle, 1809, this tale, with many others peculiar to the val ley of the Reed, is commemorated:-" The particulars of the traditional story of Parcy Reed of Troughend, and the Halls of Girsonfield, the author had from a descendant of the family of Reed. From his account, it appears that Percival Reed. Esquire, a keeper of Reedsdale, was betrayed by the Halls (hence denominated the false hearted Ha's) to a band of moss-troopers of the name of Crosier, who slew him at Batinghope, near the source of the Reed.

"The Halls were, after the murder of Parcy Reed, held in such universal abhorrence and contempt by the inhabitants of Reedsdale, for their cowardly and treacherous behaviour, that they were obliged to leave the country." In another passage, we are informed that the ghost of the injured Borderer is supposed to haunt the banks of a brook called the Pringle. These Redes of Troughend were a very ancient family, as may be conjectured from their deriving their surname from the river on which they had their mansion. An epitaph on one of their tombs affirms,